Hello to all of our loyal readers.  Welcome to the first newsletter of year 6!!!!!  We have had a good and busy September.  In this edition we will be talking about CDRC’s continuation, Rosewood, the O.H.C.Q. Report and a lot more.  Happy OctoberFest.

 

CDRC Gets a 6th Year!!!

CDRC is delighted to announce that the Developmental Disability Council (DD Council) has accepted our continuation proposal and CDRC will continue for another year. We are very excited to get this great news from the Council.  The Council complimented CDRC on how well the proposal was written.  For this, we would like to thank Barbara McCord from The Coordinating Center for all of her hard work in supporting us to write the proposal.  The Council also feels that the proposal is very ambitious, which means we have a lot of work in the upcoming year.  There is more than enough fun and work to go around, so let us know what you want to do this year!

 

Rosewood

CDRC leadership met with the new Administrator of Rosewood, Dr. Day, in early September.  We discussed what happened when CDRC hosted the movie day for the residents at Rosewood in late June.  Dr. Day took full responsibility as to what happened and offered his personal apology.  CDRC, along with Dr. Day decided that we should host another event for the residents.  We thought a Bar-B-Q would be nice.  CDRC is working with Dr. Day and planning for a Bar B Q in mid October.  CDRC with Dr. Day’s support will host an event for the people at Rosewood every 6 to 8 weeks so we can get to know them and become friends.  We discussed other activities that CDRC would be working closely with Dr. Day on and we will be updating you on these in future newsletters. 

 

O.H.C.Q Report

In September The Office of Health Care Quality (OHCQ) came out with their yearly report on Rosewood.  The report cited many, many horrible deficiencies regarding the facility.  This year’s report was like last year’s report and indicates Rosewood is not following Federal compliance law.  OHCQ imposed an immediate ban on all new admissions to Rosewood Center because it poses immediate risk of harm to people.  OHCQ put a monitor in Rosewood to try to protect people there.  We all know that the place is falling apart and in disrepair.  The OHCQ report spoke of plumbing leaks, sewage leaking on medical supplies and medications.  There was no disaster evacuation plan that explains how people that use wheelchairs and need assistance will be evacuated.  A man had his ribs broken 3 times because he choked when he wasn’t supported to eat correctly.  The report also spoke of black mold growing on the walls.  You can read the 180 page report on our web site.  www.thecdrc.org and a four page summary on MDLC’s website, www.mdlcbalto.org.  Because we are human beings and we are people with disabilities, many people in the CDRC network are very upset about how people are living in this place. Some officials say that Rosewood can be “salvaged.” This notion is unacceptable to us. We say “get people out of there and close it down!” Stay tuned

 

Transportation Conference

The Maryland Department of Transportation Conference – “Breaking Down Barriers” in transportation was held in September.  There were 4 breakout sessions which included, the Maryland Aviation Administration’s, (MAA)presentation on how to “Improve Airport Accessibility” and a power point presentation virtual tour of BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport . The Maryland Transit Administration’s (MTA) presentation was on how the MTA provides accessible transportation on all of its transit systems and featured a demonstration for participants.  Also, the Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA) gave a presentation on “Getting People Going” and the State Highway Administration (SHA) gave a presentation on SHA’s Self-Evaluation of the States.

 

SunShine Folks

“The Sun Shines Brighter at Home” DVD featuring the Sun Shine Folks (SSF) has been a huge hit in a variety of policy settings in September. The SSF met September 28th and reported to discuss their work, outreach, mentoring, and future plans. MDLC hosted a competition for a portable DVD player to see who could call into the state the most referrals for waiver applications and Linda Merkle won! But the competition is NOT over. By the next SSF meeting, October 31st, someone else will win a new portable DVD player to use in their SSF work!

SSF hosted two guest speakers who said they learned as much from the SSF as they  taught. The Presentation from The Coordinating Center’s Carol Marsiglia showed SSF how to use the very effective “Chevron” model for nursing facility transition planning. This same training is being presented at the national Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) conference this week. Then The Baltimore County Director for Medicaid Waiver Case management (the Older Adult waiver) and Director of the Long Term Care Ombudsmen Office trained SSF on more details about using the OAW for transitioning. He explained that he had used the DVD to train 35 staff about what they should be doing and he saw on their faces that it was very powerful and changed many attitudes about “risk” and safety and consumer-directed/self-determined choices. He said that now they felt that it really is their job to help people get out of nursing facilities and they will keep trying to get sufficient resources to do so. SSF gave rave reviews for this session.  The October 31st agenda will include a report about progress toward smoothing the NF transition path for people with developmental disabilities and for people with traumatic brain injury. SSF will also learn more about the approach to identifying people who could transition.

 

Medicaid Advisory Committee

CDRC member Floyd Hartley reports from the Medicaid Advisory Committee (MAC) meeting September 27th that the HealthChoice managed care waiver is up for renewal. This is the health plan with the MCOs that people on Medicaid are enrolled into unless they are in an institution.  DHMH has decided that they don’t need a public hearing about how well HealthChoice is serving people with disabilities, or what changes may be needed, because the state already knows that from the program evaluation they did earlier this year. The only open forum for HealthChoice is the next MAC meeting October 25th from 1:00 to 3:00 pm at DHMH, 201 West Preston Street , Lobby Level Conference room. If you have an opinion or a real life experience about HealthChoice and services for people with disabilities, you may sign-up to speak. 

 

CDRC Board Of Leadership Elections

DON’T FORGET, CDRC will be electing a new Board Of Leadership (BOL) in December. If you want to run for a spot on the BOL, please let Kenny know as soon as possible.  We have included an application in the newsletter mailing. You can also copy an application form from our web page, www.thecdrc.org After you fill the application out, you can send it to: 49 Old Solomon’s Island Rd. Suite 205, Annapolis, Md. 21401.  Attn:  Kenny.  Deadline for applying is December 10th.


Legislative Assistant Job Opening

CDRC is seeking a Legislative Assistant.  We have included in with the newsletter the requirements needed for the position.  If you have any questions, please contact Kenny: Kenny@thecdrc.org  

CDRC Meeting

Just a REMINDER that the CDRC membership meeting is moving in October.
Next CDRC Membership Meeting:
October 28
Time: 1:00 – 4:00
Location: 1660 Sulphur Spring Road, Arbutus MD (United Cerebral Palsy)