The Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) is extending the public comment period on the revised draft Specialized I/DD Plans - Provider Led (SIP-PL) Qualification Document containing the requirements for the creation of specialized Managed Care Plans to June 25, 2020. 

A link to the draft document can be found here.  Comments can be sent to: [email protected].

Governance Webinar 

Dr. John Kowalczyk, President of The Arc New York, will be hosting a webinar on Wednesday, May 20th at 1:00 p.m. to discuss the Organization's Governance post-COVID. The webinar will consist of the following internal panelists and topics:  

• Dr. John Kowalczyk, President, The Arc New York - Overview and Lead Panelist 
• Kate Jerian, General Counsel, The Arc New York - Legal Issues, By-Law Changes
• Joseph Zifchock, Board Treasurer, The Arc New York - Financial Considerations
• Kirk Lewis, Executive Director, Schenectady ARC - Relationship of Executive Directors in Governance
• Laura Kennedy, Co-Chairperson Membership Workgroup, The Arc New York - Membership, Advocacy, etc., post-COVID

You can register for the webinar here. 

Correction to iV4 Return to Work Webinar

In yesterday's update we shared a webinar offering by iV4 on strategies for returning to work for business leaders and IT professionals. However, there was an issue with the original link we shared. If you are interested in registering for the webinar please do so here. 

Individual Resource Limits Challenges

During the COVID-19 public health crisis, we are experiencing increasing challenges with managing individual's funds within the resource limits established by the Social Security Administration (SSA). Neither The Office for People With Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) nor SSA have offered specific remedies for this situation. We recently discussed this on our weekly calls with Executive Directors.

NYSARC Trust Services remains a viable option for some individuals who are facing assets in excess of the resource limits. They can often turn around new accounts within a few business days, providing they have all necessary information. We encourage Chapters to contact the NYSARC trust team at 518-439-8323 to walk through the individual scenarios and determine if a trust is the solution.

We also connected with Kristina Cunningham of Care Design New York (CDNY). Prior to joining CDNY, Ms. Cunningham was a district manager at OPWDD in the Revenue Support Field Operations unit. She is well versed in the area of benefits and assets management. She shared the following strategies to consider pending the release of any official guidance.

Ms. Cunningham also shared that, for SSI, the person can have more than $2,000 throughout a given month, but they have to be back under the limit by the first of the following month. If they are over the threshold at that time, the excess must be reported to SSA. Payment would resume the following month if they are back under the limits.

Community Foundation Grant 

The Arc New York was awarded a $25,000 grant from the Community Foundation for the Greater Capital Region, as part of their COVID-19 Response Fund. The grant is being used to offset the cost of providing critical personal protective equipment (PPE) for our Capital Region Chapters. We extend our thanks to the Community Foundation for their commitment to supporting individuals with disabilities, our dedicated staff, and community-based organizations throughout the Capital Region.