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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTransportation Coordination Committee - Minutes - 2/17/20211 BAYFIELD COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES TRANSPORTATION COORDINATING COMMITTEE MICROSOFT TEAMS MEETING February 17, 2021 3:30-4:30 Committee Members Present: Jeremy Oswald, Mary Dougherty, Samantha Ray, Carla Becker, Carrie Linder, Beth Probst, Perri Campbell-Shuga, Committee Members Excused: Jeff Benton, Carol Salminen, Committee Member Absent: Staff Present: Mark Ables-Allison, Carrie Linder, Jenise Swartley Other Present: Shari Nutt, Pat Daoust, 1. Call to Order and Introductions Mary Dougherty called the meeting to order at 3:34 PM. 2. Discussion and Possible Action - Review of the January 20th, 2021 Meeting Minutes Motion by Mary, second by Jeremy to approve the minutes, motion carried. 3. Private Transportation Presentation - Bay Mobility, Bay Mobility Founder/Owner Carla Becker Carla discussed her story of founding and owning Bay Mobility. Her background in caretaking revealed the need for transportation services that provide the additional care needed by elders and people with disabilities when receiving a ride (i.e., helping them out the door, getting their shoes on and walker ready, helping people into the bathroom during long trips). One of her goals in starting Bay Mobility was to relieve stress from family members and free up the time of the caretakers in this area by providing transportation services that include the care elders and people with disabilities need to get out the door. Providing proper training for their employees is key to making their approach to transportation possible. In addition to training, it is important for the employees to have someone to call to say, “this is happening, what should I do?” The primary things she learned and was challenged by in the process of starting a transportation business include: ● Finding insurance to cover the liability of providing these additional services. ● Navigating and finding the financial resources people can use to cover the cost of the rides provided by Bay Mobility. The more relationships they make, the more they find pockets of money here and there to assist people. ● Figuring out the price point she needs to charge for rides to cover everything from van maintenance to living wages. Primary funding sources include Inclusa, Salvation Army vouchers for MMC, the cancer center’s grant program for transportation services, some private pay, some North Country for Independent Living vouchers, Medicaid (MTM). MTM has been hard to work with because of communication issues. The group discussed the possibility of training volunteers to provide some of the additional services Bay Mobility provides. Can volunteers be trained to handle more complex situations? In non-COVID times, the County contracts those cases to other agencies, such as Bay Mobility, and the specialized Approved at the 3/16/21 TCC meeting 2 transportation grant covers the costs. Those funds cover the current need, but if more people know about the services available, those funds may not be enough. 4. 5-year Transportation Plan and TCC Goals - Review and refine TCC’s goals Possible goals and focus areas for this committee: a. Support startup private transportation providers How can this committee support smart growth in the private transportation sector? There is a need for more startup businesses like Bay Mobility. b. Support family and friend networks who want to provide transportation for each other Is it possible to have vehicles that can be lent to family members who don't have reliable transportation? Can that be billed through Inclusa or MTM at a different rate? Carla thinks Family Care (Inclusa) would be open to having that conversation and building a system to do that. Bad River purchased a van that they are renting out to tribal members. Maintenance costs are high for this program. Pat has a van that he would like to do this with, but the maintenance costs are a deterrent. Pat will find out more information about Bad River’s van rental program. The cost of gas is another barrier--The BRICK receives requests for gas cards almost daily (they don’t provide them). They used to do gas cards, but it was too hard to manage. MTM does reimburse for gas. c. Train a volunteer base to handle more complex needs d. Marketing e. Funding streams 5. Discuss next action steps –presentation on voucher programs and continue to refine goals Future Meeting Date Next meeting March 16th at 3:30 PM. 6. Adjournment Motion by Mary, second by Carla to adjourn at 3:34, motion carried. Minutes respectfully submitted by Jenise Swartley.