I shared my written testimony with the Council yesterday,
text below. You have until tomorrow to do
the same -
Testimony by Carol A.
Grigsby
D.C. Council Human
Services Committee
Performance Review of
Department on Disability Services
February 2018
Councilmember Nadeau and other members of the Human Services
Committee –
My name is Carol Grigsby.
I serve on the D.C. State Council on Developmental Disabilities as well
as on the board of the Quality Trust for Individuals with Disabilities, and I
blog regularly on issues affecting D.C. citizens with developmental
disabilities at https://DDinWDC.blogspot.com. My son receives waiver supports in D.C., is
active in Project Action!, and, I hope, will someday soon be willing to testify
before you himself.
I would first like to thank, and congratulate, the committee
and the council for having given unanimous support to B22-0154, the Disability
Services Reform Amendment Act. This
reform was long overdue, and along with closure of the Evans case, the lifting
of the requirement for civil commitment demonstrates that the Department on
Disability Services no longer requires court oversight in order to do the right
thing for persons with developmental disabilities. It is now incumbent on DDS and those of us
who advise and advocate alongside the agency to ensure that people such as my
son receive the right level and type of support from those who care for them,
and also have solid recourse when, for whatever reason, the quality of their
services goes awry. I look forward to
working with others to see that this is the case.
As I have said in earlier testimony, I fully support the
establishment under this bill of Supported Decision Making agreements as a new
and less restrictive alternative to guardianship. However, the availability of SDM agreements
must not become grounds to deny those who wish to do so the right to sign
powers of attorney, as you or I can. As
Andy Reese stated in his testimony, “People with disabilities can make their
own decisions and they have an inherent human right to do so.” This should
include the decision to conclude powers of attorney.
With respect to the recent realignment of the Department on
Disability Services, I understand and fundamentally support the director’s aim
of streamlining and consolidating DDA and RSA shared services. However, in doing research for my blog I
heard a number of concerns that will deserve careful attention in the months to
come:
-
The exit of a number of experienced individuals,
particularly though not exclusively from the incident management unit (some
also noted that the exit of qualified women from influential positions appears
to be a step away from diversity)
-
The consolidation of the DDS intake unit under
the RSA deputy director rather than centrally under the DDS director or
reporting to the DDA deputy (unusual given that determining waiver eligibility
is a more time-consuming and complex process than is eligibility for vocational
rehabilitation services)
-
The need to recruit promptly for the DDA and Quality
Performance Management deputy director positions (as was noted in the hearing
as well) in order to ensure stability and leadership at the highest levels of
the organization.
I hope that the council will keep close watch on these and
other aspects of the realignment to ensure it achieves its desired goals
without creating others.
In my testimony last year I wrote at length about the
progress that DDS still needs to make in assisting people to achieve
competitive employment. This remains a
challenge, as my son’s experience over the past year has continued to
demonstrate. DDS is moving in the right
direction and showing incremental progress, but much more rapid movement is
needed in identifying partnerships, incentives and other creative and
customized approaches to expand employment opportunities for people with
developmental disabilities in D.C. – including part-time opportunities where
appropriate. There is still much to do in order to make other parts of the D.C.
government join in this effort. My son
is already 25, and for him time is slipping away to get a foothold in the world
of work.
Thank you for your attention to my testimony, and for the
committee’s conscientious oversight of DDS performance as we head into the
budget season.
