DHHCAN Meeting Minutes

January 6, 2010

Present:  Claude Stout (TDI) (Chair); Cheryl Heppner (ALDA) (Vice Chair); Rosaline Crawford (NAD) (Secretary/Treasurer); Art Roehrig (AADB); Al Sonnenstrahl (ADARA); Cheri Dowling (ASDC); Barbara Raimondo (CEASD); Karen Peltz Strauss (CSD); Sam Sonnenstrahl (GUAA); Fred Beam (NBDA); Kelby Brick (Purple); Janet Bailey (RID); Mary Lightfoot (RID); Ron Burdett (Sorenson); Paul Kershisnik (Sorenson); Mike Maddix (Sorenson); and Samuel Jones (consumer).

The Chair called the meeting to order at 1:15 p.m.

Minutes:  The minutes of the meeting held on December 2, 2009, were approved as read.

Officers’ Reports:

Chair

• Welcomed everyone back after the holidays. 
• “Old business” agenda items include election of officers and establishing committee to review and make recommendations to update the bylaws in 2010.
• A group picture of DHHCAN member representatives will be taken at the end of this meeting.

Vice Chair

Reported that, from her work with the FCC DTV “lessons learned” working group, it seems that industry is more understanding of the problems with HDMI and future versions may have the ability to transmit closed captioning codes for decoding and display by televisions.

Secretary/Treasurer

Thanked the members who paid their invoices for DHHCAN dues by December 31, 2009.  Reminders will be sent to members who did not.  The balance in the DHHCAN bank account, after depositing dues received, is $35,744.

Committee Reports:

Technology & Telecommunications

• FCC issued a four-month waiver on December 4, 2009, to permit toll free 800 numbers in the Internet Telecommunications Relay Service (iTRS) number database.  The waiver will expire on April 4, 2010.  FCC needs to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM), if necessary, to address this issue, but there may be enough information in the record to make a permanent change to permit 800 numbers in the iTRS number database.
• Joel Gurin is the new Chief of the FCC Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau (CGB).  He started mid-December 2009. 
• Summary presented of the FCC Workshop on VRS Reform, held December 17, 2009.  Claude Stout (TDI), Karen Peltz Strauss (CSD), Rosaline Crawford (NAD), Sheri Farinha (CCASDHH), and Sharon Hayes (VRSCA) participated on the panel.  The NAD will follow up with Mark Stone, Deputy Chief, CGB, to learn more about the FCC’s plans to hold additional workshops for VRS providers and interpreters, issue NPRMs, or take other actions.
• The issue of FCC/NECA withholdings of payment to VRS providers for certain types of VRS calls was raised and discussed.  Issues discussed included the types of calls implicated, result of restricting access, functional equivalency, consumer complaints, NECA, the FCC, VRS reform, and further actions that may be undertaken by providers and consumer groups.
• CSDVRS filed letter with FCC on January 5, 2010, seeking resolution and clarification of FCC/NECA payment withholdings for conference calls involving both deaf and hearing participants. 
• COAT is working hard to see that H.R. 3101 is passed this year.  DHHCAN member support is welcome and needed.  AADB requested that the provision of funding for telecommunications equipment for people who are deaf-blind permit and include consumer training.

Education

• The Department of Education is still accepting comments now on reauthorization of the Education and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). 
• CEASD met with the Department of Education in January and submitted comments on the Department’s “race to the top” program that asks states how to improve assessments.
• CEASD and the Council of Schools for the Blind (COSB) finished a joint statement on schools for the deaf and schools for the blind.  Update:  The joint statement recognizes the economic crisis, but notes some responses raise legal (IDEA) and human rights concerns, and calls on interested parties to oppose any efforts to close or restrict schools for the deaf or schools for the blind.  See http://www.ceasd.org/acrobat/CEASD_COSB.pdf (January 8, 2010). 

Rehabilitation

• ADARA is still interested in restoring a position in the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) to focus on deaf-related issues in vocational rehabilitation.  Will be put on agenda for next meeting to consider forming a committee to develop recommendations for DHHCAN action.

Transportation

• No new report.
• Chair will send final DHHCAN airline access guidelines to members for posting on websites.  Update:  the “DHHCAN Airline Travel Action Guide 2009 Summary” and the “DHHCAN Airline Travel Action Guide 2009” (one document) is available online at http://www.tdi-online.org/pdfs/DHHCAN_AirTravel_2009_guide.pdf. 

Emergency Preparedness

No report.

Health & Human Services

No report.

Old Business: 

• Election of officers for 2010, by unanimous vote, resulted in the following:  Chair – Claude Stout; Vice Chair – Cheryl Heppner; and Secretary/Treasurer – Rosaline Crawford.
• Establishing a committee to undertake a review of and make recommendations to update the bylaws in 2010 was postponed to the February meeting.

New Business: 

A group photograph of DHHCAN member representatives was taken at the end of this meeting.

Meeting adjourned at 3:00 p.m. 

The next meeting will be held in the Ole Jim on Wednesday, February 3, 2010. 

Rosaline Crawford

Secretary/Treasurer