People First News, August 2024

Launched during Disability Pride Month on the 34^th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Accessing Life is a new podcast led by people with lived experience with developmental disabilities. Chester Finn and BJ Stasio, both OPWDD employees, host the new podcast which will continue to feature insightful guests who are working to make the world more accessible to everyone. The show is produced by OPWDD employee, Mike Orzel, in conjunction with the OPWDD Communications Team. The first episode dives into the world of accessible technology and how it can be used to promote independence and inclusivity.  View the episode here: youtu.be/4vjJEXPPwrc

You can watch and subscribe to the podcast on OPWDD’s YouTube channel.

Be sure to follow our social media accounts to stay in the loop about upcoming episodes!

OPWDD Acting Commissioner Willow Baer (eighth from left) joined HASC (Hebrew Academy for Special Children) representatives and other state officials from the Hudson Valley and beyond to celebrate the dedication and ribbon-cutting of the new HASC Hospital, Bais Refuah, which means "House of Healing." All those at the event also had the chance to tour the facility and see its amenities firsthand.

HASC's new facility located in Parksville in Sullivan County is a major source of pride for HASC officials and the community at large. For more than 50 years, Camp HASC has served the Jewish community through its summer program for children and adults with disabilities attending to their every need -- physical, mental and social. The new hospital, located on the campus of Camp HASC, features amenities which include overnight hospital-grade rooms, 24-hour care and five exam rooms including an emergency exam room. The new hospital will add important new dimension to Camp HASC's already comprehensive programming by equipping the Camp to better respond to camper's acute medical needs. Congratulations to Camp HASC on this beautiful new facility!

Read more about the event and the HASC Hospital in the Jewish Press.

Read more about HASC

 

Each year OPWDD develops an interactive campaign at the Great New York State Fair to engage fairgoers and raise awareness about the services and supports our agency offers and the rewarding job opportunities with OPWDD throughout New York. 

This year we will again be recruiting and looking for employees who have a passion for serving others and want a fulfilling career in the human services field. Whether you are looking for a new career direction or looking to learn more about our agency and its services, stop by our booth in the Science and Industry Building during regular Fair hours.

 

OPWDD staff and volunteers interact with fairgoers at the 2023 Great New York State Fair. This year's Fair runs from August 21 through September 2.

Pictured: An LED sensory tabletop bubble tube. These tubes are often used in sensory rooms, helping to create a calmer and more soothing environment for those who experience anxiety.

A new addition we are excited to see at this year's Great New York State Fair is a dedicated sensory room and sensory friendly hours. The room, located in the Wegman's Art and Home Center, will be open every day during the Fair's 13-day run from 10 am until 5 pm.

What's more, in an effort to make this beloved event more accessible, the Fair will host its first-ever Sensory Friendly Day on August 27 from 9 am through 1 pm. During that time, many rides on the midway will operate without lights while sounds, music, and public address announcements will be reduced or limited to accommodate those with sensitivities.  

A big thank you to Governor Hochul and the Great New York State Fair for their continued effort to make one of New York State's best summer attractions more accessible to everyone.

Learn more about Sensory Friendly Day and the Sensory Room

Learn more about the Fair

Care management is at the heart of delivering the right mix of supports and services to meet a person’s needs and help them pursue their ambitions and goals. In 2018, OPWDD ended Medicaid Service Coordination and launched a new care management service to be offered throughout the state by seven new organizations known as Care Coordination Organizations or CCOs. Since that time, OPWDD has worked to provide extensive training for care managers, participate in CCO compliance reviews, gather in-depth information about each CCO, trouble shoot needed policy development and stay connected with the CCOs and their work. Today, OPWDD is taking stock of the service with a very focused look at CCOs and the care management services they provide and launching intensive collaborative initiatives aimed at improving the quality of the service.

Through a thorough program evaluation, OPWDD will review current procedures, examine promising practices and identify ways to improve the program. Online surveys, focus groups and personal interviews with people involved in and affected by care management will make sure OPWDD is informed by the people who know the program best. The work will be complete in early 2025 and result in a final report.

While this program review is ongoing, OPWDD has also been working to ensure CCOs are fully equipped to meet the needs of their enrolled members with quality services. In July, OPWDD held a two-day, intensive CCO Quality Summit, in which CCO leaders gathered to examine their capacity for clinical monitoring and support and begin collaborative planning for a Quality Improvement project focused on this function and formation of a new Clinical Community of Practice. The Community of Practice will allow CCOs to share best practices and continue to improve the quality of their services.

This summer and fall, OPWDD is continuing to meet with stakeholders from across the state to discuss the developmental disabilities service system and the many improvement initiatives that are underway. If you or a loved one has a developmental disability, receives OPWDD services or Care Management services or provides OPWDD services, there are opportunities to get involved and help OPWDD improve its operations and the programs that people rely on.

Improving Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Practices
In 2023, OPWDD launched a partnership with Georgetown University’s National Center for Cultural Competence (GU-NCCC) to advance policies and practices of diversity, equity and cultural and linguistic competence in all aspects of the developmental disability services system. Please watch for information on upcoming listening sessions for people with developmental disabilities and their families.

Examining Care Management Services
OPWDD and the American Institutes for Research (AIR) are conducting a comprehensive examination of OPWDD’s Care Coordination program. AIR will examine current procedures, identify opportunities to streamline processes, research promising practices and recommend ways to improve the care management program. To hear directly from people with disabilities or their family and advocates who use or interact with care management services, OPWDD is currently hosting an online survey which will be open until August 26.

Evaluating the Self-Direction Program
OPWDD is also conducting a thorough review of its Self-Direction Program. The review will compare the OPWDD program with those implemented in other states and countries, analyze service gaps, identify potential efficiencies and outline areas of inconsistency across the state. The review will help OPWDD improve the processes associated with Self-Direction, make the program accessible to more people and ensure it supports the best outcomes. OPWDD will soon announce important opportunities for people to help inform the evaluation.

For the most up-to-date information on public meetings, see the OPWDD public meetings page here: https://opwdd.ny.gov/community-involvement/public-meetings

• Developmental Disabilities Advisory Council Meeting
  Tuesday, September 24, 2024 11am - 2 pm
• FSS Quarterly Meeting
  Wednesday, September 25, 2024 11am - 3 pm
• Autism Spectrum Disorders Advisory Board Meeting
  Tuesday, November 13, 2024, Time to be announced