From the
Area 12 Family Care Council, www.fcc12.org
to the
Developmentally Disabled Folks and Their Families
6/9/2007
Hello Folks,
Here is a second update of this year from the Area 12 Family
Care Council (FCC). Again, we are
focusing on the wait list and the 07/08 Legislation. We also have a few other tidbits for you as
well.
Wait List:
I understand that the Agency for Persons with Disabilities
(APD) is in the process of changing the way they view the waitlist. Currently, the waitlist is made up of folks
that need services now, but also includes folks in school and others who do not
want services right away but want to make sure that they don’t lose their place
in line. In addition, it includes
individuals who are receiving services from the Family Supported Living Waiver
who wish to be placed on the Home and Community Based Waiver (Medwaiver). This is very disconcerting to those of us who
are getting close to needing services that numbers in the thousands. It is also very daunting to the legislators
who need to solve this problem as well.
It makes it look much bigger than it actually is.
From what I understand, when a person requests their
waitlist number, APD will be sending them the date that they were approved for
placement on the waitlist instead of the actual number. That way, if you know the date of the last
person to be put on the waiver, you have a better idea of where you stand.
Legislature:
Again,
the legislature is one area that the FCC must become involved with. All of the money that we need to fund the
services that our folks need comes from the legislature. Without that, there are no matching Medicaid
funds; with no Medicaid funds, there are no services. Not only do we need initiatives for funding,
but we also need to stay on top of legislation as it is proposed and introduced
through the Legislative process.
Following is some of what happened this year:
SB1124 –
Created a 4 - tier system. Tier 4 is the
old Family Supported Living Waiver. It
is limited to $14,792 and is limited to folks living in the family home or in
supported living situations. T3 includes, but is not limited to individuals
requiring residential placements individuals in independent or supported living
situations, and individuals who live in their family home. Total annual
expenditures under Tier Three may not exceed $35,000 per individual each year. T2 is limited to individuals whose service needs include a licensed
residential facility and greater than 5 hours per day in residential
habilitation services, or clients in supported living who receive greater than
6 hours a day of in-home support services.
Total
annual expenditures under Tier Two may not exceed $55,000 per individual each year.
We all need to
start visiting our legislators with our DD families to start sensitizing our
elected officials to some of the issues.
For your reference,
attached is a list of our legislators with their contact information so that
you can call them to inform them of your thoughts.
Other
Ways to get services:
All of you folks that have children in school know,
or should know, that you are entitled to services through the school
system. If your child is disabled, you
write an IEP and then get the services that support the IEP. If you are expert in this, then we need you
on our Family Care Council so that you can be a resource for other folks that
are having a hard time negotiating with the schools to get needed services.
If you are on one of the Medicaid waivers you are
entitled to services based upon medical necessity. It is important to work closely with your
support coordinator to develop a plan for services. If your children are not in school and are
not on the Medicaid waiver, make sure to stay in touch with your case worker at
the Agency for Persons with Disabilities to find out about possible available
community resources to help you; and ask for the date your children became
eligible so you know where you stand on the statewide wait list. Hopefully you have applied and are on the
statewide waiting list. Wait! Did I ask if you knew your waiting list
number?
With regards to available community resources you
can seek assistance, for example, through Vocational Rehabilitation (VR). VR is part of the Department of Education and
is responsible for helping eligible individuals with disabilities get and keep
a job. The first thing to do is to go to
their web site and print out and thoroughly read their handbook. This is a bit of work but well worthwhile for
knowing how to “negotiate” with VR and navigate their process. The manual is found at http://www.rehabworks.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=SubMain.CounPolManual.
I downloaded and printed out chapters
3-8, & 11 and put them in a 3 ring binder.
I take it to every meeting that I have with them.
It is important to remember that it is VR’s job to
help find your son or daughter a job based upon skills, abilities, and the
provision of resources to help maintain his/her job. This means that you need to identify the
barriers that get in the way of doing that.
It could be due to a lack of training, tools, proper behavior, poor
reading skills, or other things. You and
the VR counselor will need to agree on this.
Once you agree, then you work together to identify a vendor to provide
the services to achieve employment. The
vendor that we use provides behavioral counseling. A behavioral counselor comes to our house
every week and works with our son to improve his behavior. It has been a Godsend and VR pays the bill.
To begin the process, you
will need to make an appointment with VR to fill out an application. I found the office in Ormond Beach to be
particularly helpful. I found their
counselors there to also be particularly knowledgeable. And what they don’t know, we are figuring out
together. The phone number for VR in
Ormond Beach is 386-615-6111. The
address is 780 W. Granada Blvd. Suite 125 in Ormond Beach. Call me if you would like the name of our
counselor, 386-445-1288.
After you fill out the paperwork, the counselor will
call you to make an appointment. He/she
will then determine the person’s eligibility based upon documentation to
confirm your diagnosis and the handicapping condition that affects his/her
achieving employment. If you receive SSI
or SSDI, you are presumed eligible.
Next, the VR counselor and you will develop a
plan. The plan should identify services
to address the barriers and assistance that should lead to finding and getting
a job. You will need to be patient,
however. The wheel turns slowly. You want to get started with services first.
Keep your plan in your 3-ring binder. It is important to read the VR manual. All of the time intervals listed are
minimums, not maximums, and takes effect after the job is stabilized. This
means that you could be getting services for a very long time.
If your counselor determines that your child is too
disabled to work, there is an appeal procedure you can follow. Use it and write a letter asking for an
administrative hearing.
If you get stuck, call me, Phil Pearson –
(386-445-1288), and I will see what I can do to help you out.
Library
– We have decided to
support our local libraries. At a recent
meeting we approved and have purchased 2 sets of VHS training tapes from the
James Stanfield Company and are in the process of donating them to the Volusia
and Flagler libraries. They are
terrific! They use professional actors
in comedy situations to help our folks understand how to behave in various
situations. The tapes that we purchased
include videos about criticism, bullying, teasing, and anger. Ask for them at your local library. They should be there shortly. You may need to tell them that the Area 12
Family Care Council donated them.
If you can think of other resources that we should
purchase for the libraries, please let us know.
Family
Care Council:
Ah! The answer is to get involved. It is the only way to influence the people
that control the money that provides the services that your child will
need. Join Area 12’s Family Care
Council. We usually meet the 2nd
Thursday of each month from 3 to about
At our April meeting at the Bunnell City Hall, we had
a record turnout. In attendance were
lots of good folks with energy and good ideas.
We plan to periodically move our meetings to try and
make them more accessible to more folks.
The June and July meetings will be back in Daytona Beach, but the August
meeting is planned for the Volusia ARC location in Deland from 7 –
Well, I enjoyed talking with you. Hope to see you at a meeting.
Oh, and did I forget?
Did you get your wait list information if you are waiting to get
services?
Philip A.
Pearson
Philip Pearson – Chairman Area 12 Family Care Council
ppearson1@mindspring.com
386-445-1288
Florida Legislature
Governor
Charlie Crist
Executive Office of the
Governor
The Capitol
400 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399-0001
850-488-4441
850-487-0801 (fax)
Website: http://www.flgov.com/contact_form
Senate Representatives
|
District 1: Anthony C. Hill Sr. Email: hill.anthony.web@flsenate.gov 5600
New Kings Road, Ste. 5 Jacksonville,
FL 32209 866-867-0289 904-921-1648
(fax) 404 S
Monroe Street, Rm. 213 Senate
Office Building Tallahassee,
FL 32399 850-187-5024 Legislative
Assistants: Cynthia
Appling, Valerie Chrispin, Deborah Parsons, Tracy Butler |
District 7: Evelyn Lynn 536 N.
Halifax Ave., Ste. 101 Daytona
Beach, FL 32118 386-238-3180 386-238-3179
(fax) 151 SE
Osceola Ave 3rd
Floor City Hall Ocala,
FL 34471-2148 352-694-0160 200
South 7th Ave Room 1-C Palatka,
FL 32177-4612 1-866-831-2665
(statewide) Tallahassee
Office: 404
South Monroe St., Room 212 Senate
Office Building Tallahassee,
FL 32399-1100 850-487-5033 Email: lynn.evelyn.web@flseante.gove Legislative
Assistant: Jeanne McIntosh, Charlyn
Thompson, Kathleen
Roe, Frankie Robert |
|
District 8: James E. King, Jr. Email: king.james.web@flsenate.gov 9485
Regency Square Blvd, Ste. 108 Jacksonville,
FL 32225-8145 888-861-9761
(District wide) 904-727-3600 904-727-3603
(fax) 404 S.
Monroe St., Rm. 400 Senate
Office Building Tallahassee,
FL 32399 850-487-5030 850-487-5368
(fax) Legislative
Assistants: Kay Rousseau, Rebecca Stagg, Kelly Williams, Darla Wilson |
District 20: Carey Baker 301 West Ward Ave Eustis,
FL 32726-4024 352-742-6490 352-742-6492
(fax) 1-888-567-5577
(outside Lake County) 352-360-6739
(Lady Lake) 386-736-5048
(Deland) Tallahassee
Office: 404
South Monroe St., Room 316 Senate
Office Building Tallahassee,
FL 32399-1100 850-487-5014 Email: baker.carey.web@flsenate.gov Legislative
Assistants: Gale Bass, Renee Strong, Vilma Tucker, Thomas
Hammons |
House of Representatives
|
District 20: William L.
Proctor The
Capitol 402
South Monroe Street, Ste. 1401 Tallahassee,
FL 32399-1300 850-488-2977 900
State Rd 16, Ste. 2 St.
Augustine, FL 32084 904-823-2550 Legislative
Assistant: Alison Johnson District Secretary: Lori
Senea |
District 21: Joe Pickens 3841
Reid Street Ste. 5 Palatka,
FL 32177-2509 386-312-2272 402
South Monroe St. 214 The
Capitol Tallahassee,
FL 32399-1300 850-488-0665 Legislative
Assistant: Jack Hall District
Secretary: Donna Pember |
|
District 25: Alan Hays 871 S. Central Ave Ste. C Umatilla,
FL 32784-9290 352-742-6441 PO Box
2326 Umatilla,
FL 32784-2326 866-873-0714 402 S.
Monroe St. 417
House Office Building Tallahassee,
FL 32399-1300 850-488-0348 Legislative
Assistant: Jennifer Wilson District
Secretary: Anne-Marie Norman |
District 26: Pat
Patterson 230 N.
Woodland Blvd, Ste. 222 Deland,
FL 32720 386-736-5100 386-736-5102
(fax) 209
House Office Building 402 S.
Monroe Street Tallahassee,
FL 32399-1300 850-488-9873 Legislative
Assistant: Michael Scudiero District
Secretary: Hilda Quintero |
|
District 27: Joyce Cusack 224 N. Woodland Blvd. Deland,
FL 32720-4219 386-943-7900 402 S.
Monroe St. 316 The
Capitol Tallahassee,
FL 32399-1300 850-488-0580 Legislative
Assistant: Nanci Cornwell District Secretary: Beth
Beekman |
District 28: Dorothy Hukill 940 10th Street Building
2, Room 128 New
Smyrna Beach, FL 32168-7563 386-424-2365 2990 S.
Atlantic Ave Daytona
Beach, FL 32118-6002 386-322-5111 402 S.
Monroe St. 327 The
Capitol Tallahassee,
FL 32399-1300 850-488-6653 Legislative
Assistant: Braden Curran District Secretary: Edith
Little |
|
District 33: Sandra “Sandy” Adams 2074
Winter Springs Blvd. Oviedo,
FL 32765-9347 407-977-4020 402 S.
Monroe St. 204
House Office Building Tallahassee,
FL 32399-1300 850-488-0468 Legislative
Assistant: Stephanie Welcher District Secretary: Patricia
Brimmer |
|