Happy December to all.  It has been a good 2007 for CDRC and we hope 2008 will be just as good for us and all of our readers. 

 

Rosewood

Rosewood residents continue to be in immediate jeopardy of harm  according to a new report released by the Office of Health Care Quality. (OHCQ)  The report has found that the conditions at Rosewood placed the residents at risk of harm.  This is OHCQ’s fourth Immediate Jeopardy report in about a year.   New admissions to Rosewood continue to be banned.  OCHQ reports injuries caused by medication error, unauthorized restraint, seclusion, and chemical restraint. Chemical restraint means being too drugged to move or communicate. OHCQ notes that the facility failed to make sure that individuals are free from abuse, neglect and mistreatment and that the possibilities exist for serious harm.   Just after the report was released, a fire at Rosewood caused damage to one of the “cottages” and everyone was evacuated safely to another building. 

CDRC and advocates for people with disabilities have been demanding closure of the dangerous institution built on out-dated policies. Now we risk suffering from policies of putting good money after bad while Governor O’Malley keeps trying to salvage that place and fails to fully fund people in the community who need help. Enough is enough! Join us. The people united will never be defeated.

 

 

Right To Be Informed

As you know, The Right To Be Informed (RTBI) is CDRC’s bill from 2005 that says every year during an individual’s Individual Plan (IP) meeting, a person gets to have an understandable discussion about what the “most integrated setting” would be.  Most integrated setting is defined as “a setting that enables individuals with disabilities to live and interact with non-disabled persons to the greatest extent possible.”
The advisory committee developed a 5 question survey for Resource Coordinators have to complete.  The survey will run on-line from December 3rd – December 15th. The Implementation letters are signed and was suppose to be mailed by the middle of November.  The start date for RTBI will be 1/1/08.   The next RTBI advisory meeting is in January to review the results of the survey. Do you have an IP meeting coming up? Feel free to contact CDRC before your meeting and we can give you some ideas for having a more integrated, self-determined life!

Money Follows the Person Demonstration

As we told you in last months newsletter the MFP operational protocol was submitted on November 1st, as scheduled.   The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) the feds have scheduled their first review of Maryland ’s operational protocol for the second week of December. This will be a broad review of the document. Maryland will then need to respond to their feedback and will work to move the process of approval along quickly.  The next MFP meeting will be December 18th.

 

 

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and paying for service/resource coordination for people coming out of institutional settings.

People we trust are worried about some changes that the federal government is thinking about for service coordination types of services for people who are trying to move out of institutions. The new rules are restricting the number of days the state can get paid to 60 days (reduced from the current 180 days) for people who have been in there for more than 6 months. If someone has been in an institution for less than 6 months, then the service coordination will only get paid for two measly weeks. This idea is a bad one.  The federal Money Follows the Person grant (MFP) will make a Transition Center for everyone in nursing facilities, including people with DD, who want to leave. We know because of the work CDRC has done with the SunShineFolk that just finding housing can take much longer than two months. Getting people out of state institutions, like Rosewood, can take even longer. This bad idea totally reverses the victory disability activists won in 2000, after the Olmstead Supreme Court decision that allowed reimbursement for 180 days for moving-out work. The proposed rules have other ideas that will not help “Free Our People” but this is a taste of what advocates are concerned about.

 What can we do? One thing is that CDRC can review and sign-on to comments that MDLC or the Civil Rights Coalition may write to ask the federal government not to make these changes. If you want to help us with the review, e-mail Kenny. We can talk with our allies at CMS, on the freedom side of the building, and ask about how they see this. They might not be allowed to say much, but maybe we can get ideas! Another thing we can do is ask our U.S. Senators and Congressmen to tell CMS to stop it and let the MFP demonstration have a chance to work before changing how it will work. And of course, we can vote in 2008!

 

Web Site


Kenny will continue to update our web page weekly.  He will be updating the site with some photos from recent events such as the Close Rosewood Rally!!! Also remember to check the Calendar for CDRC activities! Please visit the site often to stay on top of what CDRC into these days. www.thecdrc.org

 

 

Training / Membership meeting.

 

CDRC is combining its monthly membership meeting with our training.  The training will be on “Direct Action.”  You remember that “Direct Action” is one of the five prongs in the multi-pronged tool box for systems change. Other prongs are public education with media work, legislation, legal actions, and government policy work with the executive branch. CDRC’s “CLOSE Rosewood NOW” Rally in October is an example of both a public education/media and direct action prong event.

 

Our guest speaker will be Linda Anthony!  Linda is a long time friend of CDRC, has trained for ADAPT, People First, and the Pennsylvania Protection and Advocacy network. The training will be on December 16th  from 11:00 – 1:00. 

 

From 1-4pm during CDRC’s membership meeting, we will be electing a new Board Of Leadership and planning our activities for the next few months.  All of this fun will take place at the Embassy Suites Baltimore – at BWI airport,  1300 Concourse Drive ,  Linthicum , Maryland , 21090 .