Kansans with Disabilities Complaints Prompt Delay in Service Changes

The state said Tuesday that it will delay a major overhaul in the way it provides services for the disabled.

The announcement comes after people with disabilities, their family members, providers and care takers voiced major concerns with the state’s nine-month time line to switch a complex system of care for some of Kansas’ most vulnerable populations.“This is probably the single biggest change this system has seen” in nearly 20 years, said Dee Staudt, director of the Sedgwick County Developmental Disability Organization. In 1995 the state passed a law, guaranteeing certain rights for people with developmental disabilities.

Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/news/local/article38029176.html#storylink=cpy

California Service System Without Funding Increase in More than Decade

“Guess where I am right now?” my son Matthew asked giddily in a recent phone call, “I’m on a bike ride with Larry Davis!” If you are the parent of a child with a developmental disability like me, you know how this kind of phone call affects you. (I’m tearing up right now just thinking of it.)

Matthew met Larry 5 years ago when he was in a day program in Santa Cruz–The Laurel Street Center–and Larry was his “Service Provider.” Going to the day program was a tough adjustment for Matthew, but it was his connection with Larry that made things work. Fortunately, their friendship continued after Larry left the program, and I am so grateful. Larry is one of the many people who have supported Matthew over the years, but it wasn’t until recently that I understood a major reason why agencies have a difficult time retaining such talent.And we must do something about it.

Opinion: Illinois Cuts Will Prove Costly

Guest column by Tony Paulauski, executive director of The Arc of Illinois, in the Rockford Register Star.

Illinois is planning devastating cuts in services for individuals with physical, developmental and intellectual disabilities. These cuts target our most vulnerable citizens and are being sold as a way to balance Illinois' estimated $13 billion deficit. The truth is, these cuts are shortsighted and will send us on a path of destruction.
Illinois ranks last in the nation for supporting citizens with disabilities in their home communities. Disability services that are the lifeline to more than 220,000 people with disabilities, and their families have already experienced deep cuts and are hanging by a thread. In addition to funding reductions several critical programs are being eliminated, and it’s estimated that 3,052 direct care staff will be laid off as a result. At the same time the budget calls for the hiring of 950 state employees and grants union employees an 8.25 percent wage increase.

Potato Cart Cooking Up Careers

This is a story I came across this morning. Consider it one for my mother, who is experiencing some health issues at age 88. Hope you will send her good vibes. By the way, she loves potatoes!

WARWICK, R.I. -- The Trudeau Center recently cooked up an interesting way to generate jobs for clients and create revenue for their facility. With the help of an old-fashioned potato cart, they are serving up baked potatoes topped with all the fixings.
"My favorite part is taking orders and talking with the customers," said Agnes Desjarlais, 55. "I really like working the cart."
Agnes also is the "chef" of their homemade chili, used for one of their specialty potatoes, the "Federal Hill-E-Chili." This makes her proud.
"My parents used to own Flo's, a wiener place, and I've known how to make chili for a very long time," Desjarlais said. "My mother was always cooking at home. Cooking is in my blood."
Gayle Reid, the program coordinator for the Worksite Partners Program that finds employment for people with special needs, said it's required that the cart employ people with developmental disabilities. They named the business the Providence Potato Company.
"It [the cart] never runs without two people with disabilities," said Reid. "They want to work there."