ALBANY, N.Y. — Low-wage workers from around New York state gathered at the Capitol on Wednesday to support Gov. Andrew Cuomo's call for a $15-an-hour minimum wage, a proposal that continues to dominate the year's legislative work.Sandra Lukemakes $9 as a wheelchair attendant at New York City'sLaGuardia Airport. She said it's barely enough to make ends meet, and forces her to sort her bills into two categories: ones she can pay and ones she must put off.
Change is indeed difficult and the uncertainty of what to expect in our field is making it more difficult for organizations, individuals and families alike. We know that change is not optional.
Ilion resident Kyle Gay, 25, is ready to spread his wings and leave home.
His mother, Robin, wants him to live his dreams.
“I am capable to live on my own and do own my own stuff, like I could go grocery shopping,” said Kyle, who has Down syndrome.
OGDEN, N.Y. -- Anthony Battisti's parents have known for a long time that when their son turns 21 in December, he will join a growing population of young adults with very few options.Anthony has severe autism, and has spent years in a day program for young people who have intellectual developmental disabilities. But when his birthday rolls around this year, he'll age out of that program and have no place else to go, his family said.So Sherry and Michael Battisti of Ogden decided to take matters — and hammers and nails — into their own hands.
The state Office for People with Developmental Disabilities currently supports 38,000 New Yorkers in residences and 80,000 with day services. It has about 400 people in institutional settings, a total the agency plans to reduce to 150, Deputy Commissioner Helen DeSanto told lawmakers.
EDEN, N.Y. — Eden residents do not want to see another group home built there. One woman said the push-back isn't against the developmentally disabled."It's the saturation levels. We have one group home for, roughly, every 1,100 people," said Susan Wilhelm, who said the proposed facility would be just 300 feet away from her own house.A hearing officer from the OPWDD listened to arguments from the town and from Community Services for the Developmentally Disabled, the group that wants to build the home.
This is so disturbing in some many ways, especially the official suggesting that they place people in a closed hospital. Anyone hear of Olmstead?
BOSTON, N.Y. -- A controversy over a group home in the Town of Boston continues to grow after New York State has given approval for the project to move ahead. The proposed group home, located at Cole and Omphalius Roads, will house four developmentally disabled adults who need 24/7 supervision. The project is being done by Community Services for the Developmentally Disabled, Inc. (CSDD).
ALBANY — Some of the employees named in a $2.25 million lawsuit stemming from the death of a client at the O.D. Heck facility in Nisakayuna continue to work for the state, caring for developmentally disabled people.
It's a hectic day at Production Unlimited in Watertown, N.Y. Everyone has to drop his regular work — making plastic binders, safety equipment, office supplies — for a huge order.
Beth Carpenter punches hole after hole into colored plastic tags. She and her co-workers are paid based on how fast they work, usually well below minimum wage. Carpenter has done all different kinds of tasks here for more than 15 years.
"And I like working here every day," she says. "I work here five days a week. That's why I'd like to make sure we fight to keep this place open."
KING FERRY, N.Y. -- Helen and Mike Littlejohn had three biological sons and one on the way when they decided they had it in them to adopt some hard-to-place children.
Isaac Littlejohn is one of 12 children.
Along came two girls with psychological disabilities. Next, a daughter with shaken baby syndrome.
Once their house was outfitted for a wheelchair, they adopted Isaac, an 11-year-old who could not walk or talk but laughed and played.
His two brothers, who had been eating lead paint, needed homes too.
"We said, well, we have to have them all together," Helen Littlejohn said.
Finally, the couple offered homes to two children who had been sexually abused.
That made them parents of 12 children - three with severe developmental disabilities. "Our hearts were bigger than our logic," she said. "We went ahead and did it and thus started our future."
Families of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their advocates are urging Gov. Cuomo and state legislators to include adequate funding in the state budget to meet the need for support and services for that population. Chapters of NYSARC Inc., a statewide organization supporting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, are lobbying to raise public awareness of difficulties families already encounter when trying to access services.
We worked with the New York State Office for People With Developmental Disabilities to try and provide balance in this story. A reporter and photographer from The New York Times recently visited one of our Bronx group homes, where Noel Rodriguez, 28, a new resident, recently moved from the Brooklyn Developmental Center. His transition to the home has been seamless, according to staff. Maria Pabon, his mother, couldn't be happier.
Long after lunchtime one recent afternoon, John Cosentino sat at his usual table, eating his usual snacks. On this day, he was the only resident of the Brooklyn Developmental Center in its cavernous cafeteria, drafty and lit with the bleakness of an earlier era.
His father, Tony Cosentino, arranged fruit salad, nuts and pretzels on a paper plate, which John grabbed. Mary Ann Cosentino spoon-fed her son yogurt.
“Very good, John!” she said.
She tensed when John started waving his left hand near his forehead, past the ear he long ago mutilated and the blue eye blinded in a fall at the center. This was his sign that he might hit himself. Instead, he gestured for his white mitts from his L.L. Bean canvas bag monogrammed “J C,” and put them on. Then he suddenly stood up and pushed back his chair. Visit over.
For John Cosentino, 50, an intellectually disabled adult with profound autism and self-injurious behavior who does not speak, this routine has been his refuge. He has lived at the sprawling, state-run center in East New York off the Belt Parkway since he was a teenager. Sometime this year, however, his routine will abruptly end, and he, like the other remaining residents of the institution, will probably enter a group home.
Maybe it's me, but attitudes like this are going to prevent our field from promoting real, meaningful inclusion of people with developmental disabilities, including those with dual diagnosis, in the community. With proper staffing, a transition plan, and careful coordination, the transition can be successful. And there needs to be adequate supports -- perhaps the center's staff -- to ensure a smooth transition.
Last summer, New York’s Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) announced plans for the gradual closure of the Broome Developmental Center (BDC), expected to be fully implemented by March 2016. Paige Gittelman/ Editorial Artist
The BDC houses and treats patients who have been dually diagnosed as both mentally ill and developmentally disabled. Proponents of closure — a plan to consolidate New York’s 24 state psychiatric hospitals into 15 locations — argue that the integration of patients into community settings will significantly reduce costs for the state and end the unwarranted segregation of dually diagnosed individuals.
Interesting item from the Healthcare Association of New York State.
The New York State legislative activity has resumed as the Legislature this week delivered a package of nearly 90 bills to the Governor for consideration. Following action on this package of legislation, there will be 138 additional bills that still require the Governor’s approval or veto before the end of the calendar year.
Of the 126,000 New Yorkers with developmental disabilities, about 110,000 of them are serviced by nonprofit organizations, most of which depend on state funding.
That's just one reason why a recent audit by state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli is so troubling. Of the 5,946 contracts the state has with not-for-profit entities, state payments were late 87 percent of the time in 2013. That's an increase from 78 percent in 2012.
Busy day at YAI, our CEO Stephen Freeman joined NYS Commissioner Courtney Burke of the Office for People With Developmental Disabilities on CBS This Morning on a story about how this week's storm impacted people with disabilities and the staff who have worked around the clock to ensure these individuals are safe and secure.
Superstorm Sandy wreaked havoc in the Northeast this week, and while
many residents faced hardship, New York and New Jersey's disabled community faced the storm as one of the most vulnerable segments of society.
Thousands of developmentally disabled people faced
power outages and food shortages and their caregivers sacrifices their
own needs in order to see the disabled through the storm.
The agreement covers the 126,000 developmentally disabled people who live in state and privately run group homes and institutions or who receive a variety of other services from the state. The plan has the potential to reshape how the state approaches enforcement against abuse of the developmentally disabled, though it remains to be seen how it is carried out and what force it has.
His father, Tony Cosentino, arranged fruit salad, nuts and pretzels on a paper plate, which John grabbed. Mary Ann Cosentino spoon-fed her son yogurt.
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. -- For all of her 32 years, Holly Van Hart has required constant care.
WEST SENECA, N.Y. -- The long hallways where Wendy Orzel remembers hiding as a child are empty.