WAPG
Home Discussion List Meeting Records List of Members Contact UW Certificate Cert. Board Legislative Issues Public Guardian

WAPG Membership Application

 

WASHINGTON ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSIONAL GUARDIANS MEETING WAPG

New Date: 

MONDAY, JUNE 9, 2008 

1:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Location: Valley View Library 
17850 Military Road South 
SeaTac, WA 98188

Agenda

Washington Association of Professional Guardians

President’s Report

May 9, 2008  

From November 5, 2007 to May 9, 2008 we have had a busy time.  We adopted Bylaws and Articles of Incorporation and were incorporated in the State of Washington as a not for profit corporation on November 24, 2007.  

We have gained respect from the Certification Professional Guardian Board accepting monthly reports and eager for input from CPGs. The University of Washington Extension Program wants our help to evolve the new certification training program.  The Institute for Public Policy wants our help in establishing its evaluation of the Office for Public Guardianship.  And, the National Guardian Association wants us as affiliate members again.

 MEMBERSHIP:

 Glenda Voller reports that there are 83 CPGs who have joined WAPG in less than six months.  There seem to be 258 CPGs in the state last December so we have 32% of the CPGs in the State who are members of WAPG.  

One of the key things for a state association is to find a way to be a state association.  I found it interesting to identify where the 251 CPGs were which I did from the OAC list in November 2007.  The following is that breakdown:  

bullet Puget Sound Area: 133 of 251 or 53%
bulletKing 85, Pierce 36, Thurston 12
bulletNorthwest: 28 of 251 or 11%
bullet Skagit 8, Snohomish 11, Whatcom 9
bulletOlympic Peninsula : 37 of 251 or 15%
bulletKitsap 23, Clallam 5, Grays Harbor 4, Island 2, Jefferson 1, Mason 2
bullet Inland Empire : 37 of 251 or 15%
bullet Spokane 28, Asotin 2, Chelan 2, Benton 2, Okanogan 1, Yakima 1
bullet Southwest Washington : 16 of 251 or 6%
bulletClark 9, Cowlitz 6, Pacific 1

 Not surprisingly, our membership follows a similar pattern:  

bullet Puget Sound Area: King 37, Pierce 21, Thurston 8 – 66 of 83 or 80%
bulletNorthwest: Skagit 3, Snohomish 3 – 6 of 83 or 7%
bulletOlympic Peninsula: Kitsap 3, Grays Harbor 1 -- 4 of 83 or 5%
bulletInland Empire: Spokane 4, Asotin 1, Chelan 1 – 6 of 83 or 7%
bulletSouthwest Washington: Clark 1 – 1 of 83 or 1%

 The big question: How does a State Organization involve members in chapters or meetings across the State when there are not members across the state?

 Another interesting statistic on our membership.  There are 163 individual CPGs and 95 CPGs in Agencies in the state.  WAPG members include 34 individual CPGs and 48 CPGs in Agencies. 

 FINANCIAL REPORT:

 We are in good shape.  Bill Jaback, our Treasurer, has asked Dian on his staff to maintain our records.  The following is their report as of March 31, 2008:

             Inflow:                                      $9,008.58

            Outflow:                                          94.88

            Balance 3-31-08                      $8,913.70

 COMMITTEES:  Our bylaws call for a Committee or task force to be formed when three members indicate an interest and willingness to do something.  This has been confusing to some who want to see regular Committees but don’t want to be on them.  It has been frustrating to others as they are afraid to suggest anything as they will be asked to help in the group.  I believe we have accomplished a lot with this procedure and we have a lot of ideas that would be nice to get going but can’t without people.

 Steering Committee: our first Committee.  Chris Neil, Christopher Fast, Laura Sealey, and Miryam Gordon brought the recommendation on the amount of our application fee.

 Spring Seminar: Leesa Camerota, Christopher Fast, Bill Jaback co chaired the group and planned the Seminar for May 9th.  They have visions for future programs and Leesa has already committed to do a Fall Seminar.  She also believes there should be a permanent committee so the whole education program for CPGs can be planned out and a WAPG education philosophy developed.

 GR 23: Chris Neil, Laura Sealey, Resa Raven, Jamie VanArsdall were a group very committed to getting comments to the Supreme Court on General Rule 23 which governs the Certification Board.  In depth research and analysis and a detailed report provided members with information to send to the Supreme Court.  It also enabled us to meet with representatives of the CPG Board and have some changes recommended to the CPG Board.

 Insurance:  Resa Raven led an effort to understand the CPG Board’s requirement for Insurance and see who was having trouble meeting the requirement.  The main thing that came out was members had sticker shock from the cost of insurance and the majority of those who faced decertification for not getting insurance were getting out of the business anyway.  There is still work to do to make sure the CPG Board and the WAPG members are on the same page with the waivers and exceptions.  With an affiliation with the NGA our members will be able to get a 5% discount on the NGA E & O Insurance.

 CPG Board: Tom O’Brien and Ken Curry have attended the CPG Board meetings and provided reports that have been posted on the WAPG web site.  Several others have attended the CPG Board meetings.  WAPG members on the Board include CPGs John Jardine, Lori Peterson, and Gary Beagle.  WAPG members Michael Longyear and Robin Balsam are attorney/CPGs on the Board as well.  Chris Neil and Ken Curry have been appointed to the CPG Board this month by the Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court.  Ken Curry has been advised that there may be a conflict of interest to serve as an officer of WAPG and a CPG Board member.

 WAPG Web site and WAPG list serve.  Tom O’Brien agreed to continue these two services established in the previous WAPG.  The Web site has a variety of reports and tabs to get to significant web sites.  The WAPG list serve is currently for any CPG that asks to be on it to exchange information and ask questions.

 Nominating Committee: Chris Neil, Lynne Fulp, Lori Petersen, and Scott Malavotte were a dedicated group that met by phone and determined that the interim Officers should be asked to continue if they were interested.

 Legislative Watch: Sylvia Curry did quick web research and found legislation that could impact Guardians and circulated it.  None were passed but the message was clear that CPGs need to get to know their local legislators so we can quickly impact legislation if we need to.

 Data Collection: Ken Curry, Sylvia Curry, Carole Gaherin, and Sharon Johnson provided source data on their clients for the Institute for Public Policy.  The Institute for Public Policy was directed by the Legislature to create an Evaluation Plan for the Office of Public Guardianship.  The Senior Researcher contacted WAPG and our data collection group provided some facts about their clients (in summary fashion) to help the Institute correct its first draft.  There is a possibility that this WAPG group could contract with the IPP to provide a comparison group for the financial evaluation of the OPG.  It would be great to have more members participating in this effort.

 UW Extension:  While not an official group of WAPG, we must be proud of the CPGs who were asked to be on this group to help evolve the new training program for certification.  Gary Beagle, Mimi Hudson , John Jardine, Lexie Lamborn, Amy Miller and Tom O’Brien were asked to help with the effort.  The Director of the program asked to speak at a WAPG meeting and asked WAPG members to comment on the training program as it evolves through web site input.  It is also known that CPGs will be asked to be instructors in the new program.

 POTENTIAL COMMITTEES: Groups that have been suggested but do not have member support yet:

 WAC 388.79:  There is a great need to increase the $175 per month that has been in place for nearly ten years.  With the Legislature allowing the new OPG to pay $400 per month to Public Guardians it seems that the opportunity is ripe to have the RCW reflect the amount instead of the WAC and that a Cost of Living be allowed each year.  Eliminating the MNIL on fees and conform the notice to court rules should also be goals of this group.

 Membership:  A lot of talk and interest but no coordinated effort.  Several members have recruited new members and want to do more.  We gathered several more with our Seminar.

 Speakers Bureau: Identify individuals who will speak at events such as Rotary, Chambers, etc. about Guardianship.

 Pandemic Preparedness:  What part will or can Guardians play when a disaster such as the pandemic flu hits and not only our clients are affected but the staff in the facilities which they live are impacted. You may have noticed that an influential group of physicians in Chicago drafted a grimly specific list of recommendations of who won’t get services:

bulletPeople older than 85
bulletPeople with severe trauma
bulletSeverely burned people older than 60
bulletPeople with sever mental impairment including advanced Alzheimers
bulletPeople with severe chronic disease (heart failure, lung disease, poorly controlled diabetes)

Member Dr. Ken Fernandes is serving on a Pierce County Agency responsible for this disaster preparedness.

 NATIONAL INVOLVEMENT BY MEMBERS OF WAPG:

 Center for Guardianship Certification:  Gary Beagle has just completed a term as President of the CGC and Lexie Lamborn is the new President of CGC.

 PRESIDENTS TOP PROJECTS:  

bulletFind a way to contract with a Public Relations Firm to improve the image of CPGs in the State as well as counter negative press with positive articles on CPGs.
bulletIdentify someone willing to serve as President in the next year or after my one year term expires.
bulletFind a way to have regional chapters with Vice Presidents (if we gather sufficient members) who will gather members together and then bring those opinions to a Board meeting.
bulletFind a way to get WAPG members to share data on their clients so we can provide accurate information to the CPG Board, Legislators, and the Public.