POIGNANT WALL STREET JOURNAL ARTICLE ON DIRECT SUPPORT

The second installment from Clare Ansberry of the Wall Street Journal on the direct support workforce in developmental disabilities was published on the front page of the December 15, 2004 edition.  The article, titled "In a Group Home, Caring for Disabled Takes Toll on 'Ma' " (pg. A1, Dec. 15), describes the plight of a woman from a Maryland agency trying to make ends meet and outlines the issues.  Ms. Ansberry developed this article with assistance from ANCOR.   You can view this article online at www.wsj.com if you have a subscription or Click Here or visit the www.nysacra.org website version.

NYSACRA LEGISLATIVE DAY IS MARCH 1^ST, 2005

NYSACRA’s Legislative Day 2005 is set for Tuesday, March 1, 2005.  While this is one month later than usual, it’s coming up soon.  Now is the time to start planning your Legislative Day team and collecting your DSP profiles.  When creating the profiles, please keep them short and send us a picture with signed release permission.  Next week, NYSACRA will be sending out the Legislative Day Sign Up form and hotel selection sheet.  Please make your reservations early.  See you in March!

OVER 23,000 SIGNED ONTO ANCOR NAC PETITION SO FAR!

Help Us Reach Our Goal of One Million Signatures

Nationwide, more than 23,000 Have Signed ANCOR’s State Petitions—Have You?  ANCOR’s National Advocacy Campaign Petition has more than 23,000 individuals signed on to raise awareness about the current national crisis in recruiting and retaining qualified direct support professionals from every state in the nation.  With over 3,400 signatures New York has succeeded in its challenge with California, which has only 1506.  But don’t stop now; tell your friends and family.  This state-by-state effort is a complimentary effort to the federal legislation, H.R. 5197.  Please sign on to the petition that is sent to state legislators and the governor urging them to make compensation for direct support professionals a priority in New York State.  You can add your name to the state petition by going online at www.supportnac.org.  Encourage others to do the same!  Also, visit NYSACRA’s Action & Education Center to urge your Congressperson to sign on to H.R. 5197, at www.nysacra.org.

NYS-OPTS

Don’t forget that NYSACRA has a NYS-OPTS section of our website to list proposals our members give us.  Please share your ideas with others.  In addition, OMRDD is sending out updates and below is the most recent, which will be posted on the website in its entirety.

1.                  OPTS Pilot Proposal Approvals

Two OPTS proposals have been approved, and three additional OPTS proposals have been recommended for approval during Team Review Meetings.

The first OPTS proposal approved, titled by the agency, “Supporting Transition for School to Work” started with four proposed participants but has been expanded to five.  The individuals to be served are young adults, who are interested in developing skills for possible future employment, but they, their families and Service Coordinators, recognize that additional services and supports are needed if these young people are to successfully transition from school to working adults.  The OPTS proposal does not intend to provide supports while the individuals are employed, but to assist them in enhancing skills they have learned in school, to develop additional skills they will need to be successfully employed and to insure they are in an environment that protects their health and safety.  If an individual obtains employment, they will be replaced in the proposal by another individual who is in need of the same service and choose this service.  Under OPTS, the service provided under the is proposal is being called “Blended Day Service” which will allow staff to document service delivery each day on a single daily checklist developed from a single habilitation plan which will identify the services and supports designated as day habilitation or pre-vocational.  In addition to the staff actions provided each day, the provider will be expected to document the amount of time the time each day that the individual participated in the service.

The second OPTS proposal approved, titled by the agency, “True Choice in Residential Settings” involves development of two new IRAs so that five existing homes (former ICFs previously converted to IRAs) can be “rightsized” and two waitlist individuals will have their unmet out-of-home residential need satisfied.  The two new IRAs are being developed to meet the needs of two groups of individuals – seniors and medically frail.  Each of these new homes will be have features to accommodate the individuals who will reside there, such as space for adaptive equipment or medical equipment and staff trained to serve these groups of individuals.  As they have done in the past, the agency will seek out housing credits to reduce the cost of the new homes.  As the existing homes are “rightsized” the individuals who remain there will benefit by having more personal space for privacy, less crowded common space and increased opportunities for participation in community activities based on common interests and abilities.

2.                  The OPTS Unit and E-Mail Account for Questions

An OPTS Unit has been established in Central Office to coordinate the receipt, tracking and processing of OPTS proposals.  The OPTS Unit is the point of contact for anyone who wants to know the status of a specific proposal, a central point to receive and answer questions on OPTS, and oversight of OPTS proposals when approved and implemented.

Karla Smith has been appointed Director of the OPTS Unit.  Full time staff includes Eugenia Haneman and Charlene Diehl, with Robert Murphy assisting part-time.  The phone number for the OPTS Unit is (518) 408-2744.

E-mail addresses are:            This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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OPTS questions can be sent via e-mail to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Questions of general interest will be included in a “Frequently Asked Questions” listing that is being compiled.

OPTS proposals must be submitted electronically through the OMRDD Secure Message Center to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

An Acknowledgement Letter is sent on each OPTS proposal received.  The Acknowledgement Letter will identify if the proposal was complete, or components that were missing.