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VOR is the only national organization advocating for a full
range of residential and support options for people with mental
retardation, including Medicaid-certified Intermediate Care
Facilities for the Mentally Retarded (ICFs/MR) and home and
community-based care. VOR supports choice.
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VOR Weekly E-Mail Update
November 16, 2007
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Table of Contents
1. H.R. 3995. Write your Reps and Organization Sign On
Opportunity: NUMBERS COUNT!!
2. VOR Awareness Initiative - VOR
materials available for your next meeting
3. Oregon: State pledges better care for disabled
4. The Arc of Multnomah-Clackamas writes “End abuse, neglect”
5. VOR’s Abuse and Neglect Document
Updated
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1. H.R. 3995. Write your Reps and Organization Sign On
Opportunity
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H.R. 3995: GRASSROOTS ADVOCACY REMINDERS
A. It is critical that EVERYONE write their U.S. Representative
in support of H.R. 3995. Hearing from constituents in support is
the very best way to secure cosponsors. It’s up to us to show
Congress how important this legislation is. Write or call today.
See, http://vor.net/HR3995AlertOct.htm, for the Action Alert,
B. We have growing list of organizations that have joined VOR’s
Organization Sign On Letter in support of H.R. 3995. Please
enlist your organization’s support today. See, http://vor.net/HR3995signonletter.htm.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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2. VOR Awareness Initiative - VOR
materials available for your next meeting
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This week VOR is exhibiting at the World
Congress on Disabilities Expo in Washington, D.C. In August, we
shared our materials with state policymakers and their staff at
the National Conference of State Legislators. From these
conferences, VOR has some materials remaining that we would be
delighted to share with members of your facility, family and
other advocacy organizations to further spread VOR awareness
among the grassroots. The materials relate to the VOR Cost
Study, our Legislative Advocacy Program, The Myth of an
Institutional Bias, and an overview of VOR and its activities in
support of its Mission (titled, "Who is VOR"). There are also a
limited number of newsletters available from Spring and Fall
2007.
If you would like these materials to
distribute at upcoming meetings, please contact Tamie Hopp at
Tamie327@hotmail.com
or 605-399-1624.
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3. Oregon: State pledges better care for
disabled
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Summary: This article is the culmination of a 4 day
investigative series by the Oregonian looking at life for people
with developmental disabilities after the closing of Fairview
Training Center in 2000. Many have suffered following the
closure of this training center. The Arc’s response follows. For
the full series see, http://blog.oregonlive.com/oregonianextra/2007/11/grouphomes.html).
State pledges better care for disabled
The Oregonian, November 10, 2007
Gov. Ted Kulongoski on Friday called for swift reforms in the
state's care system for people with developmental disabilities,
and key Oregon lawmakers said they would make the issue a
priority in February's special legislative session.
The push comes after The Oregonian reported that at least one of
every five adult clients in state-licensed foster or group homes
have been victims of serious abuse or neglect since 2000, the
year the state closed its primary residential institution for
the developmentally disabled, the Fairview Training Center in
Salem.
"We are going to look into what's possible in terms of
responding to the issues raised in the story," Kulongoski said
in a statement. "The goal in moving people out of Fairview was
to ensure they have better care, and we need to do everything we
can to make sure that happens."
Advocacy groups also turned up the political heat, writing to
lawmakers and demanding a meeting with state Department of Human
Services officials to determine what can be done to reduce the
frequency of abuse in the system.
The state cares for about 4,200 adults with conditions such as
autism, mental retardation and cerebral palsy in 1,100 group and
foster homes across the state. They are among 16,000
developmentally disabled Oregonians who receive various state
services.
Oregon Department of Human Services Director Bruce Goldberg said
that Kulongoski asked him to "accelerate our timeline" on
putting together a computerized registry to identify abusive
caregivers and deny them employment.
The state originally planned to study the issue and ask for
funding at the next regular legislative session in 2009.
"We're going to be working with the Legislature to do that in
February," Goldberg said.
Unlike more than half of all states, Oregon does not use a
registry to track caregivers with a record of abuse or neglect.
More than 2,000 abused
The Oregonian found that in the seven years since Fairview
closed, more than 2,000 developmentally disabled adults were
victims of abuses ranging from neglect of medical needs to rape,
beatings, thefts, verbal harassment and improper restraints.
At least 14 residents died after workers failed to provide
necessary care.
The newspaper found that many workers in the system receive
little training, are reluctant to call 9-1-1 in a medical
emergency and get little oversight from overburdened
caseworkers, who must manage clients and police the system at
the same time.
In the vast majority of abuse and neglect cases, state-paid care
providers were responsible.
The newspaper identified more than 200 caregivers who
investigators found had committed more than one case of abuse.
State officials said that had a caregiver registry been in
place, 74 of them would have been barred from employment.
Stiffer penalties planned
In addition to speeding up the registry, Goldberg said the
agency also plans to increase the fines and civil penalties for
group and foster home operators who abuse or neglect clients.
Goldberg said his agency would support a bill -- not yet drafted
-- to require the state to notify clients, their case managers
and guardians once an abuse is substantiated in their group or
foster home.
"I take very seriously our responsibility to care for folks with
developmental disabilities," he said.
Lawmakers pledged to take up the issue in next year's special
session.
Rep. Sara Gelser, D-Corvallis, vice chairwoman of the House
Human Services and Women's Wellness Committee, said she will
work to bring forward proposals in the coming weeks. Gelser, who
has a developmentally disabled child, said she supports a
registry but also wants to improve recruiting and training.
Nearly seven in 10 group home workers leave their jobs within
the first year. The high turnover creates higher costs for
recruiting and training replacements, and studies have shown it
contributes to abuse.
The average pay for a direct-care worker in Oregon is less than
$10 an hour.
Rep. Carolyn Tomei, D-Milwaukie, chairwoman of the Human
Services and Women's Wellness Committee, called The Oregonian's
report, which contained detailed accounts of two group and
foster home residents who died after neglect by caregivers,
"appalling and nauseating -- that our most vulnerable people are
being treated like this.
"We're all committed to moving as quickly as we can," she said.
House Majority Leader Dave Hunt, D-Gladstone, said there is
ample time before lawmakers meet to work up a legislative
package.
It was not immediately clear whether the solution would include
more money. The state now pays group and foster home providers
about $134 million a year.
Earlier this year, lawmakers approved a $20 million increase
primarily to boost caregiver wages. Providers had lobbied for
three times that amount.
Advocates ready
Advocates for people with developmental disabilities this week
positioned themselves to be part of any legislative action.
At an emotional meeting Tuesday, nearly two dozen members of the
Oregon Developmental Disabilities Coalition, a statewide network
of disability groups, discussed what could be done to make the
system safer.
The coalition later called for a special meeting with DHS
officials "to basically to go over all of the systems issues
that were raised" by The Oregonian's report, said Bill Lynch,
who runs a federal and state-financed group, the Oregon Council
on Developmental Disabilities, charged with advocating for
people in the system.
Lynch said the persistence of abuse and neglect since Fairview
closed is a wake-up call not only for state officials and
lawmakers, but advocates as well.
"I just feel such a sense of personal failure," Lynch said. "We
all need to own this problem."
Judy Cunio, the Self Advocacy Coordinator for the Oregon Council
on Developmental Disabilities, said the state needs to take
action.
"I'm feeling very emotional," said Cunio, who suffers from
cerebral palsy. "As a person with developmental disabilities,
I've been around. I've seen and heard about people being
mistreated. I've been mistreated myself. I think a lot of the
mistreatment happens because people look at us and see an easy
target."
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4. The Arc of Multnomah-Clackamas writes “End abuse, neglect”
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Summary: In this editorial, the President of this Arc
acknowledges its support for the closure of Fairview and “the
advocacy communities” collective failure in its efforts to
“influence or shape public policy and the accountability that
ensures safety for the most vulnerable in our community.” As for
the state, the Arc of Multnomah-Clackamas says, “As people were
moved from Fairview to local communities, the state of Oregon
failed to adequately recognize problems that would develop
within group and foster homes due to the lack of training, poor
wages and stressful and demanding work environments.” In its
effort “share the blame” the Arc of Multnomah-Clackamas doesn’t
acknowledge the families, who were strongly opposed to the
closure of Fairview, and worked hard to prevent it, for fear of
what is now being realized: the inability of community providers
to adequately and safely provide for their family members’
significant needs.
The Oregonian
Letter to the Editor
By Robert Shook, Executive Director of The Arc of
Multnomah-Clackamas Southwest Portland
The Arc of Multnomah-Clackamas advocates for more than 7,000
individuals with developmental disabilities in the two-county
area. Last Sunday's front-page article on abuse and neglect of
individuals with developmental disabilities ("Asylum's gone, but
not abuse") is a clear indication that the "advocacy community"
has failed in our efforts to influence or shape public policy
and the accountability that ensures safety for the most
vulnerable in our community.
Together, public and private agencies have failed one in five
individuals with developmental disabilities.
Many agencies, including The Arc, supported the closure of
Fairview Training Center because we believe people should live
in their local communities, not in state institutions. As people
were moved from Fairview to local communities, the state of
Oregon failed to adequately recognize problems that would
develop within group and foster homes due to the lack of
training, poor wages and stressful and demanding work
environments.
The majority of the individuals who were moved from Fairview to
local communities had positive placements that fostered
independence and self-advocacy; however, the most vulnerable
continue to require a protective service system that ensures
their safety, security and support.
The Arc is a willing partner in working with state agencies to
establish programs that will eliminate the abuse and neglect so
vividly portrayed by The Oregonian staff. Our collective work
has failed. It is time for all partner organizations to focus
100 percent of our efforts toward developing a system of care
that eliminates this abuse and neglect.
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5. VOR’s Abuse and Neglect Document
Updated
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VOR has updated its long running VOR “Abuse
and Neglect” document detailing media investigative series,
state audits and peer-reviewed research finding systemic abuse
and neglect in community settings. Reports are included from a
majority of the states. Visit
http://vor.net/abuse_neglect.htm.
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Tamie Hopp
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