Ed's Newsletter
66% INFECTION RATE AT LUDEMAN! . . .
SOME CDS PROVIDERS MAY REOPEN AUG. 1 . . .
DSPs TO GET AT ‘LEAST’ 80-CENT RAISE . . .
ED’s NEWSLETTER
No. 157 – July 8, 2020
McMANUS CONSULTING
DISABILITY SERVICES
847.256.0456, [email protected], Facebook, LinkedIn
UNSAFE INSTITUTIONS . . .
The argument has been made over and over again: Illinois needs to catch up with the rest of the country and stop relying so heavily on large institutions to care for its people with intellectual and developmental disabilities
There are two important reasons for this: (1) The individuals deserve an opportunity to live in the community, and (2) The State can’t afford the huge cost of state-operated developmental centers. And now a third reason has emerged: They’re unsafe.
Five of the state’s seven institutions have experienced coronavirus outbreaks. The worst has been at Ludeman Center in Park Forest, where 223 residents have been found to have the virus—66% of the facility’s population! (215 have now recovered.) In addition, 126 members of the Ludeman staff have tested positive. Seven Ludeman residents and four staff have died.
There have been 76 residents and 73 staff testing positive at Shapiro Center in Kankakee, 47 residents and 29 staff at Mabley in Dixon, 39 residents and 23 staff at Murray in Centralia, and 14 residents and 23 staff at Kiley in Waukegan. Shapiro, Mabley and Kiley each have reported a death of a resident. No resident cases occurred at the other two centers—Choate and Fox. A daily report is at https://www.dhs.state.il.us/page.aspx?item=123651
As one provider CEO said, “This is further evidence (did we need it?) that the SODCs need to close.” (See “In Our Inbox”, below)
A staff member interviewed by the Daily Southtown said she believed the movement of staff between cottages was the primary reason so many people became infected. There are 38 residential cottages on the Ludeman campus.
“Staff may work in a COVID-19 positive house one day, and the next they are made to work in a house with no known COVID-19 cases,” the worker said. “This is how it is spreading so quickly there.”
It has been eight years since Illinois closed an institution. That was Jacksonville Center, shut down by Gov. Quinn. There are 1,653 individuals in the seven centers, second only to Texas. Fifteen states have no institutions. We had hopes that Gov. Pritzker would revive Quinn’s “rebalancing” project, but it hasn’t happened yet.
CILAs AND ICFDDs: There have been 25 virus-related deaths in CILAs. Among ICFDDs, Golfview in Des Plaines has reported 11 deaths and Sheltered Village in Woodstock has had 9.
‘SOFT’ REOPENING FOR CDS . . .
It has been quite a spring for our people with I/DD and their providers.
The Community Day Services program (we used to call it Developmental Training) was shut down in March, which meant individuals in CILAs, ICFDDs and SODCs have been home all day. CILA and ICFDD providers were paid extra to care for their residents. Home-Based Services participants were instructed to use their monthly funding to arrange for personal support workers. Some families chose to take their sons or daughters home from CILAs. (When that happened, the Division continued paying the providers for up to 90 days—but not more.)
It was anticipated that CDS would resume July 1, but the Division announced in early June that it would be closed for the rest of the summer. CILA agencies were instructed to set up an At-home Day Program in each home to create in-home and out-of-home activities.
And Director Stark sent out a memo stating that DHS was “committed to not just restoring our services, but also, reinventing them” when CDS reopens in September.
“The COVID-19 pandemic provides us an opportunity to think about our services and push to make them better. This is not an overnight process. It will take time to determine what services look like at each agency. We are committed to encouraging innovation to best meet the ever-changing needs of individuals with I/DD. . . . The Division is hopeful that agencies will begin to not only restore services, but also reinvent them over the coming weeks and months. We want to be a partner in that process.”
Stark said when CDS reopens, maximum occupancy for indoor facilities will be 50 persons, or 50% of room capacity, whichever is smaller.
Then, on July 2, Stark announced that for those providers that would like to open prior to Sept. 1, the Division would allow a “soft reopening” process beginning Aug. 1. Providers will be instructed to reopen with a maximum of 25 individuals, or 25% room capacity, whichever is smaller. Those agencies will be required to complete a provider preparedness self-assessment as well as a risk benefit assessment of each individual.
CLARIFICATION OF RATE INCREASE . . .
The General Assembly in May approved I/DD wage rate increases, but the wording of the Budget Implementation (BIMP) bill was unclear. The bill stated that “the rates taking effect for the services delivered on or after July 1 shall include an increase sufficient to provide a $1 per hour wage increase for non-executive staff” and another 50 cents for services on or after Jan. 1.
AFSCME said that meant a direct pass-through to the workers—automatic $1 and 50-cent raises--but lobbyists for the They Deserve More coalition said it was intended to be an increase in the “wage rate components”, which would give providers flexibility to address overall cost pressures. The coalition’s main focus is increasing DSP pay so agencies can attract and retain staff, but they also need money to keep the lights on.
After much discussion and consultation with legislators, DHS announced June 29 that it had determined that “at least 80 cents an hour” of the July 1 increase (and 40 cents of the Jan. 1 increase) “must be provided as a direct increase to non-executive staff wages, with priority given to direct care staff.” The increases are subject to federal approval, since Medicaid funding is involved; retroactivity to July 1 is expected.
ILLEGAL?: Progressive Careers & Housing, a CILA and ICFDD provider based in Olympia Fields, contends that DHS is violating state law in the way it is interpreting the language of the bill. CEO Lawrence A. Manson, an attorney, sent a letter to Director Stark setting forth a legal analysis of the matter. He stressed that providers are grateful for the increases and that the DSPs “are particularly valued in this time of health crisis for those we serve and for themselves.” But he cited IL Supreme Court decisions that he said require DHS to “allow providers to use the funding individually to provide, or to cover, raises to non-executive staff as individual circumstances warrant.” He also said any requirement of a pass-through would be a change in rate methodology requiring approval by the court that is hearing the Ligas case.
PAYCHECK PROTECTION CAUSES A STIR . . .
A major controversy has developed over the State’s policy, announced in April, to prohibit providers from receiving payments from both the State and the federal Paycheck Protection Program for the same costs. Both DHS and the Dept. of Children & Family Services notified their providers of the policy.
As Secretary Hou expressed it on May 5, “a provider cannot be paid twice for the same obligation. To do so could result in criminal, civil, regulatory, and/or audit issues for the provider.”
Many CEOs were furious that the State was threatening criminal prosecution. But the following day, Hou issued a memo which she specifically said “superseded” the previous one: “If your organization is receiving PPP funding, retention payments from IDHS, or both, please be cautious to only use such funds for allowable expenditures, under the PPP rules or the providers’ grant/funding agreements.
“To the extent your PPP funding is used to cover what would otherwise be covered by IDHS retention payments, you must notify IDHS. If your PPP funding does not fully cover the retention payments, IDHS will make payments to ensure full payment over the course of the PPP funding. If this is the case for your organization, IDHS will provide you with a form so you can certify there is no duplication of funds.”
Providers contacted their state legislators and congressmen, who went to bat for them. Eighteen Democratic senators sent a letter to Gov. Pritzker urging him not to reduce any funding: “While we recognize the State is facing budget constraints, the level of need for social services has exponentially increased during the COVID-19 pandemic due to unemployment, underemployment, food insecurity, housing insecurity, and other economic challenges.
“Social service organizations have stepped up to undertake the new responsibility of distributing millions in emergency funds to Illinois residents, despite receiving no additional funding to support this administrative burden. In addition, most of these organizations have experienced a severe decline in private donations. We are not aware of any other state that is trying to reduce state funding to its non-profit partners who received PPP funding.”
The five Republicans in the state’s congressional delegation also wrote to Pritzker, stating: “Congress did not intend funds from the PPP to be used by states to supplement their budgets or offset dollars states typically pay for services through private nonprofit service providers. The state’s assertion--that it may have the ability to deduct an amount equivalent to any funds nonprofit organizations receive through PPP from what they are paid in their contracts--is a clear overreach.”
DHS SETTLES DAY PROGRAM SUIT . . .
We all took it seriously—even the judge—when attorneys for a Peoria man with I/DD, John McDonald, sued the State, contending that it was guilty of discrimination by continuing the closure of Community Day Services. But that was before all the facts trickled out over the next few days.
The Chicago law firm of Troutman Sanders charged that CDS had been omitted from the State’s Phase IV restart efforts despite their similarities to manufacturing businesses and day camps for children.
“The State of Illinois has announced that COVID-19 gives it the right to shut down services to intellectually and developmentally disabled individuals because, in the State’s view, those individuals cannot be trusted to wash their hands or wear a face mask,” the federal court suit said. “That such rank discrimination still exists, as a matter of official policy at the highest level of state government, is both morally repugnant and plainly illegal.”
Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer held a hearing and said she was troubled that DHS was “excluding a whole class of people from their usual daily activities based on what appears to be a stereotype.”
DHS responded angrily to the suit in a lengthy brief, calling the lawyers’ allegations “baseless, ridiculous and insulting.” They said the Centers for Disease Control specifically identifies a higher risk for those “who have trouble understanding information or practicing preventative measures.” And more importantly, they pointed out that although the lawyers were seeking a statewide reopening, they had neglected to file the suit as a class action.
“The sweeping injunction requested by Plaintiff could unleash tragic consequences across Illinois,” they said. “Plaintiff does not and cannot deny the public health crisis resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite these stark facts, Plaintiff is asking that the CDS program be broadly and universally re-opened approximately two months earlier than is safe, solely for his benefit. If that were to happen, there is the potential for thousands of people (including other recipients of CDS services, staff, and family members) to contract COVID-19, with potentially fatal effects.
“The realities of this scenario have already played out, as the first known COVID-19 transmission involving the Division’s programs occurred as a result of transportation of individuals to a CDS program by a driver infected with COVID-19. The virus spread to two ICFDD residences, one CILA residence and one individual’s home, ultimately resulting in two deaths.”
At this point, Pallmeyer made it clear that she did not intend to order a statewide reopening.
The Department also reported that it had found that McDonald’s program, the Community Workshop & Training Center, had not yet taken the required steps to reopen safely. However, they said they were willing to allow him to attend CWTC if he and the center signed liability waivers.
And that settled the case.
IN OUR INBOX . . .
FROM A PROVIDER CEO, on the spread of the coronavirus at Illinois’ State-Operated Developmental Centers: “This is further evidence (did we need it?) that the SODCs need to close. Something went very wrong here. This was not inevitable and the scale of the outbreaks is outrageous. Most of these individuals live in cottages, and if staff were limited to one cottage (like we are doing with our CILAs), this would have been much less severe. . . . Especially with a big budget crunch ahead, it’s high time to close them.”
FROM A PARENT IN PEORIA, on our report that three ISCs asked the U.S. District Court in April to allow them, over the objections of the State’s lawyers, to submit to the court an audit by the Auditor General highly critical of last year’s ISC restructuring: “It’s July. Is the judge ever going to rule on this?” (We don’t know.)
COMMENTS . . .
Send me your opinions, suggestions, criticisms, or responses to articles. I like feedback. Also tips.
PEOPLE . . .
BOB OKAZAKI is retiring as executive director of Avenues to Independence. Bob joined the organization in 1977 as a trainer in the day services program and also worked in case management, program administration and job contract sales prior to his appointment as ED in 1983. Avenues, based in Park Ridge, serves 200 people in residential and day services.
Bob has been very active in I/DD affairs statewide and has been on the board of The Arc for many years. He has been very helpful to me, tipping me on I/DD news over the years. He expects to stay on the job until a new director is selected sometime in the fall. The board has hired former DHS Secretary Michelle Saddler to conduct a search for a new director. Saddler is now a principal at recruitment firm Kittleman & Associates.
Best wishes to you, Bob!
BOBBY GILMORE has left the Division to join the DHS Division of Substance Use Prevention and Recovery (formerly the Div. of Alcoholism & Substance Abuse). His new job is heading SUPR’s Bureau of Business & Fiscal Operations. Bobby has been chief of the DDD Bureau of Community Reimbursements and Program Support for the past few years. Assistant DDD Director Kathy Ward is filling in as head of the bureau until a new chief is named.
NECOLE MILLS has been hired as Anixter Center’s Vice President of Disability Services. She formerly was a vice president at Community Support Services.
CYNTHIA SCHIERL SPREEN has been named chief of the DDD Bureau of Quality Management. She is a registered nurse and a veteran of 25 years in the Air Force. During the Covid crisis, she has been working at Ludeman Center, coordinating infection control.
LAUREN BYRNES is the new clinic director at North Shore Pediatric Therapy. She formerly was a behavioral analyst at Autism Home Support Services in Naperville.
COMING UP . . .
JULY 14: Webinar: “Communicating COVID-19 Updates to People with I/DD, Caregivers, and Stakeholders,” with Maggie Hassler, Director of Executive Communications at Aspire Chicago. 1 p.m. Sponsored by UIC Dept. of Disability & Human Development and Aspire. Register: https://www.healthmattersprogram.org/
JULY 14: Arc Webinar: “Social Security 101–Understanding the Benefits,” with Josephine Mueller of Social Security Administration. At noon. Registration info at https://www.thearcofil.org/. A presentation in Spanish will be held on July 21.
OTHER STUFF . . .
PUNS: The Division says it will send out official PUNS selection letters to more than 1,500 people next week. Most of the individuals were notified last December that they had been selected, pending approval of an appropriation by the legislature.
PARTNERS IN POLICYMAKING: Partners is a leadership training program designed for parents of school age children with developmental disabilities and adults with disabilities, funded by the IL Council on DD. The council is recruiting participants for another Partners class. If you are interested in applying, you can let the council know here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSefrU0wLXg184Gp2sGoItD1TEzRqZQBs7JAuubToZklIoV_jQ/viewform
CAREGIVING: Ted Behncke, president of St. Coletta of Wisconsin, has been appointed to the WI Governor’s Task Force on Caregiving. The task force is charged with analyzing strategies to attract and retain a strong direct care workforce and support families providing caregiving supports and services. Congratulations, Ted!
THE CONSULTING PRACTICE . . .
SHELTERING IN PLACE: Fortunately, most of my work is in my home office anyway—fielding phone calls from providers and families and keeping the providers informed on what’s going on in the system. The other thing I do is go out and do presentations, and I did a couple of those by Zoom in May. I have also gotten together for lunch with many of you in the past. I suppose we could do picnics!
SPEAKING OUT: I collected some very inspiring statements from 12 organizations, speaking out against racial injustice, and sent them out to all of our affiliates over the month of June. The organizations are Access Living, The Arc, Assn. for Individual Development, Clearbrook, IARF, Jewish Child & Family Services, Keshet, Little City, McManus Consulting, Milestone, Ray Graham Assn. and UCP Seguin. I also posted them on our Facebook page. If you missed them and would like to see them, send me an email. If your organization issued a statement, I’d love to see it.
My statement:
Our state and our country are in turmoil over the brutal killing of a Black man by White police officers in Minneapolis. I stand in solidarity with the hundreds of thousands of people throughout the country who have taken to the streets to protest the killing of George Floyd—only the latest instance of White policemen grossly abusing their authority over African-Americans and other people of color.
Many of the people we serve are Black, an extra burden in addition to dealing with their disabilities. And many of our DSPs are Black—people who are dedicating their lives to making life better for the individuals they work with. I give them my full support in demanding that our cities and our state government take action, without further delay, to support police reforms and to achieve equality for all citizens.
Most important, the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees “the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” The vast majority of the protesters have assembled peaceably, and I applaud their determination to demand justice for George Floyd.
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McManus Consulting was founded in 2011 by Ed McManus, who worked for the Dept. of Human Services for 18 years--as an attorney in the Office of Inspector General, state coordinator of the Home-Based Program and facilitator of the DDD North Suburban Network, and before that as a reporter and editor for the Chicago Tribune in Springfield and Chicago. We have provided services to more than 75 agencies, including staff training on how the system works and phone consultation on a retainer basis when issues arise. We also can arrange for consultations with families or provide pro bono assistance to them over the phone.
Ed's Newsletter is published approximately once a month, made possible by the support of the following affiliates who are on retainer: Access Living, Active Visions, A New Age Human Services, A+ Autism Solutions, Arts of Life, Aspire, At Home Mission, Avenues to Independence, Bethesda Lutheran Communities, CCAR Industries, Center for Enriched Living, Center for Independent Futures, Champaign County DD Board, Clearbrook, Douglas Center, Encompass/Jewish United Fund, Friendship House, Garden Center, Gateway Services, Gateway to Learning, Glenkirk, Good Shepherd Manor, Helping Hand, Individual Advocacy Group, KCCDD/Knox County, Lambs Farm, Leeda, Little City, McHenry County Mental Health Board, Malcolm Eaton Enterprises, Milestone, Misericordia, Mulford Homes/Diane Home Care, Orchard Village, Pioneer Center, Progressive Careers & Housing, Rimland, Riverside, Royal Living Center, St. Coletta WI, Sheltered Village, Trinity, UCP Seguin, Warren Achievement, The Workshop/Galena. Independent Service Coordination agencies: Central IL Service Access, Community Alternatives Unlimited. Disability-related law firms: Chamberlin Law Group, Matt Cohen & Associates, Monahan Law Group, Rubin Law.