I attended a meeting for Support Brokers earlier this week to be fully informed as we approach the deadline for Annual Plan and Budget Updates for the new fiscal year.
Support Brokers were informed that DDA will be strictly enforcing the rules regarding services and supports that are not typically allowable under New Directions.
Some of the items on that list puzzle me.
Admission cost for staff to attend activities in the community with the disabled individual that they support is on the list. When a disabled individual has a monthly income of less than $700.00 from SSI, and no other source of financial support, it doesn't seem reasonable to expect that they can pay the admission cost for support staff to accompany them to the places that they want or need to go. Yet, without the support staff, V can not go anywhere. The staff transport her, speak for her, guide her and keep her safe. The community would be out of reach for V without the support of her staff. Some places allow support staff to enter for free, while charging admission only for V (which we pay for her). Other places, like the small private zoos that she enjoys walking in, will not allow free admission for support staff, so we buy season passes to keep the cost down, covering the cost for V, but receiving reimbursement for the cost of staff passes.
Included on the list of services not allowed are memberships to fitness centers, personal trainers, and nutritionists. All of these support the health of disabled people in a proactive way and prevent the health problems associated with obesity and inactivity. Cognitive and physical disabilities require specialized guidance to maintain a healthy level of physical activity. We do not use a nutritionist, but have used a fitness center to provide access to a pool year round for adapted aquatics, and V does require someone with certain expertise to support her physical fitness needs. Again, when a disabled individual receives only about $8,000 a year in income from SSI, and their family is already picking up the cost of housing, utilities, clothing, entertainment, medical copays, and food that the income can not possibly cover, how can they afford to pay for these services that support good health. If there are sufficient funds in the budget, why are these kind of supports not allowed?
Staff recruitment is now on the list of items not allowed. Since a Craigslist advertisement is $25.00, and a newspaper ad is $100.00 or more, if support staff are necessary, why could this necessary action to find staff not be covered? Agencies run advertisements in the local Gazette. I have seen the ads. I am sure that they pay for these ads from the state funds that they receive.
Maid service is not covered. I know for a fact that at least some group homes are professionally cleaned. Parents don't typically clean the living space of their adult children, and someone with a severe physical or cognitive impairment can not necessarily be expected to be able to do this for themselves. We have never used this service, but I still don't understand why it would be disallowed.
The last two examples seem to set a different standard for agencies vs those participants in New Directions, unless agencies are using funds that are not received from the state to pay for advertising and cleaning services for their offices and group homes. Do they pay for these things out of private donations? New Directions participants don't have the means to have fund-raising events the way agencies do. Whatever New Directions disallows for participants must come out of the pockets of family members.
To be fair, the list does state that consideration will be given on an individual basis if the service or support is justified as relating to the individual's disability and is habilitative in nature.
