FDDC: Planned Communities Update

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From: Florida

Developmental Disabilities Council

Sent: Wednesday, March 24, 2010 2:53 PM

To: denisekarp@...

Subject: Planned Communities Update

Announcement

from the

Florida

Developmental Disabilities Council

FLORIDA

DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES COUNCIL'S POSITION ON PLANNED RESIDENTIAL

COMMUNITIES AND SB 1166/HB 645

Both

of the Community Residential Homes bills will be heard tomorrow in both

the House and Senate committees. HB 645 is on the agenda for

the Military & Local Affairs Policy Committee on Thursday, March 25th

at 9:00 AM, in Room 212 Webster Hall in the Knott Building. SB

1166 is on the agenda for the Children, Families and Elder Affairs

Committee, on Friday, March 26th at 10:15 AM in Room 401, Senate Office

Building.

· Is the Council opposed to

Planned Residential (or Intentional) Communities?

No! The Council in its formal adopted position recognized the

benefits of Intentional Communities that are designed to meet the unique

needs of individuals with developmental disabilities. The Council

sees where Intentional Communities can offer a living arrangement option

for adults with developmental disabilities that can provide social

connections, belonging to a community, more freedom to move about the

neighborhood, and additional safety measures.

· Why is the Council advocating for conditions for Planned

Residential (or Intentional) Communities when Home and Community-Based

Waiver funds are used?

First, the funding provided through the Home and Community-Based Waiver

is intended to support state efforts to serve individuals with

developmental disabilities in person-centered, home-like environments

with the freedoms that are characteristic of home and community living

settings. Standards identified for ensuring community living

include optimizing participant independence and community integration,

promoting initiative and choice in daily living, and facilitating full

access to community services. Currently, most

individuals receiving Home and Community-Based Waiver funding live in

their family's home or in the broader community, which achieves the

intent of this funding.

A Planned Residential Community, while providing an invaluable

opportunity to create community, connections and safety, can also be

designed to house only individuals with developmental disabilities and to

meet all needs of the residents within a congregate setting.

This type of design can lose the fundamental elements that we believe

have been intended with the Home and Community-Based Waiver funds.

This type of congregate setting for only individuals with developmental

disabilities has been supported in the past with Medicaid Institutional

and Intermediate Care Facilities funding. Many advocates have fought

many years to direct Medicaid and other public funding to support living

arrangements in the broader community. The Council considers using

the Waiver funds in congregate settings serving only individuals with

developmental disabilities to be a loss of funding that was intended to

support the individuals want to live in the broader community.

Second, the Federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is

developing guidelines that will govern how waiver funds will be used when

the residence is owned or leased by a provider. These guidelines

will reflect the standards for community living of optimizing participant

independence and community integration, promoting initiative and choice

in daily living, and facilitating full access to community services. The Council

believes that it is prudent to ensure that Florida recognizes now that

federal guidelines will be forthcoming and proposes conditions that

reflect the CMS standards.

Third, the Council is charged with facilitating system change in

accordance with federal law, specifically the Developmental Disabilities

Assistance and Bill of Rights Act (P.L. 106-402). The purpose of

this act and the focus of the work of the Council is " to assure that

individuals with developmental disabilities and their families participate

in the design of and have access to needed community services,

individualized supports and other forms of assistance that promote

self-determination, independence, productivity and integration and

inclusion in all facets of community life .. " When

read in its entirety, the intent of the work through the DD Act is

clearly to recognize the competencies, capabilities and personal goals of

individuals with developmental disabilities and to contribute to a system

where individuals with developmental disabilities have the ability and

opportunity to make personal decisions, exert control over their lives

and participate in the same community activities as individuals without

disabilities. We feel the fundamental principles of

self-determination, independence, productivity, integration and inclusion

can be jeopardized in a Planned Residential Community when housing and

other services are offered in a congregate setting to individuals with

developmental disabilities, exclusive of individuals without disabilities,

unless there is some assurance that these principles will be protected. DD Act

· Will the conditions for

which the Council is advocating for apply to ALL Planned Residential (or

Intentional) Communities or certain ones?

The conditions would apply only to Planned Residential Communities where

more than one group home exists and Home and Community-Based Waiver funds

are used. Specifically, the conditions would not apply to Planned

Residential Communities that did not receive any Home and Community-Based

Waiver Funds or a Planned Residential Community that did not include more

than one group home. Planned Residential Communities that

offer supported living or assisted living facility(s) would not be

required to meet the proposed conditions. Further, Planned

Residential Communities could offer a combination of supported living,

assisted living facility(s) and one group home and the proposed

conditions would not apply.

·Are these conditions limiting choice?

No! These conditions are not limiting choice.

Individuals with developmental disabilities can have the choice to

live in a number of different Planned Residential Community options; some

of which are required to meet the proposed conditions and many which are

not.

The Planned Residential Community choices available include

the following:

· Assisted Living Facilities (such as Bishop Grady Villas): Proposed

conditions do not apply.

· Multiple individuals with developmental disabilities living next

to each other in a supported living arrangement:

Proposed conditions do not apply.

· More than one group

home included in the community and individuals receive waiver

funds: Proposed conditions apply.

· More than one group

home included in the community and individuals do not receive waiver

funds (i.e., privately funded): Proposed conditions do not apply.

· Combination of

supported living arrangements and/or assisted living facility(s) with one

group home and individuals receive waiver funds: Proposed conditions do

not apply.

·Are these conditions preventing multiple group homes from

being next to each other?

No! The proposed conditions do not limit multiple group homes

from being next to each other, as long as a sufficient number of individuals

without disabilities are also residing in the Planned Residential

Community.

·Are these conditions preventing individuals with

developmental disabilities from eating together and having a place to

socialize together?

No! The Council original position included the condition

" Provide for housing options only - no workshops, day training, or

common dining is provided on-site. " While we realize this

conveys absolutely no common dining, the intent was to exclude a service

provider offering congregate dining and to include common dining through

commercial means such as a restaurant or café. The Council has

since compromised on this issue to include congregate dining, as long as

in-home individual dining is also provided.

How is the Council responding to SB 1166/HB 645?

Click here for SB 1166. Click here for HB 645.

At the December quarterly

business meeting, the Council adopted a position on Intentional

Communities. Click here for the Intentional Communities position paper.

This position has and will provide the direction for the Council's work

on legislation pertaining to Planned Residential Communities. The

Council's advocacy on SB 1166/HB 645 has included that we support Planned

Residential (Intentional) Communities. We believe these communities can

be a beneficial option for individuals with developmental disabilities

but feel Planned Residential Communities receiving Home and

Community-Based Waiver funds need to offer certain characteristics that

are fundamental to the intent of waiver funds. We have worked with

other organizations to draft proposed amendments that will ensure that

these certain characteristics are included in Planned Residential

Communities that receive Waiver funds. The Council has not opposed

Planned Residential Communities and we will continue to work on language

that provides the assurances we are seeking.

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