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VOR Weekly E-Mail Update
December 7, 2007
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. H.R. 3995 – VISITS NEEDED
2. OREGON: Family/Guardian Response to Abuse Articles
3. MISSOURI: Region's DMH workers won't be privatized
4. KENTUCKY: Inspectors finish Oakwood review - No word
yet on Medicaid funding
5. CONSIDER THE GIFT OF A VOR MEMBERSHIP! VOR CONTRIBUTION
AND MEMBERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES.
Upcoming Update Schedule: A regular update will be
published December 14. Between December 17 and January 4, there
will not be a regular Weekly Update published, but there will be
regular updates re: H.R. 3995 advocacy published.
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1. H.R. 3995 – VISITS NEEDED
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VOR is calling on all its members to MEET with their U.S.
Representatives in their District offices as soon as possible.
Personal visits by constituents are essential to securing
cosponsors to H.R. 3995.
See http://www.congress.org for District office contact
information, or contact Tamie Hopp at 605-399-1624. There is a
District office in or very near your town/city.
TODAY, call your Representative's District office and request a
meeting with your Representative. Members of Congress will be
working from their District Offices beginning in late-December
and through early-to-mid January. Now is the perfect time to
request a meeting.
Once your meeting is set, contact Tamie (605-399-1624; Tamie327@hotmail.com).
She can share with you position papers relating to H.R. 3995
that you can use to prepare for your meeting and also share with
your Representative.
ORGANIZATIONAL SIGN ON UPDATE: I’m pleased to report that
VOR has nearly 75 organizations from 21 states signed on to the
organization sign on letter in support of H.R. 3995. There is
still time for your organization to be included. See, http://vor.net/HR3995signonletter.htm
for this opportunity! Our goal is 100+ organizations.
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2. OREGON: Family/Guardian Response to Abuse Articles
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Summary: In the November 9 VOR Weekly Update, VOR shared news of
an investigative series regarding abuse and neglect in community
settings in the State of Oregon (see, http://www.vor.net/Archived%20E-Mails.htm).
The following editorial was submitted in response to the
Oregonian series by Penny Van Santen, President of the Oregon
Voice of the Retarded.
Abuse was predicted
By Penny Van Santen, President Oregon Voice of the Retarded
The Oregonian – Letter to the Editor
November 25, 2007
The Oregonian is to be congratulated on the revelations of the
horrendous abuses in Michelle Roberts' report ("Asylum's gone,
but not abuse," Nov. 4). Unfortunately, such problems were
predicted during meetings with state officials back in the late
1990s. Our assertions fell on deaf ears, and now the system is
filled with tragedies.
Especially lacking in insight are statements like those of Bob
Joondeph, Oregon Advocacy Center director, who indicated
parents/guardians should play a more active role in examining
the activities at group homes and adult foster homes where their
adult handicapped children reside. Doesn't he understand that
many of these family guardians are elderly and may not easily be
able to travel to do drop-ins, or that the victims have no
family? Isn't that the responsibility of the state, which
manages and supervises these facilities?
The description of Fairview as "notorious" was also noted. Not
everyone felt that way. The same leaders who closed Fairview are
now telling the press that they are taking measures to assure
the safety of these vulnerable citizens who live widely
scattered in a variety of unsupervised situations. Some safety!
Often the victims are individuals without active guardians.
Should one feel sorrow more for the victims and their families
or for the society where people with severe and profound autism
and mental retardation have become its experimental "Untermenschen"
[inferior people]?
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3. MISSOURI: Region's DMH workers won't be privatized
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Summary: Privatization has been strongly opposed in
Missouri by families, workers and others. This article
illustrates that advocacy works! Due to protests by advocates,
the State has opted to exempt certain DMH workers from
privatization proposals. The article also shows, however, that
in Missouri, families remain the last to know – reality families
have protested strongly.
Southeast Missourian
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
By Lindy Bavolek
Department of Mental Health caseworkers in Southeast Missouri
will remain on the state payroll and will not be privatized, DMH
director Keith Schafer wrote in a letter to state legislators
late last month.
Plans to transition case managers to local control were met by
an onslaught of concerns raised by parents, who worried they
would lose services, and caseworkers, who feared they would lose
their jobs. The caseworkers assist people with developmental
disabilities such as mental retardation, cerebral palsy, head
injuries, autism, epilepsy and certain learning disabilities.
A town hall meeting was held Nov. 14 in Poplar Bluff to discuss
the plan, which would have left 484 caseworkers in Missouri out
of state jobs. After the meeting, DMH officials decided Poplar
Bluff and Sikeston Regional Center caseworkers would not be
outsourced.
Instead, the 35 caseworkers will continue to be part of the
regional centers. Any new positions that become available will
be transitioned to local control.
"The voice of the people was heard. I'm very pleased that
they've decided to back off it, and that the trained case
managers will be able to keep their positions," said Susan
Wallis, the assistant secretary of Mentally Retarded Citizens of
Missouri.
News of the DMH's decision has not filtered down to many parents
and mental health organizations, who said they have consistently
been provided sketchy details.
Uncertainty and unanswered questions have led some case managers
to leave the profession, said Mike Sciortino, the founder of the
autism support group Ethan & Friends.
"There's several good people that have left because they didn't
know what was going to happen," Sciortino said.
The state says that privatizing workers costs less, so more
could be hired and caseloads would decrease. In Southeast
Missouri, one case manager works with about 66 people. Ideally,
the number would be 40, according to Bob Bax, a DMH spokesman.
"In the current budget year, we got funding for 40 new
positions. By going through SB40 Boards, we were able to
generate funds to support 53 positions," Bax said. Privatizing
caseworkers is cheaper, in part, because there are fewer
employee benefits.
About 167 case managers throughout Missouri are already managed
by SB40 Boards, which distribute county tax money to agencies
that provide services for people with mental disabilities.
In Cape Girardeau County, money from SB40 Boards currently goes,
in part, toward providing transportation for those with
disabilities and to a sheltered workshop, a service shop that
employs adults with physical or mental disabilities.
Robert Landgraf, chairman of the Cape Girardeau County SB40
Board, said the board has not yet discussed the DMH's proposal.
Outside of Southeast Missouri, the plan to outsource case
managers will continue and must be approved by legislators.
Six state representatives and senators were present at the
meeting in Poplar Bluff. State Senator Rob Mayer, R-Dexter, was
pleased to receive the letter from Schafer, he said, but wants
to know who will take over case management if SB40 boards don't
want to, how many people currently don't receive services
because of a backlog of clients and how private companies will
avoid conflicts of interest.
Some parents have expressed concern that private companies would
"cherry pick" clients, only providing services to easy consumers
and not the severely disabled.
"For now, they have not answered my questions. Until that
happens, that transition is still uncertain," Mayer said.
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4. KENTUCKY: Inspectors finish Oakwood review - No word yet on
Medicaid funding
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The Courier-Journal
Friday, November 30, 2007
By Deborah Yetter
Residents at Bluegrass Oakwood appear to be safe and well cared
for, a team of federal inspectors told officials at the center
yesterday.
But the inspectors provided no guarantee that the facility for
adults with mental retardation will keep Medicaid funding, said
Joseph A. Toy, president of the Bluegrass Mental Health-Mental
Retardation Board, which runs Oakwood for the state.
"We were hoping to get more information," Toy said. "It's very
frustrating."
Toy said the five-member inspection team met with him yesterday
afternoon for an exit interview following a four-day survey and
provided only a general outline of findings.
The team members said they couldn't tell him what might result
from their visit, Toy said.
But Dr. William Hacker, an official with the state Cabinet for
Health and Family Services, which oversees Oakwood, said he
views the preliminary findings as positive.
"They found the facility is a safe place for the residents to be
and the facility is in compliance with federal standards for
client safety," said Hacker, the cabinet's acting undersecretary
for health.
About 230 people with mental retardation and other disabilities
live at the Somerset facility, which has been struggling to
correct past problems of abuse and neglect of residents.
The visit from inspectors with the U.S. Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services comes as the federal government is considering
whether to terminate federal funds because of such instances in
the past.
Medicaid, the government health plan for low income and disabled
people, provides about 40 percent of the $75 million annual cost
of operating Oakwood.
A spokeswoman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
this week confirmed the team was conducting a survey at Oakwood
but couldn't comment on the findings.
Federal authorities in 2005 threatened to cut off Medicaid
funding after two instances of resident abuse or neglect -- one
involving a man who drowned after he was left alone in the bath.
But they have continued funding Oakwood while the state appealed
the decision and worked to correct problems.
Kentucky hired Toy's agency a year ago to run Oakwood and
improve conditions for residents.
Hacker said it's clear the nonprofit mental health agency has
been successful.
"We are very pleased with the progress Bluegrass has made," he
said.
Hacker said state officials will consider the findings and
determine what the next step should be to try to preserve
Medicaid funding.
Toy said the federal team said Oakwood managers should do more
to improve "active treatment" -- keeping residents busy and
engaged in daily activities. He said Bluegrass has been working
to improve services in that area and will continue to do so.
He said he wished the federal officials had given him more
specific information or direction, but that won't change the
work Bluegrass is doing while the state awaits a final decision
on Medicaid funding. "We're going to keep doing a good job," Toy
said. "We're going to keep people safe and engaged. I don't know
what else to do."
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Tamie Hopp
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