Happy November, we love Thanksgiving and find ourselves especially grateful for our readers’ support. All the encouragement you have given us over the years, and still growing, reminds us that “the people united will never be defeated!”
The rally to CLOSE Rosewood
CDRC would like to thank everyone that came and
participated in the Rally to Close Rosewood.
We were all empowered by the unity of our message. Here’s an update for
those who could not make it. Before
the rally started, 5 advocates hand delivered our demands to the Governor’s
office in the State House. One of
our demands was to meet with Governor O’Malley to discuss the closure of
Rosewood. We had 10 speakers at the rally, some were former residents of
Rosewood, some were advocates and some were parents.
The former residents spoke regarding their horrible stories about living
at Rosewood. Everyone spoke about
how Rosewood should be closed. After
everyone spoke, some of us started marching to the Governor’s house front
gate, but we had to stop because we did not have a permit to march. This little
surprise “march” got a lot of media coverage and made us glad we did it! We
had about 50 people at the rally and about 5 million people heard about it all
around
CDRC received a letter from Governor O’Malley, in his letter he told CDRC he did NOT have time to meet with us. He referred us to meet with Secretary Raggio to discuss the issue of closing Rosewood. CDRC has been friends with Secretary Raggio for a long time, we know how Secretary Raggio feels about institutions. The Governor makes the FINAL decisions about closing Rosewood. We WANT to meet with Governor O’Malley, not Secretary Raggio. Stay tuned.
The Bar B Q for the Rosewood Residents
CDRC hosted a Bar B Q / get together for the residents at Rosewood the middle of October. There were about 20 residents from Rosewood that attended. CDRC members had a chance to get to know the individuals from Rosewood. We talked to them, we found out what they like to do and what their interests were. Dr. Day was the chief chef cooking the hamburgers and hot dogs. Dr. Day was very interested in the activities of CDRC. We would like to thank Dr. Day for organizing the Bar B Q. CDRC was able to meet many other staff member that works at Rosewood. The staff from Rosewood that attended the Bar B Q was very respectful of the CDRC members. This was very refreshing. CDRC will host another event for the residents of Rosewood in the next 6-8 weeks. It'll be an event surrounding the Holidays. It was a good day. CDRC is excited about this opportunity.
Money Follows the Person
The Money Follows the
Person Operational Protocol has been submitted to the federal government. Now we
wait to see when it gets approved. CDRC
was disappointed to see that the number of individuals the state thinks it can
transition out of institutions in the MFP grant proposal last year were notably
higher than those that are in the final MFP operation this year.
They’re 1147 fewer people transiting out from the original proposal.
CDRC was happy to see the number of individuals getting out of State
Residential Centers (SRC’s) get restored back to its original number of 250.
Also, it is good that 12 people with brain injuries will be transitioned
and they weren’t even mentioned in last year’s proposal. But CDRC
strongly feels that we can’t back down on the State’s initial commitment in
numbers to get people out of institutionalized facilities. We have to do better
for people who are being institutionalized because of their disabilities. CDRC
will keep going to the meetings to try to help the State make the MFP work and
to get the most people out.
Next month, the state
will ask for proposals to do the peer-to-peer mentoring in nursing facilities
for six months. Then in January, or later, the state will ask for proposals for
a bigger, longer project to enlist peers to help people in NFs get out.
The Right To Be Informed
As you know, The Right To Be Informed is CDRC’s Bill from 2005 that says every year during an individual’s IP meeting, a discussion must take place about what the most integrated setting would be. Most integrated setting is defined as “a setting that enables individuals with disabilities to interact with non-disabled person.”
The advisory committee developed a 5 question survey for
Service Coordinators. Here are the 5
questions:
a.
Based on the definition, how many individuals would you say that
you work with currently live or work in the most integrated setting?
b.
What assistance or supports would you say that individuals would
require to be able to live or work in the most integrated setting?
c.
What barriers can you identify that may prevent individuals from
living or working in the most integrated setting?
d.
Do you know anyone who does live or work in the most integrated
setting whose story you could share? If
so, please provide a brief description of what makes their life so integrated.
e.
What do you think we need to do or provide you with so that you
can discuss most integrated setting with the individuals you support?
We will be discussing the results of the survey at our next committee meeting the middle of November.
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 for an alternative format, please e-mail Kenny.
Web Site
Just a reminder, CDRC does NOT have a membership meeting in November.
The next meeting is December 16th and will include a great training, plus elections! See you there.