Requirements, Policies, Procedures for the Consumer Involvement Fund

In consideration of the Council’s financial assistance through the Consumer Involvement Fund, successful applicants will be required to:

• Complete a short survey related to the conference or event, provided by the Council.
• Share copies of all informational materials gathered at the conference with the Council.
• Contact your federal and state legislators and offer to share information learned with them. Copies of these letters should also be sent to the Council.
• Develop a brief fact sheet of information gathered at the conference and track and report (on forms provided by the Council) the people with whom you share this information for one year.
• As requested, write a written report or present an oral report to the Council.

Failure to adhere to these requirements will result in non-consideration of any subsequent requests to the Consumer Involvement Fund.

In addition to the general requirements listed above, there are some important travel policies and Council procedures with which you must abide:

• The Council can pay for airline tickets and most conference registration fees up-front. All other expenses must be paid up-front by the traveler and reimbursed upon return from the conference, based on submitted receipts. This includes airport parking, local transportation, hotel accommodations, meals and respite/attendant care.
• If the traveler is requesting an airline ticket from the Council, he or she must allow the OKDHS Travel Office to book the ticket. If a traveler does pay for a plane ticket, the Council cannot reimburse those costs. There is no exception to this rule. In writing a request to the Council, the traveler may contact an airline, travel agent, or a travel website for cost estimates and flight times, but tickets should not be reserved or booked.
• The request to the Council should explain any preferences or considerations for airline travel based on a traveler’s disability, and any special accommodations during flights should be noted. The Travel Office is experienced in making these arrangements and will work to assure the traveler has the services/supports needed.
• The traveler will make hotel reservations, if needed. If there is a designated hotel for a conference, the traveler must stay in that hotel. If the designated hotel is not available, the traveler should call Council staff to arrange an acceptable substitution. To comply with state policy, the Council must have confirmation from the conference sponsors that this is an acceptable substitution or we will not be able to reimburse. If there is no designated hotel, please call the Council office as there are certain rules regarding how much the state will reimburse overnight accommodations.
• Per diem costs are calculated on an hourly basis, and are calculated on a city-by-city basis, so please ask the Council staff to help. Deductions in per diem allowance will be made for conference-sponsored meals (except continental breakfast) whether or not they are eaten. If the meals provided at the conference are an additional fee, the traveler should let the Council know whether or not he/she will be participating in that meal. With regard to per diem, travel time starts when the traveler leaves home and ends when he/she returns home, with a few exceptions based on illness or weather emergencies. Be prepared to provide this information to Council staff with your reimbursement forms.

• Driving out-of-state is acceptable, but per diem may not be available for travel time in excess of 24 hours. Additionally, mileage reimbursement will not exceed the cost of a 21-day advance airline ticket to the same destination. If an overnight stay in a hotel on the way to or from the conference is necessary, there are limits to the amount of reimbursement the Council can provide. Travelers should confirm their plans with Council staff. If the traveler is driving to accommodate additional friends and family who are traveling along but not attending the conference, the costs of upgrading any hotel rooms from single occupancy to double occupancy or greater will be the traveler’s responsibility.
• There are travel policies associated with staying overnight with family or friends in the area during a conference or meeting and while in travel status. If the traveler does stay with a friend instead of staying in a hotel, he/she may be eligible for a higher per diem rate.
• The Council will generally sponsor no more than two individuals to attend any single conference, unless the Council is a listed sponsor of the conference. All requests to the Council will be dated upon receipt in the Council office. Requests will be considered in the order received. In the event that a large number of individuals apply for assistance from the Council for a single conference, the Council may choose to fund a single amount and request that all applicants work together to find a way to support the entire delegation. For example, it might be possible for more individuals to attend a conference if roommates are chosen for double-occupancy hotel rooms.
• Upon return, Council staff will send the traveler reimbursement paperwork for completion. The traveler will need to be prepared to record the time left and returned home (including dates), and provide receipts for parking, tolls, respite/attendant care, and overnight accommodations. The hotel receipt must show a zero balance. The receipt hotels put under a guest’s door on the day of checkout are generally NOT zero-balance receipts; most travelers will have to check out with the front desk to get this receipt. Be aware that personal charges on hotel bills for room service, phone calls, movies, etc. are not reimbursable expenses. If the traveler paid up-front for the conference registration and the Council will be reimbursing that expense, the Council will also need that receipt. Meal receipts are not necessary as per diem is limited by hours traveled.