[il-talk] Fw: DRS May 2009 Community Partner Update

Tue May 5 00:25:26 UTC 2009

If you hit page down rather than just the cursor it is much shorter.

Patti Gregory-Chang
President, National Federation of the Blind of Illinois
pattichang at att.net
www.nfbofillinois.org

>> Subject: DRS May 2009 Community Partner Update
>>
>>
>>> From Rob Kilbury, Director, Division of Rehabilitation
>>> Services/Department of Human Services
>>>
>>> DIVISION OF REHABILITATION SERVICES
>>> Community Partner Update
>>> May 1, 2009
>>>
>>> Legislative Update: There are several legislative proposals that DRS is
>>> tracking.  These include the following:  Family members/spouses
>>> providing care to customers in the Home Services Program; changes in
>>> Medicaid eligibility requirements; increases in wages/health insurance
>>> for workers in the Home Services Program; prescreenings of individuals
>>> with disabilities in nursing facilities; Rapid Reintegration Pilot;
>>> hiring incentives for individuals with disabilities in state government;
>>> and the priority of blind vendors for vending facilities/cafeterias on
>>> state property.
>>>
>>> Bureau of Field Services: The Downers Grove office received the
>>> Advocacy Award at the Annual Ability Links Conference and Employment
>>> Expo on April 9th. The conference focused on issues the employer, job
>>> seeker and the service provider face in the ever changing world of work.
>>> Sessions on Disability Awareness, preparing for successful job search,
>>> dressing for success, best practices and strategies for becoming a
>>> disability inclusive employer and several other were presented by
>>> nationally known experts in their field.
>>>
>>> The Kankakee DRS office has recently moved to a new location at 285
>>> North Schuyler Avenue. Work continues on the building, but staff are
>>> there and serving customers.
>>>
>>> Louis Hamer has been named the Acting Assistant Bureau Chief for
>>> DHS/DRS Region 2. Mr. Hamer has many years of management experience and
>>> continues to be the manager of our Community Resources section, in
>>> addition to his new responsibilities.
>>>
>>> Independent Living: The 2009 Disability Rights/Independent Living
>>> Conference and Expo was held April 27th thru 29th at the Prairie
>>> Convention Center in downtown Springfield.  Its primary sponsors were
>>> DHS/DRS, INCIL, CCDI, IATP and SILC.  The conference organizers
>>> indicated that over 230 people who attended the Conference.
>>> The Conference featured a variety of workshops tracts that covered
>>> topics such as IL services to consumers with mental illness, systems
>>> advocacy, community organizing,  CIL board recruitment and development,
>>> and ADA and personal development, to name a few.  There was even a Salsa
>>> Dance workshop this year which was well received.
>>>
>>> In addition, there was the Disabilities Expo which featured a variety
>>> of disability related products such as: accessible trucks, vans, and
>>> bikes; accessible video games; accessible rock climbing wall; product
>>> demonstrations; and an assistive technology workshop geared for VR and
>>> HSP staff.  More than 55 vendors participated in the Expo.
>>>
>>> Representative Elaine Nekritz (D-Northbrook) won CCDI's Penny Severns
>>> Legislator of the Year Award; Mike Egbert of Opportunities for Access
>>> won the Justin Dart Distinguished Citizen Award; Cathy Contarino won the
>>> Ed Roberts Award issued by the Illinois Network of Centers for
>>> Independent Living.
>>>
>>> Budget Update: DRS has received the following amounts from the federal
>>> stimulus package: $10,039,645.00 - VR; $570,697.00 - Independent Living;
>>> and $1,411,724.00 - Older Blind.  This federal money must be spent by
>>> September 30, 2011.  DRS is working with a number of stakeholders to
>>> develop a plan to invest these dollars in services and programs that
>>> will benefit the state-federal program and its customers for years to
>>> come, without encumbering the agency to continue these programs when the
>>> stimulus dollars are gone.
>>>
>>> ISD and ISVI: The fourth annual legislative breakfast sponsored by the
>>> Illinois State Advisory Council for the Education of Children with
>>> Disabilities was held April 3rd at the State Capitol Rotunda.  Students
>>> from ISVI and ISD were invited to meet with their legislators.  Students
>>> were lucky enough to meet the Governor, be part of a bill signing, and
>>> have their photos taken with Governor Quinn.
>>>
>>> Debit Cards for Personal Assistants: Personal Assistants will soon be
>>> able to choose to receive their pay via debit card, available through a
>>> Request for Proposal process which was won by ACS State and Local
>>> Solutions, Inc.  PAs currently have a choice of being paid via either
>>> direct deposit or paper check.
>>>
>>> Community Reintegration/Money Follows the Person: To date, 143
>>> individuals have moved into the community through the Community
>>> Reintegration Program through the 23 Centers for Independent Living. The
>>> Money Follows the Person program officially began on March 1.  Many of
>>> the activities of the CIL staff have been meeting with potential MFP
>>> consumers in the Nursing Facility to discuss MFP.  Additional
>>> requirements have been set in place as part of this new program.
>>>
>>> Rapid Reintegration: DRS Staff have met with Rapid Reintegration
>>> program liaisons within the Home Services Program and Centers for
>>> Independent Living. A formal training has been conducted on the
>>> prescreening process, roles and responsibilities, etc. with the program
>>> starting on April 1.  A letter was also sent to the participating
>>> hospitals of the start date and process for contacting the DRS office
>>> regarding the need for prescreening.
>>>
>>> The goal of the program is to serve 100 individuals between the ages of
>>> 18 59 who are hospitalized at select locations (Springfield and
>>> Rockford).  DRS will study and analyze the discharge process, the
>>> ability to prevent prolonged NF placements, and to increase customer
>>> choice.
>>>
>>> Senate, House Appropriations Hearing Held: The Senate Appropriations
>>> Committee met on April 28, the House Human Services Appropriations
>>> Committee met on April 30.  Much of the questioning was expected to be
>>> about the Home Services Program and how the division intended to live
>>> within its $26.3 million increase ($524 million total in budget
>>> proposal).  Rob Kilbury shared the Division's plan to involve
>>> stakeholders in the process of incorporating service parameters in the
>>> areas of housekeeping, food preparation, outside the home, money
>>> management, and laundry.  The House Committee will meet again at 10:30
>>> a.m. on May 5:  Happy Cinco de Mayo.
>>>
>>> 2009 VR Performance Statistics: The performance of the DRS VR program
>>> for the first three quarters of fiscal year 2009 is overall slightly
>>> better than for the same period in the previous year. A total of 3,606
>>> individuals with disabilities were closed as successful competitive
>>> outcomes through March 31, a 1.9 percent improvement over data for
>>> FY2008. Given the increase in the state's unemployment rate in the
>>> last year, this represents a significant achievement.
>>>
>>> Results were very positive for the Bureau of Blind Services, which
>>> overall showed a 17.5 percent increase over FY2008.   Particularly
>>> notable was the performance of BBS Area 5, with a 91.3 percent increase
>>> compared to last year.  Congratulations BBS!
>>>
>>> Employment outcomes for the Bureau of Field Services increased by 1.1
>>> percent over last year, with significant performance increases posted by
>>> BFS Region 4 (25.1%) and BFS Region 3 (13.7%).
>>>
>>> Another notable result was an increase in customer earnings.  The
>>> average hourly wage earned by customers successfully employed rose by
>>> 3.4 percent in the last year, from $9.73 in FY2008 to $10.06 in FY2009.
>>> While this represents an increase of only $8.25 per week, it is a
>>> positive result in a very difficult labor market.
>>>
>>> The rehabilitation rate, the percentage of closed cases who are
>>> successfully employed, was basically unchanged at 58.3% for FY2009
>>> compared to 58.5% last year.  This figure remains above the RSA standard
>>> of 55.8% for general VR programs.
>>>
>>>
>>
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