The Valentine’s Day hearing before the Human Services
Committee on performance by the D.C. Office on Disability Rights and the
Department on Disability Services over the past year took place as scheduled,
and you can see it here in full: http://dc.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=4349. The
DDS review was dominated by the recent passage of bill B22-0154, and self-advocates
in particular turned out to express thanks to the council for its passage of
the Disability Services Reform Amendment Act. There also was plenty of
discussion about implementing the bill, in particular with respect to the grievance
process it establishes, and DDS announced it would be working on this with the
advisory group that helped with the recently-approved state transition plan and
waiver amendments. DDS also will be
launching, along with advocacy organizations, a process of education and
outreach so people will be aware of new rights and procedures under the bill. DDS director Andy Reese’s testimony
addressing this and other subjects, including the recent management
reorganization, is here
and can also be viewed in the last 45 minutes of the video,
along with Q and A. Here too is the
testimony of Morgan Whitlatch from the Quality Trust for Individuals with
Disabilities:
Another topic which received attention in the hearing was
the impact of broader D.C. workforce initiatives on the financial
sustainability of human services agencies.
These are the folks who hire the Direct Support Professionals providing
support to D.C. citizens with disabilities, so the financial viability and
livelihoods of these organizations and people are essential. Ian Paregol, director of the DC Coalition of
Disability Service Providers (http://dc-coalition.org/2016/02/19/welcome)
gave an excellent overview of the issues (https://tinyurl.com/y8wg5qt3),
as did follow-up testimony by RCM (https://tinyurl.com/ya6v8yyu)
and NCC (https://tinyurl.com/yaaw6n33),
two of the Coalition’s member organizations.
Nadeau announced that the council is setting up a working group to
address these and other workforce issues, which also affect care for seniors in
D.C.
After reading this post, if you’re inspired to express
yourself, the deadline for submitting written testimony to the committee (humanservices@dccouncil.us) is February
28, a week from today. Keep it short if
you want, but let the council know there are folks who care about these issues
as they prepare to consider the mayor’s budget for fiscal year 2019 later this
spring.
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