DAY ONE . . . . . .

David Caulfield (Ancaster) acted as moderator of the meeting. He welcomed the attendees and explained the procedure for discussion, voting, etc. Lesley Russell (Hamilton) volunteered to take minutes.

• It was agreed that an item be added to the agenda - the purchasing of databases by "outside" agencies
• It was noted that, in accordance with the By-Laws, a quorum of ACICO members was present
• It was agreed that the minutes would record only that a motion was made and seconded, and the result of the vote. Mover and Seconder names were not required to be recorded

1. Update on ACICO Status

• FINANCES:

David Caulfield is our voluntary financial administrator.
A storage area has been rented for ACICO materials.
In terms of the financial statements, approximately $16,000 of the identified equity is committed to payouts related to the Solicitor General Project (Victim Support Line) to the end of September.

• BOARD OF DIRECTORS:

There are currently six Board members plus Monica Stewart in her role as Past-President. More volunteers are urgently needed on the Board. (See the  Board of Directors page for current status and members.)

• ACICO OFFICE:

As of the end of September, 1997, there is no office.

• BOARD LIABILITY INSURANCE

This insurance was not renewed by the carrier. The Board will continue to pursue liability insurance from other sources. There was a discussion about the scope of such liability insurance, what is covered and what is not, why and what we need it for etc. One of the main areas of concern for Board members and others wa our responsibility/liability related to certification. (N.B. Since the time of the meeting, the Association's Board Liability Insurance coverage has been successfully renewed.)

To proceed with this discussion, it was first necessary to affirm that there would be a "future role". The following motion was proposed:

followed by an amending motion:

3. Volunteers for the Board of Directors

A request was made for volunteers for the Board. No-one identified themselves. It was agreed that the participants would be in a better position to make this decision after the discussion of the future role of ACICO. The request will be repeated later in the conference.
 

4. Structure and Function of the "New" ACICO

The main points of the discussion which followed are recorded below:

• why do we need ACICO?
• to maintain the credibility of Accreditation
• accountability is enhanced through Accreditation
• it provides an opportunity to communicate, network and share information
• we can teach (strengthen) one another
• Accreditation and Standards distinguish us from other information providers
• assists with funders
• gives us a "home" for our intellectual property which has been collectively and co-operatively developed
• gives us a focus for the development of knowledge
• it is a problem that less than half of the 53 accredited centres applied in 1997
• it is very complicated to dissolve - eg. who has rights to the intellectual property? what happens to our charitable status?
• ACICO helps us to give a definition of Information & Referral - particularly when so many others are "doing I & R".
• can fill a role of advocacy - even though we have to acknowledge that this role and its effectiveness is currently limited . . . and may continue to be
• it was noted that some centres may not have applied for Accreditation because of cost, or because cutbacks made it difficult (impossible?) for them to meet the standards
• ACICO has a training role - guiding and supporting us to implement training and professional development
• ACICO could facilitate "train the trainer" or become a clearinghouse for those who can offer training
• could also support for more informal kinds of training
• communications are critical
• we need to build on the strengths of the area networks
• could we assign specific tasks to area networks?
• is public relations and publicity a role of ACICO?
• what can be done by volunteers and an organization with very limited financial resources?
• we have to be realistic about what we can take on
• do members feel it is worthwhile to belong, or are they asking "What am I getting for my money?"
• we need to strengthen and/or restructure the area networks so that they will function well for their own sake, and also be able to take on ACICO tasks

Through small groups and plenary discussion, a list of ten "priorities" was developed. These were further prioritized to identify the most important ones. Participants had limited "votes" for their "favourite". The results of this priority setting exercise are noted below.
 
 

It was agreed that there was no way to accomplish all of these and the participants narrowed the list down to four essential areas:

1. Communications
2. Accreditation
3. Standards
4. Advocacy

During dinner, participants had informal discussions about long term care and the establishment of Community Care Access Centres in their areas. After dinner, there was a fund raising fashion show and a concurrent demonstration of the Halton Community Services Database. Some of the stronger attendees had enough stamina to participate in both!

Unfortunately, it was difficult to establish an internet connection so the database demonstration was somewhat curtailed. If you would like to see the Halton database in action for yourself,  click here!
 

Please proceed to  DAY TWO