Budget Surprise - and Your Opportunity to Show Up!

In my last blog post - March 22 blog post - I said I’d be listening to see what was said about the personal needs allowance (PNA) for people getting residential supports from DDS.  So I was surprised (and pleased!) to learn, in DDS director Andy Reese’s budget briefing yesterday, that the mayor’s proposed FY24 budget includes $745,000 to allow DDS to increase the monthly PNA from its current level of $100 to $150, starting in October 2023.  The increase is intended to make up for 15 years without any cost-of-living increase in the PNA.  He also said that DDS intends to ensure, beginning in January 2024, that the PNA will receive the same annual cost-of-living increase that the Social Security Administration makes in its yearly January SSI payments.

This was astonishing news!  But remember – this is a proposed budget, and as Colby King reminds us in his Washington Post article today, Colby King on DC budget, DC is even more under the Congressional microscope (thumb) than usual.  It’s important to come together as residents and responsibly express our priorities for the life of our future state(!) in DC council hearings.  Particularly in light of the many empty downtown buildings, DC cannot count on the level of resources it has enjoyed in recent years, so we have to be selective and targeted in what we advocate for.  For this reason, I will tell you transparently that I can’t favor the DC council’s push for free bus service at this time – I fear a sweeping change like that will come at the expense of other lower-cost, but very important priorities.  (I say this as someone who initially favored this move, when it seemed we would continue to run substantial surpluses.)

You may not agree with my views, and that’s okay!  Take a look at these:

FPI guide to the DC budget

Influencing the DC budget

Proposed FY24 DC budget

Proposed FY24 DC DDS budget

and then sign up to testify on Wednesday:  March 29 signup.  The hearing is on Zoom, so you can participate from home, or from anywhere!  Or if you can’t testify “in person” (on Zoom), then plan to submit written testimony.

Advocates will be testifying about the personal needs allowance, making sure DSP wages are increased to the agreed 117.6% of the DC living wage, ensuring that wait times for DDA applications aren’t keeping newly-eligible applicants from getting services, promoting affordable housing and employment for DC residents with disabilities, and more.  Your voice is essential to make sure the views of people with disabilities and their supporters are clearly heard!

And one more thing:  This coming Thursday, March 30, the day after the budget hearing, DDS will host (at 250 E St SW) the final program in a full month of Developmental Disability Awareness Month (DDAM) events - DDAM March 2023.  There will be an art show/sale from 3-4, then the program from 4-6.  And this year, Mayor Bowser herself will be in attendance, so be there if you can, to show her our enthusiasm and determination!

Curious about some of the terms I use?  Check here: Terms and organizations

IT'S BUDGET TIME!

The mayor’s FY 2024 budget appeared today, and on Friday March 24 at noon, Director Andy Reese will be briefing the community about the DDS budget – https://cfo.dc.gov/node/1651111 - so log on here at noon Friday to hear what he has to say at the Friday forum: DDS community forum link.

I will be listening especially for two things:

• Plans to implement cost-of-living increases for the monthly personal needs allowance received by people getting residential supports, which has been stuck at $100 a month for 15 years with no increases;
• How wage increases for the indispensable DSP workforce under the DSP Payment Rate Act, passed 3 years ago, are going to be assured going forward.

I hope you’ll tune in to hear what Andy has to say on Friday, and then go to this site - March 29 signup -  and sign up to testify before the DC council’s Committee on Facilities and Family Services on Wednesday, March 29.  If you can’t deliver testimony, at least make sure that you submit written testimony, which usually is due by one week following the hearing.  We were successful last year at getting revised eligibility criteria for disability supports passed by the council – make sure that new committee chair Janeese Lewis-George knows that we remain an active and determined constituency!

Also, take a few minutes now to enjoy these photos from Quality Trust’s Better Together reception on March:  https://vimeo.com/807610302.  It was a wonderful event!

Passing of Judy Heumann, Renowned Activist and First Director of DDS

The entire world is mourning the death of disability rights leader Judy Heumann, which happened two days ago, on March 4.  Here is AAPD's obituary covering her amazing and impactful career:  AAPD on passing of Judy Heumann.

In a couple of my blog posts in recent years, I called attention to her memoir, Being Heumann (Heumann at Politics and Prose) and to the film, "Crip Camp," celebrating the roots of her activism at Camp Jened (DDAM viewing of "Crip Camp").  

But besides her national and international accomplishments, Judy Heumann played an important role at the local level, reorienting DC's disability services and pointing the way toward the future as the first director of DC's Department on Disability Services (DDS).  This doesn't usually get as much attention as her many other achievements, but for us it was hugely important.  

Heumann's passing in Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month (DDAM) gives us an opportunity to celebrate her essential role in setting DC on the path toward inclusion and autonomy for DC's disabled residents. There won't be another one like her anytime soon.

Information about her March 8 memorial service (in-person and online) is here: https://judithheumann.com/memorial-service-honoring-the-life-of-judy-heumann/.

February Performance Hearing on DC DDS

In principle, performance review hearings are about looking back – but in reality, they represent the first opportunity that advocates have to weigh in on the upcoming budget season.  That was very much the case on February 16, when advocates turned out to testify before the DC council’s Facilities and Family Services committee on the newly formed Mayor’s Office of Deaf, DeafBlind, and Hard of Hearing (MoDDHH), the Office of Disability Rights (ODR), and the Department on Disability Services (DDS).  As has usually been the case, DDS came last, but unlike most years, the hearing, which began around 2:30, ran until close to 8 p.m. by the time the committee chair, Janeese Lewis-George (Ward 4), had completed her questioning of Andy Reese.  My focus here is on DDS, although there was a great deal of interesting discussion with respect to MoDDHH and ODR, as well.

I shared my February 16 testimony in an earlier blog post, but it will be well worth your while to watch advocates’ testimony, some of it, from Project ACTION! members, about 35 minutes (35:00:00) from the beginning of the hearing (video of Feb 16 performance hearing), and the rest beginning a little before minute 3:20:00 of the video.  As always, the Q and A with Andy (5:07:00 of the video) was especially interesting in setting the stage for further discussion on the DDS budget for FY 2024 (beginning October 1 of this year).  In general, I was impressed that Lewis-George and her staff had really done their homework before the hearing.  She asked very good questions and saw important connections to the work of other agencies and council committees.  Here are some highlights (see organizations and terminology page for any unfamiliar terms):

• Sandy Bernstein of DRDC and other advocates had raised the issue of DDS delays in establishing people’s eligibility and getting services underway since the DDERAA came into effect in October. Although Andy Reese cited multiple reasons for these slowdowns, Lewis-George was adamant that DDS must find a ways to speed up the process.   
• Lewis-George picked up on advocates’ calls for the DC government to become a model employer of people with disabilities. She asked about existing models (the Georgetown UCEDD is leading the charge in studying options), asked about RSA’s role, and pushed Reese to hold other DC agencies accountable for setting hiring goals and creating career paths. 
• Many advocates called attention to the fact that people receiving residential supports from DDS receive a flat $100 monthly personal needs allowance that has not been raised to keep up with inflation since 2007.  Lewis-George asked Reese what was being done about this, and he said we first will need to see whether the mayor puts money into her budget to cover the cost, after which it will be up to the DC council.  
• There was significant attention to the need for better on-the-ground collaboration between DDS and DBH, since an increasing number of people served have dual diagnoses, and for DDS to have a better understanding than is sometimes demonstrated about the nature of DBH services and supports.  Although Reese said there are regular meetings with DBH at the management level, Lewis-George encouraged him to ensure this translates into peoples’ support experience.
• Advocates also called attention to DDA staffing shortages and the need to ensure prompt and complete funding of wage increases for DSP staff.

This year has been a turning point for DDS, and the revision in eligibility requirements brought on by passage of the DDERAA will require shifts in the response by DDS and its provider agencies to the people they serve.  You will have another opportunity to weigh in with testimony on how DDS budget resources should be used in FY 2024, at the DDS budget hearing March 29, 2023. You should be able to sign up soon, at https://janeeseward4.com/testify/.  Make sure you do it!

My February 16 Testimony

 

TESTIMONY BY CAROL A. GRIGSBY BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON FACILITIES AND FAMILY SERVICES ON THE DEPARTMENT ON DISABILITY SERVICES, FEB 16, 2023

 Madame Chair and other councilmembers, thank you for allowing me to appear today before the newly formed Committee on Facilities and Family Services.  The DC community of disability advocates has had a fruitful relationship with the Committee on Human Services in recent years, and we look forward to the same constructive relationship with this committee.

 My name is Carol Grigsby. My son has received long-term disability supports through DDS since 2014, and in that same year I began my blog, DDinWDC (https://www.DDinWDC.com), in which I continue to cover key issues affecting people with developmental disabilities and their families.  I rotated off DC’s federally-mandated Developmental Disabilities Council in December, but during my tenure as DDC chair and then as advocacy co-chair, I was proud, with other advocates, to achieve successful passage of the historic Developmental Disability Eligibility Reform Amendment Act, among other important initiatives.  You are hearing today from other advocates who are tracking implementation of The DDERAA, whose intent is to ensure essential services for all those who need them.  In my limited time, I will focus on three pressing issues that directly affect the welfare of my own son and others now receiving or about to receive long-term supports from DDS’s Developmental Disabilities Administration: 

-          The effects of the pandemic, coupled with the narrowing of the gap between DC’s minimum wage and living wage, have led to significant staffing shortages – 23% on average - among DC’s disability support providers.  Direct support professionals who remain on the job are drastically overburdened.  Please heed today’s testimony by Ian Paregol from the Coalition of Disability Service Providers with respect to the need for urgent and full implementation of the Direct Support Professional Payment Rate Act

  As the pandemic emergency winds down, DDS and providers are focused on reopening day programs to get people back out into the community.  However, this moment also provides an opportunity for DC as a whole to place enhanced emphasis on employment of people with disabilities with the workplace supports they need.  The DC government needs to start by setting an example for private businesses, by becoming a model employer of disabled people in its own hiring practices.  Not only DCHR, but also DCPL, should be dedicated to this goal. 

-           People receiving residential supports from DDS have received a flat $100 monthly personal needs allowance since 2007 – with no cost-of-living allowance, or COLA.  A decision last month provides for a COLA to be applied to the personal needs allowance for people in intermediate care facilities and nursing homes, but in order to apply a COLA for people in supported living, such as my son, or in community residences, there must be explicit action as part of the budget process.  Year-on-year erosion in people’s personal allowance must not be allowed to continue, and we look to you to help remedy this injustice.

I would not be in a position to advocate as I do if my son were not receiving DDS supports, and I would like to thank Andy Reese, Winslow Woodland, my son’s service coordinator and others in DDS for continuing to pursue improvements in quality control, DDA/RSA collaboration, and other initiatives to achieve more meaningful inclusion of disabled people in our DC community.  Thank you.

 

SIGN UP BY FEBRUARY 13 FOR THE FEBRUARY 16 [VIRTUAL] DC COUNCIL HEARING!

When I circulated my new page about changes in the DC council last month (https://www.ddinwdc.com/p/members-of-d.html), I expected to follow up quickly with another blog post.  But my life hit some rocky times, and here I am six weeks into the New Year with an urgent event looming.  So let me be brief, and focus your attention on this week’s performance review hearing on DDS, ODR and the new Mayor’s Office of Deaf, DeafBlind and Hard of Hearing (MODDHH), February 16 at 2 p.m. via Zoom.  (This page - https://www.ddinwdc.com/p/blog-page.html - tells you about key terminology and organizations in the DC disability world.)  Each speaker will have 3 minutes to speak, but you can submit written testimony in addition.

SIGN UP HERE, BY TOMORROW, FEBRUARY 13 TO TESTIFY "IN PERSON" (via ZOOM) ON FEBRUARY 16:  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScxEOds_QVzkjURJa6GK3eW6s1Don1Em54nVd2KA-90gREgQw/viewform

My focus here is on DDS.  This hearing is especially important because the new chair, Councilmember Janeese Lewis-George, and many others on the Committee on Facilities and Family Services (CoFFS), are relatively new to disability issues, as are many committee staff (see https://www.ddinwdc.com/p/members-of-d.html).  As you prepare your testimony (contact Alison Whyte at the Developmental Disabilities Council - Alison Whyte (alison.whyte@dc.gov if you need help), think about these issues:

 -          What has been your experience with DDS’ intake office, and getting services underway, since new eligibility criteria for DDS long-term supports went into effect on October 1?

 -          Are you or your family member feeling the effects of the significant staffing vacancies providers are experiencing?  Do you think higher wages for direct support professionals, sooner rather than later, could improve this situation?

 -          Do you want to see annual cost-of-living increases in the personal needs allowance to keep up with inflation?  (People receiving residential supports from DDS currently get a flat $100 monthly personal needs allowance, an amount that has not changed in 15 years.)

 -          Are you satisfied with supports being provided by DDS (RSA or DDA) to help people find jobs, keep their jobs, and thrive in their jobs?  Would you like to see the DC government itself become a model employer of people with disabilities to set the tone for private employers?

 -          Do you or your family member feel ready to participate in day services and to re-engage in the community now that the covid emergency is formally nearing an end?

These are some issues receiving attention from DC advocates at this time - you may have others you’d like to address.  What’s important is for Councilmember Lewis-George and others on the council to know we’re here, interested and engaged.  SIGN UP! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScxEOds_QVzkjURJa6GK3eW6s1Don1Em54nVd2KA-90gREgQw/viewform

Pre-Thanksgiving Updates!

It feels important to get a brief post out before tomorrow’s Thanksgiving holiday, and I’m overdue with some updates:

 -          First, my last blog post called on DDS to highlight the change in eligibility requirements prominently on the home page, and I’ve also raised it with Andy Reese in a couple of Friday forums.  As a result, you’ll now find a “crawler” across the header of the DDS website (https://dds.dc.gov/) reading “Eligibility Requirements for DDS Services Expanded” – but unfortunately it just links to the existing application page:  https://dds.dc.gov/service/how-apply-services.  If you go very far down this page you’ll find an “eligibility fact sheet” deeply buried.  This is something, but not, I think, the level of visibility most of us would have hoped for in explaining how things changed on October 1.

-          -         Second, the Eligibility First Summit took place at MLK library October 20 and 21 (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1U7ZrFj6UnEZS16B2FFjhfp8RUp8GSzA5/edit?usp=share_link&ouid=107296839803360874196&rtpof=true&sd=true), and for those in attendance it was considered a great success.  At least 150 people attended some portion of the event, either in person or online.  We could have wished for more agencies providing employment supports to attend, and we certainly could have wished for more private employers.  But there will be follow-up!  And that follow-up already is proceeding with respect to how the DC government can lead by example by hiring more people with disabilities.  Robin Shaffert of the Georgetown UCEDD (https://ucedd.georgetown.edu/index.php) led a fantastic breakout group on the subject, and plans to pursue the issue further.  Meantime, I understand the mayor expressed determination to make more happen on this front at the Disability Expo on October 26.

That’s all for now – have a meaningful and healthy Thanksgiving tomorrow!

DDA ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

I've been contacted about the fact that the new eligibility information isn't showing up clearly on the DDS website.  This has been raised with DDS director Andy Reese and others, and I'm told it will be corrected soon.  In the meantime, here is the DDS fact sheet, in English - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ogcZ_MMEkqEDuFM3t-4_O5jXlNvIAj44/view?usp=sharing

and in Spanish - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lbuY975FaLni8k_5i6E5P5tVToVjGR_6/view?usp=sharing.

For the moment, both of these links are from my Google Drive - but soon they will be on the DDS website!

NOTE:  Right after posting, I was told that these fact sheets can be found (very far down the page) at https://dds.dc.gov/node/711822.  Still not the level of visibility the new eligibility criteria deserve!  And - to answer other questions that need to be answered on the web page - the new criteria took effect on October 1.

JUST AROUND THE CORNER! - IMPORTANT OCTOBER EVENTS

 Note these important upcoming dates in October!

•         October 1!  Change in eligibility criteria for DDS long-term supports   Andy Reese, DDS director, anticipates full approval for this to move ahead as scheduled, and letters are going out to anyone turned down for eligibility in the past 3 years. https://dds.dc.gov/service/how-apply-services
•  
•          October 2! Quality Trust’s annual gala, 6-9pm – back on the water!  New CEO Shawn Ullman and founding CEO Tina Campanella will both be cruising with us!  https://express.adobe.com/page/JXSpOBkBH1NHw/?utm_source=website&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=Gala2022
•  
•           October 15! Project ACTION! monthly meeting, 10-11:30am  – contact Phyllis Holton  at pholton@dcqualitytrust.org to get onto the mailing list!
•  
•           October 20-21! Employment First Summit, starting 9am both days - examining the first ten years of DC’s declaration as an Employment First! Jurisdiction, and planning ahead for the next ten years.  Brought to you by the DC DD council (https://ddc.dc.gov/page/about-ddc)!  In-person or via Zoom - https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2022-dc-employment-first-summit-tickets-395159291077
• 
  
•           October 28!  DDS next monthly community forum, 12-1:30 - https://dds.dc.gov/event/%C2%A0dds-community-provider-forum-october-28-2022

Fall is here, and the schedule is heating up!

But wait, there’s more!

• At the 9/23 community forum, Andy Reese encouraged our community to participate actively in the mayor’s upcoming budget forums so the voice of people with disabilities and their supporters can be heard!
• The federal Centers for Disease Control has this updated information on staying up to date with covid vaccinations, including the new booster - https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/stay-up-to-date.html.

 Stay safe! Be active!

Changes Coming for the DC Disability Community This Fall

Maybe some of you have noticed that my blog has been on a summer hiatus.  Others may not have noticed because, like me, you’ve been in a doesn’t-seem-like-a-pandemic-but-not-sure-what-it-is mode, still trying to get oriented in a newly “hybrid” world.  I continue to live much of my life online, but am also venturing out to in-person meetings and other gatherings – sometimes masked, sometimes not.  I have a sneaking feeling that there is going to be more mandatory masking in our future, though – the virus just isn’t done with us yet.

As you know, back in the spring we finally achieved passage of the DDERAA, and having cleared Congressional review, it became law on May 18 (https://lims.dccouncil.us/Legislation/B24-0268). Throughout the summer, DC’s Department on Disability Services has been working out the details on how the new eligibility criteria will be implemented and preparing to recruit new staff to handle the intake workload.  As of July 25, DDS was about to meet with the federal CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services – see https://www.ddinwdc.com/p/blog-page.html for this and other important organizations and terms) to make sure proposed amendments to DC’s Medicaid waiver, the source of most funding for DDS long-term supports, meet with its approval.  At the now-monthly Friday forums (https://dds.dc.gov/node/1519506), there also have been presentations on this planning (see Power Points, DDS's “Eligibility Determination DDERAA 2022” as well as the “DDERAA Powerpoint” backgrounder by Sandy Bernstein of Disability Rights DC, both at the above link).  DDS is still targeting October 1 as the start date for revised eligibility, and has indicated that applications can be submitted somewhat earlier than that, although I haven't seen an official announcement to confirm that.

While working with other advocates to help DDS shape this more inclusive future, I’ve also been supporting my own son, who receives long-term supports in DC, as well as talking with others who have family members in the DDS system.  Policy-level planning meetings often attract the best and brightest of DDS staff and provider-agency representatives, but it can be discouraging to see how much the day-to-day system still focuses on paperwork requirements and compliance while losing sight of how best to support people to live their best life.  DDS and DHCF are moving (too) slowly to meet the challenge of paying DSPs the fair wages they deserve, but this will not remedy deep-seated institutional habits in both DDS and provider agencies that too often get in the way of a reimagined future for DC residents with developmental disabilities (https://www.dcqualitytrust.org/wp-content/uploads/Looking-Back-A-Collaborative-Longitudinal-Analysis-FINAL-12-15-21.pdf).

An essential part of a reimagined future is meaningful work for our neighbors with disabilities.  We’re told that jobs are there for the taking in the US economy right now, and we need to see that people with disabilities in our community benefit accordingly.  I’ve spent the summer working closely with a group planning for a major fall event at the MLK library that will mark the 10-year anniversary of DC’s designation as an “Employment First” state.  This summit will take stock of progress on the employment front while kick-starting a broader, community-based commitment to including people with disabilities in the DC workforce.  Expanding the number and types of employers; broadening types of work and customizing jobs (more intentional “job carving” and more part-time offerings); and ensuring the DC government is in the vanguard of community efforts:  these are some of the exciting issues that we are trying to incorporate into the Summit, under the leadership of the Developmental Disabilities Council’s Kevin Wright.  Put October 20 and 21 on your calendar now, and watch for the EventBrite invitation!  We’re anticipating 250-300 participants, and the exhibits, in addition to plenary presentations and breakout groups, will set the stage for a transformational difference over the next ten years – but only if YOU come and participate!

Finally, if you’re interested in technology options that can help improve supports for people in DC and beyond, you may want to take in this “Tech First” event that will be sponsored by DDS at the MLK library on August 16: https://dds.dc.gov/event/dds-tech-fest-flyer (in person or online, of course!).

Carol A. Grigsby is the mother of a young man who receives long-term disability supports from DC’s Department on Disability Services.  I advocate in support of Washington, DC residents with developmental disabilities, and currently co-chair the Advocacy and Public Policy committee of the DC Developmental Disabilities Council.  I also strongly support statehood for DC, where I have lived since 1978. Comments and opinions in this blog are my own, and you can also find me on Twitter, @DDinWDC!