Karuk Tribe of California
Health Board Meeting Minutes
November 4, 2004
Happy Camp
Ayukii,
The meeting was called to order at 5:01 PM by Arch Super, Chairman.
Roll Call
Present
Arch Super, Chairman
Leaf Hillman, Vice Chairman
Florrine Super, Secretary
Leeon Hillman, Treasurer
Roy Arwood, Member
Florence Conrad, Member
Robert Goodwin, Member
Robert Grant, Member
Alvis Johnson, Member
Quorum is established.
The Health Mission Statement was read aloud by Florrine Super, Secretary.
Swearing in of New Council Members
Robert Grant, Sr. and Alvis Johnson were duly sworn in as Council Members to Member at Large positions.
Approval of the Agenda for November 4, 2004
Leaf Hillman moved and Robert Goodwin seconded to approve the Agenda for November 4, 2004. 8 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
1) Approval of the Minutes for October 14, 2004
Leaf Hillman moved and Leeon Hillman seconded to approve the Minutes for October 14, 2004. 4 haa, 0 puuhara, 4 pupitihara.
2) Norman Goodwin
Norman was present to discuss a surgery he recently had. He has a balance that he would like to request they pay. He sent it to Anna and it was denied, it now needs to be presented to the Health Board and if he submits it to Wes he can present it under CHS in closed session.
3) Paula McCarthy
She thanked the Council for the Happy Camp Senior Nutrition Center. She asked when the second Cook will be hired. She states Vi needs help at the Center so that they can do home deliveries. The Council asked about how the program works for staff and non-elders. The staff let them know how many are coming so they can plan ahead and anyone under 60 pays $5 for their meal and it goes back into the Nutrition Center budget.
4) Old Business
None at this time.
5) Steven Burns
Dr. Burns was present to address the Council and speak about the report Leaf submitted to him and requested comments on. It is regarding the effects of the altered diet of Karuk People prepared by Kari Norgaard. He states it is an excellent report and he fully endorses the information contained in it and feels it is an excellent piece of information. It discusses the effects of the altered diet that the Karuk People have suffered through. He states he is not unfamiliar with this as his ancestors came to this country at the turn of the century and he was raised Jewish and can empathize with the genocide the Tribe has suffered. He states that in addition to endorsing this document, from a medical standpoint all information is correct. He states that it also plays into US social trends over the past hundred years. There are breakdowns in communities and nuclear families that contribute to these issues as well. Many children live with one or no parents. There is also irrelevance of Elders in the Anglo culture, they are not treated with the respect they should be. There is disconnection of children from adults, their role models are from video games and television shows. There are also religious trends that compound the injustice to the Karuk people and it creates a great danger to the future generations. He states he does not have answers to the problems. It is clear that restoration of the fisheries is imperative to the Karuk people. Another suggestion is a charter school that many can develop in California. The child is raised at home and is in the same cultural system as they are at home instead of being forced into the State school system. He suggests they look into a charter school for Karuk children for elementary-middle school age children, they can learn curriculum and obtain cultural guidance at the same time. They thanked him for his information and feedback on the report.
6) Marsha Jackson
Maternity leave, due back at the end of November.
7) Joe Snapp
Joe was present to review his written report with the Council. He states the DUI school application was set to be reviewed on November 3, 2004, if approved, it goes on to the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors for approval.
He has one action item regarding the workbooks for his program. The domestic violence books are $25 and the relapse prevention books are $7. Does the Council want to charge the participants for the books? Sometimes when they buy their books they have more buy-in to the program and want to get more from it. The classes could be free with only a charge for the books. They asked if most clients can afford the book. One idea is to have them purchase the books and then when they successfully complete the course, they are reimbursed for their books.
Robert Goodwin moved and Leeon Hillman seconded to charge for the books upon entrance and reimburse them upon successful completion of the program. 8 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
He states he attended the CalWorks meeting in San Diego and there was discussion about the block of dollars available through the CRIHB grant for mental health. He states there is a long list of qualifiers for those dollars that will amount to $2,000 per year, per client. There will also be a list of ancillary services that can be covered with the vouchers. It appears that psychology testing will be required for all clients. That could cost $1,000 before they could even obtain treatment. The list of items to be paid for is not finalized as of this time. Leaf asked who makes the determination on the vouchers, Wes states CRIHB spoke of this at their meeting last month and SAMHSA is the grantee and since the dollars were awarded and the terms are now being changed, CRIHB is really fighting back because it is unfair to change it after the dollars have been awarded. It is SAMHSA that wants to change their structure. Leaf asked if there is anything that CRIHB or Tribes can do to influence them regarding this. Wes states it is still evolving so there is nothing to take a position on yet. He will follow up with Jim Crouch to see if he knows what is going on. Wes will try to meet with Jim next week to get input on what they need to help with fighting these changes.
Florrine Super moved and Florence Conrad seconded to approve Joe’s report. 8 haa, 0 puuhara 0 pupitihara.
8) Lessie Aubrey
Written report only, no action items.
Florence Conrad moved and Florrine Super seconded to approve Lessie’s report. 8 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
9) Vickie Walden
Written report only, no action items.
Florrine Super moved and Robert Goodwin seconded to approve Vickie’s report. 8 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
10) David Eisenberg
Written report only, no action items. Flo states she has been doing Yreka and Happy Camp by herself so that is why the numbers for September are lower as Jim is still out for a couple of weeks.
Leaf asked if anyone would be able to address the flu vaccine situation for the Tribe. Wes states that his understanding is that Happy Camp is the only clinic that has any shots left; Orleans and Yreka have been distributed. They are trying to target Elders and Tribal Members with serious illnesses. They are trying to get more but do not know if they will be able to. Half of the flu vaccine for this year was contaminated at the manufacturing plant so everyone is getting half of what they are used to and trying to ration them to those who truly need them. Dr. Burns states that the County called and is sending 80 doses to Happy Camp that they had left; they could use some of those for Yreka and Orleans to help with the situation. David is using a priority list to get them to those that need them.
Leeon Hillman moved and Florence Conrad seconded to approve David’s report. 8 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
11) Wes Valentine
Wes was present to review his report with the Council. The final count for FY 2004 is $1,779,500 which exceeds their projection of $1,700,000. They also generated an additional $49,246 for Social Services in revenue.
He gave them a printout from the Pharmacy showing numbers for June through October. They are averaging 1,875 prescriptions per month. They had a surprise audit from the California State Board of Pharmacy on Tuesday and everything went well. Mike asked them about MediCal and the inspector had nothing to tell them that was helpful. Wes would like permission to have Barbara Norman prepare a letter to be sent to MediCal to try and get a response from them and CC the letter to Wally Herger. It has been a full year since they applied and still received no response. They asked if they should be targeting their State Assemblyman to help with this as well. Wes would like to do both.
Consensus: To have Barbara Norman prepare the letter regarding the Medical billing number.
He updated them that he spoke with Flo and there are 3 Yreka Elders and 1 in Happy Camp with no response from Orleans currently that would like to attend the Elder’s Gathering in Eureka on November 13, 2004. They would need five hotel rooms to allow them to stay the night before since it starts at 10 AM. Flo states she can check back with Melodee to see if anyone from Orleans wanted to go. She can take them down in the Xterra in case of bad weather also.
Florence Conrad moved and Florrine Super seconded to pay for lodging and provide a vehicle for the Elders to attend the gathering. 8 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
Florrine Super moved and Florence Conrad seconded to approve Wes’ report. 8 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
12) Informational/Requests
None at this time.
13) Committee Reports
None at this time.
Closed Session from 5:55 PM to 9:50 PM
Leaf Hillman moved and Robert Goodwin seconded to approve $970 for burial assistance for Tribal Member #710 from BIA dollars if possible, discretionary if not. 8 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
Leaf Hillman moved and Florrine Super seconded to appoint Florence Conrad as the NCIDC delegate and Verna Reece as the alternate. 8 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
Leaf Hillman moved and Robert Goodwin seconded to accept the recommendation from the C&P Committee to credential and privilege Dr. Janis Madkins, DDS. 8 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
Leaf Hillman moved and Leeon Hillman seconded to uphold the denial and pay $260.42 for Tribal Member #NG from Third Party. 7 haa, 0 puuhara, 1 pupitihara (Robert Goodwin).
Robert Goodwin moved and Florence Conrad seconded to approve Contract 05-C-005 with Dr. Jesse Drake, PhD, LCSW. 8 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
Robert Goodwin moved to terminate the employee effective 11/5. Motion was rescinded following discussion.
Leaf Hillman moved and Leeon Hillman seconded to purchase a non-electric stove/heater for Tribal Elder up to $3,000 from BIA funds. 8 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
Leaf Hillman moved and Robert Goodwin seconded to approve the Fall 2004 Tribal Newsletter for mailing. 8 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
Florrine moved and Florence Conrad seconded to approve up to $2,500 for the Community Christmas Party. 8 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
Consensus: To extend the deadline for grants to one year and set up another class to support what they learned.
Consensus: To allow Leaf to work with DNR and available Contractors to move forward on the possible project through RAC.
Leaf Hillman moved and Robert Goodwin seconded to appoint Robert Grant, Sr. to the ACQI Committee along with Florrine Super. 8 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
Florrine Super moved and Leaf Hillman seconded to appoint Robert Grant, Sr. to the CASA Committee in Robert Goodwin’s place. 8 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
Next Health Board Meeting Date: December 9, 2004 at 5 PM in Happy Camp.
Next Council Meeting Date: WEDNESDAY, December 22, 2004 at 5 PM in Happy Camp.
Leaf Hillman moved and Robert Goodwin seconded to adjourn the meeting at 9:55 PM. 8 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
Yootva,
__________________________________
Arch Super, Chairman
Recording Secretary, Sara Spence