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Sean Delaney went to Washington D.C. to open the eyes of our Congressional leaders and to share stories of life as a Direct Support Professional serving people with developmental disabilities. Please watch Sean's music video, "Open Your Eyes" and share it with everyone you know, help tell their story.
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Upcoming Events
NYSACRA's 33rd Annual ConferenceApril 21, 2010 April 21-23, 2010
The Sagamore Hotel
The unusual fiscal times have forced all of us to be more introspective as we seek solutions to new challenges. Discussions within the field and with our members have brought forth a myriad of “stories”...
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Friday, 29 January 2010 |
· RECORD NUMBERS ATTEND LEGISLATIVE DAY!
· UPDATE ON INNOVATION
· LEGISLATURE HOLDS PUBLIC HEARINGS ON PROPOSED EXECUTIVE BUDGET
· SPECIAL NEEDS DENTISTRY OPPORTUNITY
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NYSACRA News & Views 1-22-2010
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Issue No. 140-10
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January 28, 2010
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Join the Direct Support Professional Alliance of New York State
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NYSACRA Calendar
Executive Positions
Action Center
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Greetings NYSACRA Members!
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· RECORD NUMBERS ATTEND LEGISLATIVE DAY!
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Over 350 people attended the NYSACRA annual Legislative Day on Tuesday, January 26th at the Empire State Plaza in Albany. One could clearly sense the tone of this year's theme "At the Heart of What We Do" as the room was filled with people representing all aspects of our field: individuals with disabilities, family members, parents, Direct Support Professionals, state officials and partner association members and of course agency administrators and representatives.
The breakfast session was a major success and the message of several speakers underscored the importance of delivering quality services to people with disabilities. NYSACRA President Tom McAlvanah and NYSACRA Executive Director Ann Hardiman kicked-off the event and highlighted the meaningful and important positions of each speaker: David Liscomb of the Self Advocacy Association of NYS, Mike Tuggey of the Direct Support Professionals Alliance of NYS, Assemblyman Peter Rivera, Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg and OMRDD Commissioner Diana Ritter. Senator Roy McDonald participated in the event to honor NYSACRA member Jim Flanigan on his recent retirement. Jim played an important and intricate role with NYSACRA serving as the association's first President and constant advocate whose understanding of government furthered many causes. Mary Ann Allen, Esq, Executive Director of Wildwood Programs in the Capital District, captivated the attendees with her heartfelt, firsthand experiences as a parent of an individual with autism.
Following the hour and a half program, NYSACRA members and their respective teams met with State Legislators in the Legislative Office Building (LOB) and State Capitol. The teams educated State Legislators on how the proposed Executive Budget for 2010-11 will impact the service delivery system and asked for support of two important items in the Executive's proposal: the Medicaid trend factor and the health care adjustment phase VI. NYSACRA's position paper was widely distributed throughout the LOB and State Capitol!
NYSACRA will continue advocacy efforts throughout 2010 and encourage members and their teams to meet with State Legislators in Albany and in the district offices.
In an effort to capture your valuable feedback and assist you with any follow up with State Legislators/staff, please complete the Legislative Day evaluation form if you have not already done so and send back to Katie Mayo at
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or via fax at 518-449-1509. Thank you for helping to make 2010 NYSACRA Legislative Day a success!
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· UPDATE ON INNOVATION
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This update is one of periodic progress reports on NYSACRA's activities toward its strategic goal to shape the industry by exploring new service paradigms. The Shared Living paper issued earlier this month, is one example of NYSACRA looking at different ways of support for people with disabilities. The Learning Institute is another example of helping providers learn about what it takes to move toward innovative, individualized supports. The eleven agencies of the Hudson Valley/Taconic regions met again as a group on January 13 & 14 in Fishkill to continue their learning about innovation in individualized supports. They shared their impressions from the field visits to sites of innovation (Rensselaer ARC, Job Path, and Another Step), then began to put details on proposals, using person centered discovery to find capacities, then shared their initial proposals with each other and DDSO representatives for feedback. Next steps include more intensive learning opportunities on person centered planning for meeting facilitators and self advocates who are part of the innovative proposals. More information about the Learning Institute is available on the website http://www.nysacra.org/nysacra/li/PhaseIICurriculum_Materials.htm. |
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· LEGISLATURE HOLDS PUBLIC HEARINGS ON PROPOSED EXECUTIVE BUDGET
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The New York State Legislature has scheduled a series of hearings on the proposed 2010-11 Executive Budget. The first hearing was held on Monday, January 25th and the final hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, February 10th. The mental hygiene budget hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, February 3rd at 9:30 a.m. in Hearing Room B of the Legislative Office Building in Albany. To obtain the hearing schedule and contact information, log on to the State Assembly website at http://www.assembly.state.ny.us |
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· SPECIAL NEEDS DENTISTRY OPPORTUNITY
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In its ongoing commitment to improving dental hygiene and care for persons with developmental disabilities, the OMRDD Task Force on Special Dentistry has partnered with a foundation to provide dental hygienists to go into group homes and provide education and instruction on good dental hygiene. This is already happening in New Jersey, Colorado and Oregon, and has for over 20 years. New York State would run a pilot project first, in three sites, with five control group homes and five homes with hygienists. The results would be published in the Special Care Dentistry Association Journal. Every agency will have the choice to participate or not once the instruction is available statewide, but first, they want to know if providers see any problems with this type of project. Please direct any thoughts or reactions to Pat McKay at
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