“The ID and DD Waiver waiting lists must remain a priority. Please support funding for additional ID/DD Waivers beyond what is outlined by the DOJ agreement.  More than 7,000 people are waiting for ‘A Life Like Yours’”

Use one of these talking points…
•         More than 7,000 Virginians with ID/DD are on waiting list for The DOJ agreement
only requires 200 Waivers per year.
•         More than 1,000 individuals on the list have been waiting 5 years.    
•         The waiting list is growing at a pace of more than 2 people per day.
•         If Virginia only funds what is required in the agreement, our waiting list will exceed  
10,000 by the end of the agreement.  This is a 92% increase.”     

Thanks so much for your help!

~ Thursday, January 26, 2012

Good morning. Thank you for joining us today. In the Civil Rights Division, we are in the opportunity business. We expand opportunities in a wide range of areas, and today’s agreement provides opportunity that will transform the Commonwealth of Virginia’s system for delivering services to individuals with developmental disabilities, including intellectual disabilities, and improve the lives of thousands of Virginians with developmental disabilities.

More than a decade ago, in its landmark ruling in the case of Olmstead v. L.C., the Supreme Court ruled that, under the Americans with Disabilities Act, states must serve individuals with disabilities in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs.  The decision, which has been called the Brown v. Board of Education of the disability rights movement, recognized that failing to give people with disabilities a meaningful opportunity to live in the community instead of in an institution is discrimination under the ADA.  The Supreme Court recognized that unnecessary segregation of people with disabilities deprives them of the opportunities people without disabilities take for granted, like making friends, working, and participating in community life.

Freedom and opportunity proved elusive, and the promise of Olmstead was not realized. In 2008, DOJ opened an investigation of the Commonwealth of Virginia Training Centers. In 2009, we expanded that review to examine statewide practices. We issued a letter of findings in 2011. We found that Virginia was unnecessarily institutionalizing people with developmental disabilities and placing others at risk of institutionalization.  Following our letter, we immediately began discussions with Governor McDonnell.

Today’s agreement will bring Virginia into compliance with the ADA and the Olmstead decision and provide improved community living options for people with disabilities and their families by building a comprehensive, community-based system that can meet the needs of all individuals with  developmental disabilities, including those with the most complex needs.  The agreement will provide a wide range of services to prevent the institutionalization of individuals with developmental disabilities who want to remain in their own homes and communities.  The agreement will also ensure that individuals currently in institutions will have a real opportunity to receive community services that meet their needs.

I want to thank Governor McDonnell for his leadership in reaching this landmark agreement.  This agreement incorporates the Commonwealth’s own vision and goals for its developmental disabilities system.  The trust fund recently created and funded with $60 million dollars was concrete evidence of Governor McDonnell’s commitment to implementing this agreement.  I would also like to thank Attorney General Cuccinelli, Secretary Hazel, and Commissioner Stewart and their staff for their role in crafting this agreement.   In addition, I would like to thank United States Attorneys MacBride and Heaphy and their staff for their assistance to us.

Virginia is a state with strong and committed advocates who have long been pushing for improvement of the Commonwealth’s developmental disabilities system.  Throughout our investigation, we met with stakeholders across the Commonwealth, to learn about what is and is not working for people with developmental disabilities.  We heard their problems and concerns, and ideas for addressing them, as well as their successes.  We heard from families who are barely hanging on while their loved ones sit on long waitlists for community services and from self-advocates wanting more opportunities to work and live independently.  We heard from the families of persons now living in institutional settings who worry whether the needs of their loved ones can be met in community settings.  We also met with some individuals, including some with complex needs, who are being successfully served in the community.  Our agreement draws on the input from these critical stakeholders about how to best meet the needs of all Virginians with developmental disabilities.   Continued collaboration with and input from these stakeholders will be a critical part of the implementation of the agreement.

There are two primary goals of the agreement:

• First, to prevent the unnecessary institutionalization of individuals with developmental disabilities who are living in the community, including thousands of individuals on waitlists for community-based services.
• Second, to ensure that people who are currently in institutions —at the Commonwealth’s training centers or in other private but state-funded facilities —have a meaningful opportunity to receive services that meet their needs in the community.

This agreement is a win-win-win for the Commonwealth and the people of Virginia.  First, it fulfills the Commonwealth’s legal obligation to comply with the ADA’s civil rights requirements.  Second, it fulfills its fiscal obligation to Virginia taxpayers.  By expanding cost-effective community-based services and reducing its reliance on expensive, institutional care, the Commonwealth will be able to use its limited resources to meet the needs of a larger number of its citizens with developmental disabilities.   Finally, the agreement will serve the Commonwealth’s moral interest in serving people with developmental disabilities in the way most conducive to independence and full participation in community life. In short, this agreement enables the commonwealth to serve more people in a better fashion, and to spend scarce dollars in a more effective manner.

The agreement will provide relief for more than 5,000 Virginians with developmental disabilities and will have an impact on thousands more individuals receiving developmental disability services.  The agreement will create a total of approximately 4,200 home and community-based waivers for people who are on waitlists for community services and individuals transitioning from institutional settings over a ten year period.  Almost 3,000 of these waivers will be targeted to individuals with intellectual disabilities on the waitlist or youth with intellectual disabilities in private facilities; another 450 waivers will be targeted to individuals with non-intellectual developmental disabilities on the waitlist or youth in private facilities; and another 800 waivers will be targeted to individuals choosing to leave the training centers.  An additional 1,000 individuals on waitlists for community services will receive family supports to help provide care in their family home or their own home.

Under the agreement, the Commonwealth will also create a comprehensive community crisis system with a full range of crisis services — including a hotline, mobile crisis teams, and crisis stabilization programs — to divert individuals from unnecessary institutionalization or other out-of-home placements.   The agreement requires the Commonwealth to develop and implement an “Employment First” policy to prioritize and expand real work opportunities for individuals with developmental disabilities.  In addition, the agreement will create an $800,000 fund for housing assistance to facilitate opportunities for independent living for people with developmental disabilities.  Finally, the agreement requires the Commonwealth to create a strong and comprehensive quality and risk management system to ensure that community-based services are safe and effective.

The agreement is court enforceable and will be monitored by an independent reviewer that was jointly selected by the United States and the Commonwealth.  The independent reviewer has a broad range of experience in disability service systems, including as superintendent of a state-operated facility, regional director charged with developing a range of community services, and executive director of a provider of community services to individuals with the most complex needs.

Today’s agreement is part of a broad, nationwide effort to enforce the Olmstead decision.  In the last three years, the Civil Rights Division has joined or initiated litigation to ensure community-based services in more than 35 matters in 2o states.  And we have investigations pending in a number of other states. We reached comprehensive agreements with the states of Georgia and Delaware that, like the agreement with Virginia, provide broad relief for thousands of individuals with disabilities.  Our enforcement covers a wide range of settings – from state-operated centers for people with developmental disabilities, to state psychiatric hospitals, to state-funded private adult care homes and nursing homes, to segregated day programs.  It also covers a broad range of populations – from people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, to people with mental illness, to people with physical disabilities.

This is a landmark agreement, a blueprint for sustainable reform, and a model for ADA Olmstead enforcement going forward.

Today’s agreement will allow Virginia to avoid costly litigation and move directly to providing the services that its citizens with disabilities need to live in their communities and to have opportunities like people without disabilities.  Across the country during the deinstitutionalization movement of the 1970s and 1980s, doors were opened.  But the community infrastructure was lacking, and the promise of integration for people with developmental disabilities remained elusive. We can – and must – do better as a nation, and this agreement will serve as a national model for efforts moving forward.

The Commonwealth and its leadership are to be commended for their leadership in tackling this problem, and I thank them for their cooperation.  This agreement is about choice, opportunity, expanded services and quality assurance. We look forward to continuing to work with the Governor and with community stakeholders in order to implement this historic agreement

FROM:            James W. Stewart, III, DBHDS Commissioner

DATE:            January 26, 2012

RE:                  Commonwealth of Virginia and U.S. Department of Justice Settlement Agreement

Today, Governor McDonnell announced that the Commonwealth of Virginia has reached a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). DOJ began an investigation in 2008 that was expanded to cover Virginia’s entire system of services for citizens with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including all five training centers and community services. In its February 2011 findings letter, DOJ concluded that Virginia is not providing services in the most integrated and appropriate setting, is not developing a sufficient quantity of community services, and has a flawed discharge process at training centers. Since the findings letter, Virginia has been negotiating with DOJ to achieve a settlement agreement that ensures quality services for our citizens with developmental disabilities and avoids an extremely costly and lengthy court battle that would utilize monies needed to serve our citizens through direct support and services.

The settlement agreement includes the creation of 4,170 new Medicaid Waiver slots for individuals transitioning from training centers to the community and for the planned growth in the number of Waiver slots for those on the waiting list. The agreement also expands accountability and oversight in the community. Also, the agreement calls for the creation of an individual and family support program for 1,000 families each year to ensure that families who are assisting family members with intellectual disability/developmental disabilities (ID/DD) or individuals who live independently have access to some supports to continue to live at home; full implementation will occur in FY2014.

In addition, and in accordance with Virginia’s long-standing policy to transition to a community-based system of care, it is very important for you to know Virginia will provide a plan to cease residential operations at four of Virginia’s training centers by 2020. As such, a timeline has been developed for the closure of four of Virginia’s five training centers. These facilities will not be closed immediately as it takes time to ensure that individuals are moved safely into community homes that they choose and that are appropriate for their needs. The schedule for training center closure is as follows:

Southeastern Virginia Training Center (SEVTC) in Chesapeake, VA will remain open with a maximum census of 75 beds.

DBHDS will be working very closely with the individuals in training centers and their families and authorized representatives to ensure a safe, successful transition to the community in accordance with their choice.  In addition, our human resources office will be helping training center staff throughout this time of transition.

You will find more information about the settlement agreement and transition plans on our DBHDS Web site at www.dbhds.virginia.gov/settlement.htm.  This site will be updated periodically as new information becomes available so that you can stay informed on Virginia’s progress.

A great deal of effort will be required by many individuals and organizations across the Commonwealth as we ensure compliance with the terms of the settlement agreement.  We firmly believe that the result of the actions we have taken already and will be taking as a result of the settlement agreement will enable more individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities to have the opportunity to thrive, living a life that is more integrated into the local community.  In addition, the system of services that will be in place will be one that utilizes public funds more effectively and efficiently. We look forward to working together with you for a brighter future for Virginians with disabilities and their families.

James W. Stewart, III

Commissioner

Department of Behavioral Health & Developmental Services

Richmond, Virginia

After advocacy efforts at the budget hearings last week, here are 5 ways you can help keep the momentum going this week…..

1.       Budget Amendments- Between now and 5pm Friday (the deadline), The Arc of Virginia will be seeking support for budget amendments.  We will be focusing on ID Waiver Waiting List, DD Waiver waiting list and Medicaid Waiver ineligible requests and our partner organizations will put in requests relating to Personal Care hours, Medicaid eligibility and Waiver reimbursement rates.  PLEASE CALL your legislators TODAY, THURSDAY January 13 asking them to support The Arc of Virginia’s request for funding to help people with ID/DD on waiting lists. This will help us in our efforts to seek patrons/co-patrons (it is a very tight turnaround).  We will stay in touch re: developments.   (NOTE:  Chapter Delegations are  broken out in the attached ALLY Day Toolkit in case you need a list of local legislators.  Contact info is included as well. )

2.       Waiting List Press- This week, there is a critical need for media stories re:  the ID/DD Waiver waiting lists.  I cannot stress enough how important this is for our advocacy right now. Please help us with this press push by reaching out to local reporters between now and Friday.  Use background facts and talking points included in the ALLY Day toolkit and be sure to help them focus on our request of 1500 ID Waivers and 275 DD Waivers. If you have a reporter that will do a story, please let us know so we can keep them in the loop.

3.       ALLY Days—If you have not already done so, please let Jessica Fleenor know about the date/times your chapter plans to come to Richmond this session.  These visits help us increase visibility and the constant presence is invaluable with everything going on this year.    The toolkit to help you in planning your visits is attached to this email. Note that committee listings are not yet available.  We will be sure to send you an updated packet once they are.  Thanks to Jessica Fleenor and Charlene Reed for their hard work on this project.  (Board Members:  If you are involved with a partner organization that might be interested in helping out by doing an ALLY day, please contact Jessica at jfleenor@thearcofva.org).

4.       MLK Day Rally- Will take place rain or shine.  There will be a canopy, but be sure to bring an umbrella if it rains.  Flyer and Coalition priorities are attached.  Please make appointments with your legislators to maximize your time.   Looking forward to seeing you there!

5.       Advocacy Conference Calls-  We will be resuming our weekly advocacy calls this General Assembly session for strategizing/touching base.  First call will be held on FRIDAY, JAN. 13 at 12pm.  Call in number is 866-740-1260 and passcode is 6498481..  We will be sending out a doodle poll to help us schedule the calls that will follow.

—–

Media Clippings from Budget Hearings:

http://www.wtvr.com/news/wtvr-virginia-budget-hearings-arc-of-virginia-larrick-student-center-senator-henry-marsh-deborah-greene-intellectual-disabilities-in-virginia-20120106,0,2746742.story

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/fairfax-residents-say-they-want-lawmakers-to-champion-education-and-social-services/2012/01/07/gIQAk9JzhP_story.html?socialreader_check=0&denied=1

http://www.dailypress.com/news/politics/dp-nws-state-budget-hearing-20120106,0,7814991.story

http://www.newsleader.com/article/20120107/NEWS01/201070317/Funding-sought-kids-mental-health-services

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jan/8/va-assembly-will-have-pleas-more-mental-health-fun/

Preserve and improve access to essential community services that promote:

Virginia can strengthen community services and save scarce dollars. Investing in community-based services for people with disabilities reduces unnecessary and expensive inpatient hospitalization and state facility placements and avoids needless and costly involvement with the public safety system.

What You Can Ask the General Assembly to Do

For children, youth, and their families:

• SUPPORT designated and sustainable funding for developmental services for infants and toddlers with disabilities.
• REDIRECT $25 million in savings from Comprehensive Services Act (CSA) funding and REINVEST in critical children’s mental health crisis stabilization and crisis response services, additional child psychiatry, adequate case management and quality in-home services.

• SUPPORT restoration of rates for intensive in-home, therapeutic day treatment, and Residential A and B for children with severe emotional disturbances and at risk of being moved into an out-of-home placement.

For Virginians with intellectual and developmental disabilities:

• SUPPORT funding for 1,500 new Intellectual Disability (ID) Waivers and 275 Developmental Disability Waivers each year of the 2012-2014 Biennium.
• SUPPORT funding to provide support services to 1,000 Virginians with intellectual and developmental disabilities who have been denied Medicaid waivers due to level-of-functioning criteria ($5M SGF per year).
• SUPPORT proposed restoration of rates in the ID, DD, and DS waivers to July 1, 2008 levels.
• OPPOSE proposal to reduce the income limit for optional Medicaid eligibility group with income up to 300% of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) to 250% of SSI. This proposal will take away Waiver slots from current recipients on EDCD, ID, and DD waivers.

SUPPORT implementation of Employment First for ALL Virginians with disabilities.

• SUPPORT maintenance of designated general funds for the state match of 20% to draw a federal match of 80% for vocational rehabilitation services to employ Virginians with disabilities.
• SUPPORT restoration of funds for employment supports (LTESS/EES) for Virginians with disabilities. These services enable Virginians to maintain employment in the community and become self-supporting tax-paying citizens.
• OPPOSE proposed reduction in personal care hours allowed under the Elderly and Disabled Waiver with Consumer Direction (EDCD) from 56 to 48 hours per week.

For Virginians with mental health conditions, substance use disorders, and/or brain injury:

• SUPPORT funding and policies for drug treatment courts to divert non-violent, substance abusing- offenders from prison and into treatment.

• SUPPORT increased funding for recovery-focused services for Virginians with substance use disorder to include enhanced case management and outpatient services, increased number and availability of detoxification and residential treatment services, peer recovery support, supported housing, and employment.
• SUPPORT intensive recovery-focused services, including peer services, employment and housing supports for Virginians with serious mental illness to avoid hospitalization and/or incarceration.
• SUPPORT funding for the development of additional local Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) programs as well as for expansion of law enforcement drop-off capacity to foster CIT efforts.
• SUPPORT increased funding for Discharge Assistance Program (DAP) services to expedite transition of Virginians eligible for discharge from psychiatric hospitals to community-based services and housing.
• SUPPORT the proposed $1,000,000 in fiscal year 2014 and add $1,000,000 in funding for fiscal year 2013 to reduce chronic homelessness through the creation of permanent supportive housing.
• REDIRECT $10 million in Medicaid savings as a result of the transition to managed care and REINVEST the savings into additional services and adequate rates for Medicaid community mental health services.
• SUPPORT restoration of Brain-Injury funds and increased funding to secure infrastructure and workforce of community based services, and conduct surveillance, outreach, and technical assistance for Virginians with brain injury, including veterans and wounded warriors.

Bria Kelly is a vocal prodigy who, at only sixteen years old, already has an impressive resume which includes performances at NFL games and Nashville’s CMA Music Fest. Find out more about Bria on her website: www.BriaKelly.com. Joining Bria Kelly and Friends is two-time “Amateur Night at the Apollo” winner, Nate Foley. See more of Nate at www.natefoley.com/live.

ZigZag is a band of middle- and high-schoolers from Virginia Beach, but don’t let their youth deceive you because these kids are tried and true performers who have taken the stage all across Hampton Roads. Read all about the band at www.zigzagrockband.com.

Matt Cole is a seventeen-year-old percussionist who already has a decade of experience under his belt. He’s known locally as the drummer for mOcean. More information about Matt (and mOcean) can be found on their website: www.mOceanband.com.

Jake Fultz is a bass aficionado, playing both electric and upright. He can usually be found supplying bass sounds for Carbon Jam. Get more details about Jake and Carbon Jam at www.CarbonJam.com.

If you’d like more information about The Jewish Mother, all the details can be found at www.JewishMother.com.

Customers must mention Hope House and may not use any other specials or discounts in order for the donation to be valid.

Boardwalk offers fresh-cut fries, an assortment of burgers (including veggie burgers), as well as hot dogs, chicken, salads, shakes, and more. For more information about Boardwalk Fresh Burgers and Fries, call the Norfolk location at 757-961-9112 or visit their website: www.BoardwalkFreshBurgersAndFries.com.

Currently, Hope House Foundation is one of four organizations who will benefit from purchases made on iDeal. Details about specific Hope House projects and their progress are available at http://www.getideals.com/ideal_charity/hope_house_foundation/.

Visit the iDeal website at www.GetiDeals.com to find out how to buy deals and how to feature your business while simultaneously giving back to the community.

Hope House Foundation is a local non-profit and is the only organization in Virginia that supports adults with developmental disabilities exclusively in their own homes. Learn more about Hope House at www.hope-house.org or by calling 757-625-6161.

This Saturday, December 3 is the 30th annual observation of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD), a day established by the United Nations to promote a better understanding of disability issues worldwide.  It is on this day that I pause to give thanks to those who fought to protect the rights that I, as a member of the “ADA Generation,” sometimes take for granted.  Today I also recognize that some 80 percent of the disability community—our community—lives in developing countries.  For this 80 percent of our brothers and sisters, poverty is predestined, violence and abuse are rampant, and life expectancy is unacceptably short. 

This year’s IDPD theme is “Together for a better world for all: Including persons with disabilities in development.”  We must take this challenge seriously; we must work to ensure that development does not leave people with disabilities behind. We know that when people with disabilities are empowered to lead structural change in our communities, all of society benefits.  This inclusion keeps us from being marginalized and propels us toward true equality.   

This year’s International Day of Persons with Disabilities is a call to include people with disabilities in international development initiatives.  It is a call to hear our voices in the realization of the Millennium Development Goals.  It is a call to our government to ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) a necessity if we hope to continue to serve as a paradigm for disability inclusiveness.

However, above all, it is a simple call for global solidarity for all people with disabilities. 

We at AAPD wish you all a happy IDPD celebration.  We invite you to join the fight ahead.   Call your Senators today and urge them to support ratification of CRPD.

On Sunday, December 4, 2011 at 4:00 Jake’s Place will present “Holidays for Hope” at the Belmont House of Smoke at 2117 Colonial Ave to benefit Hope House Foundation.  Twenty gorgeous gentlemen from Jake’s Place and Crossfit 757 will be paired with 20 gift certificates from local business, and we will auction off “their packages”.

Ticket price is $10 or $15 per couple and available at Changes Hairstyling, City Spa Jake’s Place, Crossfit 757, and Hope House Foundation.

Changes Hairstyling, City Spa and Jake’s Place began as a children’s hair salon in 1983.  They have come a long way since then and pride themselves on catering to the whole family – from the youngest to the very wisest!  From the Bus Stop to City Spa!  Offering the very best the industry has to offer, with the most talented people, greatest number of options for both styles and services and the most current thinking in the field.

Please join us and bring Hope for the Holidays! As part of the Holiday Open House in Ghent this event speaks volumes for Hope – in any language!

All proceeds will benefit Hope House Foundation is a local not for profit organization providing supported living services to adults with developmental disabilities in Hampton Roads for over 40 years.

More information contact Anne Knox at 757-625-6160 X1 or aknox@hope-house.org about the upcoming event or log onto www.hope-house.org.