The US Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division has issued a rule to eliminate 14(c) programs. VOR vehemently opposes this rule, as it deprives individuals with IDD and autism the opportunity to work in the environment of their choice, alongside their peers.
To read the rule and submit a comment, please click here
To download a pdf copy of the rule, please click here
Please read the Executive Summary, which fails to mention the fact that 90% of the people in these programs have I/DD and autism, and that these employment opportunities are widely supported by the people who participate in them.
VOR supports competitive integrated employment as well as 14(c) programs. We believe in choice, and in allowing individuals and their families to make informed choices from a wide range of options.
The Disability Integration Act (DIA) is a seriously flawed bill. While the intention of the bill is to provide services for all people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, it would eliminate existing services provided to the most severely impacted members of this population, and moving these individuals from their long-term homes into more isolated settings that provide fewer services, lower staffing ratios, and lower standards of care.
Recent media reports have indicated that NYS’s Office of People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) has been placing Level 2 and Level 3 sex offenders into residential group homes for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. NYS classifies Level 2 offenders as having a moderate risk of repeat offense. Level 3 offenders are classified as having a high risk of repeat offense and pose a threat to public safety.
If you live in NY State and wish to take action on this issue, please go to:
http://salsa4.salsalabs.com/o/50829/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=25589
In September, 2018 VOR sent out 2 Action Alerts, asking Congress to pause and reconsider HR 3506, the EMPOWER Act to renew the Money Follows the Person (MFP) program.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently requested submissions and recommendations for how they might improve service in HCBS Waiver settings. VOR's comments focused on the need to expand and improve services for people not well suited to group homes as a way to imporve the services for people for whom those settings might be deemed appropriate.
We provided links to articles in our archives and from newspapers that illustrate VOR's position on these issues. The resources in this article should prove useful to many of our members in making presentations to their representatives, decision makers, and family groups.
All of the links in the footnotes will work once you download the pdf.
Please read and comment!
Ask Your Members of Congress to send letters to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to express concern about these agencies using federal funding to evict individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities from their Medicaid-licensed homes, contrary to individual choice and need.
Template letter for DOJ
Template letter for HHS
