MOHR impact
January 2022
New dollars snub day services, focus on homes
A short-term fix to staff shortages among Minnesota group home providers and in-home services for people with disabilities will provide added funding for hiring bonuses and incentives for direct support professionals. Day and employment services for people with disabilities were not included in the funding.

“While we fully support your recognition and emergency relief to these people, this is a delicately balanced system and we all work together,” said Julie Johnson, president of MOHR. -more-
From youth ministry to DAC leader
There are days when Tim Stanoch, 63, goes out the northern Minnesota DAC’s front door to make sure there’s no church steeple on top- he says with a chuckle.

The longtime youth minister is the new executive director of Ita-Bel-Koo DAC which serves 16 people with disabilities in Northome, Minn. As the only administrative person, he works with a staff of five. About 70 miles from the Canadian border, Northome is 43 miles northeast of Bemidji.

Stanoch is one example of the idea that one need not come from the disability field to lead and thrive in the profession. He served students for 37 years, at Catholic congregations around the Twin Cities and in central Minnesota. Stanoch was also a church business manager, music teacher and he took students on dozens of retreats.

Call it fate, God’s leading, or moving up one’s plans but the man whose main skill is relationships found fitting work in a town of 200 people. And it happens to be near a place his family has been preparing for decades.
Survey: thousands without vital services
A questionnaire sent to about 100 MOHR members resulted in 67 responses and paints a more accurate picture of the staffing crisis and its negative impact on Minnesotans with disabilities.

More than 3,500 people with intellectual or developmental disabilities are on waiting lists because contracted service providers cannot find staff, reports MOHR President Julie Johnson. -more-
Exceptional programs need apply
Enrichment programming is a backbone of disability services, and MOHR recognizes exceptional efforts by its members each year with Life Enrichment Awards. Apply by February 25, 2022.
December poll results:
How serious are staff shortages for individuals living in group homes in your area?

  • very serious - 56 percent
  • quite difficult - 23 percent
  • similar to challenges in past years- 8 percent
  • not a problem- 13 percent
(poll results are non-scientific)
Disability Services Virtual Day at the Capitol
MOHR joins with ARRM and the Best Life Alliance for Disability Services Virtual Day at the Capitol on Tuesday, March 8. The schedule:

  • 9:30 a.m. - Virtual Policy Briefing (MOHR and ARRM members)
  • 10 a.m. Virtual Rally in "Rotunda"
  • Afternoon meetings with legislators

The Minnesota Legislature reconvenes on Monday, January 31. Now is a good time to lookup information about your legislators and plan to meet with them.
MOHR Q&A
Question: What would change at your agency and how would people with disabilities be better served if you had full staffing?

Answer: Changes would be dramatic if we were fully staffed. We could bring back all the people served who want to come back. We could clear a backlog of our waiting list of over 70 people needing services – dating back to 2019. We could resume community employment and community engagement activities at staffing ratios that complement each person’s individual needs. We could be more innovative with our program offerings to explore new social engagement opportunities for those served. We could invest in more specialized and robust training for our staff that would help people achieve their life goals. We could build a career path for the DSPs that rewards them for the important work that they do. If we had the full support of our funders so that we could maintain proper and respectful staffing levels, we could more clearly demonstrate how important the people we serve are to our communities as a whole. -Nancy Betts, Vice President, WACOSA
Task Force on Eliminating Subminimum Wage named
Four staffers of MOHR member organizations have been selected to serve on the Minnesota Task Force on Eliminating Subminimum Wages. There are 16 in all.

The group is charged with developing a plan and making recommendations to end the practice by August 1, 2025, and submitting a report in February 2023 to the Legislature with recommendations to implement changes.

The members associated with MOHR are: Lori Schluttenhofer, above left, Opportunity Partners; Lisa Parteh, Functional Industries; Debbie Luther, Hubbard County DAC and Raquel Sidie-Wagner, Lifeworks. -more-
DSP careers, more than satisfying, reaping rewards
Did you catch our videos featuring direct support professionals. Watch them here or be sure to view them on mohrmn.org.
In the NEWS
Rise marks 50 years of serving people with disabilities - ABC Newspapers

Focus your job post on what DSPs get to do - DSP Magnet
Some group homes on ‘verge of collapse’ due to staffing shortages, state senator warns

Walz directs additional funds to nursing homes, service providers INFORUM

A staffing ‘emergency’ is forcing big changes at Twin Cities group homes MinnPost

Minnesota has a $7.7 billion surplus. Here are 9 ways lawmakers could spend it - INFORUM
Judge: Man Sentenced to Death For Killing College Student Can’t Use Intellectual Disability as Factor - KNSI Radio | WCCO 4 | Star Tribune | West Central Tribune

Looking back at 2021, another year in the pandemic - Access Press

The 5 rules of wheelchair etiquette - WCCO 4 News

CEO with Down syndrome runs successful cookie company - CBS News

Attorneys with disabilities claim role in big law diversity push - Bloomberg

Adapted floor hockey match - Mankato Free Press

Minnesota looking to fill more than 40,000 healthcare vacancies - KIMT 3 News

Hiring challenges, COVID contributing to Metro Mobility bus driver shortage

At mid-year, Partners in Policymaking class reflects on work - Access Press

Federal Officials Investigating Access to Mankato Study Pods - U.S. News

Access Press editorial: 2022 legislative session offers the chance to get involved - Access Press

Cutting through Barriers: Local barber caters to those with intellectual disabilities - Messenger-Inquirer - Kentucky

Microgrant proves successful to empower persons with disabilities - Kuensel

Local Aging and Disability Resource Centers will begin teaching free courses for caregivers - Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

Aptiv Names New CEO to head disability day services - WXOW - La Crosse

ADA may protect workers with COVID-19, new EEOC guidance says

'Selling Sunset' star Vanessa Villela Speaks out about debilitating long-haul COVID-19 symptoms - Inside Edition

South Dakota: Redfield faces another round of ‘right sizing,’ while DHS looks east and west for two new sites - Keloland.com

Recording artists and music professionals with disabilities meets the public live from the Grammy Music Experience Prudential Center - YouTube

What Americans with disabilities need in retirement - Forbes
The "Treat People Like People" public education campaign offers tools and resources for those providing care or support and to empower those with disabilities. Project partners include:

  • Minnesota Office of Ombudsman for Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities

  • Minnesota Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities
Check out MOHR's strategic plan summary chart and contact MOHR President Julie Johnson for more information.
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The Minnesota Organization for Habilitation and Rehabilitation - To Advocate and support members in providing meaningful services to persons with disabilities and communities served.