►
Description
Blue Ribbon Committee for People with Disabilities Meeting, 04/21/2021
A
A
A
Next
item
is
a
discussion
and
possible
action
on
the
report
from
miss
christine
reyes
special
needs
program
so
christine
for
the
last
several
months.
If
not
for
you,
I
don't
know
where
we'd
be
okay,
so
thank
you
for
always
being
there
and
having
a
report
for
us.
If
not,
we
just
like,
hang
out
and
say
jokes
to
each
other.
I
don't
know
what
we
do.
Okay,
so
thank
you.
So,
whenever
you're
ready
we're
more
than
willing
to
listen
to
you.
C
Just
a
couple
of
follow-ups
on
some
past
events
and
things
our
program
has
accomplished
for
the
month
of
march
and
coming
into
april.
In
the
month
of
march,
we
collaborated
with
the
university
of
texas
at
austin
and
helped
co-host
it.
The
one
page
description
toolkit
for
both
the
local
hospitals
here
in
laredo.
C
This
toolkit
again
was
to
help
individuals
with
idd
that
are
admitted
to
the
hospital
and
not
having
any
loved
ones
or
caregivers,
be
with
them
due
to
the
covid
pandemic.
So
this
toolkit
was
introduced
by
ut
we
connected
and
collaborated
with
them
with
jeff
tate,
which
is
the
program
manager
and
training
coordinator.
C
He
was
able
to
host
that
toolkit
training
for
us
in
the
hospitals.
It's
another
resources
added
to
our
community
for
a
disability
community.
We
were
also
able
to
collaborate
with
him
and
create
a
you
know.
A
verbal
partnership,
because,
later
on,
what
we're
gonna
try
to
do
is
continue
getting
additional
trainings
workshops
and
resources
that
the
ut
disability
study
center
has
to
offer
to
our
community.
C
They
do
have
several
toolkits
already
in
place,
also
resources,
but
as
the
months
go
by
we're
going
to
continue,
collaborating
working
together
to
see
what
trainings
workshops
and
other
resources
we
can
provide
for
departments,
local
agencies,
as
well
as
educating
the
community.
Our
program
attended
a
autism
spectrum
disorder
training
for
first
responders.
C
It
was
a
very
good
information.
A
lot
of
ideas
and
recommendations
were
given
to
the
fire
department
and
they
were
very
open-minded
on
those
ideas
and
recommendations
to
have
mock
scenarios
done
with
autistic
individuals
and
how
to
respond
better
respond
to
them
with
the
strategies
and
techniques
that
they
have
for
on-scene
responding
techniques.
C
This
training
will
be
available
to
the
first
responders
in
law
enforcement
as
well
as
dispatch
and
will
give
them
t
call
accreditation
for
their
agencies.
So
this
is
a
training
that
will
include
all
areas
of
individuals
with
idd,
not
just
autism,
but
we
have
all
developmental
disorder,
developmental
disabilities
and
then
also
intellectual
disabilities
in
there.
So
that's
a
that's
really
a
step
forward
for
us
in
in
the
training
aspect
for
first
responders
and
law
enforcement.
So
I'm
really
happy
about
that.
C
C
The
sensory
bags,
like
I
mentioned,
will
add
in
earth
month,
material
for
educational
purposes
and
therapeutic
recreation
activities,
and
I
believe
fire
department
will
also
be
donating
some
sensory
items
to
add
to
these
bags.
So
I'm
really
happy
about
that
for
the
month
of
april
to
be
able
to
supply
these
sensory
kits
for
the
families
that
we
have
in
our
program
or
actually
these
are
going
to
be
new
clients
from
what
I
was
looking
over
our
our
our
program
for
the
month
of
april.
C
C
C
C
It
just
grew
over
to
me
to
me,
but
we've
been
collecting
videos
since
the
beginning
or
the
start
of
the
of
the
garden,
and
what
we
will
be
doing
this
week
is
putting
that
all
together
and
then
collaborating
with
a
program
here
at
the
health
department
to
help
us
harvest
it
and
teach
the
nutrition
side
of
it
and
the
benefits
of
it.
It
could
go
into
a
cooking
video
to
tips
on
how
to
you
know
how
to
utilize
the
the
whole
plant
for
health
benefits.
A
Okay,
okay,
yeah.
I
think
that
would
be
important
for
you
all
to
make
sure
that
you
get
some
kind
of
publicity
and
get
it
out
there
and
make
sure
that
people
know
what
you
are
doing
and
what's
helpful
and
beneficial
to
their
mental
health
as
well.
So
just
I
was
wondering
whether
you
were
getting
any
kind
of
coverage.
C
No,
we
haven't
I'll,
we'll
work
on
that
I'll,
get
with
miss
martinez
and
erica
and
see
what
is
approved
as
far
as
when
it
comes
to
our
pio
here
and
and
being
able
to
reach
out
to
the
media.
But
yes,
I
mean
it's:
it's
very
beneficial.
I've
been
working
on
it
every
day
as
well,
with
a
a
volunteer
veteran
that
we
have
that's
been
coming
and
volunteering
his
time
to
assist
me
and
educate
me.
I'm
learning
a
lot.
A
It's
good
and
then
you're
you're
the
train
to
first
responders.
Okay,
I
think
that's
real
critical,
because
sometimes
the
first
one
is
to
arrive
and
if
the
person
doesn't
speak
or
the
person
is
acting
out
because
of
their
illness
or
their
disorder,
sometimes
police
misinterpret
that
for
a
question.
It's
important
that
people
understand
that
when
they
go
out
say
the
police
in
the
fire
department
when
they
go
out
and
meet
people
in
public
you'd
understand
they're,
not
always
going
to
behave
as
expected.
A
C
No,
yes-
and
I
really-
I
really
do
appreciate
the
police
department
and
the
law,
the
law
enforcement
area,
as
well
as
first
responders
for
fire
department
for
being
open
to
it
and
and
also
being
able
to
help
guide
me
in
their
area.
Because
again,
it's
just
taking
all
of
our
our
knowledge
and
education
of
all
divisions
to
be
able
to
make
this
happen.
So
I'm
really
happy
that
they've
been
open
to
doing
this
and
then
also
taking
the
lead
on
it
for
their
own
departments.
A
A
D
Good
morning,
still
sorry,
I'm
gonna
jump
into
another
meeting
right
now
at
11
30.
I
did
want
to
say
hello
to
the
group
and
share
just
a
little
bit
of
information
on
data.
If
I
may,
I'm
going
to
share
my
screen
really
quickly.
Give
me
one
second,
please
I
wanted
to,
of
course,
continue
to
spotlight
the
importance
of
vaccine
as
we
have
continued
to
see
a
decline
over
the
last
couple
of
weeks
in
the
number
of
active
cases,
positivity
rate
and
hospitalizations.
D
This
is
in
this
is
due
to
vaccine
and,
as
you
can
see
here,
webb
county
we
have.
We
are
at
40.73,
fully
vaccinated
of
our
population,
that
is
eligible.
We
have
administered
a
thousand
one
hundred
and
twenty
nine
thousand
three
hundred
fifty
two
first
dose
vaccines
and
of
that
eighty
thousand
are
fully
vaccinated.
So
we
continue
to
actually
lead
the
state
in
jurisdictions
that
are
of
similar
size
and,
of
course,
jurisdictions
that
are
larger
in
population
within
with
the
percentage
of
persons
that
are
fully
vaccinated.
So
that
is
great
work.
D
That
laredo
continues
to
do.
We
as
the
city
of
laredo
health
department,
partnering,
of
course,
with
the
fire
department
and
our
curative
partners,
are
now
looking
to
take
vaccines
into
industry
into
closed
pod
sites.
Close
points
of
dispensing
to
make
sure
that
we're
still
trying
to
maximize
the
number
of
persons
that
have
the
accessibility
to
vaccines.
We
know
not.
Everybody
has
the
availability
to
visit.
D
You
know
atv
during
the
day
or
the
curative
site
during
the
day
or
come
to
the
health
department
during
the
day,
so
we
need
to
take
vaccines
to
their
to
their
businesses.
So
we
are
already
partnering
up
with,
as
I
mentioned,
with
fire,
with
curative
with
ourselves
here
at
health,
to
go
out
to
those
agencies
to
go
out
to
the
targets
to
go
out
to
the
ibc's
and
provide
vaccines
at
the
at
the
point
of
care
poc
and
as
a
pod
as
a
point
of
dispensing.
D
So
we
are
actively
putting
together
those
lists.
We
did
send
out
a
call
to
action
to
organizations
at
the
beginning
of
march
to
start
providing
vaccines
also
to
the
patients
of
the
populations
that
they
serve,
because
we
do
know
that
the
patients
will
go
into
your
clinics
into
your
organizations
and
they
already
have
that
sense
of
trust
built
into
that
specific
environment,
which
is
important
for
us
to
also
ensure
that
they
are
vaccinating
with
confidence.
So
we
do
take
the
vaccines
to
locations.
D
If
I'm
not
mistaken,
of
course,
we've
already
worked
with
the
ruth
be
cal
center.
We
have
worked
already
with
our
congregate
settings.
We
have
worked
with
holdings
and
bethany,
so
we
are
trying
to
get
out
to
as
many
places
as
possible
in
the
shortest
amount
of
time,
because
we
need
more
persons
vaccinated
quickly.
So
we
continue
to
see
this
downward
trend
of
infections
in
our
community.
We
are
still
very
concerned
about
the
spread
that
is
occurring
in
the
northeast
and
across
the
northern
part
of
the
united
states.
D
What
is
important
to
know
is
that
by
getting
your
vaccine,
it
does
protect
you
against
the
b117
variant,
which
is
the
uk
variant,
which
is
the
dominant
variant
that
is
spreading
across
the
united
states
right
now.
So
getting
your
vaccine
is
going
to
help
protect
you
from
getting
a
severe
manifestation
of
covet,
19
or
hospitalization.
D
Have
we
seen
breakthrough
cases?
Absolutely?
We
have
seen
breakthrough
cases
of
persons
who
are
fully
vaccinated
that
have
have
been
diagnosed
with
cova-19,
but
the
most
important
thing
is
is
that
they
are
asymptomatic,
no
no
symptoms
and
they
do
not
manifest
severe
or
hospitalizations.
So
the
vaccine
does
help
keep
you
safe.
So
we
will
continue
to
advocate
at
the
city
level,
at
the
county
level,
amongst
all
community
partners,
to
ensure
that
persons
are
vaccinating
with
confidence.
We
know
that
hesitancy
does
exist.
D
There
are
persons
who
cannot
get
the
vaccine
and
we
need
to
build
that
wall
as
a
community
around
those
those
vulnerable,
the
most
vulnerable
to
ensure
their
safety
as
well.
I
will
pause
there
for
any
questions.
I
know
I
have
to
jump
into
the
my
next
meeting,
but
I
want
you
all
to
know
that
I'm
here
for
you.
A
D
Is
still
on
hold
for
most
community
meetings,
I
do
foresee
that
happening
and
potentially
for
the
main
meeting
that
can
occur.
I
will
definitely
inquire
as
we
have
moved
the
course
from
stage
one
to
stage
two
to
stage
three
and
stage
four
will
be
when
we
are
pretty
much
fully
operational
at
the
city
level,
with
all
departments
fully
opened
to
assist
the
community.
D
And
yes,
I
do
believe,
of
course,
that
it's
been
quite
a
year,
14
going
on
15
months
now
of
these
meetings,
which
are
absolutely
amazing
to
be
able
to
host
these
virtual
meetings
for
safety
purposes
and
to
also
provide
that
accessibility
to
persons
who
might
not
be
able
to
make
it
in
person.
So
I
think,
as
we
go
forward
into
the
future,
having
a
hybrid
model
is
going
to
be
really
really
good
to
ensure
that
we
do
have.
D
A
I
was
just
curious
and
yeah.
I
think
that
this
pandemic
has
made.
It
has
forced
us
to
operate
in
different
ways,
and
I
think
that
me,
and
many
of
them
may
have
been
may
have
been.
We
may
have
discovered
that
they're
convenient
and
so
and
beneficial
and
advantageous,
so
some
form
of
virtual
meetings
may
continue
in
the
future,
regardless
of
the
pandemic
or
not.
D
Yes,
so
moderna
and
pfizer
are
working
on.
It
is
a.
It
is
quote-unquote
a
booster
shot.
So
for
persons
who
have
already
received
their
two
doses
would
get
a
third,
but
for
persons
when
that
shot
does
come
out,
they
would
still
be
on
the
two
dose
regiment
and
of
course
it
would
take
one
of
the
original
and
then
the
newer
one.
You
wouldn't
have
to
take
all
three
so
that
you
would
be
considered
fully
vaccinated.
D
So
the
newer
the
booster
does
have
the
the
b3,
the
b351
variant,
which
is
the
south
african
variant
to
ensure
the
coverage
to
that
specific
variant.
But
that's
why
we
have
to
continue
to
let
people
know
that
getting
vaccine
right
now
does
help
protect
you
and
it
will
help
ensure
that
we
don't
have
further
mutation
of
the
virus
because,
as
the
virus
does
infect
each
and
every
one
of
us,
it
changes
every
single
time.
D
So,
with
each
new
infection,
we
have
a
potential
new
variant,
that's
emerging
that
is
being
spread
to
another
person
which
will
then
shift
genetically
to
another
variant
and
further
and
further
on
out.
So
it
is
important
that
we
continue
to
advocate
for
vaccines
and
on
a
side
note,
of
course,
12
to
15
year
olds
should
be
included
very
soon,
which
will
help
us
gain
a
larger
level
of
herd,
immunity
in
our
community
and
across
you
know
the
united
states,
so
that
is
in
the
works.
D
We're
very
hopeful
that
within
the
next
30
days
we
do
have
the
eua
authorization
from
the
fd
fda
for
the
12
to
15.
On
the
pfizer
side,
moderna
is
looking
for
from
12
to
12,
to
17
to
add
into
their
pool,
and
then
hopefully,
by
the
by
september,
we
will
have
ages
five
and
up
that
are
included
into
that
also.
So
that
is
slowly
developing.
We
we
want
it
to
be
a
little
quicker,
so
we
can
catch
all
these
students
before
they
go
back
to
school.
D
Of
course,
definitely
we
are
already
capturing
the
16
and
17
year
olds,
using
pfizer
at
the
at
the
high
schools,
public
and
private,
so
that
is
already
ongoing.
But
then
it's
our
next
phase
to
do
the
12
to
15
year
olds
and
then,
of
course,
as
soon
as
we
have
eua,
which
will
probably
a
dose
the
dosage
setting
for
these
children
bring
down
the
dosage
level.
But
that
should
be
occurring
in
the
immediate
future
for
children
over
the
age
of
five,
which
is
pretty
much
on
the
starting
age.
D
I
appreciate
that
I'm
gonna
jump
out
and
jump
into
the
next
meeting.
It's
great
to
see
everybody.
Please
know
that
you
do
have
my
ear.
My
door
is
always
open,
even
if
it's
a
virtual
window
such
as
this
one
and
we
hope
very
soon
to
meet
in
person
and
I'll
keep
you
all
updated
on
that
have
yourself
a
great
afternoon
and
stay
safe.