BOARD OF DIRECTORS MINUTES
Florida State Foster Adoptive Parent Association Inc.
Meeting date: 03/14/2014
Call to order: The Board of Directors of FSFAPA monthly meeting was held in Ft. Lauderdale, FL on March 14, 2014. The meeting convened at _8:00_pm EST, President Trudy Petkovich presiding, and Curtis Byrd, Secretary. This meeting will be continued on Saturday, March 15, 2014 at 6 pm.
Members in attendance: Trudy Petkovich, Curtis Byrd, Harriett Wynn, Lillie Blackshear, Trish Allen, Keith Best, Dorothy Alvarez, Maria Bond, Coleen LaCosta, Chris Johnson, Orlando Avila, Wendy Vernon, Charles Parker, Trudie Poole, Harry Dubia, Lynda Thompson, and Victoria Herrin.
Members absent: Kim Hernandez (excused)
Advisors in Attendance: David Brown, Gay Frizzell
Visitor: none
Approval of Minutes: There were no minutes to approve. The last meeting consisted of discussing Bylaw changes. These changes were recorded in the Bylaws draft.
Trudy Petkovich discussed the Drivers license bill that is being supported by the GAL. There was no discussion on the bill as no one had read it. Harriett Wynn made a motion to table this discussion until everyone was prepared. It was seconded. Motion Carried
Keith Best discussed tomorrow’s Mini Conference at CalvaryChurch. The speakers are in place, there is no breakfast and the church is providing lunch. The registration numbers are good, the child care is over capacity. Harriett will be working with the teens after 1 pm. Everyone needs to be there early for set up and registration. The church is only 5 minutes away.
Maria Bond discussed the financial status of FSFAPA year ending 2013. At this time we have $97,000 surplus after expenses are paid. This amount has accumulated due to cuts in items like the telephone and redistributing funds.
The profit from Duffels Walk was $31,000. Maria has the breakdown of the income and expenses. All funds have been depleted on Duffels and the shipping. No Duffels can be order until the funds come in for the Walk. Distribution of Duffels was discussed. Dorothy and Lillie
are having trouble getting their families to come and pick up their requested Duffels. It was decided that those not picked up be redistributed to those with new requests. It was decided that we do not need the entire board at the Duffels Walk. The will be no lunch this year and the price structure is lower. LaShaun has volunteers to help with the Walk so the local board should be enough to support the Walk. Harriet is going to work with LaShaun so we get all the details of the Walk. At this time we do not have details concerning the event that we need to put it on without LaShaun Wallace.
Maria Bond reported that there has been no activity with the Grant Writer or committee. FSFAPA now owns a trailer that Maria purchased and will be looking into the insurance and tags. Maria voice a desire to purchase a Skin wrap for the trailer. Orlando Avila made a motion to go ahead and purchase the Skin Wrap and properly secure the trailer. Motion Seconded, Motion Carried
Lynda Thompson reported on Policy & Procedure Manual, she will have a draft for the Board to review by April 30, 2014.
Orlando Avila reported on the letter from Gerald Waters objecting to the election procedure for June, 2013 and the election of Harriett Wynn. He cited that she had not preformed the duties of her office as Executive Vice President and therefore was not eligible to run. Orlando researched the Bylaws from 2010 that were active at the time of the election and found that there was no foundation for the objection. The sitting FSFAPA Board if Directors considers this matter resolved. Christopher Johnson moved that Orlando Avila draft a letter reflecting the Board’s decision be mailed to Mr. Gerald Waters. Seconded Motion Carried.
June Conference update Lynda Thompson reported that everything was on track. Trudie Poole conference co-chair asks the Board to come up with donations for the conference bags. Lynda Thompson asks if anyone had good ideas to entertain the Tweens. Coleen LaCosta is going to email her several suggestions.
Trudy Petkovich reminded everyone that all Florida attendees must register for their training and send to Trudy, no one is to register online. Board Members were asks to have their registrations to Curtis Byrd or herself by Friday. Trudy Petkovich also announced that childcare will be online this year. We are using Super Sitters again this year.
Harriett Wynn asks that everyone take the forms for the Duffels request and have them filled out and returned. There was a discussion of FSFAPA setting aside seed money for the Duffels program and any future programs. This was tabled for the next meeting she we get more information from LaShaun about the Walk.
Trudy Petkovich discussed the vacancies in the RVP positions and possible re-zoning of some areas. Open regions are north central and northwest. Kara Jordan is up for Northwest region.
Wendy Vernon, David Brown, and Victoria Herrin discussed Awareness Day in Tallahassee; the FSFAPA band will perform Tuesday in front of old Capital building. There will be an evening out for Foster Parents, childcare will be provided. David provided us with discussion on the upcoming bills. He also provided us with some written information on the specific bills.
Curtis Byrd thanked everyone for what inventory items that had been sent in. He also explains that a “FEW” is not a number. Please be specific.
Maria Bond presented a proposal to the Board that we start thinking about combining our part time paid position and put some money with that position and create a new position much like an “Executive Director”. She went on to explain that a grant could be written to cover this position under Non Profit operations. Orlando moved that we move forward with this proposal and start writing the title, job description, Salary, and responsibilities of this position. It was seconded and a date was set of May 19, 2014 to have this ready for the Board. Motion Carried
Nomination Committee for this year will be Curtis Byrd, Orlando Avila, and others to be added at a later time.
Harriett Wynn reminded all RVP’s that the Bi-Monthly call is mandatory for all RVP’s. Calls are on the 3rd Thursday.
Trudy Petkovich reminded everyone to use the group email to stay in contact with each other. Please check your email regularly for information concerning the FSFAPA Board. We have many events coming up and emails are the best way to communicate to all.
During the open discussion it was brought up that we should look into having a 501c3 training and that it should be mandatory that all RVP’s attend. We cannot do this at the June training so we should offer it at the next mini conference in the fall. Also, that Kathy Waters is retiring and we should do some type of recognition at the June conference.
Adjourn: The meeting was adjourned at _8:04_pm est on Saturday, March 15, 2014.
Curtis Byrd
Secretary
Florida State Foster Adoptive Parent Association Inc.
