Guest guest Posted April 5, 2010 Report Share Posted April 5, 2010 Announcement for the Florida Developmental Disabilities Council A Legislative Bulletin from the Florida Developmental Disabilities Council, Inc. SB 1166 - Relating to Community Residential Homes by Altman Co-Sponsors: Storms This bill prohibits rules adopted by the Agency for Persons with Disabilities from restricting the number of facilities designated as community residential homes located within a planned residential community. The bill also defines the term "planned residential community" as being for individuals with developmental disabilities and provides that community residential homes or small group homes located within a planned residential community may be contiguous to one another and exempt from the 1000 foot rule. The 1000 foot rule states that group homes that have six beds or less may not be within 1000 feet of each other. Currently there are licensing requirements for group homes that are 1000 feet from each other, but there are no specific criteria for these group homes when they are beside each other in a Planned Residential Community. Individuals who choose to live in group homes licensed by the agency are eligible to use Developmental Disability Home and Community Based Services (DD/HCBS) Medicaid Waiver Funding. The Council supports the value that when Public funds are used the intent of these funds should be upheld. DD/HCBS Medicaid Waiver funding is used to provide assistance to individuals with developmental disabilities who want to waive their right to institutional living and to live in the family home or a home in the community. The Council supports using the following characteristics to ensure that the supports provided by the waiver are used in a setting that meets the intent for the use of the DD/HCBS Waiver. · Provides for housing options only - no workshops or day training, provided on- site; · Ensures easy access to the broader community; · Encourages the broader community to come into the Intentional Community; · Ensures that individuals with developmental disabilities create their own daily schedules and activities; · Ensures that individuals with developmental disabilities choose their own supports and providers; · Offers housing that is affordable; · Provides special safety features; and · Includes residents who are both individuals with disabilities (i.e., developmental disabilities and other disabilities) and individuals without disabilities in a sufficient mix so as not to create a segregated community; The Council opposes this bill as written but supports Intentional Communities that include these characteristics. This zoning change represents a major policy change for individuals with developmental disabilities in our state. This bill will be heard on the Senate floor as early as this week. Please contact your Senator and let them know your position on this issue. Forward email This email was sent to eileenr414@... by vandab@.... Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy. Email Marketing by Florida Developmental Disabilities Council | 124 Marriott Drive | Suite 203 | Tallahassee | FL | 32301 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 6, 2010 Report Share Posted April 6, 2010 Anouncement from the Florida Developmental Disabilities Council Congressional Action Critical to Avoid Cuts to Developmental Disability Home and Community Based Waiver The Florida House has passed their Appropriations Act. There were no new budget changes for services. The cuts that remain in the House are a cap of $120,000 on Tier One cost plans and the elimination of behavior assistance services in group homes. The Florida Senate also passed their Appropriations Act. Sen. Peaden sponsored an amendment that had passed in the full Appropriations Committee to restore most of the cuts to the Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD) if the enhanced Medicaid extension dollars - Federal Medical Assistance Percentages (FMAP) - come from the federal government. If the Federal Medicaid Match dollars are authorized there will be no cuts to dollars for consumer cost plans, APD providers and Intermediate Care facilities. The Senate shares the $120,000 cap to Tier One and the behavioral assistance cuts to group homes that the House has in their budget. Because these issues are the same in the House and the Senate, they will not be looked at again in the Budget Conference meetings. The Budget Conference process is a process of negotiating budget item differences from the House and the Senate. Our attention now turns to Congress. The U.S. House of Representatives has been preoccupied with health care reform and does not yet have a date on when they will address the FMAP issue. A jobs bill that includes the enhanced FMAP recently passed the Senate and now must be taken up by the House. The reality is, if it is not done by June 30, state administrators will have little to choice but to begin reducing expenditures. The Council will be contacting Florida's members of Congress and telling them that enacting FMAP for Florida and other states is imperative NOW in order to avoid cuts to services for people with Developmental Disabilities that would begin on July 1. It is important that they hear from you. Congress is on a break until April 12 so members may be visited in their districts or contact them through their Washington offices. A list of members is attached. Note: most Congressmen will not release their email addresses because they want the public to use the forms on their web sites. This allows them to more easily categorize email and to avoid span but it precludes mass emailing on the part of constituents. Faxes are also very effective with this group. U. S. Representative. D.C. Telephone D.C. Fax Jeff Boyd Corine Brown Ander Crenshaw Ginny Brown-Waite Cliff Stearns H. Mica Alan Grayson Gus Bilirakis C. W. Bill Young Kathy Castor Adam H.Putnam Vern Buchanan Connie Mack Bill Posey J. Rooney Kendrick Meek Ileana Ros-Lehtinen Wexler Announced on 3/18 he will resign Debbie Wasserman Schultz Lincoln -Balart Ron Klein Alcee L. Hastings Suzanne M. Kosmas -Balart Forward email This email was sent to eileenr414@... by vandab@.... Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy. Email Marketing by Florida Developmental Disabilities Council | 124 Marriott Drive | Suite 203 | Tallahassee | FL | 32301 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 6, 2010 Report Share Posted April 6, 2010 Anouncement from the Florida Developmental Disabilities Council Congressional Action Critical to Avoid Cuts to Developmental Disability Home and Community Based Waiver The Florida House has passed their Appropriations Act. There were no new budget changes for services. The cuts that remain in the House are a cap of $120,000 on Tier One cost plans and the elimination of behavior assistance services in group homes. The Florida Senate also passed their Appropriations Act. Sen. Peaden sponsored an amendment that had passed in the full Appropriations Committee to restore most of the cuts to the Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD) if the enhanced Medicaid extension dollars - Federal Medical Assistance Percentages (FMAP) - come from the federal government. If the Federal Medicaid Match dollars are authorized there will be no cuts to dollars for consumer cost plans, APD providers and Intermediate Care facilities. The Senate shares the $120,000 cap to Tier One and the behavioral assistance cuts to group homes that the House has in their budget. Because these issues are the same in the House and the Senate, they will not be looked at again in the Budget Conference meetings. The Budget Conference process is a process of negotiating budget item differences from the House and the Senate. Our attention now turns to Congress. The U.S. House of Representatives has been preoccupied with health care reform and does not yet have a date on when they will address the FMAP issue. A jobs bill that includes the enhanced FMAP recently passed the Senate and now must be taken up by the House. The reality is, if it is not done by June 30, state administrators will have little to choice but to begin reducing expenditures. The Council will be contacting Florida's members of Congress and telling them that enacting FMAP for Florida and other states is imperative NOW in order to avoid cuts to services for people with Developmental Disabilities that would begin on July 1. It is important that they hear from you. Congress is on a break until April 12 so members may be visited in their districts or contact them through their Washington offices. A list of members is attached. Note: most Congressmen will not release their email addresses because they want the public to use the forms on their web sites. This allows them to more easily categorize email and to avoid span but it precludes mass emailing on the part of constituents. Faxes are also very effective with this group. U. S. Representative. D.C. Telephone D.C. Fax Jeff Boyd Corine Brown Ander Crenshaw Ginny Brown-Waite Cliff Stearns H. Mica Alan Grayson Gus Bilirakis C. W. Bill Young Kathy Castor Adam H.Putnam Vern Buchanan Connie Mack Bill Posey J. Rooney Kendrick Meek Ileana Ros-Lehtinen Wexler Announced on 3/18 he will resign Debbie Wasserman Schultz Lincoln -Balart Ron Klein Alcee L. Hastings Suzanne M. Kosmas -Balart Forward email This email was sent to eileenr414@... by vandab@.... Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy. Email Marketing by Florida Developmental Disabilities Council | 124 Marriott Drive | Suite 203 | Tallahassee | FL | 32301 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 6, 2010 Report Share Posted April 6, 2010 Anouncement from the Florida Developmental Disabilities Council Congressional Action Critical to Avoid Cuts to Developmental Disability Home and Community Based Waiver The Florida House has passed their Appropriations Act. There were no new budget changes for services. The cuts that remain in the House are a cap of $120,000 on Tier One cost plans and the elimination of behavior assistance services in group homes. The Florida Senate also passed their Appropriations Act. Sen. Peaden sponsored an amendment that had passed in the full Appropriations Committee to restore most of the cuts to the Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD) if the enhanced Medicaid extension dollars - Federal Medical Assistance Percentages (FMAP) - come from the federal government. If the Federal Medicaid Match dollars are authorized there will be no cuts to dollars for consumer cost plans, APD providers and Intermediate Care facilities. The Senate shares the $120,000 cap to Tier One and the behavioral assistance cuts to group homes that the House has in their budget. Because these issues are the same in the House and the Senate, they will not be looked at again in the Budget Conference meetings. The Budget Conference process is a process of negotiating budget item differences from the House and the Senate. Our attention now turns to Congress. The U.S. House of Representatives has been preoccupied with health care reform and does not yet have a date on when they will address the FMAP issue. A jobs bill that includes the enhanced FMAP recently passed the Senate and now must be taken up by the House. The reality is, if it is not done by June 30, state administrators will have little to choice but to begin reducing expenditures. The Council will be contacting Florida's members of Congress and telling them that enacting FMAP for Florida and other states is imperative NOW in order to avoid cuts to services for people with Developmental Disabilities that would begin on July 1. It is important that they hear from you. Congress is on a break until April 12 so members may be visited in their districts or contact them through their Washington offices. A list of members is attached. Note: most Congressmen will not release their email addresses because they want the public to use the forms on their web sites. This allows them to more easily categorize email and to avoid span but it precludes mass emailing on the part of constituents. Faxes are also very effective with this group. U. S. Representative. D.C. Telephone D.C. Fax Jeff Boyd Corine Brown Ander Crenshaw Ginny Brown-Waite Cliff Stearns H. Mica Alan Grayson Gus Bilirakis C. W. Bill Young Kathy Castor Adam H.Putnam Vern Buchanan Connie Mack Bill Posey J. Rooney Kendrick Meek Ileana Ros-Lehtinen Wexler Announced on 3/18 he will resign Debbie Wasserman Schultz Lincoln -Balart Ron Klein Alcee L. Hastings Suzanne M. Kosmas -Balart Forward email This email was sent to eileenr414@... by vandab@.... Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy. Email Marketing by Florida Developmental Disabilities Council | 124 Marriott Drive | Suite 203 | Tallahassee | FL | 32301 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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