Las Vegas Night Beat July 2011

Glossy Wrap, Sent Seperately

Las Vegas Night Beat � June 2011 � 17

AFAN’s Zero Tolerence Policy:

Silence = ServicesCritical clients gagged by intimidating policy

Email reaching out to AFAN Executive Director Jennifer Morss for comment sent at 9:08 a.m. on Monday, May 23 remainedunanswered, unacknowledged at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, May 25.

Subject: Zero Tolerance Policy Date: 5/23/2011 9:08:03 AM Pacifi c Daylight Time From: [email protected] Reply To: To: [email protected]

Sent from the Internet (Details)

Good Morning, A couple of questions about the policy: • When was this policy instituted?• Is this a policy of AFAN or of one department within AFAN? • Was this policy approved by the AFAN Board of Directors?• Why are your defi nitions of slander and liabel so different from commonly accepted defi nitions. (defamation, in which someone tells one or more persons an untruth about another, which untruth will harm the reputation of the person defamed.)• How many AFAN clients’ services/privileges have been suspended or terminated under the Zero Tolerance Policy?• How many AFAN clients’ services/privileges have been suspended or terminated under section “h” of this policy?• Is there a process for review, where a client is given the opportunity to defend his/her alleged actions prior to services/privileges being suspended or termi-nated? What is that process and who makes the decision to suspend or terminate service/privileges? Is there a board or panel which reviews the case? Who is on the panel or board?• Do you view this policy as being a threat to free speech? Is it intended to intimi-date and silence critics? Thanks for your input. I’m on deadline and would appreciate your answers as soon as possible.

Bill SchaferPublisherLas Vegas Night Beat

Editor’s note: Relying on the comments of people who won’t allow their name to be used, can be a sign that the wool is being pulled over one’s eyes. Night Beat has attempted to get comments from AFAN’s Executive Director, Jennifer Morss, but received no response (see the box below).

Those folks who have spoken to the Night Beat all have acknowledged the crucial role AFAN plays in delivering services to the HIV/AIDS community. They are emphatic in saying they do not want to see AFAN go away, but want client services and employee treatment improved.

Hopefully, the Board of Trustees is now on notice and will take action to see atrocious, heavy-handed, intimidating policies changed.

There are other serious accusations being offered up by AFAN critics. We’ll continue to attempt a dialog with Jennifer Morss and we’ll continue to report on claims of heavy handed policies and activities.

By Bill SchaferNight Beat Publisher

Make no mistake about it: those folks voicing their concerns about Jennifer Morss’ alleged strong-arm tactics are not trying to shut down Aid For Aids of Nevada (AFAN). They have expressed their opinion that the HIV/AIDS agency is vital to the clients they serve.

The collected opinion of those who’ve been interviewed for this article is that the agency was once a shining example of the GLBT community’s taking care of itself. They fear AFAN has changed into an organization whose goals are to increase funding, decrease services, line insiders’ pockets and maintain their empire.

They worry AFAN’s Board of Trustees is directly controlled by Executive Director Jennifer Morss, and that some members of the Board may have profi ted from their service on the

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Board, or may be currently

directing AFAN’s resources to friends

in order to maintain strict control over what

employees do and say about the organization even outside of work.

One former employee claims any disagreement with AFAN policy – even in one-on-one, private conversations

with Morss – will probably be met with termination of employment, perfectly legal since Nevada is a right-to-work state.

Zero Tolerance: rewriting ‘slander’ and

‘libel’ definitions

AFAN’s Zero Tolerance Policy for clients is printed below, as supplied by several clients or former clients. While most of the policy appears to be reasonable, although broad and subject to interpretation, the last item, “h” appears

to place a gag on any and all client criticism of the organization.

Slander and libel are customarily defi ned as the telling, writing or broadcasting of an untruth which will harm the reputation of the person defamed.

Apparently, under AFAN’s written policy, one cannot utter any harmful statement, regardless of its truthfulness, because their policy redefi nes the words “slander” and “libel”.

Policy may be legal, but …

We asked Dane S. Claussen, Executive Director of ACLU of Nevada for his opinion of the AFAN Zero Tolerance Policy. Claussen is not an attorney, but here’s what he had to say:

“AFAN is a nonprofi t organization, not a government agency. AFAN can have whatever policy they want as long as it does not violate city, county, state and/or federal laws. Like other nonprofi t and for-profi t organizations, they have wide latitude with employees (Nevada is an employment-at-will state) and with who they want to serve.”

“Employees, former employees, or clients who have issues with AFAN have no legal recourse, unless AFAN has a violated a law. Their best option is to make a stink with the news media and/or address their concerns to government offi cials who oversee monetary allocations to AFAN.”

Well, some clients and other interested folks feel AFAN’s policies are intimidating to clients, and they’re talking to the Night Beat.

Suspension or termination

of servicesThere is talk among the people

interviewed by the Night Beat of clients allegedly getting permanently banned from the AFAN building and from receiving services. One particular individual is a homeless sex trade worker and substance abuser who may have caused problems at the AFAN offi ces. The person reporting this to the Night Beat explains this might be due to the drug abuse or the prescribed medications this person is on.

This former client reportedly does Revised 9/06

Zero Tolerance Policy

AFAN strives to deliver quality services to all its eligible clients and offers a comfortable/safe environment in which to obtain services.

We do, however, reserve the right to suspend or terminate a client’s services/privileges for any of the following:

a. Threats and/or incidences of assault, theft or abusive behavior towards our staff, volunteers and/or clients.

b. Possession, selling, distribution of any elicit controlled substance and or alcohol.

c. Theft or selling of food vouchers, bus passes, nutritional supplements, prevention materials or other AFAN distributed materials/property.

d. Providing falsified or fraudulent information in order to obtain services.

e. Physical or verbal threats against other clients, volunteers, or staff on AFAN premises, supporter premises, property, events having to do with AFAN.

f. Possession of weapons on AFAN property or any events having to do with AFAN.

g. Sexual harassment/misconduct towards AFAN staff, volunteers, and/or clients.

h. Slander (harmful statement in a transitory form, especially speech) and libel (harmful statement in a fixed medium, especially writing, but also picture, sign or electronic broadcast)

Any clients, staff, volunteers, or visitors who encounter and/or witness the above incidences of misconduct must complete an AFAN incidence report (available in the AFAN main office). Once the incidence report is completed, it will be processed by the departmental supervisor and reviewed by the Executive Director to determine appropriate punitive actions

________________________________________ ________________________ Signature Date

________________________________________ ________________________ Client UID # Staff Initials

Suspension of services:an alternative approach

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Las Vegas Night Beat � June 2011 � 19

not want to speak out for fear of reprisals by the organization.

The person telling of this individual has suggested that the case workers are well-paid to deal with some of this, and there are ways of dealing with outbursts other than banishment from the program for life. Employee training is the suggested remedy.

On the other hand, Saint Therese Center HIV Outreach has an established procedure for dealing with the rare individual who is abusive. Father Joseph I. O’Brien, O.P., Executive Director of Saint Therese Center provided a letter to illustrate the method which that organization uses in dealing with repetitively disruptive clients.

Their method does not include banishment for life. It acknowledges “that your medicine and or reaction to medicine may be the cause of your anger and frustration. Of course that can not be

taken out on the people who are here to help you. So I suggest talk to your doctor and see if that is a root cause of your frustration.”

After explaining to the client that they are no longer welcome to use any of Saint Therese Center HIV Outreach services, he goes on to explain that this decision is open to change when their doctor writes that the client is addressing the situation and that they need the programs for continued health.

The client is then informed of the procedure for contacting a member of the Discipline Committee for reconsideration and the steps in the process.

Father Joseph assured Night Beat that charity is Saint Therese Center’s reason for existing.

AFAN’s policy on appeal of suspension or termination of services in not known, since the Night Beat has not received any response to its inquiry.

Nor are the procedures for appealing or reversing the suspension of services.

Website as intimidation tool?The AFAN Website, www.

AFANLV.org, currently lists David R. Parks as a Trustee. David R. Parks is a State Senator who served on the Board until August 2010. Appearing to have a state senator on the Board might be useful in maintaining an image of power for the organization. It could be thought of as intimidation toward anyone contemplating challenging the organization’s authority, or challenging the executive director’s appointment

Intimidation via website …or just an ivory tower?

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20 � June 2011 � Las Vegas Night Beat

as co-chair of the Ryan White Planning

Council.Oversight

Eliminated?According to Senator Parks,

“I served as a trustee of AFAN from 11/86 until 8/10 (23 years, 10 months). Prior to becoming a trustee, I was a volunteer for two years. I was removed as a result of revised bylaws. The revision limited the period a person may serve as a trustee and I exceeded that term. I also voted against that bylaw change because I felt that continuity of board membership was very important to providing adequate oversight of staff.”

Could the bylaw change have fallen in line with a plan to pad the AFAN Board of Trustees with allies of the executive director? Perhaps adequate oversight is not a goal of the organization. With allies fi lling the seats, client concerns can be ignored and staff can run roughshod over any “troublesome” clients.

There is no contact information for specifi c trustees or the executive committee on the website’s “Board of Trustees” page. This ensconces the trustees in a virtual “ivory tower”, where they are not easily accessible to any person or organization with a desire to contact them directly.

They needn’t concern themselves with any client complaints or appeals. They needn’t be concerned with bothersome media inquiries. They can believe just what they’re told by staff. And budgets can be approved without confi dential comments from interested parties.

It should be noted the website contact information lists the AFAN address, telephone number, fax number and an email address. It’s inconceivable that the listed contact information goes – unfi ltered – to any of the Trustees.

For the record, the site lists the

Executive Committee as: Patricia Saavedra, Board President; Scott Washburn, Vice President; Nycole Cummings, Treasurer; Erich Christjansen, Secretary. Trustees listed include: David R. Parks, Guy Gugino, Marek Bute, Lily Kordic, Cammy Warden.

Emailed opinions reflectclient frustration

Several emails have come in to the Night Beat, but the authors have not responded to our requests to use their full names. At the risk of being accused of

falsifying the communications, we’ll run them, without attribution, as the writers seem to represent a large segment of the community who are upset with the policies of AFAN, but under threat of suspension or termination of services, are afraid to be identifi ed.

These are opinions. The statements are not necessarily true, and the Night Beat has not verifi ed the content of these e-mails as factual. They’re being reprinted to demonstrate the frustration AFAN clients apparently feel toward that organization.

–•–A client we’ll call “Michael”

expressed his opinion and frustration:“Subject: AFAN HELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“I am right with you on the AFAN debacle. They are run like a NAZI camp. It stands for Assholes For AIDS Nevada. Besides their draconian No Tolerance policy, they really aren’t user friendly at all!!!!!!!!!!!!

“I am lucky to be very healthy, (zero viral load, tons of T-cells, unfortunately also have HEP C ), but if I weren’t [healthy] it would be a major challenge and struggle both physically and mentally to jump thru all their f***ing hoops.

“An example: last Friday I went in for my monthly bus pass, which is a

whopping $30 that it costs them. Now an individual has to list their appointments on a sheet, which they log, then you have to carry around a small Manila envelope and have whomever sign the appropriate date box and where the appt. was. This also applies to the St. Therese food bank. They magnanimously allow you a total of 5 trips per month to either the store and/or any food bank. I listed a total of eight and was told that isn’t allowed. When I explained that not having a car required more often trips to the store for stuff they didn’t even fl inch and stuck to the policy. Then the very polite Aronca who was helping me had someone named Karina standing over her back, who told her to only give me day passes instead of a monthly. So I get 10 trips in a month now for $20 instead of unlimited for $30. That would take

away their Caviar budget!!!!!!!!! “I have been actively looking for

work and need to have a full pass to accomplish this. I am barely covering my rent and my friends pay my power bill to help. Of course, the Gestapo board denied me any of that Hopwa federal money they are getting, because they said I was “not qualifi ed “. Does not the fact that I am poz , have health issues due to Hep C, am unemployed and looking, and have been poz since 1986 factors to be considered???

“There are about 3 people there that should be there, and that is it. I feel real sorry for someone that isn’t articulate or sophisticated in these matters, or

“Aid for AIDS of Nevada (AFAN) provides support and advocacy for adults and children living with and affected by HIV/AIDS in southern Nevada. AFAN works to reduce HIV infection through prevention education to eliminate fear, prejudice and the stigma associated with the disease.” – Part of AFAN’s Mission Statement

“AFAN is committed to a system that nurtures personal growth and dignity of persons served, which is emphasized during orientation, ongoing staff trainings and the culture of our organization. “ – Part of AFAN’s Mission Statement

Clients in need intimidatedby Zero Tolerance Policy

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Las Vegas Night Beat � June 2011 � 21

extremely sick and can’t run all over town to fulfi ll their ‘requirements.’

You are spot on about that overhead. It shouldn’t be more than one third in any situation. Maybe those crazy nuns should run AFAN. I would LOVE that!!!!!!!!!!!

“Sorry for blathering, but I have seen that place get less friendly and more like a prison infi rmary in the 15 plus years I have been going there. Thank God the ladies at the Wellness Center are Classy Chicks!!!!!

“Keep up the good work and lighting the fi re under that [person] that runs the place.

“Sincerely,“Michael”

–•–Another person emailed their

opinion:“Subject: AFAN is a fraud of course”“Everyone knows it. I’m sending

some input from myself and another AFAN client who I know.

”AFAN gets federal funding and private donations, as well as donations from the Black and White Party which are supposedly for food and bus passes. How come we, the HIV clients never receive any food or bus passes from AFAN.

“– [Client A]””My statement is the same as the

above in every respect. Most AFAN

employees are probably driving new cars as well working in a brand new offi ce building. They do pass out free condoms however, wow. I feel sorry for the private donors who think they are making a difference. I think I’ll send another message to Mr. Obama and Reid and

see ifthey can’t fi nd a way to shut down this fraudulent outfi t sucking the blood out of us taxpayers and of course let’s not forget the HIV clients themselves.

“– [Client B]”Again, responsible clients

are not calling for AFAN to be shut down. They’re hoping to call attention to alleged heavy-handed approach to client services. For starters, the Zero Tolerance Policy needs to be revised. Clients should not be intimidated into silence. AFAN’s

Board of Trustees need to take back control of the organization.

High priced spin artists are not the PR people AFAN needs. They need real caring people doing their jobs in an environment free from intimidation, taking care of the needs of their client base.

Emails, while not factual,reflect client frustration

“The best thing AFAN did for me was recommend me to the Saint Therese Center!”

– AFAN Client