[nfbmi-talk] Fw: System 7 issues
joe harcz Comcast
joeharcz at comcast.net
Thu Dec 16 02:02:30 UTC 2010
God Bless Bernie!
Joe
----- Original Message -----
From: "Larry Posont" <president.nfb.mi at gmail.com>
To: "nfbmi List" <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, December 15, 2010 8:46 PM
Subject: [nfbmi-talk] Fw: System 7 issues
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Kramer, Bernie (DELEG)" <kramerb at michigan.gov>
> To: "Larry Posont" <president.nfb.mi at gmail.com>
> Cc: "Silky, Karyn (DELEG)" <silkyk at michigan.gov>; "Kisiel, Lisa (DELEG)"
> <kisiell at michigan.gov>
> Sent: Wednesday, December 15, 2010 6:36 PM
> Subject: RE: System 7 issues
>
>
> Mr. Posont,
>
> Larry,
>
> I feel humbled in thanking you for your kind remarks. I am indeed
> honored by your compliments and feel I'm leaving before the job
> is done. It is just Larry, that it's time to go.
>
> In terms of personal situations I am a first generation American German
> Jew, born in NYC but faced tremendous prejudice as I grew up
> in rural New York State. The community had many Nazi's living in the
> area. I know it's not the same issue; but that is why I have
> always fought for what is right.
>
> I have the highest professional respect for Karyn Silky. I believe you
> are right on target. Her expertise in all facets of Blind
> and Low Vision qualifications are exemplary. I think what we both are
> frustrated with is the Politic that I wrote about. We cannot
> as an organization get beyond those issues. I would stand this Staff up
> against any in State Government. They are a special group
> of professionals willing to go to the edge to ensure services are offered.
>
> Until this Management team trusts it's staff, all the learning
> opportunities I was offered by John Victory just will not allow this
> organization to move Forward. The tragic part of all this is that my
> friend and brother, Tony Van Staveren, and I to an extent,
> determined we could no longer "fight the fight".
>
> You may know I have faced many health challenges the past two years. In
> the early 2000's Tony Van Staveren and I took a lot on by
> ourselves. I thought we were making progress, but I take you back to my
> remarks of yesterday's message.
>
> I would appreciate it if I can remain on the NFB of MI distribution list.
> This address expires 29 Dec 10 and new address for you is
> bpkramer45 at gmail.com
>
> What I will look back on is the tremendous folks I was blessed to have
> spent the best part of my day with; for 15 years. I continue
> to learn about Blindness.
>
> God willing I hope to attend next year's state conference.
>
> All the Best.
>
> Regards,
>
> Bernie
> ________________________________________
> From: Larry Posont [president.nfb.mi at gmail.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, December 15, 2010 11:32 AM
> To: Gobert, Trendell (DELEG); Gonzales, Longino; GoodingS at michigan.gov;
> Greenacre, Lee (DELEG); Greenwald, David; Griggs, Wylea
> (DELEG); Grover, Dan (DELEG); Haines, Ed (DELEG); Hall, Tom; Harrington,
> Karen (DELEG); Haynes, Carla (DELEG);
> HeibeckS at michigan.gov; Henshaw, Connie (DELEG); Hoskins, Joanne; Hough,
> Tami (DELEG); Hoy, Tina (DELEG); Hull, James (DELEG); Ippel,
> Mary (DELEG); Jones, Louise; Kisiel, Lisa (DELEG); Klimp, Hertha (DELEG);
> Kramer, Bernie (DELEG); Lapekas, Nancy (DELEG);
> Laury-Johnson, Shawnese (DELEG); Love, Pat (MDE); Lujan-Roberts, Betty
> (DELEG); Lukose, Aliyamma (DELEG); Lurry, Alicia (DELEG);
> Luzenski, Sue (DELEG); Mahony-Bierlein, Holly (DELEG); Marshall, Pattijo;
> Martin, Carol; Masion, Shelley (DELEG); McCall, Roberta
> (DELEG); McClure, Morgan; McEntee, John (DELEG); McInnis, Janet (DELEG);
> McNeal, Gwen (DELEG); McVoy, Shannon (DELEG); Meadows,
> Faith (DELEG); Merwin, Gayle (DELEG); Moss, Corda (DELEG); Movalson,
> Christine (DELEG); Nelson, King (DELEG); Neubaum, Marla
> (DELEG)
> Cc: Larry Posont
> Subject: System 7 issues
>
> National Federation of the Blind of Michigan
>
> 20812 Ann Arbor Trail
>
> Dearborn Heights, MI 48127
>
>
>
> December 15, 2010
>
>
>
> Dear Jo Ann,
>
>
>
> Below are 2 emails from 2 of the most dedicated people in the MCB. They
> are speaking out about one more system within MCB that is
> broken. As you are aware, much of the relationship with RSA is data
> driven. That is, the agency performance is measured and
> evaluated in quantitative measures. There are few, if any qualitative
> measures.
>
>
>
> The RSA recently completed a monitoring report which was a very poor
> reflection on the agency. As you read the comments from Karyn
> Silky, you can sense her frustration as she tries to do her work and
> cannot do it efficiently and meet the demands of the
> administrative management information system (System 7). As she points
> out, even the accounting is broken. She cannot charge costs
> to the proper accounts. If these are not caught and manually corrected,
> RSA will, again, find that MCB is misappropriating funds.
> The bottom line here is that System 7 is failing.
>
>
>
> If that were the only major administrative problem in MCB it would be very
> serious and demand immediate and drastic action.
> Unfortunately, this is only one among at least 4 other systems that have
> failed within the past year. Or should I say, more
> correctly, which have been reported in the past year. Certainly the
> monitoring report covers a broader time span and shows ongoing
> mismanagement by the Director.
>
>
>
> Here is a brief recap of some of the failed and broken systems at MCB:
>
>
>
> 1.. 37 MCBTC staff are sitting idle and did so all last week at a cost of
> more than $75000/week, because there was inadequate
> planning to anticipate issues that may arise in commencing a major
> construction project. This project has been in some stage of
> planning since around 2005; it did not sneak up on anyone. This failure
> alone ought to be enough to demand drastic action from the
> board. It is easy to predict that Pat will blame Melody Lindsey,
> Christine Boone or Sherri Heibeck. He will not ever take
> responsibility for anything. Who is accountable?
>
>
> 2.. The Business Enterprise Program is in meltdown. With 15 facilities
> on the bid line and not enough blind people trained to
> fill these positions it is just going to continue to cause major problems
> for MCB. Sooner or later, there will be a major incident
> someplace which will create public relations problems and possibly attract
> negative legislature attention.
>
>
> The last BEP training class of only 8, had no one in charge. Trainees
> were left to sit unsupervised with no assignments and no
> oversight. An interpreter at $40/hour was allowed to sit while the person
> for whom they were to interpret had no activity. Fred
> Wurtzel, the retired BEP administrator called James Hull and offered to
> supervise the class during John McEntee's absence. No
> teacher was apparently better than a 20 year veteran. There have been
> talks of early retirements for years. It could be
> anticipated that such an event would occur, yet there was absolutely no
> planning. This is difficult to understand, since placements
> of blind clients are down and there allegedly very few jobs, except there
> 15, today in the Business Enterprise Program. Who will
> take the fall for this. Will anyone take responsibility? Will anyone be
> held accountable? Certainly not Pat Cannon, Heaven
> forbid.
>
>
>
> 3.. The RSA monitoring report showed a monumental lack of oversight and
> numerous instances of violations of the law and rules. It
> is alleged that RSA is wrong and MCB is not to blame. It is doubtful if
> this argument will hold water. Consumers have brought many
> of these issues to the attention of the Commission Board, the MCB director
> and various staff people over the years. Some of these,
> consumers could not easily detect, like misappropriation of funds by
> serving ineligible clients below the age of 14. Pat alleged in
> a meeting with the NFB that he provided a copy of the preliminary
> monitoring report to you, Jo Ann, more than a year ago. You have
> denied having a copy. I'm not sure of the truth, here. It certainly
> appears that Pat is, again, dumping responsibility on you and
> not taking his own responsibility. Who will be blamed for this? Will it
> be Leamon, the MCB Board, and the counselors or, as we
> heard, it is RSA's fault. Amazing!
>
>
> 4.. Back to System 7. This is the very heart of managing the MCB. RSA
> will use data from System 7 to evaluate the agency
> performance.
>
>
> 5..
>
>
> 6.. Yesterday, in the Services Delivery Design Team meeting staff
> expressed much dissatisfaction with System 7 and MAIN. it was
> mentioned that blind staff, after how many years, now, still cannot do
> many of the administrative tasks which most state employees
> must do either as a regular part of their job or as incidental parts of
> carrying out their duties. For example blind staff in state
> government cannot even complete their own time sheets, let alone do a
> large number of tasks required for state jobs. The Commission
> may become the only place where blind people can work if they need to use
> MAIN. The whole "MAIN" system is inaccessible and Pat
> cannon is the state ADA coordinator. Michigan is at risk for a giant ADA
> suit such as the ones in Arkansas and New york. These
> states had exactly the same problem with their statewide accounting
> systems. Is the Governor aware of this threat? Pat Cannon
> cannot even advocate for his agencies' constituency, himself or anyone
> else it seems. Who is at fault for this system failure? It
> must be Connie Zanger, right? She has been doing the job for the past few
> months and did not fix it. Or, could it be Sherri
> Heibeck? She was in charge for several years. Or is it Libera? Did they
> follow the MCB specifications incorrectly? Or, is it
> DTMB for not monitoring the system progress. Oh, how about Pat Cannon?
> Could he, as administrator be accountable? No, he is no
> computer guru, so it must be someone else.
>
>
> These are just 4, (did I say "just" 4?) items that, in most places of
> employment just 1 problem of the magnitude of these would have
> caused major disciplinary action, that are plaguing MCB Yet, given all
> these, you just gave this man a satisfactory job rating.
> This seems inconceivable.
>
>
>
> How about some other items like the firing of Christine Boone on false
> pretenses with no MCB Board oversight, though the board is
> the direct supervisor of the Director and P.A. 260 calls for such
> oversight, 2 instances of breaking and entry into the MCB office
> where computers were stolen, allegations of misuse of travel by a staff
> person, questions about BEP inventories, questions about bep
> judge shopping resulting in overturned administrative hearings? How many
> more do you need?
>
>
>
> Read both Bernie's and Karin's messages. They are afraid of reprisals.
> Pat Cannon has managed by bullying and intimidation. Why
> should an employee be afraid to report problems with the software they are
> depending on to do their jobs? This is the very software
> the agency will depend on to report accurately to RSA to account for the
> $20 million the agency is entrusted with each year to serve
> blind people. Fear is the management style of preference and as you can
> see from the list above it is not very effective as a
> strategy. When will someone take responsibility? Are blind people so
> inconsequential that a person earning more than 120000 per
> year is allowed to behave in any manner they choose wit impunity?
>
>
>
> It is up to you. We are depending on you as the legally appointed body to
> oversee the Commission to take charge. When will this
> madness stop and who will stop it?
>
>
>
> Sincerely
>
>
>
> Larry Posont, President
>
> National Federation of the Blind of Michigan
>
> 517-482-1800
>
> Email: president.nfb.mi at gmail.com
>
> Web page
>
> www.nfbmi.org
>
>
>
> Subject: RE: System 7 issues
>
> All,
>
> Good afternoon.
>
> Is this another case of Manager's making decisions WITHOUT ANY INPUT OF
>
> STAFF?
>
> I can't even count the number of times we have just shoved stuff down the
> chain,
>
> (in our case the West Region) to Field
>
> Staff and
>
> Administrative Support
>
> .
>
> What affect does this have on the overall push down to us; to increase
> Competitive
>
> Closures?
>
> There most surely is POLITIC with this latest decision to revamp System 7?
> It must
>
> have to do with funding to LIBERA? Appease RSA?
>
> Does anyone hear, or read of staff and
>
> administrative support
>
> input to the latest from Libera? Does anyone care about this
>
> Staff
>
> ; BUT, particularly here in the West Region? Kisiel and I do! Some of
> the West
>
> Staff may not agree with me; and that's OK.
>
> How much more can this agency from Commissioner's, right down thru the
> "THE CHAIN
>
> OF COMMAND" ask of this
>
> Staff?
>
> For one time can we be straight and honest to the hardest worker's we
> have? OK;
>
> worker's may not be a good title but is this how MANAGEMENT sees it's
>
> front line employees
>
> ? Sherry Gordon, Lisa Kisiel and the writer have always tried to put our
>
> STAFF first. We tried
>
> but maybe never enough
>
> , to stand up to what we felt was right? I always lived with FEAR, i.e.,
> what can
>
> "they" do to me? And, I am a former Colonel in the United States Army.
>
> I have sat by for many days now; first thinking WHAT CAN THEY DO TO ME if
> I respond?
>
> In good
>
> conscience I have to
>
> ! I have the highest of respect for the professionalism that Karyn Silky
> and ALL
>
> STAFF of this agency bring to the table.
>
> For so many years I supported the Director's approach which began upon
> arrival in
>
> 1999. As a Manager I became a learning person as was suggested to me, not
> by my
>
> Boss then; but the Director. Eleven years ago I honored that attempt.
>
> It pains me to see after these eleven years, that I have to ask;
>
> have we made any progress
>
> ? THIS IS A BURNED OUT FIELD STAFF in the West Region.
>
> BERNIE P. KRAMER
>
> West Region Manager
>
> Michigan Commission For The Blind
>
> 350 Ottawa NW
>
> Grand Rapids, MI
>
> 616-356-0183
>
> Subject: System 7 issues
>
> Julia,
>
> First, thanks for being patient with all of us as we struggle through this
> mess.
>
> My comments below are not directed toward you, please know that.
>
> My first question is why can't we be allowed to view all consumers who are
> in the
>
> System? I needed to check to see if someone from the other side of the
> state was
>
> currently open etc. for a new referral that came in with the same first
> and last
>
> name, and I was not able to view any case information because I wasn't
> assigned to
>
> the case.
>
> If the response is that the counselor assigned to the case must change it,
> then this
>
> is just not acceptable. What if the counselor/teacher doesn't do it in a
> timely
>
> fashion? What if the person assigned to the case has retired? Doesn't
> Libra understand
>
> how this complicates service delivery for consumers? Not everyone sits at
> their
>
> desk 8-10 hours per day - most, if not all of us, are out in the field for
> the majority
>
> of the week.
>
> Secondly - why can't our support staff be able to do IPE amendments for
> counselors/teachers?
>
> Apparently the counselor/teacher assigned to the case must do the IPE
> amendment,
>
> approve it then our support staff can follow through and do an
> authorization. Again,
>
> this is not allowing us to do our jobs in a timely manner. It's not that
> support
>
> staff are actually writing the auth - it's that some of us might
> call/email in a
>
> request to have support staff input the information into system, with all
> the particulars,
>
> when we can't access or get to the system for various reasons like being
> on the road.
>
> If timely service delivery is being asked of staff, this problem does not
> make it
>
> very feasible. It's insane that all of the methods we used to have in the
> old version
>
> aren't still there. The new requirement to go into the IPE and Amendments
> and date
>
> when services were rendered and the outcomes is also a huge issue. How
> are we supposed
>
> to know when this has been done if we didn't have the case when original
> services
>
> were planned? This process does not make our system "efficient" - it is
> taking an
>
> incredible amount of time for staff to even do a simple IPE amendment.
> Case note
>
> entries should document that services were rendered. Sounds to me like
> someone doesn't
>
> want to review case files to get this information and want a "quick fix".
>
> I'm concerned that management does not have a full grasp on how difficult
> this "upgrade"
>
> has made our jobs. I would suggest that those supervisors without case
> loads sit
>
> down and try to muddle through this mess and get things done in a timely
> fashion.
>
> I mean actually try to write an IPE amendment, try to print one out and
> see what
>
> happens, try to do an authorization, add a new consumer, try to find an
> existing
>
> consumer etc. . . and do this without having all the rights that you
> likely would
>
> have. The upgrade is not acting like it did in training nor is it working
> like it
>
> did during the testing phase. I'm appalled that there doesn't seem to be
> an upper
>
> management statement being made to Libra about the urgency of fixing these
> issues
>
> if not taking us back to the old way of doing things. If it is being done
> on the
>
> Director or upper management level, it would be nice for staff to know
> that this
>
> is happening - communicate with us on what is being asked to be fixed or
> corrected,
>
> let us know that you are all supporting our concerns. I know that I am
> speaking
>
> for most if not all of my colleagues when I say that we are fed up, tired
> and angry
>
> with what has been occurring.
>
> My last issue is huge and has been asked of Libera already, but is
> creating a serious
>
> problem - staff (all staff) must be able to plan and do authorizations
> from the appropriate
>
> accounting codes. Can't anyone see that when authorizations are being
> done, they
>
> are being pulled from AARA funds versus VR because it can't be changed?
> What about
>
> YLV students - what if they are VR and we need to do both YLV
> authorization as well
>
> as a VR service? It won't let you do this. Why are we being required to
> do ILOB
>
> plans when only IL was supposed to have plans. While I'm on it, what is
> the definition
>
> of an IL consumer versus a homemaker? When do we serve someone as IL and
> not VR
>
> homemaker? This question was asked during the testing phase of the
> upgrade when
>
> we learned there would be a split in the funding for IL/ILOB. That was
> months ago.
>
> How can you implement a new approach to fund and serve IL/ILOB without
> defining for
>
> us what that means? Leamon, you must address this issue because there
> will be and
>
> possibly are consumers out there not getting services through general IL
> who have
>
> the right to services and/or are being put in the wrong program.
>
> This "upgrade" is not an upgrade - it is a completely new system.
> Upgrades only
>
> fix minor issues - not create disasters.
>
> I feel sorry for whoever will be in charge of gathering financial data at
> the end
>
> of Fiscal 2011 because the way things are going, nothing will be accurate.
>
> My appeal to all staff who are trying to use this system is this - if you
> are struggling
>
> with all of these issues, let management know directly via email or phone
> calls.
>
> Specific issues must be identified to them and how it is impacting your
> job, how
>
> long it is taking to do tasks (literally track the time) is absolutely
> necessary
>
> in order for users of the system to get our point across.
>
> I might be putting my neck on the line sending this, but frankly, I don't
> care anymore.
>
> Karyn
>
>
> --
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