March 14, 2022
Minutes
Minutes
Attendees via Zoom: Alli Vercoe, Betty Jones, Carol Snyder, Heidi Mansir, Margaret Cardoza, Mark Kemmerle, Titus O’Rourke, Stephanie Capano Hatcher, Trinity Baker, Bryan Gordon, Todd Goodwin, Bonnie Robinson, Robin Levesque, Abby Stivers, Maggie Hoffman, Debbie Dionne, Jamie Whitehouse, Jessica Wright, Linda Lee, Craig Patterson, Lorraine DeFreitas, Betsy Hopkins, Sarah Robinson, Monique Stairs, Rachel Dyer, Nancy Peavy, Todd Goodwin, Brenda Smith, Kim Humphrey, David Cowing, Jennifer Kinnelly, Teresa Barrows, Berry, Michaela York, Staci Converse, Heather Hannafin, Amy Moller, Gregory Bush, Jen Jello, Helen Hemminger, Ryan Gallant, DRM, MCA, Vickey Rand, Cullen Ryan, and a few people who joined the meeting in progress and/or left prior to its conclusion.
Cullen Ryan introduced himself and welcomed the group. Minutes from the last meeting were accepted. For the sake of time, Cullen read the names of participants.
Featured Speaker: Trinity Baker, Project Manager, Maine Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program. www.maineombudsman.org Topic: An overview of the Maine Direct Care Professional Focus Group Report.
Cullen: Today I’m pleased to welcome Trinity Baker, Project Manager of the Maine Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program presenting an overview of the Maine Direct Care Professional Focus Group Report. Thank you for being here today, Trinity!
Trinity Baker: I am really excited to share this review of our Focus Group Report with you. It was an amazing project!
Begin Presentation (Click here for the presentation) (Click here for the full report)
Discussion:
-It was asked how people would go about getting on the Advisory Council.
Trinity: All participants were offered to apply for the Council. We had numerous applications. We wanted to ensure the Council had people from all over the state. We have offered a seat on the Council to everyone we need currently. However, we’re developing a plan for when people are interested in the future and there are openings.
-A parent stated that this is a great effort.
Trinity: Thank you! The dedication that these DSPs have is immense. They truly love what they do.
-It was asked how many of the participants directly work with people with ID/DD.
Trinity: I want to say there were six people out of the 58 participants, and there are two people who work with people with ID/DD on the Advisory Council.
-A self-advocate asked to whom the Advisory Board reports.
Trinity: That’s a great question and we’re still working that out. We’ll be reaching out to legislators etc. with invitations to share information. Everyone on the Council has a leadership background and they will be receiving education and training on how they can best use their voice for the policy-making side.
-It was asked where the minutes for the Council’s meeting will be accessible once the group starts meeting.
Trinity: We will be developing a section on the Maine Long-Term Care Ombudsman website with all kinds of information pertinent to the group.
Cullen: I want to thank you for taking the time to present this today and all that work that went into the presentation and the Full Report. Thank you again, Trinity, well done!
End Presentation (round of applause would have occurred were it not for everyone being muted and on Zoom)
Featured Speakers: Betsy Hopkins, Associate Director, Developmental Disability and Brain Injury Services, and Abby Stivers, Director of Workforce Initiatives, DHHS-OADS. www.maine.gov/dhhs/oads Topic: The OADS Portability and Advancement Training Initiative, with a listening session to follow.
Cullen: I am happy to also have Betsy Hopkins, Associate Director of Developmental Disability and Brain Injury Services, and Abby Stivers, who is OADS’ new Director of Workforce Initiatives, presenting on the OADS Portability and Advancement Training Initiative. The presentation will be followed by a listening session. Thank you, as always, for being here, Betsy, and welcome to the group, Abby!
Betsy Hopkins: Some of you may have already attended one of the three previous listening sessions we had on this topic. This is about our plans to consider a longer-term project in combination with other offices within DHHS. This is really looking at the portability and advancement training of individuals who enter this field in the following job titles: Personal Support Specialist (PSS), Direct Support Professional (DSP), and Mental Health Rehabilitation Technician 1 (MHRT-1). I want to introduce Abby Stivers, OADS’ new Director of Workforce Initiatives, who will be assisting with the presentation as well.
Abby Stivers: We’re very interested in your comments and feedback around all of this. (Abby provided her email address for any additional comments: [email protected])
Begin presentation. (Click here for the presentation)
Listening Session:
-This is a great plan. There are numerous things that are common to each modality/job. If a group of standard trainings could be agreed upon, then have the sector-specific trainings, it would be fantastic.
-A parent said she really likes this idea a lot. Having certain specialties or certain tracts would be very beneficial. For the sector-specific tracts, if someone has these special skills, they ought to have the support and tools to do a train the trainer model for other providers. If there are sector-specific trainings, one on recreation would be nice.
-It would be great if Behavior Health Professionals (BHPs) for Children could be added into the job titles they’re focusing on, because they share numerous common trainings/credentials. A former Special Educator echoed this comment and suggested looking at Ed Tech credentials to see how transferable they are.
-A provider said they are fortunate and grateful to employ a significant number of people from different cultural backgrounds. He said something he hears regularly, and they wrestle with is not just a language barrier but also barriers with having things be in context culturally. This is something that ought to be considered in this initiative.
-Training pertaining to sensory, emotional, and social issues as a standard would be advantageous.
-There should be some sort of mental health training component across the board.
-A parent said that Personal Support Specialists appear to help people more with basic daily living skills, and DSPs help people in the community. She stated that her child needs both.
-Including employee relation program topics in trainings would be extremely beneficial, such as addressing burnout, managing stress, self-care, etc.
Cullen: My son was 9 when this Coalition started; he’s now 25. By the age of 9, he had been through 30 some direct support professionals. I stopped counting long ago, but this pattern has continued throughout his life. His staff have often times abruptly left his life after being such a significant part of it. For skills and training, I think there could be a focus on understanding and developing proper boundaries in a therapeutic relationship. Work should include preparation for times where there is staff (or other relationship) turnover.
-It was asked if other states are doing this work.
Cullen: I want to thank you both for coming here and listening today, for being so proactive in this process, and for allowing people to think with you as you think through how best to optimize this. Thank you both again!
End Presentation (round of applause would have occurred were it not for everyone being muted and on Zoom)
DHHS – Office of Aging and Disability Services (OADS) - www.maine.gov/dhhs/oads
Betsy Hopkins: I wanted to let people know that we’re holding a Behavioral health Support and Crisis Services Analysis kickoff meeting with the National Center for START Services (NCSS) on Wednesday, April 20, 2022 from 2:30 – 4:00 pm. This meeting is a first step in improving service delivery for individuals in Maine who have an intellectual/developmental disability (ID/DD) and a mental health condition (ID/DD-MH). The Department contracted with The University of New Hampshire Institute on Disability to study mental health and crisis services for people who have ID/DD in the state of Maine and to make recommendations for enhancing and improving those services. The assessment will inform efforts to improve and streamline our crisis and behavioral health systems statewide with the goal of improving the mental and behavioral health of our citizens. To assist in this initiative, DHHS is asking system stakeholders, including service providers, people receiving these services, and family members, advocates and others to participate in a 90-minute on-line meeting to discuss the analysis process, review survey tools and goals of the systems analysis, and describe the role of the Task Force/Advisory Council.
Also, we’ve been doing some work with University of Missouri, Kansas City on Charting the LifeCourse. We’ll be doing some joint trainings with them over the next couple of months, targeted to various groups. These trainings will provide opportunities to learn more and provide feedback on person-centered planning and the Charting the LifeCourse initiative.
Additionally, the March 14th DHHS Blog post, Maine DHHS Provides an Additional $4 Million to Fund Bonuses for Direct Support Workers | Department of Health and Human Services, was just released.
Cullen: Thank you very much again, Betsy!
DHHS – Office of Child and Family Services (OCFS) - www.maine.gov/dhhs/ocfs
Teresa Barrows could only attend the first part of the meeting but sent the following update in advance of the meeting: We’re continuing working with OADS to work on a smoother transition from Children’s Behavioral Health Services and the Office of Aging and Disability Services. Betsy and I will be presenting on this for this group next month.
DOL – Division of Vocational Rehabilitation - www.maine.gov/rehab/dvr
Libby Stone-Sterling was not able to attend to provide an update.
SMACT (Southern Maine Advisory Council on Transition) The SMACT website and the Coalition website are cross-linked for convenience and information-sharing. As a reminder, if you want to be on the email list feel free to email Nancy ([email protected]). SMACT meetings occur the first Friday of each month throughout the school year.
Nancy Peavy: The March meeting was on Friday, 3/4 and featured Bangor Savings Bank presenting on Maine ABLE Accounts. A recording of this presentation is now available on the website. The April meeting will be on Friday, 4/1 and will include Gabe Smith, Community Services Department Street Outreach Coordinator, from New Beginnings. Each year New Beginnings provides hundreds of children, teens, and young adults with opportunities for the safety, connection, and growth that all people need to thrive. New Beginnings has served runaway and homeless youth and Maine families in crisis since 1980. Their complete continuum of services provides an essential “safety net” for young people in Maine who don’t have stable family support and are at risk of homelessness. Gabe’s presentation will include information about their critical mission and vision for this population of youth.
Disability Rights Maine (DRM) Update: No update.
LD 924 Task Force Update:
Linda Lee: We were originally tasked with meeting four times over the course of a year. However, between the Task Force itself and the four different subgroups we’ve broken off into, we’re meeting almost weekly. These groups include such a broad group of essential stakeholders. We have about 40 people in these areas all looking at the same topic in the same room, and the conversations that result from that are wonderful. We’re so used to being siloed, and this is truly collaborative and inclusive. We’re trying to figure out what we need to be asking. We are now trying to determine what questions we need to be asking for which we could provide data.
Federal & Housing Updates:
Cullen:
State Legislature Update:
Laura Cordes – MACSP (Maine Association for Community Service Providers) could not attend today’s meeting due to the HHS Committee holding a Work Session today for their remaining decisions on the supplemental budget. She stated that the AFA Committee will hear the HHS Committee budget recommendations Friday morning in committee. Laura has updated the Google Doc amended for this Session that this group has been reviewing in each meeting. (Click here for the Google Doc for the 2nd Session of the 130th Legislature.).
-Two bills that passed last year (LD 255 An Act To Ensure Student Success that directs the Department of Education to develop a plan for early intervention services through a quasi-independent government agency structure, with the Department of Education providing oversight; and LD 386 An Act To Improve Operations at the Department of Education that ended up in a 'Resolve, Directing the Department of Education To Establish the Process for Transitioning the Provision of Early Childhood Special Education Services for Children with Disabilities from 4 Years of Age to under 6 Years of Age from the Regional Child Development Services System to School Administrative Units') directed DOE to form a stakeholder group report back to the Education Committee this year regarding recommendations for delivering early intervention and preschool special education services. It is anticipated that the Committee will propose a bill on 3/16 pertaining to this. It was stated that now is the time to reach out to Committee Members to ensure Legislators work with stakeholders and partners, using the available information, to develop legislation to redesign a more effective system of developmental services for Maine children. People were encouraged to reach out to Education Committee Members (when you click the link scroll down and Committee Members are listed on the left-hand side).
Here are some updates on bills that this group has been following, including where they currently stand (more information is available on the Google Doc).
Cullen: Legislators are incredibly busy, and a lot is happening very quickly. I would encourage everyone to watch what is being considered in terms of bills, take advantage of opportunities to provide education through testimony, and continue reaching out and advocating for the funding needed to optimize the service system for people in Maine with ID/DD.
Other Business:
The next meeting will be on Monday, April 11, 2022, 12-2pm, via Zoom*.
Featured Speakers: Teresa Barrows, Children’s Behavioral Health Services Manager, DHHS-OCFS, and Betsy Hopkins, Associate Director, Developmental Disability and Brain Injury Services, DHHS-OADS.
Topic: An update on the transition work between Children’s Behavioral Health Services and the Office of Aging and Disability Services to optimize transitions.
Unless changed, Coalition meetings are on the 2nd Monday of the month from 12-2pm.
(In 2022 the October meeting will be the 3rd Monday due to the holiday)
The Maine Coalition for Housing and Quality Services provides equal opportunity for meeting participation. If you wish to attend but require an interpreter or other accommodation, please forward your request two weeks prior to the monthly meeting to [email protected].
Cullen Ryan introduced himself and welcomed the group. Minutes from the last meeting were accepted. For the sake of time, Cullen read the names of participants.
Featured Speaker: Trinity Baker, Project Manager, Maine Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program. www.maineombudsman.org Topic: An overview of the Maine Direct Care Professional Focus Group Report.
Cullen: Today I’m pleased to welcome Trinity Baker, Project Manager of the Maine Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program presenting an overview of the Maine Direct Care Professional Focus Group Report. Thank you for being here today, Trinity!
Trinity Baker: I am really excited to share this review of our Focus Group Report with you. It was an amazing project!
Begin Presentation (Click here for the presentation) (Click here for the full report)
Discussion:
-It was asked how people would go about getting on the Advisory Council.
Trinity: All participants were offered to apply for the Council. We had numerous applications. We wanted to ensure the Council had people from all over the state. We have offered a seat on the Council to everyone we need currently. However, we’re developing a plan for when people are interested in the future and there are openings.
-A parent stated that this is a great effort.
Trinity: Thank you! The dedication that these DSPs have is immense. They truly love what they do.
-It was asked how many of the participants directly work with people with ID/DD.
Trinity: I want to say there were six people out of the 58 participants, and there are two people who work with people with ID/DD on the Advisory Council.
-A self-advocate asked to whom the Advisory Board reports.
Trinity: That’s a great question and we’re still working that out. We’ll be reaching out to legislators etc. with invitations to share information. Everyone on the Council has a leadership background and they will be receiving education and training on how they can best use their voice for the policy-making side.
-It was asked where the minutes for the Council’s meeting will be accessible once the group starts meeting.
Trinity: We will be developing a section on the Maine Long-Term Care Ombudsman website with all kinds of information pertinent to the group.
Cullen: I want to thank you for taking the time to present this today and all that work that went into the presentation and the Full Report. Thank you again, Trinity, well done!
End Presentation (round of applause would have occurred were it not for everyone being muted and on Zoom)
Featured Speakers: Betsy Hopkins, Associate Director, Developmental Disability and Brain Injury Services, and Abby Stivers, Director of Workforce Initiatives, DHHS-OADS. www.maine.gov/dhhs/oads Topic: The OADS Portability and Advancement Training Initiative, with a listening session to follow.
Cullen: I am happy to also have Betsy Hopkins, Associate Director of Developmental Disability and Brain Injury Services, and Abby Stivers, who is OADS’ new Director of Workforce Initiatives, presenting on the OADS Portability and Advancement Training Initiative. The presentation will be followed by a listening session. Thank you, as always, for being here, Betsy, and welcome to the group, Abby!
Betsy Hopkins: Some of you may have already attended one of the three previous listening sessions we had on this topic. This is about our plans to consider a longer-term project in combination with other offices within DHHS. This is really looking at the portability and advancement training of individuals who enter this field in the following job titles: Personal Support Specialist (PSS), Direct Support Professional (DSP), and Mental Health Rehabilitation Technician 1 (MHRT-1). I want to introduce Abby Stivers, OADS’ new Director of Workforce Initiatives, who will be assisting with the presentation as well.
Abby Stivers: We’re very interested in your comments and feedback around all of this. (Abby provided her email address for any additional comments: [email protected])
Begin presentation. (Click here for the presentation)
Listening Session:
-This is a great plan. There are numerous things that are common to each modality/job. If a group of standard trainings could be agreed upon, then have the sector-specific trainings, it would be fantastic.
-A parent said she really likes this idea a lot. Having certain specialties or certain tracts would be very beneficial. For the sector-specific tracts, if someone has these special skills, they ought to have the support and tools to do a train the trainer model for other providers. If there are sector-specific trainings, one on recreation would be nice.
-It would be great if Behavior Health Professionals (BHPs) for Children could be added into the job titles they’re focusing on, because they share numerous common trainings/credentials. A former Special Educator echoed this comment and suggested looking at Ed Tech credentials to see how transferable they are.
-A provider said they are fortunate and grateful to employ a significant number of people from different cultural backgrounds. He said something he hears regularly, and they wrestle with is not just a language barrier but also barriers with having things be in context culturally. This is something that ought to be considered in this initiative.
-Training pertaining to sensory, emotional, and social issues as a standard would be advantageous.
-There should be some sort of mental health training component across the board.
-A parent said that Personal Support Specialists appear to help people more with basic daily living skills, and DSPs help people in the community. She stated that her child needs both.
- Betsy: That is why we think having a base credential could be helpful, so we include basic personal supports as well as how to help people engage with their communities and/or the workforce.
- Betsy: We heard that feedback as well in previous listening sessions – that it’s very important to have the voice of the person receiving these services involved in the planning of the curriculum.
- Abby: Respect for the people to whom they’re providing services is definitely something that we’ve heard in previous listening sessions.
- Betsy: There is such a need for more people to work in this field, so we’re open to any and all ideas. But one of our hopes in building it this way is to build a career ladder starting with baseline curriculum, and with this there would be a career path for someone to take with other certificates and training to move on to a specialty area. We’re heard from providers that it would be helpful to provide some leadership/supervisory training options for people to help them move up the ladder in this field. Then, look to see if any of this can be used towards credits at a technical college, etc. We’re definitely at the beginning stages of seeing how these credentials can build on one another to get people in the field and help them stay in it by offering opportunities for advancement through different training options and credentials.
-Including employee relation program topics in trainings would be extremely beneficial, such as addressing burnout, managing stress, self-care, etc.
Cullen: My son was 9 when this Coalition started; he’s now 25. By the age of 9, he had been through 30 some direct support professionals. I stopped counting long ago, but this pattern has continued throughout his life. His staff have often times abruptly left his life after being such a significant part of it. For skills and training, I think there could be a focus on understanding and developing proper boundaries in a therapeutic relationship. Work should include preparation for times where there is staff (or other relationship) turnover.
-It was asked if other states are doing this work.
- Betsy: I should have mentioned at the beginning that we’re working with the Muskie School on this work, who is looking at other states as well.
- Abby: Tennessee has a program that we’ll be looking at, but Maine is actually quite far ahead of other states in looking at all of this.
Cullen: I want to thank you both for coming here and listening today, for being so proactive in this process, and for allowing people to think with you as you think through how best to optimize this. Thank you both again!
End Presentation (round of applause would have occurred were it not for everyone being muted and on Zoom)
DHHS – Office of Aging and Disability Services (OADS) - www.maine.gov/dhhs/oads
Betsy Hopkins: I wanted to let people know that we’re holding a Behavioral health Support and Crisis Services Analysis kickoff meeting with the National Center for START Services (NCSS) on Wednesday, April 20, 2022 from 2:30 – 4:00 pm. This meeting is a first step in improving service delivery for individuals in Maine who have an intellectual/developmental disability (ID/DD) and a mental health condition (ID/DD-MH). The Department contracted with The University of New Hampshire Institute on Disability to study mental health and crisis services for people who have ID/DD in the state of Maine and to make recommendations for enhancing and improving those services. The assessment will inform efforts to improve and streamline our crisis and behavioral health systems statewide with the goal of improving the mental and behavioral health of our citizens. To assist in this initiative, DHHS is asking system stakeholders, including service providers, people receiving these services, and family members, advocates and others to participate in a 90-minute on-line meeting to discuss the analysis process, review survey tools and goals of the systems analysis, and describe the role of the Task Force/Advisory Council.
Also, we’ve been doing some work with University of Missouri, Kansas City on Charting the LifeCourse. We’ll be doing some joint trainings with them over the next couple of months, targeted to various groups. These trainings will provide opportunities to learn more and provide feedback on person-centered planning and the Charting the LifeCourse initiative.
Additionally, the March 14th DHHS Blog post, Maine DHHS Provides an Additional $4 Million to Fund Bonuses for Direct Support Workers | Department of Health and Human Services, was just released.
Cullen: Thank you very much again, Betsy!
DHHS – Office of Child and Family Services (OCFS) - www.maine.gov/dhhs/ocfs
Teresa Barrows could only attend the first part of the meeting but sent the following update in advance of the meeting: We’re continuing working with OADS to work on a smoother transition from Children’s Behavioral Health Services and the Office of Aging and Disability Services. Betsy and I will be presenting on this for this group next month.
DOL – Division of Vocational Rehabilitation - www.maine.gov/rehab/dvr
Libby Stone-Sterling was not able to attend to provide an update.
SMACT (Southern Maine Advisory Council on Transition) The SMACT website and the Coalition website are cross-linked for convenience and information-sharing. As a reminder, if you want to be on the email list feel free to email Nancy ([email protected]). SMACT meetings occur the first Friday of each month throughout the school year.
Nancy Peavy: The March meeting was on Friday, 3/4 and featured Bangor Savings Bank presenting on Maine ABLE Accounts. A recording of this presentation is now available on the website. The April meeting will be on Friday, 4/1 and will include Gabe Smith, Community Services Department Street Outreach Coordinator, from New Beginnings. Each year New Beginnings provides hundreds of children, teens, and young adults with opportunities for the safety, connection, and growth that all people need to thrive. New Beginnings has served runaway and homeless youth and Maine families in crisis since 1980. Their complete continuum of services provides an essential “safety net” for young people in Maine who don’t have stable family support and are at risk of homelessness. Gabe’s presentation will include information about their critical mission and vision for this population of youth.
Disability Rights Maine (DRM) Update: No update.
LD 924 Task Force Update:
Linda Lee: We were originally tasked with meeting four times over the course of a year. However, between the Task Force itself and the four different subgroups we’ve broken off into, we’re meeting almost weekly. These groups include such a broad group of essential stakeholders. We have about 40 people in these areas all looking at the same topic in the same room, and the conversations that result from that are wonderful. We’re so used to being siloed, and this is truly collaborative and inclusive. We’re trying to figure out what we need to be asking. We are now trying to determine what questions we need to be asking for which we could provide data.
Federal & Housing Updates:
Cullen:
- FY 22 Budget: The House voted on 3/9, with the Senate following suit on 3/10, on a final deal to fund the government for FY22 through an omnibus spending package.
- FY 22 T-HUD Budget: T-HUD funding was included as part of the larger omnibus package for FY 22. Overall, the spending bill provides HUD programs with $53.7 billion, or $4 billion above FY21 enacted levels. Despite this increase, overall, the bill funds HUD programs less than the president’s FY22 budget request, the House proposal, and the Senate proposal. The bill provides:
- $24.1 billion to fully renew existing vouchers; and
- $280 million for new Housing Choice Vouchers, which CBPP estimates will fund approximately 30,000 new vouchers.
- Build Back Better Act: Unfortunately, this appears likely to be slimmed down and put through in pieces, jeopardizing content. Recent reports suggests that housing is not currently included in the priorities for the reconfigured/slimmed down bill. Advocates are urging Members of Congress to retain the historic investment in affordable housing.
- $25 billion in rental assistance
- $65 billion to preserve public housing infrastructure
- $15 billion for the national Housing Trust Fund (HTF).
- National Housing Trust Fund: There are various efforts in Congress to increase the National Housing Trust Fund, including the Decent, Affordable, Safe Housing for All (DASH) Act which would provide $10 billion in the Housing Trust Fund (HTF) for the next ten years to states to acquire, develop, or rehabilitate deeply affordable housing. In Maine, resources from the HTF are the primary funding mechanism for supportive housing development.
State Legislature Update:
Laura Cordes – MACSP (Maine Association for Community Service Providers) could not attend today’s meeting due to the HHS Committee holding a Work Session today for their remaining decisions on the supplemental budget. She stated that the AFA Committee will hear the HHS Committee budget recommendations Friday morning in committee. Laura has updated the Google Doc amended for this Session that this group has been reviewing in each meeting. (Click here for the Google Doc for the 2nd Session of the 130th Legislature.).
-Two bills that passed last year (LD 255 An Act To Ensure Student Success that directs the Department of Education to develop a plan for early intervention services through a quasi-independent government agency structure, with the Department of Education providing oversight; and LD 386 An Act To Improve Operations at the Department of Education that ended up in a 'Resolve, Directing the Department of Education To Establish the Process for Transitioning the Provision of Early Childhood Special Education Services for Children with Disabilities from 4 Years of Age to under 6 Years of Age from the Regional Child Development Services System to School Administrative Units') directed DOE to form a stakeholder group report back to the Education Committee this year regarding recommendations for delivering early intervention and preschool special education services. It is anticipated that the Committee will propose a bill on 3/16 pertaining to this. It was stated that now is the time to reach out to Committee Members to ensure Legislators work with stakeholders and partners, using the available information, to develop legislation to redesign a more effective system of developmental services for Maine children. People were encouraged to reach out to Education Committee Members (when you click the link scroll down and Committee Members are listed on the left-hand side).
Here are some updates on bills that this group has been following, including where they currently stand (more information is available on the Google Doc).
- LD 1773, An Act to Make MaineCare Rules Pertaining to Global Home And Community-Based Services
- Current Status: Public Hearing was held on 1/28; Work Session held 2/24 in front of the HHS Committee: Divided Report.
- LD 1774, An Act Clarifying The Right To Legal Representation For Individuals Subject To Guardianship
- Current Status: Passed to be Enacted by the House on 2/23 and the Senate on 3/9. Now the bill goes to the Governor for signature.
- Per this bill, the amended code applies to all adult guardianships, including adult guardianships established before September 1, 2019.
- LD 1867, An Act To Codify MaineCare Rate System Reform
- Current Status: Public Hearing held on 2/2; Work Sessions held on 3/2 and 3/4 in front of the HHS Committee: Voted OTP-AM.
- This bill formalizes the Department’s reimbursement rate system reform effort by establishing rate development principles and processes, including specifying rule-making requirements for rate adjustments among other things.
- LD 2003, An Act To Implement the Recommendations of the Commission To Increase Housing Opportunities in Maine by Studying Zoning and Land Use Restrictions (this bill is not on the bill tracking Google Doc, but Cullen provided information on it during the meeting)
- Current Status: Public Hearing held on 3/7; Work Session scheduled for 3/16 at 10am in front of the Labor and Housing Committee.
- This bill would make changes to zoning and land use laws based upon the recommendations in the report of the Commission To Increase Housing Opportunities in Maine by Studying Zoning and Land Use Restrictions. These changes include making it easier to develop affordable housing, specifically smaller 4-unit permanent supportive housing.
Cullen: Legislators are incredibly busy, and a lot is happening very quickly. I would encourage everyone to watch what is being considered in terms of bills, take advantage of opportunities to provide education through testimony, and continue reaching out and advocating for the funding needed to optimize the service system for people in Maine with ID/DD.
Other Business:
- Cullen provided a preview of three one pagers that Speaking Up For Us has put together which will be reviewed at our next meeting in April by Monique Stairs. The language is quite similar to the Coalition’s DD Continuum of Care, building on some of the same themes in beautifully designed formats.
- Click here for information on the Maine Parent Federation 2022 Annual Virtual Conference.
The next meeting will be on Monday, April 11, 2022, 12-2pm, via Zoom*.
Featured Speakers: Teresa Barrows, Children’s Behavioral Health Services Manager, DHHS-OCFS, and Betsy Hopkins, Associate Director, Developmental Disability and Brain Injury Services, DHHS-OADS.
Topic: An update on the transition work between Children’s Behavioral Health Services and the Office of Aging and Disability Services to optimize transitions.
Unless changed, Coalition meetings are on the 2nd Monday of the month from 12-2pm.
(In 2022 the October meeting will be the 3rd Monday due to the holiday)
The Maine Coalition for Housing and Quality Services provides equal opportunity for meeting participation. If you wish to attend but require an interpreter or other accommodation, please forward your request two weeks prior to the monthly meeting to [email protected].