- Introductions were completed.
- Minutes from the last meeting were approved; if you would like to refer to past minutes, they are always available on the DD Council website: (www.manhattanddcouncil.org).
III. Announcements : SEE FLYERS IN PDF
Please see attached announcements.
Other Council Business
Volunteers are needed to help keep the Council website and Facebook page active and up to date. If you are interested in helping, or learning what would be needed, please email manhattanddcouncil@gmail.org.
DD Council dues are due! Paid members will have their agency’s non-fundraising events listed on the Manhattan DD Council website’s calendar of events.
Presentation: Support Services for Families in Crisis, Rocio Ruiz, Senior Coordinator, and Cristy Torres, Assistant Coordinator, YAI Crisis Intervention and Affiliated Programs
Rocio Ruiz explained that YAI’s Crisis Intervention program is different from the START program, a new evidence-informed program working with people who have complicated behavior challenges, which was presented at the October 2016 DD Council meeting.
Crisis Intervention is a decades-old program offering several different services to support families in crisis. A crisis is defined as a time of intense difficulty—an event or situation that significantly compromises a person’s ability to function or provide care to the person with a disability. The goal of the program is to strengthen the supports for families so they are able to maintain and stabilize the family unit, and to reduce the potential for emergency room visits, out of home placement, or involvement with ACS. The program first works to stabilize the crisis and then provides treatment, training, and/or educational components, according to the presenting need, on a short-term basis, including case management, counseling, behavior management, emergency respite reimbursement, and family reimbursement. To receive services a person must be OPWDD-eligible and live at home with family. The Medicaid waiver is not required, as this program is funded through OPWDD state dollars. Spanish and Cantonese spoken. Contact: 212-273-6200. Please see the attached 03-crisis_management-pptx-3 for more information.
- State News – Ellen Bleckman
- Respite: The DDROs are reaching out across NYC to discuss concerns about respite rates. OPWDD wants to know the impact of the new rates. The deadline for reporting is Friday, December 9.
- Residential Development: a Request for New Services is out to providers for the $2.8 million NYC share of the $10 million set-aside for residential development for people at home. According to the priorities developed by the city’s regional stakeholder group, 50% of the city’s allocation will go toward non-certified opportunities, 40% toward certified opportunities, and 10% to a transition residence. OPWDD is now allowing non-residential providers as well as residential providers to apply.
- High Needs Funding: A mechanism has been developed to provide state funding for enhanced staffing for individuals with high needs receiving residential services. Initially, the funding was proposed for people new to an agency; it now also includes people currently being served. Start date is projected to be January. Interested agencies should contact the DDRO.
- City News – Sandra Piggee
No report.
- IAC/Federation – Chris Treiber, Jim Malley
IAC: Chris reported the following.
- NYC has opened kindergarten registration for next year. Those who apply by January 1 may list preferences. Applications can be completed online or at 718-935-2400.
- The Supreme Court will decide Andrew F. v. Douglas County School District concerning what educational benefit children are entitled to. The current standard is “some” educational benefit. The suits seeks “meaningful” benefit, a higher bar. There is wide support for raising the bar. The Court hearing is scheduled for January 11.
- Another case before the Court is procedural. The Court will decide whether a student must exhaust all procedures before appealing.
- Chris and Wini Schiff met with Chris Suriano, the new Deputy Commissioner for Special Education for the NYS State Education Department. They discussed critical issues affecting 4410 special education preschools and 853 special education schools, particularly the tremendous impact of the lack of tuition growth increases for 4410 programs and minimal increases for the 853 programs. The teacher and teacher assistant losses impacting both 4410 and 853 programs have reached crisis level. Last year IAC 4410 programs lost $12 million and the year before $7 million. The salary differential between our schools and the DOE is roughly $20,000-$25,000 per year, and the DOE continues recruiting teachers and teacher assistants from our schools. Statewide, a total of 30 4410 programs closed in the two-year period 2014-2016; 20 of the providers were special class or SCIS providers. The total number of seats impacted in this period were 642 special class seats and 375 SCIS class seats. The staff turnover and vacancy rates are now such that programs are deliberating whether they can continue to operate.
- IAC strategies: The counties make a significant contribution to the cost of 4410 preschools, but increases in county spending are capped, which is a big obstacle to securing increases for the 4410s. IAC is working with the counties to cap their contributions. IAC is also looking at an infusion of funds for the 4410 and 853 schools to be competitive with the public school salaries. IAC has been trying to ascertain the number of children waiting for services, but is still waiting for a response to its FOIL request.
Jim Malley reported the following:
- IAC is trying to explain overtime rules to the agencies.
- Provision of services by satellite Article 16 clinics is down by 25% to 30%.
- IAC is still searching for a new Executive Director
Federation: Jim reported that the borough chairs are scheduled to meet December 16.
VII. Committee Reports
Family Support Services: Wendy de Leon reported that preparations for next week’s Fair are in high gear. We need volunteers at the Fair location at 4:00 pm on Monday, December 12, to prepare the packets. To volunteer, please contact Wendy or Yesenia Estrella. Because of the Fair there will be no committee meeting in December. The next committee meeting will be Tuesday, January 10, 2017, 10:00 am – noon, Sinergia, 2082 Lexington Avenue, 4th floor. Information: Yesenia Estrella (212) 643-2840 x 349; yestrella@sinergiany.org.
Legislative: Jim Malley reported that OPWDD and school salaries will likely be the chief focuses at the Legislative Breakfast. Potential Medicaid block grants may also be a focus. If you have any new ideas for the Breakfast, please let Jim or Lynn Decker know. Next meeting to be announced. Information: Jim Malley (212) 928-5810 x 101; jmalley@esperanzacenter.net.
Transition: Next meeting: Wednesday, December 14, 2016, AHRC Redfield Center, 450 West 56th Street, 2nd floor. Information: Kathy Kelly (212) 780-2724; Kathy.kelly@ahrcnyc.org.
Manhattan Family Support Services Advisory Council: Next meeting: Connie Senior, YAI, on sexuality issues, January 18, 2017, 10:00 am – noon, Center for Family Support, 333 Seventh Ave., 9th floor. Information: Margaret Puddington (212) 799-2042; Margaret.puddington@gmail.com.
Service Coordination: At the November meeting, Michael Levy discussed Access-a-Ride. Next meeting: Topic will be ACCES-VR, Friday, December 16, 2016, 10:00 am – noon, Contemporary Guidance Services (CGS), 52 Broadway, 4th floor. Information: Carol Lincoln (718) 859-5420 x 225; clincoln@ucpnyc.org.
Children’s/Education Committee: Marco explained that the Council Executive Committee is considering reimagining the committee structure to reflect the life cycle, so that we might define committees by age of the people served rather than by service types, as currently. At the next Council meeting, if there is time, we will have a fuller discussion of committee structure. Information: Christina Muccioli (212) 780-2532; Christina.muccioli@ahrcnyc.org.
Next Meeting
Thursday, January 12, 2017
AHRC
80 Vandam Street, 6th floor
(212) 947-5770, ext. 456
9:30 a.m.
Tentative Presentation:
Kate Marley, Director of Waiver Management, OPWDD, on
Conflict Free Case Management