Membership in the SC OEL Collaborative is open to any agency providing human services to residents of Sussex County as per the original by-laws, which are printed in its entirety here. For information about becoming a member agency, please contact any member, or send a request to:
Council of Service Agencies
PO Box 134
Newton NJ 07860

Sussex County One Ease-E Link By-Laws
First draft: January 8, 2002

Second draft: January 15, 2002

Adopted: January 16, 2002

Section 1: Mission Statement

Sussex County One Ease-E Link (SC OEL) is a collaborative of non-profit and government agencies utilizing current computer technology to enhance their ability to provide efficient and timely human services to the residents of Sussex County. The use of compatible hardware and software among member agencies facilitates sharing of information that will increase the productivity of each member and enable them to communicate more effectively and provide more accurate case management and referral services to clients/consumers.

Section 2: Membership

SC OEL is comprised of federal, state, county, and non-profit organizations providing a broad range of human services to county residents, who have agreed to work together to build and sustain this technology-based collaborative. These local providers agree to create cooperative/collaborative relationships, while blending their individual areas of expertise into an integrated delivery system. The SC OEL member agencies accomplish this by developing, refining and voting to accept the protocols and agreements that guide the sharing of information among them. Human Services Providers who have signed the Agency Letter of Agreement form, a Client Confidentiality Protocol, and approved the Common Client Release Form are voting members of the SC OEL collaborative and appoint a staffperson to represent them at all meetings. The User’s Group shall elect from its membership a Chairperson, who shall be a member of each of the working committees of SC OEL.

The full membership of the SC OEL Collaborative is called the SC OEL User's Group. It is responsible for the management, oversight, maintenance and modification of all issues pertaining to the collaborative. The User’s Group defines the scope and service system that evolves in Sussex County. Ownership of the network by local providers is necessary to assure its use and success. All decisions involving hardware, software, SC OEL Website and data sharing between agencies are approved by the SC OEL User's Group. Meetings are held as needed whenever there are action items to be voted on, or whenever ten (10) agencies request, in writing to the Executive Committee, that a meeting be held. .

Section 3: Fiscal Year

The fiscal year for the SC OEL Collaborative shall be from January 1 to December 31.

Section 4: Committee Structure

To expedite the business of the Collaborative between User's Group Meetings, SC OEL shall have three Standing Committees: Executive, Technology and Training. Each committee shall elect its own Chairperson. Term of Office for each Committee Chairperson is one year. Minutes shall be kept of all committee meetings. In all voting matters, a majority vote shall determine the outcome.

4a. The Executive Committee:

Membership:
The SC OEL Executive Committee shall consist of  the Chair of the User’s Group; the Chair of the Training Committee; the Chair of the Technology Committee; the county Project Manager; the county Security Officer; an authorized representative from each of the following: NJ State Department of Human Services, NJ State Division of Youth & Family Services, SC Division of Social Services, NJ Department of Labor, and the Workforce Investment Board; and, a minimum of four At-Large Members elected by the User's Group.

Responsibilities:
The Executive Committee shall represent the SC OEL Collaborative while conducting business on its behalf with the representatives of the County of Sussex, the NJ State Department of Human Services and county Information Technology Staff.

The Executive Committee shall oversee the development and coordinate the activities of all SC OEL committees. It shall review recommendations from the subcommittees, vote on all matters affecting the project, and present approved recommendations to the User's Group for final approval.
     
Members of the Executive Committee shall be responsible for researching and recommending options regarding the planning and development of the SC OEL Collaborative to the full User's Group. They shall be responsible for:  by-laws development, agency relations, project management services, network administration services, technology purchases, procedures for technology shared in common, procedures for fair access to training classes, the SC OEL Web-site design and maintenance, long-term funding plans, and selection criteria development for including new agencies in the SC OEL Collaborative.

4b. The Technology Committee

Membership:
Members of the Technology Committee are recruited at each of the full collaborative membership's User's Group Meetings or are solicited by the Chairperson between such meetings, from agency representatives who demonstrate expertise in technological hardware issues.

Responsibility:
Technology Committee Members develop technology surveys, research options among hardware manufacturers and recommend purchase of computer hardware and server options to the SC OEL Executive Committee. They evaluate evolving technologies and research their applicability, usefulness, and potential cost to the collaborative member agencies.

 4c. The Training Committee

Membership:
Members of the Training Committee are recruited at each of the full collaborative membership's User's Group Meetings or are solicited by the Chairperson between such meetings, from agency representatives who are knowledgeable about or have experience conducting effective group training sessions.

Responsibility:
Members develop training surveys, analyze the results, identify training needs and propose a schedule of training to the SC OEL Executive Committee. The Training Committee also recommends a protocol for prioritizing access to training among collaborative member agencies, and refining the content of training based on feedback from the collaborative members who have utilized SC OEL training.

Section 5: Withdrawal from the Collaborative
 
Any agency wishing to withdraw from the SC OEL Collaborative shall notify the Project Manager of its intent to do so in writing and shall take effect immediately upon receipt of such notification.

Section 6: Adding agencies to the Collaborative

New agencies shall be included in the SC OEL Collaborative after signing the Agency Letter of Agreement form, a Client Confidentiality Protocol, and approved the Common Client Release form, and paying an initiation fee to be determined by the SC OEL Executive Committee.

Section 7: Amendments

These By-laws may be amended by a two-thirds vote of a User’s Group, provided that the proposed written amendments have been sent to all SC OEL Collaborative members, and that they have been notified at least ten days prior to the meeting date.

Approved at the January 16^th 2002 User’s Group Meeting.