Budget Roundup: Fighting Planned Cuts

The message is coming from so many states that we decided to compile a roundup. First piece addresses New Jersey cut and is by Tom Toronto, president of United Way of Bergen County

We are deeply concerned about the position the state of New Jersey has recently taken with respect to housing opportunities for those with disabilities and special needs.

The state is contemplating a rule change that will limit housing choices for people with developmental disabilities to either four-bedroom group homes or set-aside units that are 25 percent or less of a large multifamily development. Bergen County's United Way believes that people with developmental disabilities have the right to choose from a full array of housing, lifestyle and support-service options.

Charlene Smith-Scott, an employee with The Arc Baltimore, responds to Maryland cuts.

Before Gov. Martin O'Malley left office, he cut funding that my colleagues and I were counting on to stay ahead of minimum wage. Now, Gov. Larry Hogan is doing the same thing with the new budget. People in my profession are not state employees, but we are doing work that is the responsibility of the state. Maryland doesn't seem to take that seriously because we are paid as the lowest of the low among our comparable peers in health care, elder care and the like.

NEWARK, Del. — The conflict among caretakers and community advocates for Delawareans with intellectual and development disabilities came out in full force during a public hearing Monday discussing how taxpayer-funded community housing and work placement funded is offered in the state.The hearing, held at Delaware State Police Troop 2 headquarters in Newark, provided a forum for the community to evaluate Delaware's preliminary transition plan to adapt a new federal rule that changes how subsidized home- and community-based services are funded.

Parents, Advocates Blast Housing Plan

TRENTON — One parent of a man with autism called it confusing and terrifying. A housing developer of community housing for people with developmental disabilities called it "a misguided social experiment."

Marsha Adams testifies about
 her son who needs 24-hour care.

The Christie administration's sweeping proposal to promote community living and wider access to jobs and activities for the developmentally disabled was roundly criticized at an Assembly hearing at the Statehouse Thursday. Parents, advocates speciality home builders and community agencies said they feared the Department of Human Services' blueprint to spend a large portion of its Medicaid funding could disrupt the living arrangements and daily routines of thousands of people.

Autism Speaks Shifts Focus to Adults

After prioritizing the needs of children for years, the nation’s largest autism advocacy organization is turning its attention to expanding housing options and supports for adults.

Starting as a pilot project in three states — Florida, New Jersey and Illinois — Autism Speaks is working with locally-based disability advocacy groups and policymakers to identify legislative goals and mobilize its own network to push for expanded home and community-based services.

Settlement Relieves Maine Familes

For Cathy Dion of Greene, last week’s class-action lawsuit settlement with state health officials means her autistic son, Ben, will finally come off a waiting list for day treatment.

“He’s been on it since September 2012,” said Dion. Ben, now 20 years old, had received services through the public school system until June, but since then the Dions have been paying out of pocket for care.

Delaware Divided on Housing Issue

The debate that divides Delaware's disability community, especially in matters of housing, has plenty of sharp edges.
Those edges have come into plain view since the federal agency that decides how to steer taxpayer support for disability services has changed the rule on how it will fund home- and community-based services.

Opinion: Will Government Restrict Autism Housing Options?

From Age of Autism, post by Nancy Bernotaitis, parent of three children, her youngest, 15, diagnosed on the autism spectrum.  Nancy has been involved in the autism community for over 13 years serving as president of the Autism Society of America-Dayton Chapter, Goodwill/Easter Seals Assistive Technology Specialist, and webinar moderator for Moms Fighting Autism.  She is the Executive Director of Good Works Farm, Inc., a future farm community for adults with autism. 

As is typical of our government, a ruling meant to protect Americans with disabilities (Olmstead v. L.C. 1999) is being misconstrued to the detriment of this population.  In Olmstead v. L.C., a ruling requires states to “eliminate unnecessary segregation of persons with disabilities and to ensure that persons with disabilities receive services in the most integrated setting appropriate for their needs.” 

In 2009, President Obama issued a proclamation launching the “Year of Community Living” and directed his Administration to redouble enforcement efforts.

The U.S. Senate committee on Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions (HELP) lead by Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) is charged with this enforcement. 

In May of 2013, Jeff Rosen, Chairperson of the National Council on Disability (NCD), an independent federal agency charged with advising Congress and the executive branch on disability policy, wrote a letter to Shaun Donovan, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), interpreted the ruling to mean that individuals with disabilities move from provider-owned housing into their own homes or scattered-site housing and apartments, and urged HUD to issue “guidance to recipients of HUD funds on meeting the obligations of Olmstead and the integration mandate of the ADA.”  In his letter, Mr. Rosen seeks to define community living as “utilizing a definition that excludes gated communities, segregated farmsteads, clusters of group homes, settings that restrict personal choice and control, and other settings with the characteristics of an institution.”

Autism Focus of New Legal Center

With autism prevalence on the rise, a new legal resource center is launching that will focus specifically on issues facing those with the developmental disorder across the country.

Autism Speaks plans to announce Tuesday that it will form the new center with an eye toward helping establish key legal precedents for this growing population.

First on the agenda will be ensuring that autism insurance laws passed in many states in recent years are implemented appropriately, organizers said. Ultimately, however, plans call for the center to address everything from housing to employment to criminal and family law issues as they relate to autism.

Funding Challenges Familes with Adult Children

Neil Stevenson and his son, Niles,
at home.

GEORGETOWN, Del. -- Neil Stevenson's son is 33 years old, yet he still lives at home. That's because he has nowhere else to go.
Stevenson calls his son, Niles, a "forever child." He's intellectually disabled, but because of a seizure condition, it's hard to find adequate medical services to supervise him. And Niles doesn't qualify for group housing -- that is, unless Stevenson and his wife either abandon him or die.

N.J. Housing Initiative Provide Hope

ORADELL, N.J. -- Melanie and Larry Weisberg want the same things all parents do: for their son to live independently.
But 19-year-old David is disabled, and options have been few.
Now, a successful Allendale housing initiative for the disabled, and consequent interest by more Bergen County towns in such projects, is giving hope to the Oradell family and others in similar circumstances.

Illinois adults with disabilities to have more housing options

CHICAGO- Thousands of Illinois adults with developmental disabilities — many of whom have spent years on a 21,000-plus waiting list for state services — will soon have more choices in housing under a proposed settlement to a long-running federal lawsuit.

The settlement, if approved as expected Wednesday by U.S. District Judge James Holderman, would upend how the state now pays for their care. Rather than assigning dollars to institutions, the money would follow the individual to the housing of their choice. The goal is to bring Illinois into compliance with the 1990 federal Americans with Disabilities Act, which requires that people with disabilities be allowed to live in the "most integrated setting" within their communities.

Jacksonville Community Planned for People with Developmental Disabilities

While I can understand that people are thrilled that there will finally be a place for their adult children, I do agree with Lee Henderson that this community is a step backward and promotes segregation, rather than inclusion. I'm all for development for community-based services, but this does seem to be a bit off. Our field has come so far from the days of secluding and warehousing individuals with disabilities in institutions (though yes, some still exist) and The Hodges Community just seems to be headed the wrong way. Thoughts?

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- After years of discussion and planning, a proposal for a 32-acre community for people with developmental disabilities is moving forward.
An initiative of The Arc Jacksonville, The Hodges Community would include independent and semi-independent living, as well as recreational and transportation opportunities and a community center. It is set to break ground in 2013 and would take five to 10 years to build.

Paying a Price for Mistrust and Misinformation

NIMBY (Not in My Back Yard) is unfortunately alive and well. Bravo to Minnesota Disability Law Center for looking into whether there is a violation of federal or state fair housing law.

CENTERVILLE, MINN. -- The tidy foreclosed house on Hunters Trail in Centerville will remain vacant for now. Someday in the not-too-distant future, a family will likely snap it up, welcomed no doubt with cookies and smiles by grateful neighbors. Such a better scenario than the four sexual predators who almost lived there.
Except that sexual predators were never coming.
The villains of this piece were not the four teenagers, none of whom is a sex offender. Instead, they are the same shadowy figures who seem to be showing up with frustrating regularity at most public debates now: Small-mindedness, mistrust and misinformation.
And, as usual, the biggest losers are the most vulnerable. In this case, the four teenaged boys with developmental disabilities who craved, and deserved, a chance to move into adulthood nearer to their families.