fw: CORRECTION ON THE APD TIER UPDATE

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Wilbur Hawke wrote: Sent: Tuesday, July 29, 2008 3:29 PMTo: pen@...Subject: CORRECTION ON THE APD TIER UPDATE TIER UPDATE... FYI--The judge has informed APD that the decision will not be made untilthe first week of August. Mowry Etters, APR, CPRC, CPMCommunications DirectorAgency for Persons with Disabilities

(APD)4030 Esplanade Way, Suite 380Tallahassee, FL 32399-0700 Office or 488-4257FAX /SC 292-6456 Yesterday A judge was supposed to give his decision on the Tier lawsuit that was brought forth by the The Advocacy Center for Persons with Disabilities, Inc. WaiverProvider.com has was told by Etters from APD Central office in Tallahassee FL. That the decision that was supposed to be made by a judge on 07/28/08 but has been postponed.

Unless some other unforeseen problem arises, the Final Order should be issued the first of next week. As always as soon as WaiverProvider.com knows you will know. This is an e-mail I received and I

wanted to pass on to you all. There is much about the hearing on the Tier system in Florida that needs to be explained. On Wednesday, June 25, The Advocacy Center presented their case. One of the parents, Ms. Moreland was a very strong witness. (By the way, she is also an employee of APD!) The Advocacy Center called five witnesses. There were two parents, two Support Coordinators and a provider. I felt that Southern Legal did a good job of laying out "vague, arbitrary and capricious" issues in the rule. The State presented their case. They called three witness. (Acting Director) Jim DeBeaugerine / And Mabile and J.B. Black (they work at APD in Tallahassee Fl.) The hearing spent a great deal of time on issues surrounding the Individual Cost Guidelines, (ICG). Remember that document? The way the law is written, you have to have a valid and reliable assessment instrument for Tier implementation. Obviously, the new assessment has not be ran on everyone that would have to have a Tier assignment. So, the State is stating that they ran the ICG on everyone in 2006 and this meets the guidelines of having to run an assessment within a three year window. Stick with me now.the State however, stopped Support Coordinators from running the ICG in January of this year. However, the new assessment, QSI, has not yet been validated so a question remains as to how people are being assessed at this

time. The State did a good job of presenting their case. They continually tried to return to the budget issues. The Advocacy Center tried to make their case that this wasn't about the APD budget, it was about a rule that was vague, arbitrary and capricious. The opposing attorneys have until the 8th of July to file their arguments and the Judge then has a timeline in which to rule. The Administrative Law Judge that was hearing the case has a reputation for fairness. Tier

implementation cannot proceed until there is a ruling. If you have any questions or if WaiverProvider.com can help in anyway just call or write to us. WaiverInfo@... Nangle Make sure you see a few of our websites That help many people in many ways WaiverProvider.com - SupportCoordinators.com WaiverInfo.com - FloridaGroupHome.com Clear Choice Web

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Someone! (You can thank someone on the message board!) Nangle WaiverProvider.com This message was sent from Nangle to pen@.... It was sent from: Clear Choice Web Solutions Inc, P.O. Box 6842 , Spring Hill, FL 34611. You can modify/update your subscription via the link below. Manage your subscription View this message in the iContact Community: View message Comment on this message Receive as RSS Share this message with others: del.icio.us Digg reddit Facebook StumbleUpon