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NEW YORK STATE LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES IN BRIEF

OFFICE FOR PEOPLE WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES

CALL & WRITE YOUR STATE LEGISLATORS TO

SUPPORT 3FOR5

WHO: New York Disability Advocates, as members of the 3for5 Campaign, are calling upon the NYS Senate, Assembly and the Governor to commit to an annual investment of 3% for the next five years in systems that comprise New York’s human services sector including agencies that support people with disabilities.

WHY: For more than a decade, (with the exception of a 0.2% COLA) New York’s human services sector hasn’t received the annual cost of living adjustments in the State Budget. Many programs, supports and services are at or near a crisis level. The fiscal sustainability of some providers is in jeopardy.

WHEN: The Assembly and Senate will soon release their one-house budget measures and the 3for5Campaign is calling upon legislators to the support a 3% increase annually for 5 years.

WHAT CAN YOU DO? Over the next two weeks, advocacy is key!

Therefore, CALL & write your Senator and Assemblymember AND ASK THEM TO SUPPORT 3FOR5!

Attached are talking points for phone calls and a letter to send to your local Legislators.

Please call the Assembly Switchboard at 518-455-4100 and ask to be connected with your Assemblymember’s Office.

If you don’t know who your Assemblymember is, go to: https://nyassembly.gov/mem/

Please call the Senate Switchboard at 518-455-2800 and ask to be connected to your Senator’s Office.

If you don’t know who your Senator is, go to: https://www.nysenate.gov/find-my-senator

• TELL THEM: 
  • My name is
  • I am a(n) [employee, parent, advocate, etc.] at [Insert Provider Agency]
  • I am your constituent.

I am calling to urge you to support our 3for5 campaign for an annual 3% increase for 5 years, for nonprofit human services providers in New York State.

Click here for more talking points on the 3for5 campaign.

STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

#OurKidsareYOURKids: 

ENSURE EQUAL OPPORTUNITY FOR A QUALITY EDUCATION

4110 preschools and 853 schools educate students that the school district Committee on Special Education has placed in these programs because, due to the severity of their disabilities, they cannot appropriately be served in publicly operated schools.   Yet inequity in funding rates has created a crisis in recruiting and retaining certified teachers and teacher assistants. Specialized schools run by mission-driven non-profits require parity of funding with district schools.  Moreover, in New York City, Universal Pre-K and a new salary parity for Community Based Organizations providing early childhood (general education preschools) have provoked a crisis in staffing projected to cause a shortage of preschool class seats of between 1,000 and 2,000 this fall.

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

Early Intervention Changes Lives: 

ADEQUATELY FUND EARLY INTERVENTION SERVICES FOR INFANTS AND TODDLERS WITH DISABILITIES

Early Intervention services change young lives and support families as they begin the challenging road of parenting a child with a disability.  The window of opportunity for young children is small, and interventionists are in short supply because compensation is too low and because New York implemented a restricted framework for licensing Applied Behavior Analysts.  Early Intervention changes lives, but only when it is available.

Specialty Clinics Keep People with I/DD Healthy: 

PROVIDE FINANCIAL STABILITY FOR CLINICS THAT SERVE PEOPLE WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES

Article 16 and 28 clinics provide specialty medical and therapeutic approaches and clinicians experienced with our population to accommodate a  wide variety of patient needs.  Such services can’t be found anywhere else, and recent cuts undermine the fiscal sustainability of these clinics whose rates don’t reflect additional clinician time, clinic practices, or equipment that make this care possible.

#SAVECDPA:

OPPOSE EXTREME MODIFICATIONS TO THE CONSUMER DIRECTED PERSONAL CARE PROGRAM (CDPAP)

This program is part of comprehensive support for many people with I/DD and physical care needs.  Actions to consolidate agencies administering this program and reform their compensation have already been disruptive, and more is expected from the MRT II panel.