John's usual--
The cold weather is really hanging on this year! I wonder if that means we're in for a sweltering June.
I appreciate everyone's flexibility over the past 2 weeks as CLI juggled staff to fill in for others. Now that the bowling league season is done I have more time to jump in and help with less greasy endeavors.
I've already talked in other newsletters about the state-wide issue of finding people to work in the DD field. It's a real problem for CLI. As a country for the last 20+ years we have underinvested in direct care in the DD field, in nursing homes, and home health aides. If we don't work to correct this quickly, the problem is only going to get worse as existing employees retire or take a higher paying jobs out of personal care fields.
I'm grateful to DODD's leadership in creating the new small-group, community-based service codes in 2021. CLI bills these codes for our new small-group CLIMB services. Even though Ohio changed its laws almost 10 years ago, mandating that Medicaid services must be provided in non-segregated settings, it wasn't until the pandemic that the funding switched from group sizes of 12 people per staff. Prior to 2021, the only way to generate positive margins was to provide services in facility-based, segregated settings that were opposite of the mandate. Pre-pandemic CLI was losing money every time we provided community-based services. Now, thanks to DODD's leadership, CLI is able to create a sustainable business model around community-integrated services. Our two top priorities are to continue to improve the quality of these new CLIMB services and to dramatically increase direct care staff earnings.
Anyway, one of the things that I've been helping with the past couple weeks is on the shop floor on Monday mornings. Firelands Local has had a pretty steady order of Berry Plastics buckets this year. James has been doing a good job expanding paid employment opportunities-- both in the workshop and out at other area employers like MTD.
A quick sidenote-- this doesn't mean that the workshop is open the way it used to be. It's never going to be a place where huge groups of people hang out again. Now there are never more than 10-15 people max in that whole building-- and only during their scheduled work shift. We know that people need money, and we will help our clients earn money if that is one of their ambitions. However, those paid work experiences in the workshop must be part of a larger array of CLI services, including small group community-based CLIMB services so that we can show that we are working toward ISP goals related to community employment, independent living skills, etc.
Thanks (as always) for your support. Have a good week. Keep those hands clean. COVID, the flu & other bugs aren't gone. Be smart and keep yourself and those you love safe.
John
