National Council on Disability (NCD)
Youth Advisory Committee (YAC)
September 15, 2006 - Record of YAC Public Meeting (Teleconference) 3:00 PM EST
(Notes from the YAC Secretary aided preparation of this meeting record)

Participants: YAC members were Andrew Phillips, Miranda Pelikan, Gary Goosman, Stephanie Orlando, Gina Semenza, Rachel Goldmark, Reagan Lynch, Michael Murray, Desmeon Thomas, Amy Litzinger, Matt Cavedon; Others included Marco Rodriguez, (NCD Council Member Liaison), Jeff Rosen (NCD General Council/Director of Policy), Pam O’Leary (NCD staff Interpreter), John Vaughn (NCD Chair); and Adrienne Thal, guest at NCD office.

Call to Order and Roll Call - Dr. G. Hawkins, Designated Federal Official (DFO) Called the meeting to order at 3:07 PM and after the roll call she welcome d every one to the call. She transferred leadership of the meeting to the incoming YAC, Stephanie Orlando.

Reports –
Executive Group (E-board) – Stephanie Orlando, Chair stated that the e-board that is composed of workgroup leaders plus the incoming and outgoing officers during leadership transition as Gina Semenza passes the gavel for the approach of FY2007. A part of the new agenda is recruiting four new members for the full YAC. The application deadline was yesterday and review will begin soon under the incoming Vice Chair Gary Goosman’s leadership for the membership workgroup.  Ms. Orlando also announced that Michael Murray will become new leader of Outreach the workgroup and Andrew serve the policy workgroup.  The e-board will meet on the second and third Thursdays of every month.

The-Policy workgroup is looking for YAC members who are motivated to make improvements on the current benefits system and to educate people about how to use the system for the best advantage.  Andrew Phillips, YAC policy group leader indicated that a youth-friendly and youth perspectives paper on benefits planning is coming along well and is moving ahead. Policy workgroup plans to seek suggestions and ideas about benefits planning system for paper before the final product (paper) is sent out to the full committee for review and comment. The paper will address pros and cons of current disability employment benefits system and make recommendations. More specifically, the group leader’s written report included that people with disabilities sometimes need to maintain certain benefits in order to be successful in the workplace, such as the care of a personal assistant in the mornings and evenings. We have recognized that often people with disabilities get trapped having to chose between keeping benefits while unemployed or taking risks with employment. This paper shall address pros and cons of the current system and suggest methods for improvement. Of course, nothing is black and white; there are systems such as "Ticket to Work" which are supposed to help. We will evaluate some of the federal systems and provide our perspective.

Outreach workgroup - According to Michael Murray, YAC efforts include transitions, certificate of excellence and a disability history project The premise behind the certificates is that they would be presented to people or youth oriented groups (one for a youth) nominated for outstanding service to the disability community. Certificates will include a letter and an award that could be presented to recipients at a face-to-face meeting.  Anticipated deadline for award applications will cover at least three months from the release information date. The disability history project was also discussed. Culture, heritage and disability rights movement are three important parts of disability history. When the idea was discussed during the presence of NCD Council members as a part of the July 25, 2006 face-to-face meeting, YAC was encouraged to pursue this project and to contact NCD’s first Vice Chair for an example of what has been proposed in the state of Texas. The process for moving advisory committee recommendations forward through NCD staff and Council Liaison review was described. According to YAC by-laws, all papers must be submitted to e-board and then NCD for publication. Sending out a paper to Mr. Rosen and Dr. Hawkins also would be a good way to get expert feedback on issues

Announcements and Comments: 

• Announcement of the identity of new YAC members was projected for November 2006.

• Andrew will serve on the NCD employment study and Michael will continue to serve on educational outcomes study teams for NCD.

• YAC’s Chair was recommended by the DFO for the September HSC Transitions summit that will focus on youth issues. Stephanie will serve has also been a provided of input for summit planning

• The DFO expressed sincere appreciation for the quality of work by the outgoing YAC officers Gina Semenza, Amy Litzinger, and Miranda Pelikan. Each
• Future public meeting dates: The next meeting is scheduled for November 14, 2006 at 3:30 PM Eastern Time. Other dates have also been selected and will be in Federal Register for the 2007 calendar year (January 23, 2007; April 24, 2007; July 24, 2006 and September 18, 2007). All public meetings for FY 2007 are scheduled to begin at 3:30 PM eastern time.

-Outgoing officers may become future mentors
-Meeting adjourned 4:07 PM Eastern time

Other people on call:
Dr. Hawkins
Andrain Thal (? On spelling)