Action Alert: Group Homes and Institutions are Not Community Living

email : Webview

What does "community" mean to you? For some people, this question doesn't mean much. But for the hundreds of thousands of Americans receiving Medicaid Home and Community Based Services (HCBS), the meaning of community has huge implications.
 
In 2010, the State of Missouri tried to use Medicaid funds that were intended to serve people with disabilities in the community to build group homes on the same property as an institution. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) rightly  refused to allow Missouri to use Medicaid Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) funding for this plan, as the purpose of HCBS funding is to help people avoid institutionalization, not to fund placements that segregate people from their communities.
 
As a disability rights organization committed to advancing equal access and inclusion for all people with disabilities, ASAN belives strongly that anything that segregates people with disabilities from our communities is not community.
 
CMS has been trying to implement strong minimum standards for HCBS settings, to prevent what almost happened in Missouri from happening again.  CMS has proposed regulations that would prevent HCBS dollars from going to institutions, settings that are on the grounds of an institution, settings that are segregated on the basis of disability, and settings that have the characteristics of an institution, such as lack of privacy or rules about when people can eat and sleep. This is a significant opportunity for the disability community to support a real minimum standard for the meaning of community living.
 
We need your help to make these standards a reality. CMS will issue a final rule by the end of 2013. Unfortunately, the institution, nursing home, and sheltered workshop industries have already written to CMS and Congress opposing any standards for how and where HCBS dollars are used. We need our community to write in to tell Congress and CMS that:
  • Community living cannot occur on the grounds of an institution or in settings that operate like institutions, denying people privacy and imposing rules that limit personal freedom and choice.
  • Community supports do not involve the use of sheltered workshops and other facility-based settings that separate and congregate people on the basis of disability.
HCBS funding should be used to support people with disabilities living in typical housing that they control, located in existing communities, alongside neighbors with and without disabilities.
 
HCBS funding should be used for supported employment and community involvement - not for sheltered workshops or segregated day service settings.  
 
Here's what you can do:
  • Don't hesitate to add your thoughts about what community living means to you. 
  • Send a copy of this advocacy alert to your friends and colleagues encouraging them to write in too - the more people who write in, the stronger our position will be. Help us get the word out!
This is a critical opportunity to have our voices heard. Now is the time to speak up and speak loudly about the importance of these new regulations. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Missouri Schools - The Washington Post

Missouri Schools - The Washington Post Some schools brag about their high passing rates on AP or IB, meaning the percentage of test-takers who scored 3, 4 or 5 on the 5-point AP exam or 4, 5, 6 or 7 on the 7-point IB exam. Passing scores make students eligible for credit at many colleges and universities. I decided not to count passing rates in this way because I found that many high schools kept those rates artificially high by allowing only top students to take the courses. AP, IB and AICE are important because they give average students a chance to experience the trauma of heavy college reading lists and long, analytical college examinations. Research has found that even low-performing students who got a 2 on an AP test did significantly better in college than similar students who did not take AP. On the list, we also give readers a sense of how well each school’s students are doing on the tests by posting the Equity and Excellence rate, which is the percentage of all graduating s
Read more

My Letter Requesting To Become A Board Member

Sherri R. Tucker 1200 SE London Way Lee’s Summit, MO   64081 816-554-3017 autism@kc.rr.com Lee’s Summit R-7 School District C/o Linda Ismert, Board Secretary Stansberry Leadership Center 301 NE Tudor Road Lee’s Summit, MO   64086 Ms Ismert I would like to submit my name for the position on the Lee’s Summit R-7 School Board.   As you know, I have expressed an interest in being on the school board in the past.   On my first attempt I only lost by 2% which would indicate that the voters have an interest in me being on the board as well.   I would think that the voters’ wishes would be taken into consideration. I have a strong relationship with many of the districts’ families and I can help to bridge the gap between them and the district.   I understand the commitment to the time and energy required each week for meetings, phone calls, conversations, visits to schools, and professional development seminars and workshops.   I already do that with the families that I work with and can c
Read more

School Board Candidates

I am attempting to find information on the school board candidates.  It has been much easier in the past.  This year it has been more difficult.  Susan D. Coffman Susan Coffman has served as the Outreach Program Coordinator and Finance Officer for Lee’s Summit CARES since 2008. She has been a mayor-appointed representative to the Human Services Advisory Board, facilitated alcohol retailer trainings, organized the annual Holly Festival with the DARE program, managed bookkeeping and accounting, and served as the community liaison between LS CARES and local business, universities and the cities.  Coffman’s financial background includes work as a customer support specialist at Jack Henry & Associates Inc. for 11 years and assistant vice president and customer support specialist at Merchants Bank for 17 years.  Her community activities include serving on the Human Services Advisory Board, Paradise Park Advisory Board, Lee’s Summit Social Services Board, former treasurer of Rotary C
Read more