VOR is encouraging our members to send a letter to their Members of Congress highlighting our concerns with the Build Back Better Act, reflecting our hopes that the bill can be altered to protect the needs of the most severely intellectually and developmentally disabled and to preserve a family's right to choose the best options for their loved ones with I/DD.
Click here to download a copy of VOR's letter
Representative Glenn Grothman (R-WI-06) has recently introduced two bills in the House of Representatives to amend the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to promote choice in employment, preserve Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor and Standards Act, and protect a full range of employment opportunities for all people with intellectual and developmental disabilities..
In June of 2021, the State of Louisiana passed landmark legislation to improve the quality and availability of dental services for people with I/DD in HCBS settings. Work continues on this effort, in order to provide equivalent services to people in ICFs.
Michelle Ballan, PhD, a professorat SUNY Stony Brook, created a COVID Disability Form to help all individuals with IDD communicate their needs in the event of hospitalization. This form is usefiul whether the patient is verbal or non-verbal.
If your loved one is going to the hospital with COVID-19 symptoms, you may fill out this form to provide useful information to his/her medical team.
Right To Intermediate Care Facilities for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities (ICFs/IID)
Individuals who qualify for Intermediate Care Facilities for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities (ICFs/IID)* under Medicaid have a legal right to such facilities for as long as they remain eligible and choose to do so. Despite a deinstitutionalization effort by those opposed to congregate care, the ICF/IID program remains a legally enforceable federal entitlement under Medicaid. States which have included ICF/IID in their Medicaid State Plans, but instead offer only Waiver services, are in violation of federal Medicaid law.
VOR's Ongoing Document:
Updated October 3, 2019
This document provides a bibliography of investigative media series, state audits and peer-reviewed research in more than half the states that detail systemic concerns with regard to quality of care in community-based settings for persons with developmental disabilities. Tragedies range from physical, emotional, and financial abuse, neglect and even death. Many of these outcomes are associated with a zest to move to a "community for all" vision people with developmental disabilities without adequately considering the ramifications of separating vulnerable people from specialized care and then doing away with a critical safety net (a/k/a deinstitutionalization). The lessons learned from more than 25 states should cause policymakers and lawmakers to take pause and recognize that a range of needs requires a range of service options.
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