Developmental Disabilities Council - Jan. 26, 2026

***Reminder-council meeting will start recording***
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

• Call to order, establish quorum (4 members present).
• Approval of October 27, 2025 minutes.
• Welcome, guest Teresa Christopherson, Deputy Director, Social Services
  Mileage reimbursement update
• Program Updates – Stacie Mullins or Kim Cota
  Website update regarding licensing transition; advocacy for Developmental Disabilities over recent budget cuts; Presumptive Medicaid.
• QA Department Updates – Amy Butler
  QA Launch; Advisory Council input
• Provider Updates – Sara Lambert
  Background checks, extensions and confusion.
• Other Updates
  Legislation short session omnibus (Sara L.); Case Management System (Stacie); DD Advisory Council By-Laws (Malika)
• DD Advisory Council Membership Update – Amy Butler
  As John’s second term will end June 30, 2026, we will be opening recruitment to fill this spot on the DD Advisory Council very soon. Malika and Amy are working with PGA on this process. Please see recruitment flyer attached in meeting invitation and email.

• Annual Agenda Planning – Sara Lambert
  This will be formatted as a living document in preparation for Chair transition in May 2026. Sara L.’s role as Chair will end May 31, 2026, though her term ends 1/1/2027.

• Point Click Care Update – Kim Cota or Amy Butler
  Opt-out option, contract status and policy.

Open floor (Council)

Public comment (Public)

February 23, 2026, 04:30pm-06:00pm

Next agenda topics: (determined by Annual Plan)

Welcome all, and happy New Year.

Call to order, quorum is established.

Sara L. asks if there are any edits/objections for the October 2025 minutes. There are none.   Sara L. moves to approve the October minutes. Seconded by Sara S.

Stacie mentions that there have been some layoffs/bumps which have impacted staffing across Social Services. As far as our program goes, we have been able to keep our staff by transitioning some into different roles. Each of these staff members have 30 days to show competency in their new roles. Sara L. asks a clarifying question on whether the 30 days still apply to transitioning staff. Stacie answers that this does apply to them, as these staff have not held these new roles before.

Kim updates that the licensing section of our website has changed to reflect the state now overseeing licensing and where to find additional information.  

Stacie and Kim confirm that the County has successfully completed its plan of improvement from ODDS, with a lot of help from Amy Butler through creating the new QA Unit.

Welcome, Teresa Christopherson. Teresa presents the mileage reimbursement packet for vendors/providers/potential DD Advisory Council attendees. This packet and information will be included in the March meeting invitation as well as a separate email to the Council. This is to help support Council members with some travel expenses to and from Council meetings. John makes a note to record that other reimbursement types may be helpful in the future, such as bus/Trimet/Uber reimbursements.  Teresa acknowledged the need and said they would look at what was possible.

Amy updates that QA had begun audit file reviews which will help support the ODDS audits which occur every two years. This will help us keep in compliance and pay attention to the minute details. Since this is so new, the QA unit will devote most this year on surface-level clean up and checking and will dive in more deeply in the years following. John mentions it would be nice to include people or individuals with experience in the QA processes and that it would be interesting to compare County and State metrics down the line.

Lyrra brings up the short session budget cuts, and particularly the concerning potential changes in eligibility qualifiers and how we are advocating against them. Stacie responds that the proposed budget reduction changes are not a done deal and will be voted on during the legislative session. We as the Council cannot advocate against this directly but can express concern and involve County lobbyists who would in turn represent these concerns at the session. Tracy confirms that the Council does have a voice, and that if the Council votes on this, she could involve the County lobbyist. The short session begins 2/2/2026 and goes until 3/15/26. A list of the proposed reductions was sent to the Council 1/24/26 for review and voting on the most concerning issues. Stacie also mentions that we do have some protections against changes in eligibility which must be voted on according to state statutes/approvals and that the State must also have an advisory committee, which it will be forming within the next 30 days. The County emailed the Council with details on how to sign up for this committee on 2/5/26.

 A reminder that you as private citizens can also write letters to advocate.  Lisa L. asks for clarification on what the lobbyist would do and how the Council can use one to advocate, and reminds that this is an urgent, time-sensitive matter which will need to be dealt with prior to the Council’s next meeting.  The DD Advisory Council decides to review the list prior to next meeting and to vote via email on which two topics are most important to the Council currently and to put something together for Tracy as soon as possible (within the next week) so that this may have a chance to be presented to the lobbyist.

The Council agrees to proceed with the email voting and decisions on topics to be sent to Tracy for the lobbyist.

Sara L. moves to table the rest of today’s topics, seconded by John. Through thumbs up, all are in agreement to table.

Tabled to February meeting.

5:20 -

5:40pm

5:40 -

5:45pm

5:45 – 6 pm

• Sara S. will send an email to the Council regarding the Abuse reporting letter about next steps.
• No time for public comment this meeting, with apologies to our Guests.

Meeting adjourned 6:05pm.