Jul 12, 2013

Powerful piece in NY Times about building a network for a disabled person

Building Networks for a ‘Good Life,’ Even After the Caregiver Is Gone
By David Bornstein
June 26, 2013
http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/opinionator/2013/06/26/in-networks-for-people-with-disabilities-a-good-life-is-the-goal/

This article mentions another powerful piece:

Paying for Finn: A special-needs child
By Jeff Howe
April 22, 2013

Jul 3, 2013

June 2013 new info from DDD

Both documents below are from DDD Supports Program page at http://www.state.nj.us/humanservices/ddd/programs/supportsprgm.html

Support Coordination Agencies as of 06/27/2013* -- PDF document with recently approved Support Coordinators; my copy of it is here

Support Coordination Agency Selection Form as of 6/11/2013 -- Word document for parents to fill out requesting a specific Support Coordinator; I made a PDF version here

May 23, 2013

5/23/13 webinar "New World Tour for Adults with Disabilities: Your Questions Answered!" from efnj.com


Some notes and quotes from NJ officials from this webinar

~ 2 programs: Supports Program SP  (when living with family) and CCW (when living not with family)
~ "We do not expect a waiting list for the Supports Program"
~ can get Supports Program while retaining your slot on CCW
~ both SP and CCW will have behavioral supports
~ lots of future flexibility and more money
~ 6/1 starting -- single service plan; single rate table for services (no matter which DDD programs you are with)
~ DDD will not be doing case management; instead you'll will have Support Coordinator  by some provider and DDD will be more for quality review
~ to find local providers, best resource is the director of your local office
~ talk to and tour those providers
~ DDD is vetting Support Coordination agencies; the list of these will be published in June; you'll be able to specify your preference for the Support Coordination agency, but no guarantee that you'll get your choice

~ DDD links that were in the webinar:
Supports Program (SP) page -- they are updating this page regularly
Person-Centered Planning Tool (PCPT)
Individualized Service Plan (ISP) -- because NJ is now "employment first" state, employment-related outcomes have to be in each year's ISP 

~ DDD has hired a firm to set up standard rates; kickoff for the study that the firm is doing was on May 9; rates study over next 5-6 months -- see rates page at www.state.nj.us/humanservices/ddd/providers/ratestudy.html

supported employment (aka job coaching)
~ individual supports -- occasional coaching
~ group supports -- for those needing more intense coaching, groups of a few people with a job coach

new programs to support "employment first"
~ career planing
~ pre-vocational training -- e.g. volunteering to learn skills, job clubs (peer-to-peer help), training (e.g. social skills, computer skills)

What will need to be approved at support coordination level vs on state level?
small stuff and things that are in the typical price range -- at support coordination level
if more than 25% of budget -- need state-level approval

Supports Program Provider Portal  (SPPP)
~ SPPP link http://www.state.nj.us/humanservices/ddd/programs/sppp.html
~ right now, they are only accepting applications for becoming "Support Coordination agencies"; applications for becoming a general provider will be accepted in July/Aug

DDD will be processing 2013 grads now; nothing to do right now for 2014 grads -- "don't call us, we will call you"  -- can just gather info and do provider visits

The video of the webinar is to be posted at familyresourcenetwork.org after the weekend.

I will update this post when the video is up.

The flurry of DDD updates -- April 2013


DDD's main site

has seen a flurry of changes this month, some of which have disappeared from this page and some which remain (at least as of 5/1/2013). There are probably other presentations floating around and the ones I've included here have a lot of overlap with each other. 

On 4/9 (and other dates) there was a webinar on "New Vision for Support Across the Life Course"



On 4/15 there was a webinar on “Initial Phase of Support Coordination for the DDD Supports Program.”


from DDD's page:
On Monday, April 15, 2013, the Division of Developmental Disabilities (Division) held a webinar for providers interested in providing support coordination entitled, “Initial Phase of Support Coordination for the DDD Supports Program.” The PowerPoint presentation for this webinar can be found below under Presentations: PowerPoints, YouTube. We have also created a document of questions that came up as a result of the webinar and the webinar can be found under Provider Information.

Webinar slides: Support Coordination:2013 Age-Outs and New Presenters 4-15-2013 at nj.gov
or my downloaded copy  

Webinar video: at DDD's YouTube playlist DDD Informational Forums

On 4/22 there was a webinar on “What 2013 Special Education Graduates Need to Know About the Adult Service System.”

from DDD's page (highlighting is mine):
The second webinar will be geared toward the 2013 Graduating class.  On Monday, April 22, 2013, there will be a webinar for 2013 Graduates entitled, “What 2013 Special Education Graduates Need to Know About the Adult Service System.” This special webinar is specifically for families of students with disabilities who are ending their special educational entitlement in June of 2013. The presentation will discuss entering the adult service system. Topics to be covered include: available services and supports post-graduation, accessing supports, eligibility requirements and care management.

Webinar slides: my downloaded copy   
Webinar video: vimeo.com/64652075

Apr 25, 2013

"DDD Today" flyer for 2013-04


"DDD Today" flyer for 2013-04 that contains info on some of the upcoming changes:
http://www.state.nj.us/humanservices/ddd/documents/ddd%20web%20current/News%20Center/DDDToday4.2012.pdf

Renewing NJ Transit reduced fare card for the disabled


When NJ Transit reduced fare card expires, new cards are supposed to be mailed to you automatically (this is the policy for a permanent disability), but here's what a fellow mom learned:

 - the new card is not issued automatically; you need to call about 2 weeks before expiration to request it
- their new phone number is 973-491-7112

Website:  http://www.njtransit.com/pdf/sf_tr_fo_reduced_passengers_RF_application.pdf