l. Introductions were completed.
ll. Minutes were approved; if you were unable to open them, they are available as always on the DD Council website (www.manhattanddcouncil.org).
lll. Announcements October DD Council Attachments
UCP of New York City
Family Connect vacancy list is attached, as well as information for a free Family Connect conference on November 20 – “Creating Opportunities for People with Disabilities to Lead Independent and Fulfilling Lives.”
NYLPI
They are interested in hearing any experiences of children being mistreated in schools by their peers or by staff; see attached. Contact Navin Pant at NPant@nylpi.org or 212-244-4664 for details or to relay your story.
NYC FAIR
NYC Family and Information Resources Network – meeting on November 5 at 6pm, “Understanding the Developmental Disabilities System” with Kathy Broderick at AHRC, 83 Maiden Lane. See attached for details. If you would like to be a family mentor or mentee, contact Elly Rufer at nycfair@gmail.com.
Sinergia
“Building Inclusive Communities in Times of Change” on 10/22 at 9am at 490 Riverside Drive; see attached for details.
Housing Programs, including advocacy and home finding assistance, information and referral – call 212-643-2840 for more information, or see attached for more details.
AHRC NYC
Program vacancy list is attached.
Archcare at Terence Cardinal Cooke Health Care Center
See attached for openings in the Developmental Disabilities Clinic.
Hawthorne Foundation
In Home Behavior Management services available in Manhattan, see attached for details.
YAI
Free Education Workshops through January; details are attached.
Phone-in parent and caregiver support groups available starting in October on a variety of topics. Contact Kate Macaluso at 212-273-6242, or kate.macaluso@yai.org to learn more.
Free open workshops every Wednesday on navigating the system for people with developmental disabilities. Drop in at 460 West 34th Street, 11th floor. Call 212-273-6182, or link@yai.org for referrals and any other information.
QSAC
Vacancy list attached.
***Council dues are due! Non-profit provider agencies should coordinate within their agencies to pay their membership dues for the new fiscal year. See attached for 2014-2015 invoice***
**As always – any agency announcements or non-fundraising events can be sent to manhattanddcouncil@yahoo.com to be included on the Council Facebook page (anyone) or Council website (dues paying members).
Presentation
Henrietta Cole, from ArchCare presented about their new Balancing Incentive Program (BIP) grant, a pilot to support people over 55 with developmental disabilities. ArchCare’s Senior Life PACE centers (Program for All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly) will receive a capitated rate (PMPM) for all its clients’ needs except housing: a life plan will be created; access will be provided to psychological, neurological, psychiatric, socialization, medical, hospital, and nursing home services. Enrollees must be Medicaid and Medicare eligible. Serving Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island, the pilot will be center-based: people must come to the center for services, and transportation is provided. The initial goals are to support religious centers that have no plan and to support special populations, including DD, over age 55. The Department of Health requested that ArchCare do the demonstration. The pilot will study metrics and will develop a model showing what needs to be added to the PMPM to accommodate the unique service needs of older people with DD. The grant is to serve 150 clients by integrating them into any PACE program in the three boroughs. Community sites may also be used. Services will be provided 24/7, including a live operator at a call center. The focus will be on clients in nursing homes and at home with families. Nursing home clients will be served using Money Follows the Person funding. Outreach is underway. For referrals, contact Angela Gonzalez at 646-289-7700 or angonzalez@archcare.org.
IV. State News
| Janet Davis reported on the START Program (Systemic, Therapeutic Assessment, Resources and Treatment): On October 3 there was a meeting at IAC to kick off the gap analysis for the NYC START program. Initially, OPWDD wants to survey families and other stakeholders, reaching as many people as possible to see if they are interested in completing a survey and/or participating in a focus group. OPWDD is particularly interested in reaching families whose relatives currently interface with mental health providers. The purpose is to identify missing services and gaps in services in order to better serve individuals with DD and mental health/behavioral issues.Lynn Decker attended the gap analysis meeting. She explained that START creates a research- driven package of services, based on an analysis of how people fall through the cracks and get routed to the most expensive services. In addition to the focus groups, there will be clinical education team trainings in each borough. They will be looking for cases of overlap between systems, exploring how it works or fails to work in cases where the systems do not mesh. Once the gap analysis is complete in the region in April, a provider will be identified.Regarding the Front Door, state staff is currently being trained on the new policy and procedure manual. Training for MSCs and other provider agency staff is being arranged for the end of the month. Notice will go out soon. A session will be offered in each borough for the convenience of staff.
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V. City News
Three concept papers were published for DD services in NYC. Public comment period ends October 16. Go to http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/vendors/acco-home.shtml. The RFPs will target clinic services, employment, and autism awareness.
Dr. Gerald Belkin, the new Executive Deputy Commissioner in DOHMH, will attend the next Council Chairs meeting.
VI. IAC/Federation
Chris Treiber, IAC, reported that the State Education Department (SED) issued a memorandum that psychological evaluations for preschool age children conducted by certified school psychologists would no longer be allowed. Instead, SED will accept only those evaluations conducted by licensed practitioners (Ph.D. or doctorate in psychology). The impact of this disallowance was enormous: 90% of IAC schools use school psychologists. After considerable pressure on SED to resolve this issue, SED agreed to review it before enforcing the regulation and for now, will allow certified school psychologists to continue evaluating preschoolers. However, it is unclear where the issue stands. Some agencies, concerned about Office of the State Comptroller (OSC) audits, are discontinuing evaluations; some families are being turned away from evaluation sites. The problem is especially difficult for those needing bilingual evaluations and for those with very specialized needs, such as students who are deaf. SED was trying to follow the scope of practice that legally requires licensed psychologists, and was unaware of the impact this decision would have. IAC is looking at options to address this issue.
As of July 1, 2015 SEIT (Special Education Itinerant Teacher) providers will be paid based on attendance, rather than tuition. An SED Preschool Fiscal Advisory Work Group is looking at all preschool special education rates, including SEIT. They are working to resolve discrepancies in rates and trying to calculate an absentee rate. An absentee factor is critical, especially for medically fragile children with frequent illnesses and hospitalizations. Also under consideration are regional rates for SEIT. SEIT services are valuable because children receive their services at childcare, UPK, and nursery schools, thus facilitating integration. SED must also examine how to take into account the various amount of service different populations receive.
Chris, current chair of NYC Local Early Intervention Coordinating Council (LEICC), is looking to increase parent representation on the Council. Please give Chris the names/contacts of potential parents of children finishing preschool, kindergarten, or 1st grade: chris@iacny.org.
Jim Malley reported that IAC is still awaiting the MOU regarding the Nurse Practices Act, which will permit AMAP-certified staff to administer medications in non-certified settings. IAC is also forming an exploratory group on non-certified settings to see what works and what does not..
IAC is very concerned about fiscal assumptions regarding managed care infrastructure—specifically about whether funding for those costs will be taken from direct services.
Agencies are being encouraged to provide family-level care during hospitalizations of their relatives—care such as advocacy and companionship, not care that is the hospitals’ responsibility.
Federation
The DD Council chairs will meet next week.
- Committee Reports
Family Support – The Committee will meet Tuesday, October 14, 2014, 10:00 am-noon, at YAI, 460 West 34th Street, 11th floor. We will be discussing the Fair. The Fair workshops are nearly finalized. Directory updates are due October 24. For information, contact Amy Bittinger (718) 859-5420 x 234; abittinger@ucpnyc.org.
Legislative – Jim Malley explained that there are three important dates in the budget cycle: October 21 the NYS Offices, including OPWDD, submit their budget requests; mid- to late-January, the Governor releases his budget proposals; April 1, the new fiscal year begins. We try to influence all the steps of the budget. To encourage cooperation and coordination of advocacy efforts in NYC and elsewhere in NYS, IAC hosted meetings of DD Council representatives, including family members. There was agreement among the boroughs to solicit family and self-advocate input on what their own priorities are, vs. provider priorities. It was agreed that the FSS Advisory Councils would hold family/self-advocacy forums to discuss priorities, and subsequently, it was agreed that the families would create and disseminate an online survey for the same purpose. Margaret Puddington reported that after only two days, there were 671 survey responses. [After 7 days, there were 1,114 responses: #1 unmet service need was for 24-hour residential services; #1 managed care concern was that if the DISCO rate were not sufficient, access to services and quality of services would decline.] A conference call with Acting Commissioner Kerry Delaney was being set up with parents from diverse regions of NYS to present preliminary survey results and to request that money for 24-hour residential services be included in OPWDD’s budget request. Margaret clarified that she had altered the name of the survey sponsor to be consonant with the purpose of the survey (The Coalition of Families for Direct Support Staff was changed to Statewide Coalition of Developmental Disabilities Family Advocacy Organizations) , but that the name change had inadvertently caused some confusion.
The date of the 2015 Legislative Breakfast is Friday, March 13. Next meeting: to be announced. To join the committee or for more information, contact: Jim Malley (212) 928-5810 x 101; jmalley@esperanzacenter.net.
Transition –The committee met the day before DD Council. They had a presentation on Pathway to Employment, a new service which must be provided by authorized SEMP providers. This is a time-limited service, with a maximum of 278 hours, which does discovery, career exploration together with internships, leading to a job. Pathway may be combined with day hab or prevoc, but not with SEMP. The next meeting will be Wednesday, November 12, 2014, at 9:30 at AHRC, 83 Maiden Lane, 11th floor. The topic will be college options, presented by staff from AHRC. Information: Kathy Kelly (212) 780-2724; Kathy.kelly@ahrcnyc.org.
Manhattan Family Support Services Advisory Council- The council held morning and an evening Family/Self-Advocate Forum to identify advocacy priorities (see above, under Legislative Committee). The turnout was less than we hoped for, but the discussion was impassioned and useful. The need for development of residential services was top priority. The next meeting will be announced. Information: Margaret Puddington 212-799-2042; Margaret.puddington @gmail.com.
Service Coordination – At the last meeting, there was a presentation on CASA services. The next MSC Committee meeting, will be Friday, October 17, 10:00–noon at UCP/NYC, 80 Maiden Lane, 2nd floor training room, where Ellen Millman, FEGS, will discuss trusts. At the following meeting, Friday, November 21, 10:00–noon at UCP/NYC, 80 Maiden Lane, 2nd floor training room, Linda Schellenberg, Center for Family Support, will discuss self-direction. Information: Carol Lincoln (718) 859-5420 x 225; clincoln@ucpnyc.org.
Children’s Committee – Co-chair Joan Flood announced her retirement. Christina Muccioli announced that the next meeting will be November 3, 2014, at the Jewish Guild for the Blind, 15 West 65th Street, auditorium. Refreshments at 9:00 AM; meeting 9:30 AM-12:00 noon. Information: Christina Muccioli (212) 780-2532; Christina.muccioli@ahrcnyc.org.
VIII. New Business
Staten Island is planning a rally at the Governor’s office in Manhattan on October 20. The other DD Councils are considering whether to participate. Our discussion focused mainly on the following concerns: whether the timing, prior to the election, might work against us; the importance of having a strong parent voice to advocate for the need for development of 24-hour residential services; the lack of alignment among the borough councils. Consensus was not reached. Thus the Council as a whole will not officially participate, but individuals are free to do so.
Marilyn Rubinstein reported that at a Council Executive Committee held last summer, it was decided that an ad hoc committee on family engagement be created. The first committee meeting will be following today’s Council meeting. Information: Marilyn Rubinstein (212) 746-6175; mrubinst@nyp.org or Lynn Decker (212) 219-1195; lynn_decker@me.com.
Next meeting: Thursday, November 13, at AHRC, 83 Maiden Lane, 11th floor.