Developmental Disabilities Council - June 22, 2026

Agenda

FACILITATOR Chris Goff
NOTE TAKER Malika Renard

• Lyrra Fox (indiv/family), term ends 9/30/27
• Christina Goff (indiv/family), term ends 9/30/27
• Colleen Johnston (indiv/family), term ends 5/1/27
• Sara Lambert (provider), term ends 1/1/27
• Lisa Ledson (indiv/family member), term ends 12/1/27
• John Merrick (advocate), term ends 6/30/26
• Sara Szwarc (indiv/family), term ends 5/1/27
• Ann Wilkinson (provider), term ends 9/30/27
• Amy Butler (CDDP employee)
• Kim Cota (CDDP employee)
• Stacie Mullins (CDDP employee)
• Malika Renard (CDDP employee)
• Tracy Garrel (Social Services Division Director)

4:30 – 5:00 pm
***Reminder-council meeting will start recording***

• Call to order, establish quorum (5 members present).
• Approval of May 18, 2026 minutes.
• Farewell to John Merrick-Russell
• Program Updates – Stacie Mullins or Kim Cota
• QA Department Updates (Bylaws) – Amy Butler
• Resource Fair Volunteers – Amy Butler
• Recruitment (flyers) – Lyrra Fox

5:00 - 5:20 pm
Overview of the next 6-mo agenda – Chris Goff

5:20 - 5:30 pm
Abuse Registry Updates - Sara S.

5:30- 5:45 pm
Expenditure guidelines/training – Lyrra Fox

5:45 – 6 pm
Open floor (Council) Public comment (Public)

Next Meeting
September 28, 2026, 04:30 pm-06:00 pm 
Next agenda topics: TBD

Next Meeting:

• Recruitment update
• Develop Annual Plan for the next year (2027/28)
• Emergency Preparedness - Sara L.
• Empowerment & Rights/Self Advocacy- John Merrick

Minutes

FACILITATOR: Sara Lambert
NOTE TAKER: Malika Renard

Present:

• Lyrra Fox (indiv/family), term ends 9/30/27
• Christina Goff (indiv/family), term ends 9/30/27
• Sara Lambert (provider), term ends 1/1/27
• Lisa Ledson (indiv/family member), term ends 12/1/27
• Sara Szwarc (indiv/family), term ends 5/1/27
• Ann Wilkinson (provider), term ends 9/30/27
• John Merrick-Russell
• Amy Butler (CDDP employee)
• Stacie Mullins (CDDP employee)
• Malika Renard (CDDP employee)
• Tracy Garrel (Social Services Division Director)

Absent:

• Colleen Johnston (indiv/family), term ends 5/1/27
• Kim Cota (CDDP employee)

Guest:

• Kelsi Alexander

4:30 – 5:15 pm    

Call to order, quorum is established.

Approval of May minutes. Sara S. abstains. Minutes approved.
Welcome guest Kelsi Alexander from Leaps & Bounds agency.

On his last official Council meeting, John speaks to the Council. We are fortunate to have worked with you here John! Thank you!

The Children’s Extraordinary Needs (CEN) program is expanding statewide by about 75%. The program allows parents to be paid for children’s care when they have very high needs. The DD QA team monitors the CEN program for compliance.

SM also mentions the DD program is waiting on the development of a Caseload Model which funds our program. This will capture the work that we do and will eventually help determine our budget.

The new Case Management System (CMS) will begin rolling out in the fall at smaller counties in the state. Clackamas County will be among the last to roll out, so not for a few months yet.

The DD Program is running a current recruitment with 6 vacancies over all three case management teams!

The QA unit’s analysts have been diligently auditing internal files and this has shown us some areas where there is room for improvement.

Program policies are being updated and developed, and the program may need the DD Advisory Council’s help in the fall when those are closer to final. The Notification of Planned Action (NOPA) policy is next, and the County should have something to show the DD Council in September.

DD Advisory Council Bylaws are updated but still need to be approved by BCC. Please look at the draft provided during the meeting for input. Brief Council Bylaws review together.

DD Advisory Council recruitment will close on 8/31/2026. MR will be sending an update after that date. Lyrra would appreciate it if flyers could be distributed during the Resource Fair, geared more toward clients and accessible.

Amy verifies volunteer schedule for 6/27/26. You may come a few minutes early if you wish. Thank you so much for volunteering!

5:15 - 5:45pm
    
The letter has been reviewed by Tracy Garrel and Mary Rumbaugh. Sara asks if now would be a good time to send it up the chain to Acacia McGuire Anderson, the new ODDS Director and Cheryl Ramirez, Director of AOHCMP. After minor edits made with Lisa L., Kim has taken responsibility for getting the letter to these directors and would therefore has a better sense of where the letter is at (Kim is out this meeting). Acacia has acknowledged receipt of the letter and Brent Watkins, the new Executive Director of the Oregon Council on Developmental Disabilities (OCDD) has requested to be invited to the September DD Advisory Council meeting. Tracy G. asks that we follow up with Cheryl Ramirez and include Dawn Alisa Sadler in the conversation as well.

5:45 – 6 pm

Lyrra F. brings up a concern regarding alleged misleading information given to clients from Brokerage PAs. There is a publicly available Expenditure Guideline workbook, but leaving all interpretation to clients creates challenges and potential wrong information. Perhaps we could move this to a specific future Agenda topic to explore this further.

If you have any interest in joining the Community outreach program, please get in touch with Ann!

Motion to adjourn, seconded. Adjourned.