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DADS Increases An Icon in the Disability Movement Retires CILs Are A Good APRIL Comes to Texas Resources Available Congratulations Austin! Medicaid Buy-In DisabilityInfo.gov |
SILC
MEMBERS
OFFICER MEMBERS EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS ADMINISTRATION |
The Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services, (DADS), recently approved $600,000 in additional funding and two new service areas for the provision of relocation services on behalf of individuals wishing to move from long-term care facilities to living independently. Centers for Independent Living (CILs), have proven to be an invaluable resource in the relocation process. As multi-service organizations, centers are well equipped to provide a continuum of assistance through and beyond transition from nursing facilities to community living. The approved revisions will afford the opportunity for more centers to apply to be a part of the DADS relocation project. Most important, increasing numbers of residents with disabilities will be able to move from institutions to their own apartments or to live with family members without compromising the quality and amount of care available to them. Full community integration is at the core of the Independent Living Movement. Toward this end, it has been extremely helpful to have DADS representation on the SILC through ex officio member, Marc Gold, DADS Manager of the Promoting Independence Initiative.
DADS’ “Money Follows the Person” program, which helps nursing facility residents move back into the community, took first-place honors in the Council of State Governments 2006 Innovations Awards competition.
The Innovations Awards Program helps state officials by highlighting innovative programs that states have developed to address public policy issues. Texas’ Money Follows the Person, which began on September 1, 2001, helps people who are receiving long-term care services and supports in a nursing facility to relocate into the community without having to be placed on an interest list. As of June 30, 2006, 11,200 individuals have transitioned from the nursing facility to a community-based setting.
An
Icon
of the Disability Movement Retires
 |
Ted
Thayer, Retired Texas SILC Executive Director |
Ted Thayer, SILC Executive Director and long-time champion of Independent Living retired from “active service” on August 31. To say that Ted’s shoes will be difficult to fill would be a gross understatement. Ted entered the field of disability services in 1968 when he became a counselor in the Vocational Rehabilitation Division of the Texas Education Agency. One year later, this division became the foundation for the Texas Rehabilitation Commission, (TRC). Ted began his rehab career working with special education students in Seguin and surrounding areas in a forerunner to the current transition program. He later transferred to Austin and maintained a diverse caseload. In 1975, Ted obtained his certification in rehabilitation counseling, (CRC), and was soon promoted to the commission’s central office, where he was a director and supervisor of multiple programs. Ted is an innovative and effective problem solver and conceptualized and piloted the development of numerous programs. Among these were the – Vehicle Modification Program, – the first vocational rehabilitation program in the nation for persons having epilepsy, – the Comprehensive Rehabilitation Services Program targeted to survivors of spinal cord and traumatic brain injury, – rehabilitation services for migrant workers, who are disabled, and – a mechanism allowing employees with disabilities and TRC to co-pay for personal assistant services needed on-the-job. Most important to the SILC, Ted established the Independent Living Services Program at TRC and wrote the initial grants that founded the centers for independent living in Houston, Austin, El Paso, San Antonio, and Dallas. After his retirement from TRC, he served as executive director for the Brain Injury Association and began to provide consultation in forensic vocational rehabilitation cases. In 1999, Ted accepted the position of Executive Director of the SILC and helped to stabilize the newly incorporated organization. Using his exemplary persuasive skills, he convinced his wife and sidekick of forty-two years to come on-board as part-time office assistant, consequently, the SILC is losing not one, but two highly valued employees. In addition to raising two daughters, Nancy Thayer worked as administrative assistant for twenty years at the central district office of the United Methodist Church. After thirty-eight years in the Disability Movement, both as a professional and a volunteer, and surviving two bouts with cancer, Ted is ready to enter a new phase of life. He looks forward to fishing in rivers and lakes from Texas to Canada, playing with his two-year-old grandson, Jack, and hanging out with his buddies in the Colorado River Rats Association. No matter what he is doing, Ted will have “a story to tell about that”. He will be long missed and appreciated by the Texas State Independent Living Council.
CILS
Are a Good Investment for Texas
Currently, twenty-one centers for independent living, (CILs), are operating in Texas. Vast portions of the state do not have the benefit of one of these consumer-controlled, cross-disability organizations. Some of the uncovered areas are San Angelo, Wichita Falls, Abilene, Del Rio, Laredo, Victoria, Bryan/College Station, Galveston, Sherman, Texarkana, and all of Collin County. The State Independent Living Council and the Texas Association of Centers for Independent Living have determined that an additional twenty centers are needed to ensure that Texans with disabilities, no matter where they live in the state, will have access to the multiple services of a center for independent living.
The Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services, (DARS), agreed to include an Exceptional Item in its Legislative Appropriation Request to the 80th Legislature to fund the establishment of two new centers. A study conducted by Independent Living Research Utilization at TIRR, (The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research), concluded that $250,000 in base funding is necessary to found a CIL and to provide the initial core services of advocacy, information and referral, peer counseling, and independent living skills training. Based on these findings, an annual appropriation of $500,000 will be required to establish the two new centers. Funds would be awarded to eligible nonprofit, applicant organizations on a competitive basis. Any unserved region of the state may be proposed as the service area for a new center.
At present, ten of the twenty-one centers for independent living in Texas do not receive $250,000 in the base funding required for the provision of core services.
DARS included an additional Exceptional Item requesting $409,623 annually to insure that all centers for independent living in Texas have the necessary resources to sustain their base operations.
These exceptional items represent excellent value for the State and will quickly show a return for the investment. A person with a significant disability living in the community saves the state conservatively $9,000 per year compared to the cost of institutionalization. If a new center for independent living prevents twenty-eight people at high risk from going into a long-term care facility for one year, or relocates twenty-eight individuals from nursing homes to the community, a savings of $252,000, will be realized, totally recovering the newly allocated funding. If those same individuals remain in the community for more than one year, the savings continue to grow. Added to these savings will be the economic benefits to local communities where Texans with disabilities live, work, and spend their money.
APRIL Comes to Texas
The Association of Programs for Rural
Independent Living, (APRIL), will hold its 2006 national conference in San
Antonio, October 7/9 with preconference activities on the 6th. The event will
take place at the Crowne Plaza – Riverwalk.
Among the topics to be addressed are: American Dream – Home Ownership,
Outstationing, Voucher Model – Transportation, Meet the Devil in the
Details – Ethics, Cyber Pals/CyberCIL, Nursing Home Transition, Emergency
Preparedness, Rural Outreach Strategies, and much more. For registration information
contact april-elissa@neo.rr.com or call: 330-678-7648 V / 330-678-8467 TTY.
Resources Available for Medications
The Partnership for Prescription Assistance is a nation-wide clearinghouse
that matches uninsured or low income patients with 475 pharmaceutical companies,
which offer free or low cost medicine. For additional information, call:
(888) 477-2669 or visit the website at: www.pparxtx.org.
Congratulations Austin!
Austin, Texas is one of three recipients of the Fifth Annual Accessible
America Awards given by the National Organization on Disability. Selected
cities are heralded as national models for their focus on disability issues
and successful design of programs, services and facilities accessible to
citizens and visitors with disabilities. Also receiving awards were Cambridge,
MA and West Hollywood, CA.
Medicaid Buy-In Eliminates Barriers to Work
Beginning on September 1 of this year, Texans with disabilities became eligible
to purchase health insurance through Medicaid by paying a monthly premium.
Those who apply for the Medicaid Buy-In program must meet the following work
and disability requirements and resource and income limits.
More specific information on the Medicaid Buy-In program is available on the HHSC website.
DisabilityInfo.gov
Now there is a one-stop federal website designed to offer people with
disabilities and others access to information and resources useful in
enhancing independent living. Managed by the
U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability
Employment Policy (ODEP), DisabilityInfo.gov provides a broad range of valuable
information, not only for people with disabilities, but also their family members,
employers, service providers and many others. Easy to navigate, the website is
organized by subject areas that include benefits, civil rights, community life,
education, employment, health, housing, technology and transportation. Twenty-one
federal agen-cies contribute content to this website with the goal of advancing
the integration of adults and youth with disabilities into the community, school,
and the workplace. To check it out, go to DisabilityInfo.gov.
SILCSpiel
- Fall 2006
©2006, Texas State Independent Living Council
