OHIO AUTISM TASK FORCE

[Guest guest]

this is Kim ,

Didn't know if anyone replied to your question about the council. I

have talked to the UA rep in Ohio that is working on this - it is a

very new initiative for them but they seem to be very open to public

comments. They chose the " task force " route vs. our governor that

chose the " appointed council " route. Legislation calls for the

council to have an advisory task force but it has never been done

that I can tell.

As far as outstanding questions, Liz Scillian (parent on this list)

has been in touch with Dr. Garnett, the new chairman. Unfortunately

she has not received replies to many questions she has posed to the

Council or to the Governor's office. All these questions relate to

the Council today or in the past so there is no reason for her not

to have received a reply:

1.. Is there an active Council? The Human Resources Code Chapter

114 calls for 7 public members. However under the Appointment

Opportunity List on Governor 's website, it reflects 7

positions available for appointment, that came available 02/01/03?

Will the members holding the 6 other positions be reappointed with

updated expiring terms or will new members be elected and when?

2.. How many terms may a public member be reappointed?

3.. Are appointed public members and agency representatives required

to attend the quarterly meetings in person?

4.. When will detailed information on this Council be included under

Texas Records and Information Locator (TRAIL) (as there is for other

Appointments) on Governor 's website?

5.. Please send a list of the other 6 public members who are on the

Council today including how many are family members of a person with

autism or PDD (as stated in the HR Code), and contact information

for each of them (address, phone, email).

6.. Please send a list of the agency representatives and contact

information for each of them (address, phone, email).

7.. Will the state plan written in 2003 be updated to reflect the

consolidation of the agencies involved?

8.. Has it been decided for sure that the Autism/PDD diagnosis will

fall under the responsibility of the TX DADS Committee? If so, will

the HR Code be updated to reflect that organization as the state

agency primarily responsible for the Council?

9.. Please send all action taken by Governor in response to

the Council during his term in office.

10. Please send records/meeting minutes from the last 2 years

Council meetings. LIZ DID RECEIVE THESE.

11.. Please send copies of written communication and meeting minutes

(phone, in person) statewide from Input from various stakeholders in

which the state plan of 2003 was developed.

12.. How often are the state plans developed? Please send copies of

all state plans created since the Council has been active.

WE KNOW FOR SURE THERE HAVE BEEN AT LEAST 3 DONE IN THE PAST

ACCORDING TO THE MINUTES.

13. Amy Sosa of Texas Federation of Families (and Texas Autism

Advocacy) offered to help set up the regional forums throughout

Texas that you have planned. Please contact her via email at

amy.sosa@.... We want to make sure all parents, educators,

practitioners, service providers, and others have an opportunity to

share their testimony about how to improve services for individuals

with autism.

14. Has there ever been an Advisory Task Force appointed by the

Council as stated in the HR Code?

15.. What recommendations to state agencies have been made in

response to the state plan?

16.. What legislation has been proposed by the Council to develop

and maintain quality intervention and treatment services for all

persons with autism/PDD?

[Guest guest]

this is Kim ,

Didn't know if anyone replied to your question about the council. I

have talked to the UA rep in Ohio that is working on this - it is a

very new initiative for them but they seem to be very open to public

comments. They chose the " task force " route vs. our governor that

chose the " appointed council " route. Legislation calls for the

council to have an advisory task force but it has never been done

that I can tell.

As far as outstanding questions, Liz Scillian (parent on this list)

has been in touch with Dr. Garnett, the new chairman. Unfortunately

she has not received replies to many questions she has posed to the

Council or to the Governor's office. All these questions relate to

the Council today or in the past so there is no reason for her not

to have received a reply:

1.. Is there an active Council? The Human Resources Code Chapter

114 calls for 7 public members. However under the Appointment

Opportunity List on Governor 's website, it reflects 7

positions available for appointment, that came available 02/01/03?

Will the members holding the 6 other positions be reappointed with

updated expiring terms or will new members be elected and when?

2.. How many terms may a public member be reappointed?

3.. Are appointed public members and agency representatives required

to attend the quarterly meetings in person?

4.. When will detailed information on this Council be included under

Texas Records and Information Locator (TRAIL) (as there is for other

Appointments) on Governor 's website?

5.. Please send a list of the other 6 public members who are on the

Council today including how many are family members of a person with

autism or PDD (as stated in the HR Code), and contact information

for each of them (address, phone, email).

6.. Please send a list of the agency representatives and contact

information for each of them (address, phone, email).

7.. Will the state plan written in 2003 be updated to reflect the

consolidation of the agencies involved?

8.. Has it been decided for sure that the Autism/PDD diagnosis will

fall under the responsibility of the TX DADS Committee? If so, will

the HR Code be updated to reflect that organization as the state

agency primarily responsible for the Council?

9.. Please send all action taken by Governor in response to

the Council during his term in office.

10. Please send records/meeting minutes from the last 2 years

Council meetings. LIZ DID RECEIVE THESE.

11.. Please send copies of written communication and meeting minutes

(phone, in person) statewide from Input from various stakeholders in

which the state plan of 2003 was developed.

12.. How often are the state plans developed? Please send copies of

all state plans created since the Council has been active.

WE KNOW FOR SURE THERE HAVE BEEN AT LEAST 3 DONE IN THE PAST

ACCORDING TO THE MINUTES.

13. Amy Sosa of Texas Federation of Families (and Texas Autism

Advocacy) offered to help set up the regional forums throughout

Texas that you have planned. Please contact her via email at

amy.sosa@.... We want to make sure all parents, educators,

practitioners, service providers, and others have an opportunity to

share their testimony about how to improve services for individuals

with autism.

14. Has there ever been an Advisory Task Force appointed by the

Council as stated in the HR Code?

15.. What recommendations to state agencies have been made in

response to the state plan?

16.. What legislation has been proposed by the Council to develop

and maintain quality intervention and treatment services for all

persons with autism/PDD?

[Guest guest]

This is an email from 'The Ohio Autism Task Force'

Message:

As we approach the Rally on Wednesday, April 13th 10 AM, we want to

get the word out to as many people as possible. To that extent we

are going to have a registration drive for the Ohio Autism Taskforce

(OAT) website (http://www.ohioautismlegislation.org).

What we want to do is use a chain email. If each registered

Advocate forwards the email to at least five people (hopefully more)

who you think would be interested and each of them forwarded onto

five more people, we would easily reach over 5,000 people.

Ideally the registration drive letter should be forwarded to as

many " friends of Autism " as possible.

Given the current budgetary pressure Ohio is facing, Autism related

services such as those we have outlined in the OAT recommendations

are in danger of being either eliminated, cut back or not enacted.

Since Autism treatment services can be a great financial burden on

our families, it is very important this rally be successful.

I have drafted a registration drive letter and I have one more key

person to review it. I expect her feedback this week. Once the

letter is approved I'll send it and when we each do our part, I

expect we will easily reach our registration targets.

Thank you again for being an Advocate,

-Mike Holstein