Opinion: Tackling Minimum Wage

Opinion piece by New York State Assemblymember Clifford Crouch is certainly valid. If there is going to be a $15 minimum wage in the not-for-profit sector, it needs to be funded. You could also contend that higher wages spur spending, which grows the economy. 

One problem with trying to have a discussion on the minimum wage is that most people never get beyond their rightful belief that people deserve to earn more than $7.25 an hour for work (the federal rate). New York’s minimum wage is $9 an hour, and there are now pushes to get that number even higher, to $15 an hour. That assertion is supported in opinion poll after opinion poll that show the majority of New Yorkers, as high as 84 percent, believe that the minimum wage should be higher than it currently is (according to a 2014 Quinnipiac University poll). I can tell you, however, as a representative for the Southern Tier, any hike in the minimum wage would be devastating to our businesses and do significant damage to our already-slow-working economy. What’s good for labor and New York City interests isn’t always good for upstate New York, and I stand firmly behind the idea that growing our economy is the only way to advance the wage, more than anything.

Opinion: NYS Proposed Minimum Wage Hike Threatens People with IDD & Field

Bravo Laura Kennedy, president of NYSARC, Inc., and Steven Kroll, its executive director, for this op-ed in Albany Times Union.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo's proposed $15 minimum wage contains a serious flaw that threatens the financial viability of an entire field of caregivers and the people and families those caregivers support.While the governor has appropriately decided that New York needs to champion the rights of hard-working, low-income wage earners by requiring a higher minimum wage, he has not provided any funding for the many not-for-profit agencies that depend almost completely on the state for their funding. Among the 2.3 million workers who stand to benefit from a minimum wage increase are more than 100,000 workers who provide support 24 hours a day, seven days a week for people with developmental disabilities such as Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, autism and neurological impairments. No funding is provided for this increase.

NYS $15 Minimum Wage Proposal & Impact on Non Profit Agencies

Not-for-profit agencies and workers are really nervous about the proposed minimum wage increase to $15 an hour.
These are agencies that try to help their communities in some way. They range from hospitals to research labs to social services. And they have a significant role in the North Country economy. An Adirondack Foundation study in 2013 found that 36 non-profits in the North Country generated more than $400 million in economic activity and provided roughly 10 percent of all the jobs in the region.

'We Have to Be Willing to Change'

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Maureen Brown has recently found herself asking the same question – “Why did you do that?” – when conversing with co-workers.

“All of us have to take ownership of what we do,” said Brown, director of purchasing at Baker Victory Services (BVS) in Lackawanna. “Are we doing the right thing, and for the right reason?”

Brown and 13 other professionals from BVS, Community Services for the Developmentally Disabled (CSDD) in Buffalo and People Inc. in Williamsville are taking a fresh look at service delivery through a different lens: the Lean methodology of decreasing waste.

NYS Faulted in Teen's Death

A mentally disabled teenager who died while under state care in 2013 writhed in excruciating pain for months when a doctor ignored his rejection of a stomach feeding tube, according to a watchdog group that faulted the state's oversight agency for not substantiating neglect in the case.Disability Rights New York, which has the federal authority to oversee such care in the state, issued a highly critical report that was provided to The Associated Press before its release Monday. The report calls for a new investigation by the state's Justice Center, established two years ago to protect the 1 million disabled, addicted, mentally ill and young people in state care.

Opinion: NYS Ignoring Challenges

The field of developmental disabilities in New York state is confronted with massive challenges seemingly hitting us one after the other and, because of this, supports for people and their families have begun to erode.

One issue is the development of new residential opportunities for people with developmental disabilities, which is lagging far behind the increased demand, particularly for adults who have been living at home for years, now with aging parents who are coping with health problems of their own. What happens to these individuals when the elderly parent is no longer able to provide adequate support to ensure safety and well-being? Additional residential development is critical and needs to be funded in the 2016-2017 budget.

NYS Families Seek More Residences

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.

But state policy is getting in their way. Kyle wants to move into a house with people with developmental disabilities. He wants to learn to be more independent. But local advocates say that right now, group homes are so full that only people in emergency situations get in.

CMS-NYS Making Medicaid More Coordinated, Person-Centered

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that CMS is partnering with the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) and the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) to test a new model for providing Medicare-Medicaid enrollees with a more coordinated, person-centered care experience.

"We are pleased to partner again with the State of New York to bring more person-centered care to Medicare-Medicaid enrollees," said CMS Tim Engelhardt, Director, CMS Medicare-Medicaid Coordination Office.  "We look forward to working together to provide Medicare-Medicaid enrollees with intellectual and developmental disabilities an opportunity to experience more integrated benefits and coordinated care."

Agencies Wary of $15/Hour Minimum

Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s push for a statewide $15 per hour minimum wage faces hurdles in the human services sector. Agencies serving mentally challenged or physically disabled populations are concerned in part about the competition they would face in the labor market. 

“I know my colleagues statewide are going crazy; how do we do this?” said Patrick Dollard, CEO of Center for Discovery in Harris. “The field is concerned because it’s tough to get people in the door now to work with very complex people … A lot of people might rather flip burgers at McDonald’s. The work we demand from people is so much more intense.”

Autism ID Cards Proposed for New York

ALBANY — Cases of autism can vary in severity, and in more pronounced cases, communication is difficult if not impossible.

To help autistic people who may find themselves in situations where an inability to communicate could jeopardize health and safety, Democratic Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara, of District 111, is proposing autism identification cards for New York residents that would help them interact with law enforcement and rescue personnel.

As NYS Phases Out Workshops, Agencies Seeking Alternatives for Individuals

Sheltered workshops, once considered a progressive alternative to institutionalizing the developmentally disabled, could soon be artifacts of a different era and philosophy. 

Gerard McEneaney, 56, at his
sheltered workshop.

New York State ended new admissions to sheltered workshops as of July 1, 2013, and will stop funding for them in 2020 -- the result of the state's April 2013 agreement with the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

In N.Y., 'Families Cannot Be Caregivers Forever Campaign' Seeks Funding

Althea Penepent, right with her
daughter-in-law Jeanne and daughter Valerie

BYRON, N.Y. – Althea Penepent often wonders (and worries) what will become of her daughter Valerie after she’s gone. So, Althea has joined a growing number of families across New York State advocating for expanded services for people with intellectual and other developmental disabilities. The “Families Cannot Be Caregivers Forever Campaign” calls current funding in the New York State Budget completely inadequate to meet the needs of these New Yorkers, many living at home with aging parents.

Valerie is the seventh and youngest child of Althea and Richard Penepent, born Feb. 2, 1977. Althea shares that her pregnancy and delivery with Valerie were the same as her first six children. She was blindsided when her doctor came into her hospital room after Valerie was born and coldly stated, “Women over 40 shouldn’t have a child because she’s mongoloid,” then turned on his heel and left. A nurse’s aide called Richard Penepent, plowing snow in the aftermath of the Blizzard of ’77, to come talk to his wife.

Reports Cites Importance of Coordinated Care in Hospitalizations, ER Use

Interesting story from Crain's New York's Health Pulse look at New Yorker's with developmental disabilities use of the emergency room and hospitalizations. As we move toward Medicaid Managed Points out the importance of coordinating care, especially having a discharge plan, before a person returns to his/her home. Pasting below because it requires a subscription.

A new report examines data on hospital and emergency department use among the developmentally disabled in New York state—a group that is relatively small but costly to the health system. The report, prepared by Welsh Analytics using 2013 SPARCS data and edited by the ArthurWebbGroup, documents how such special populations compare with general patients in their inpatient and emergency department utilization.

About 1.6% of inpatient hospitalizations involved a person with developmental disabilities, excluding epilepsy. Conditions include intellectual disabilities, cerebral palsy and autism-spectrum disorders.

The developmentally disabled population will be one of the last in the state to be enrolled in managed care when individuals begin to voluntarily enroll in October 2015. Health consultant Arthur Webb said he believes the report, online here, offers guidance to hospitals and policymakers on how to reduce unnecessary inpatient and ED visits.

“Unlike behavioral health, this is a population small enough that you can get your hands around it,” he said. “It lends itself to some real improvements.”

The developmentally disabled are more than twice as likely to be admitted to the hospital from the ED. Medicare or Medicaid was the primary payer for 80% of hospital visits, while dual eligibles accounted for 27.4% of inpatient discharges in the state.

Coordinating care between hospitals and the community-based providers who care for the developmentally disabled is key; only in about one-fifth of cases do these patients have a formal plan for home care, the report found.

“That shouldn’t happen,” Mr. Webb said. “Making sure there is a plan for discharge is a major area with room for improvement.”

In New York City, 1.4% of inpatient stays involved a person with developmental disabilities. That translates into about 14,000 inpatient discharges and 13,000 outpatient ED visits for that population.

The report identified the Rockaways, the Bronx, eastern Brooklyn and northern Staten Island as neighborhoods that showed “somewhat higher” rates of inpatient admissions for developmentally disabled residents.

“We can reach into these communities and see if we can’t improve the plan of care and improve their access to primary care,” said Mr. Webb. “It really lends itself to some very proactive approaches to managing care.”

Editorial: NYS Should Pay Up Now

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.

NYS Faces Growing Special Ed Challenges

ALBANY, N.Y. — The Department of Education faces a daunting challenge in accommodating a large and growing population of special needs students, statistics in an Independent Budget Office report released Tuesday revealed.

The report found there were 183,850 special education students, constituting 18.1 percent of the total student population in D.O.E. public schools during the 2012-13 academic year, the most recent year for which data is available.

The percentage of special education students has risen every year since 2009, when the I.B.O. started collecting information on public school demographics.

NYS Lawmakers Seek Funds for Children

ALBANY — With the clock ticking on the budget due April 1, advocates and legislators called Monday for the final spending plan to include help for programs benefiting disabled children.
The providers says that since the state Health Department revamped the payment system that was formerly run by counties, payments from health insurance companies have been delayed for weeks and months. They want the state to take responsibility for billing and collection for services to kids with autism, developmental disabilities or other serious conditions diagnosed when they are small children.

Aging Parents Fear NYS Policy Changes

UTICA, N.Y. -- Who's going to take care of our children when we die?
That's what a group of aging parents whose children have developmental disabilities is asking the state in the face of policy changes they believe will jeopardize those with severe disabilities.
Particularly at issue is the state's new policy on admissions to certified group homes, which provide around-the-clock supervision.

Nonprofit Law Seeks to Cut Red Tape

A new law signed by New York Gov.Andrew Cuomo should make operations easier and less onerous for nonprofit organizations, while allowing for improved governance.

The Nonprofit Revitalization Act of 2013 was designed by a coalition of nonprofit leaders, attorneys and a bipartisan group of legislators from across the state. It is the first major overhaul of nonprofit law in more than 40 years.

Critics Turn to Academics To Do Cost-Benefit Analysis of OPWDD Services

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  -- Faced with a $90 million cut to the state Office of People With Developmental Disabilities, Staten Island advocates for the disabled have been highly critical of the borough's Albany lawmakers for not doing enough to prevent what amounts to a 4.5 percent reduction in aid. 

Donna Long and Laura Kennedy
are among those critical to the cuts.

But now Assemblyman Michael Cusick and one of the sharpest critics of the cuts to OPWDD, parent and activist Laura Kennedy -- who branded the reductions "cruel and shameful" -- told the Advance Thursday they've come up with a "plan of action" going forward.

New Yorkers Continue Lobbying for Funds

ALBANY -- One of the areas of disagreement in the state budget centers on funding for services for New Yorkers with developmental disabilities.

Governor Cuomo in his budget plan cuts $120 million in funding for groups that provide services to people with developmental disabilities. The cuts come after Congress determined that New York had been overbilling the federal government for Medicaid services for state-run developmental disability service centers. Providers of group homes, day programs, and vocational services say it's unfair to make up for the federal cuts at their expense. Some of the groups brought clients and their families to the Capitol for a silent vigil to protest the cuts.