The State Budget Process: What Do I Need To Know?
For the IDD system, the budgeting process is often a roller-coaster of emotion and advocacy. Service levels, program funding, and provider rates are all determined by the biennial state budget. On December 1st, Governor Kate Brown released her Governor’s Recommended Budget (GRB), which is a detailed budget plan for the 2017-2019 biennium. To get a handle on where the GRB falls in the full budget process, let’s take a closer look at it from start to finish.
5 Myths About Brokerages Services
Information can be hard to come by sometimes in the IDD service system. We’ve heard these five myths thrown around like facts over the years, and we’re here to set the record straight.
Why Vision Matters
We have talked a lot about the series of policy changes back in late 2013 that resulted in the statewide Community First Choice K Plan, in consolidating services and payment into the eXPRS Plan of Care, and the rise of the Adult Needs Assessment as a primary point of departure for service planning and funding. Today, we believe that more change is necessary if Oregon is to regain a functional, sustainable structure for IDD services.
Nothing Endures But Change
We have talked a lot about the series of policy changes back in late 2013 that resulted in the statewide Community First Choice K Plan, in consolidating services and payment into the eXPRS Plan of Care, and the rise of the Adult Needs Assessment as a primary point of departure for service planning and funding. The entire system still struggles to find equilibrium in the wake of such wholesale change. Equity in service allocations, rates of pay, and time spent on face-to-face services vs. paperwork has been disrupted due to choices made during the implementation of these policies. Today, we believe that more change is necessary if Oregon is to regain a functional, sustainable structure for IDD services.
Vision, January 2016: A Second Look at the Future of IDD Services in Oregon
Nearly one year ago, the Oregon Support Services Association shared our February 2015 Vision for the Future of Disability Services in Oregon. It was meant to be a comprehensive look at what we want for our service system, with ideas about how we might get there. While the ultimate vision hasn’t changed substantially, the ideas for how we get there have been refined to fit a January 2016 understanding of the world. Click here to view the OSSA Vision For the Future of Disability Services in Oregon, January 2016.
This Week, Oregon Brokerage Association Celebrates Five Years
This weekend, the Oregon Support Services Association celebrates its 5 year anniversary! We formed the association in 2010 just as Oregon brokerages were about to celebrate a decade of services to the Intellectual and Developmental Disability (I/DD) community. The past five years have been filled with successes, challenges, and more twists and turns than anyone could have predicted. As many of you know, today’s terrain is significantly different.
A Diversity of Services Requires A Diversity of Providers
Community-based services are different. In 2001, Oregon made a deep investment in community supports when it began to develop Support Services Brokerages. This style of service, which seeks to serve people where and how they wish to live, is very support servicesdifferent from the institutional settings of the past. People make different choices when you let them, they express different needs than you might have anticipated--they surprise you. Oregon found that community-based services demanded a wider diversity of providers.
Back to the Future
Let's get one thing straight up front: this isn't new. Not at all. In fact, this has been around for years. In Oregon, we started to dream this dream fifteen years ago and more. Support Services Brokerages started here.
Choosing Between Vital Parts is a Losing Proposition for I/DD
When it comes to full lives for Oregonians with intellectual and developmental disabilities, we want it all. As a member of the Oregon I/DD Coalition, OSSA helped to identify four top priorities for the 2015 legislative budgeting session. These four priorities, together, represent a pathway to richer lives for Oregonians with I/DD.
The Time for Advocacy is Now!
Distressing news out of the capitol: lawmakers may be looking to cut $140 million from human services in order to fund a budget “hole.” The question is, what does a $140 million cut to human services look like? Though plan hours are not likely to be cut, vulnerable areas include provider pay rates and Brokerage funding for Personal Agents. Brokerage Personal Agents and direct support providers have worked to implement dozens of system changes over the past two years. With these changes has come a lot of additional workload and responsibilities, which is already cutting into the bottom line: time spent with Brokerage customers. Any reduction in funding is going to cut further into that time.
DD Awareness Event Honors Margaret Theisen as DD Champion
Last Friday March 6th, the Oregon Council on Developmental Disabilities hosted the 2015 DD Awareness Celebration kickoff event. As part of the festivities, attendees enjoyed guest speakers Robin Shobe and state DD Director Lilia Teninty, and the unveiling of the 2015 DD Awareness poster "I Have Something to Say," highlighting adaptive technology, with participation from poster model Maddie Zielinski. Sherri Osburn, Vice Chair of the Oregon Council, served as emcee, and Senator Sara Gelser read a message to the community from Governor Kate Brown.
OSSA's Vision for the Future of Disability Services in Oregon
Sometimes, in the midst of change, it is hard to see the way forward. Oregon's system of services to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities once felt like it had a clear identity as a national leader for progressive, community-based service. We closed down institutions. We gave control to the people using the services. We showed that giving people self-determination can not only be right, it can also be cost-effective, good business.
Who is OSSA?
Dear Personal Agents, Brokerage office staff, Lead Personal Agents, Operations Managers, Fiscal Managers, accounting staff, Provider Coordinators, Resource Managers, and every other Brokerage staff member, At the start of February 2015, you hired me to serve as your Executive Director. Did you know that? The Oregon Support Services Association represents the 13 Brokerages around the state of Oregon. OSSA’s board of directors is comprised of the 13 Executive Directors of each Brokerage.
Oregon I/DD Advocates Testify to Senate Committee on eXPRS State Payment System Implementation Concerns
Senator Sara Gelser, Chair of Senate Committee On Human Services and Early ChildhoodOn Tuesday, Oregon Support Services Association's Executive Director Katie Rose testified to a Senate committee regarding the state's roll out and implementation of its payment system, eXPRS.Additional testimony was provided by Margaret Theisen (CEO of the state's largest brokerage Full Access), Chris Burnett (Executive Director of Oregon Rehabilitation Association,) Gary Zenzen and Chris Schwartz (from provider organization Partnerships in Community Living,) Lilia Teninty (Director of Oregon's Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Program,) and Don Erickson (Chief Operating Officer for Oregon's Aging, Disability, and Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities Programs.)
Brokerage Association Announces Leadership Changes in 2015
In the spirit of the new year, the Oregon Support Services Association announces two changes in leadership. Larry Deal, Executive Director of Independence Northwest brokerage, has assumed the role of OSSA President. He follows in the footsteps of Margaret Theisen, whose tenure spanned the birth of the brokerage association and four incredible years of unprecedented growth and change.
