I’m a big disability rights advocate. This is where I’ll
post letters petitioning Virginia General Assembly for change. I’m a member of the
Endependence Center’s
advocacy group. Each year we attend Lobby Day in Richmond. I’ll post the issues
I speak about here.
- Supreme Court Olmstead Decision June 22, 1999 the Supreme
Court affirmed the right of individuals with disabilities to live in their
community. What is being done to support the Olmstead Decision - Community
Living Initiative
Two reports done by United Cerebral Palsy:
State Ranking of Medicaid for People with Disabilities
The Case For Inclusion
The State of Disability in America – What the Disabled Community
Faces
Jump to:
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06 CIL day - Requests Concerning Independent Living, Employment and Transportation |
9/9/02
Dear Mark Warner,
Hi, my name is Ivy Kennedy, and I feel like I should
share some thoughts about my experiences with being disabled citizen and
dealing with the system. Maybe you can take my insight to make Virginia better
for disabled citizens. I’m 23 and have Cerebral Palsy and have used a
power-chair all my life. I have lived in Virginia all my life.
I
was a mainstreamed student in James-City public schools. Being mainstreamed did
prepare me for the real world somewhat. I know other disabled people who were
not taught around “regular” kids and I feel they are way too sheltered. Being
taught with the “regular” kids was a good experience, but it also had its
drawbacks too. I didn’t really have anyone I could truly relate to; the special
ed kids were not as smart as I was and my little group of friends were real
good to me but they could not fully understand. It would’ve been nice to hear
how other disabled kids were copping with their situation. I got physical
therapy weekly, and looking back I could’ve used counseling or therapy with
dealing with my disability mentally. (Especially during the teen years.) I did
go to a few Easter Seals camps, which were a tremendous help in knowing I
wasn’t the only disabled kid out there. The camps were so expensive my family
couldn’t afford it, so the few times I went were church group sponsored. I
understand why these camps are so expensive, but it’s a shame they are, because
it is a good way to cope if are you disabled.
After
high school, I went to be trained in CAD drafting at Woodrow Wilson Rehab in
Fishersville Virginia. This was a blossoming time for me; educationally and
socially. I found many instruments to help me with everyday life and learning.
I remember thinking when I had my Jouse,
(instrument that acts as a mouse on my computer) “wow, I wish I’d had this in
high school…maybe I could’ve finished more of my assignments!” The Jouse enabled
me to be much faster than I’d been in the past. My drafting course took two
years to complete, for which I received a certificate. That’s great, but
employers require a lot more than a certificate in Drafting to be even
considered to be hired. I found that out very quickly out in the real world.
The courses offered to young students at Woodrow should be more extensive than
certification, such as BS or masters degrees. We were prepared for entry-level
job openings, and to me that just isn’t going to cut it for employers in the
real world. I could go to community college in Newport News, but I cannot
drive, and the public transit here doesn’t provide services to that area. Even
if I were to go, I am told DRS (Department of Rehabilitative Services) will not
pay for an aid to assist me with schoolwork. That seems silly to me because all
throughout my public schooling I had an aide, why not in college, especially if
will help me to be hired?
I’m
tempted to wonder even if I had all the education in the world…society still
would not accept me in the work force. So why bother working hard furthering my
education? There are wonderful programs out there for preparing the disabled
for the workplace, but what is the use if our workplace is not ready to accept
us? There can be laws on top of laws to hire disabled people, but the bottom
line is you can’t truly force anyone to be comfortable working around the
disabled, if they are really not. That’s why I believe it is important to
mainstream disabled students whenever possible. The idea of getting children
comfortable around disabled people, so in the future they will realize we can
be just productive in the workplace as they are, if just given a chance. I know
this will not happen in the near future, but more money should be put towards
programs teaching the workforce to better accept disabled people, like
conferences or types of therapy. People need to be more exposed to the disabled
in order to be familiar with us. It’s kind of like the segregation of
African-Americans in earlier days. People never had an opportunity to met
blacks in school or socially so they continued to believe in stereotypes such
as, “all blacks are stupid.” The majority still thinks if there’s anything
slightly different with someone they are retard, and it’s sad society is still
stereotypes people with any kind of disability.
It
makes me so angry at times, I worked very hard throughout school and after…and
for what, to sit at home everyday, not working. Just think of how much money
the state as put towards me in ways of an aide for 12 years for school,
equipment such as bus lifts for my wheelchair, ramps where needed, adaptive
technology for my computers both for home and school. DRS as pumped tons of
money for my stay at Woodrow Wilson for three years. Plus, after Woodrow the
money that went towards equipment in the workplace for my six-month internship
and the state funds which paid for my aide at work. It’s all very depressing
and discouraging…money and my self-confidence down the toilet.
Why
even try to work if your Social Security and other benefits are cut off? I can
understand them turning them off after the job you have is sure that they want
to keep you, but I lost all my SSI when I was an unpaid intern, the company
wasn’t even sure if they wanted to hire me! (And they didn’t) Why punish people
by turning off their benefits if we are trying to get a job? That’s why people
are afraid to try and look for work; Social Security is so quick to turn off
our benefits! Give us a chance to get on our feet.
So
many people take advantage of Security Supplemental Security Income
and food stamps, the system is clogged with people who don’t need help, in
which it just makes it that much harder for people who really need benefits to
get them. Workers make it so hard on you to get benefits and that’s ok, but
what about disabled people who aren’t smart, who can’t deal with the cases
workers who make it so difficult, they probably never get their benefits like
they should. The ends and outs are so complicated at times; you need to be a
rocket scientist to understand all the rules with dealing with our benefits.
Luckily I have Cyd Thorpe, my advocate to help me, but just think of all the
people who don’t have a person like that.
On
another note, I have to depend home care agencies for most of my care. It is
scary when you put your well being into the hands of a stranger. Often I am
frustrated with situations I come across with these agencies. All agencies
understaffed and the people who come into your home are underpaid when you
consider they are not reimbursed for their gas money for them to travel from
home to home. That leads to poor care and sometimes no care at all. I have been
without help on many occasions even with a weeks notice. It’s a shame because
this system is supposed to care for our citizens and it’s so disorganized. The
home care area needs major reforms. Sometimes they have aides who don’t really
have any business being in the home care field, and could careless how to treat
a person with care and respect. Also, you run into a lot of aides who have no
common sense, and are lazy. I have gotten feed up with it and took it upon
myself to hire my own aides. We have worked something out with agency and they
(Medicaid) are helping to pay her. I think that’s the way it should be; we
ought to be able to choose who is the provider of our care. I’m not sure, but
South Carolina has passed a law that gives the person the choice to hire the
person who will be caring for them. It is smart because it cuts out the whole
understaffed problem, and it gives us a choice! (UPDATE: Hired own aide with
the PAS Program)
I have gotten notices from Medicaid, Medical Services. They are for things I do not recognize and there is a note stating they would like to be notified if these services are not linked to me. But there is no number to call to check on this. What if there’s a scam going on or something and I loose my Medicaid!? I tried calling my social worker, and she’s no help. I’ve also called the Medicaid phone number, it’s a bunch of automated junk and I go round and round in circles. I’ve tried to save Medicaid money numerous times. For instance when my shower chair cushion split, I tried to get replacement cushions. They were available, but no medical supply would sell them to me. They wanted to sell me a whole new shower chair! When it came down to it, that’s what I had to do…get a whole new chair. It was extremely aggravating because the chair they gave me did not fit my tub right, and it was very dangerous for me to have to use it, because it didn’t adjust to my body as well as my old chair. Disabled people put a large number of hours in just fighting for what we need. It’s truly a full time job! You wouldn’t believe the hours I have put in per month, on the phone, fighting for my rights.
One
last thing…those handicapped parking spaces. It infuriates me how people abuse
the tags. Take just one day and crack down on all those folks who take advantage
of handicap parking spaces. You can get a lot of money for the city that way. I
see people who are perfectly fine with those temporary tags. Doctors and the
DMV hand those temporary tags out like they are candy. It seems like everybody
and their mother has one. I have a handicapped van I use to get out and about
and often I have to park in the back of the lot because all of the handicapped
parking spots are full.
I
thank you very much for taking time to read this. I hope you can use this for
ideas to make this fine state a little better to live in! I hope someone
contacts me to let me know somebody has gotten this letter.
Sincerely,
Ivy
K.
Responses/Results:
I got a letter back from Governor Warner’s party. It basically said thanks for writing and my views would be taken into consideration. I also sent it to my representative Jo Ann Davis, posted it on a few Yahoo CP groups, and faxed it to the ADA main headquarters.
1/20/06
Dear Mr. John J. Welch, III and/or Mr. Mark Warner,
I’m so pleased to be here to talk to about some important issues. I
hope some of my views of living in Virginia with a disability can better guide
the General Assembly to what improvements need to be made involving Independent
Living, Employment and Transportation.
Last week a met I a woman by the name of Robin. She was living by
herself but had to move back into nursing home because the home care agency she
depended on failed to run like it should. She has no family to advocate on her
behalf. When dealing with a home care agency, you have to be assertive almost
to the point of being mean, (or rude) to receive the care you need. It’s hard
for someone like me to be like that, and I’m sure people like Robin do not want
to be mean, or do not have the skills to be assertive, and end up back in a
nursing home. The aides we have to rely on are often high school dropouts
and/or come from Social Services work programs. They don’t have the qualities
that people like myself need; such as being on time, treating us with respect
and having the motivation to do what we ask of them. How are we supposed to be
independent with this kind of help? Thank goodness for the ED/CD
PAS Medicaid Waiver program, which I have two days a week. It’s wonderful to
be able to pick the right type of person for me. It’s nice to have our
personalities mesh so well. I would opt to have my PAS aide seven days a week,
but there’s no way I can keep a backup ready. So on the remaining five days, I
rely on the agency. I just don’t think somebody would stand by as a PAS aide
backup for long.
The Centers
for Independent Living (CIL) are requesting two million dollars to
expand services that would help people with disabilities leave nursing homes
and/or institutions. CILs work with people with disabilities to develop life
skills by providing counseling, links to services inside the community, and can
help with the transition to living independently.
Living independently and
being our own support system is vital to all of us, even if you have no
disability. Which is why we are asking for housing supplements for people with
disabilities to allow them to transition to their own homes. Federal sources,
such as Section 8 vouchers are scarce. As it is now, Medicaid patient payments
are too high to afford, and people who have the capabilities to live on their
own are destined to move back into nursing homes. These people in most cases
are young, bright people who desperately want to have the right to live just as
everyone does…under their own roof, on their own terms. The rate at which
Virginia places young people in nursing homes has risen by 37% between 2003 and
2004. There are now 4,479 people who are under the age of 64 living in nursing
homes. More funding is needed in order to reach and prevent these people from
ending up in nursing homes around Virginia.
There are a few other
requests Virginia CILs are asking for. (a.) Increasing SSI by 300%, so
nonworking people with disabilities with the Medicaid Waiver can afford to pay
living expenses. Their allowance now, after paying for the nursing home is
around $30. That’s hardly enough to pay for household items and other related
necessities. (b.) Funding for an additional 400 people to receive services
which would speed up the Developmental Disabilities Waiver the waiting list.
The funding would also help to secure providers. (c.) Increasing the rate of
reimbursements for DRS and Medicaid aides and other provider rates by 40%.
Doing this would expand the number of people who are willing to work as
personal care attendants. As I said above, this is crucial if we are to receive
the quality care people like myself need. (d.) Change the DD management rate to
the same as the MR management. Currently DD management is reimbursed at a rate
of $175.40 a month. MR management’s rate is $326.50. Both have management tasks
that are the same, except for DD management, who has only one more extra task.
(e.) Last but not least, provide funding for a Medicaid Brain Injury Waiver.
I’m attaching two Daily
Press news articles about past proposals the General Assembly has addressed to
help people regain their independence. It goes into detail about the problems
with the Medicaid Waiver and describes firsthand the people in nursing homes
and why the Centers are asking for more funding. The articles also talk about
the $458 million Mark Warner proposal that would help cut waiting lists for
services. Exercising their Independence and Beyond Planned New Facility…
DRS
(Department of Rehabilitative Services) job councilors are not in touch with
the reality of employer’s attitude/fears towards people with disabilities.
There is a need for programs that teach acceptance and answer employers
questions about the competence of people with disabilities. From my viewpoint,
there can be laws on top of laws to hire disabled people, but the bottom line
is you can’t truly force anyone to be comfortable working around the disabled.
It depends on the person’s views/stereotypes. That’s why I believe it is
important to mainstream students with disabilities whenever possible. The idea
of getting children comfortable around disabled people is essential to the
future workforce hiring the disabled. Throughout my school years I was
mainstreamed into regular classes, and the kids were great to me.
I am not equipped to
compete with my peers at job interviews. I only have a certificate, when others
have degrees. The vocational school I went to after high school WWRC (Woodrow
Wilson Rehabilitation Center) should’ve had professors and full subject
courses. I realize that it was a State run rehab, but I would’ve paid tuition
if I knew I could earn a degree. Being at WWRC gave me the 24 hour care I
needed and would’ve been a perfect place for me to have become a college
graduate. I could go to college on my own, but with the barriers pointed out in
this letter, I would probably not make it to any of my classes.
I see from looking at
the GA website there is a transportation bill.
Transportation needs of populations with limited mobility - HB 226
I moved to Virginia
Beach from Williamsburg to be more involved in the community, and I knew the
public transportation was supposed to better here. I’d like to share an excerpt
from a letter I wrote when I was experiencing difficulty with Hampton Roads
Transit’s Handi-Ride:
“To make a long story
short…I was approved a while ago and have only scheduled a ride four times. Two
of those times, were no shows. So that gives Handi-ride a 50% score, not good.
I’m familiar with the 30-minute
window and I’m careful to make a note of that when I make appointments. What
angers me so much is when the window ends, and no bus is here, it’s too late to
do anything about it. What makes it really infuriating is that the phone
operator asks if I still want a ride, they don’t understand, I’m already late
and have missed my appointment! When I call to schedule, Handi-ride asks me
what time I need to arrive at my appointment. I don’t understand why the window
closing time is so close to the time I need to be there? Could you please
explain this? Also, if the bus is running late, why can’t there be a courtesy
call, to let me know if they’re running late? Once when the window was closed I
called, and my bus was in Norfolk, and the driver seemed to not even know the
location of my street?! Sounds like poor management to me.”
I hope this helps give
better awareness to some of the transportation problems, so they can be
addressed properly. (The 30-minute window refers to the 30 minutes before and
after the destination/appointment arrival time)
Thank you again for
taking the time to talk with us. If ever you need insight into issues facing
people with disabilities please look on my webpage. I keep updated versions of
the advocacy letters I have written that reiterate the troubles that we’re
dealing with, which may be of service when the General Assembly meets.
Ivy
Kennedy
Responses/Results: What a day! This was my first
trip to the GA. Every Virginia CIL had a group there. I saw friends that had
went to WWRC, that I’d not seen in years! Our CIL was split into groups of
three. We meet with three delegates that day. Two out of the three seemed genuinely
interested about our issues. All of them seemed to have no time for our
letters, so I tried to voice all my points the best I could. (That’s usually a
job for assistants) They must’ve been swamped, it was Lobby Day and gobs of
people were there. I was pleased finally to have meet Mr. Wagner face to face.
He was kind and had the most time for us. Our main topic was getting people out
of nursing homes, but I really expressed my feelings about why I’m not able to
find a job. Mr. Wagner seemed to really understand and offered his sympathies.
January 25, 2006
The Honorable Delegates of the General
Assembly,
I am writing this letter to express my
concern for issues regarding persons with disabilities in our local
community. The following bill may be
associated with this topic, HB 854, Senior citizens and adults with
disabilities.
I recently started a new career as a
personal aide for a person with a disability.
She hired me through a program called the Consumer-Directed
Personal Assistance Services (CD-PAS) program. This program gives her the ability to
interview and hire her own personal aides and decide what days and times she
requires their services. She is
approved for a certain number hours each week that she can schedule with the
aide as long as the CD-PAS aide and the home care agency aide do not overlap.
Without a CD-PAS aide, she must rely on the home care aides through an agency
that bills Medicaid. Agency aides are
not allowed to drive their clients, for liability reasons, and are not very
flexible for scheduling. Additionally,
on many occasions she has had no service due to under staffing and/or
mismanagement.
My
first and most important point is the unacceptable care conditions that many
persons with disabilities must endure.
For a person with a disability to go one day or multiple days without a
shower or a proper meal is not acceptable.
Placing them into nursing homes is not the answer. It is much cheaper for taxpayers for persons
with disabilities to live independently.
Not to mention the standard of living in a nursing home is horrendous
and deplorable.
I
would like to bring to your attention the inefficient way the home care agency
and the CD-PAS program are run. As I
understand it, both agencies are funded with Medicaid. As I mentioned above, the agency gets an
allotted amount hours per week, as well as the CD-PAS aide.
When
a CD-PAS aide is sick, the client will have no help that day. The agency can send an aide out but that
will take from her hours for the week, so at some point the client will not get
care for one day that week. The agency
is not normally prepared to handle last minute scheduling either. I propose that the agencies be required to
have an emergency staff to deal with these types of issues. If the CD-PAS aide is sick and cannot work,
she/he does not get paid. Therefore, the
hours allotted by Medicaid are not being used so the agency should be able to
pick those hours up and use them.
The
client is allowed to call for another CD-PAS aide off a registration list. The probability that someone can come out
last minute is very slight. Most CD-PAS
aides already have schedules to keep for their primary clients and are
individuals, not an agency with rotating staff.
This
scenario happened to my client and I just recently. I became very ill with the flu and was unable to make it to work
that week. My client went without care
and had to rely on family members. This
is not acceptable. Many people do not
have family members around to help out.
That is a moot point anyway because the client should be
functioning independent of his/her family.
It
is a fact that at some point a CD-PAS aide will get sick. For myself, it puts me in a bad situation
because I do not want my client to go without help for the day. On the other hand, I do not want to work
because of the type of care I give; it’s highly likely I will pass my illness to her.
My
final issue is how the Department of Medical
Services (DMAS) classifies
CD-PAS aides. I am classified as a
household employee. DMAS withholds FICA
on my behalf. I am responsible for
paying my state and federal taxes. In
the Policies for Personal Attendants, number seven states, “It is recommended
that Personal Attendant obtain Personal Liability Insurance.”
DMAS
classifies me as a household employee so they do not have to take liability for
me. This also allows clients to have an
aide that can drive them. The problem
with this is, I have yet to find an insurance agency that will write a general
liability policy for a caretaker. Additionally,
I have been told a policy would cost at least $150-$200 per year. For someone making $8.20 an hour this is
intolerable.
At
the very least, make CD-PAS aides independent contractors so they could write
off mileage and expenses like gloves and masks. They would also be able to have a Limited Liability Company (LLC)
to protect their personal assets in case of litigation. Why does DMAS expect someone making $8.20 an
hour to put their personal assets on the line or take out their own insurance
policy? This is completely ridiculous.
On
a personal note, I was required to take a CPR class and a TB test. I was only partially reimbursed for the CPR
class. If DMAS requires CPR
certification, they should reimburse the total amount of the class. DMAS should
pay all fees associated with any requirement of the job!
I
started working for my client $15.00 in the hole.
I
have a bachelor’s degree and have held professional positions in the past. I took this job because I was looking for
more fulfilling work. I wanted to make
a difference. It is no mystery to me why persons with disabilities do not get
quality aides. How can they when this
system is so flawed?
Please
excuse the lengthy letter. All my
points were related and I thought it best to outline them together. Thank you so much for your time.
Sincerely,
R.
Pilch
CIL day at the Richmond General Assembly was exciting this year. I wasn’t a rookie anymore so it seemed like a breeze. I wrote a 5 minute speech; learning from last year it had to be short and to the point.
Rebecca went again too, as a volunteer. It touched me very much that
she decided to help us again. As my aide for around two years she had come to
understand my struggles.
We were late getting there thanks to Handi-Ride. I was a little
upset because I had missed the meet with Senator Wagner. He was really
perceptive towards me last year and I was looking forward to talking with him.
We meet with Delegate Welch’s assistant. That went well. He knew other CILs
staff members so he knew what the jest of our issues were already. Afterwards
we realized we needed to speak with Wagner again. A bill was about to be voted
on that involved mom and pop stores that sold lottery tickets. Those stores
were trying to get the okay not to be accessible to people with disabilities.
Which would mean changing ADA laws! A big step backwards if this was approved.
Wagner’s secretary said he was very busy. Time was running out too, he was due
to leave his office at 12. The four of us waited as the steady stream of
lobbyist went passed by. Would we have time for the other legislator we had to
speak to? Or decision was to split up. Two would wait for Wagner; two would go
on to the next meeting. Two of us waited some more. Wagner came out of his
office and looked like he was about to rush of somewhere. But just then he
recognized me and came up, shook my hand and asked me how I was doing! How
exciting, he recognized me! So then he left and when he came back an opening
had popped up and he spoke with him. Maybe because he recognized me? It was
very important that we speak with him about the lottery tickets because later
on that same day the GA voted on it. The bill was thrown out because it had
been a tie!
Here’s what I said to the legislators we meet with that day:
My life
is not my life.
My
quality of life depends solely on my attendant.
I cannot
do anything I want unless they’re by my side.
Such as have
a job, go to college, or going grocery shopping.
My life
is NOT my life, it’s my attendants.
They need
to be paid more, and be given healthcare benefits.
If they
were better provided for, it would mean less people in nursing homes. Also the
quality of the attendants themselves would rise.
Further
more less people in nursing homes would be better for the economy because they
would be consumers in the community.
CILs help
people get out of nursing homes. Please support living wages for attendants and
funding towards CIL
I was not aware of the
deadline to sign up for a ride with the Endependence Center. So I almost didn’t
go, but my mom was kind enough to take me. I did go to the lobby day planning
meeting and gave my advice to people about what to expect.
1. Know what you are
going to say before you meet with them. You’ll have a short time to talk so get
to the point.
2. If you’re not sure
what to say, share how Centers for Independent Living as helped you. What
services have they provided you with?
3. Keep up with your
group. It’s very hectic and crowded. Make sure everyone in your group knows
what room number the scheduled meeting is at, before you ahead off towards that
room.
4. Many of these people
don’t know what a Center for Independent Living is. First thing I say to the
person I’m meeting with is ‘Do you know what a Center for Independent Living
is?’
It seems my group only
spoke with the assistants this year. I don’t know where the delegates were all
at? All the members that were there from Virginia’s CIL’s met at the big
Richmond library for lunch. It was amazing to see how big the group was. It
made me feel good that we were all there for a common cause.
It was interesting to
see my mom in that type of element. She did well considering the stress level.
Thank you mom. After we left we visited with my Great Aunt. It was wonderful to
see Anne. We all went out to Bottom’s Up Pizza.
Yumm! I wish they had one near home.
Frank Wagner was not on
my groups list to speak with, but after our meetings Virginia and I went to see
if we could speak with him. He squeezed us in for about 5 minutes. Virginia went
to town talking with him about his daughter. Her mother used to be his
daughter’s school bus driver. She also, reported that our Independence Center
had helped her get a job. Wagner was pleased. When my turn was up, I told him
one of the waivers we’ve asked him to support is working nicely for me. …The CD
wavier which allows me to choose my aides. For some
reason I also threw in my story about my struggles about the local swimming
pools. Click here to read about it. Oh
yes, I think I told him because he was saying how he does things all over town
and he enjoys the Bayside pool.
Brian took me this since year since he was free due to being jobless. I’m glad he got to see firsthand what the day entails for me. I told him, out of all the things I do during the year, I feel this is the most important.
This year all we heard
was ‘budget cut this, budget cut that’. I was not surprised. I figured our
advocating wasn’t pointless even in a bad economy because we were there talking
to them, when they put funding we need onto the chopping block, they’d have a
face to put with their actions.
My group spoke to four
delegates this year. We only got stuck speaking to one assistant this year. She
was so annoying too! She obviously wasn’t listening. When I picked up on that I
stopped talking. What was the point? Another group member picked up where I
left off.
And yes, I stopped in to
say Hey-ya to Sen. Frank Wagner!
My Letter to the
Delegates
I kept it to one page
and added my letter to Obama on the back. HERE
‘ I’m a disabled
Virginia citizen. I’m 29 and have Cerebral Palsy. I’m a smart and active member
in my community.
Please support
Independent Living Centers. I’m glad the Southeastern Virginia Training Center
state has been shut down. I want to see more people with disabilities living in
their community. The statewide Independent Living Centers can help people with
disabilities be independent. Independent Living Centers (CIL) provides services
to people with disabilities. They help find homes, facilitate waivers such as
for attendants, teach the in and outs of Medicaid and Social Security, plus
much more.
Please support the
personal care attendant pay raise. (Item Number: FFF) To get more people out of
nursing homes, living independently and in the workplace our attendants need to
be paid more. It is cheaper to care for somebody in his or her home than in an
institution or nursing home in my opinion.
Please do not
support changes to waivers to ensure that the actual cost of services for an
individual does not exceed the average annual cost of the alternative
institutional setting. (Item Number: AAA)
Please support the
cigarette tax. Every cent is needed to keep people out of nursing homes and the
waivers available. I would support a gas tax if there were one.
Please do not
support the ED/CD wavier to have a waiting list. (Item Number: III) I use the
ED/CD wavier. It pays my attendants. It is vital to my independence. People
shouldn’t have to wait to have a personal care attendant. Long waiting list
would force people into nursing homes and institution, which is the exact
opposite of our goal. Goal: Keep people in their community.’
Responses/Results:
Obama’s federal stimulus
has made a difference for Virginians with disabilities.
An April 09 Endependence
Center newsletter reports:
- Southeastern Virginia Training Center is rebuilding and resizing to a size of 75 beds. They had 175 beds.
- Attendant pay rise by
3% starting in July 09
- No waiting list for
the ED/CD wavier
- Removed the AT
(Assistive Technology) fund
- Directs DMAS and the
Governor to develop a plan to eliminate waiting list for MR and DD waivers by
2020
-
As of 09
Three
states, up from two Vermont, Nevada and Alaska – have more than 95 percent of
individuals served living in home-like settings (at home, in their family’s
home or in settings with three or fewer residents
Nine
states – Alaska, Hawaii, Maine, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Rhode Island,
Vermont and West Virginia, and the District of Columbia - have no large state
institutions. Thirteen states have only one large state facility remaining.
Idaho
- improved so dramatically improved this year because it directs a larger share
of funding directly to the community and it enacted a Medicaid Buy-In program.
Stats:
The Case For Inclusion Report by United Cerebral
Palsy
I didn’t go this year.
I mailed out numerous
copies of this letter about the state’s ranking for Medicaid and asking to
close institutions. Click here
2/18/10: Today I found
out CD Pas services are on the chopping block. Those services pay my aides!
UPDATE: the proposal to cut the ED/CD
Wavier didn’t go through thanks to tons of people
calling their delegates. One secretary I spoke to wasn’t too professional.
“We’ve been getting a lot of these calls already.” Me: Good, here’s one more!