We are excited to present our 1st Annual Advocacy Days: The Future of Disabilities at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida Sept. 29 – Oct. 1, 2023. We want to kick off National Disability Employment Awareness Month (October) with a BANG and need your help! Let’s all share a voice ~ students, self-advocates, families and caregivers, business leaders, community and statewide partners, innovators, and legislators. This comprehensive 3-day/2-night mini conference will be packed with action items, innovative concepts and ideas, and enhanced engagement opportunities that can only be created at Walt Disney World® Resort. Register today! 
June Provider Forum: No budget increase and concern about meeting client needs. The Arc of Florida, in partnership with the Florida Association of Rehabilitative Facilities (FARF), recognizes the importance of providers, both large and small. We know many providers are struggling and may not have the resources, or may need support, to continue serving individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Many have dwindling reserves and are considering the next steps in order to provide services, or if not, to ensure individuals will continue to be served, and that their employees can continue to make a difference in serving this vulnerable population. Tomorrow, Tuesday, June 6, we will have attorney Robert L. Jones, III, a partner at Beggs & Lane, who is certified in tax law and practices in mergers and acquisitions, join us to address the questions you may have on this topic regarding many provider challenges. This Forum will focus on support others can give you, as well as client continued services through shared resources, mergers, acquisitions, and how to avoid closures from the viewpoint of struggling providers. A major concern is the financial hardship that could become so dire it would be hard to salvage the great work already accomplished. We hope this will be helpful to all providers and thought it was an important topic since there will not be an iBudget rate increase for FY 2023-24. The challenges ahead that appear insurmountable include: 
  • The American Rescue Plan goes away July 1.
  • Appendix K that granted flexibility to providers goes away November 11.
  • The minimum wage goes up on October 1 for all Floridians by $1, yet no rate increase for DSPs.
  • The increase in state employees pay of 5%, or more, without a corresponding increase for the private sector doing comparable work.
  • The increase of non-operational cost due to inflation.
 
Thanks for all you do to make a difference in the lives of the individuals served. Our goal is to maintain services and supports for our clients throughout the state by working together. Register today!
New Proposed Rules for Personal Needs Allowance and Room and Board. The newly proposed rule regarding “personal allowance” takes into consideration the increase in SSI payments due to rising inflation. Of course, the rule must go through rulemaking, but if the final rule tracks the language of the proposed rule then the personal needs allowance will be least 18% of the maximum federal benefit rate for Social Security Income payments to an individual. At the current monthly Federal Benefits Rate of $914, the personal needs allowance would be $164.52 per month. This decision is fair given it is related to buying power of our clients and consistent with what we implemented on our own prior to this proposed rule. Review the rule here.

Regarding “room and board” payments when The Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD) is the payor, Proposed Rule 65G-13.008 is written consistent with proviso language associated with the Room and Board line item in APD’s budget which allows them to pay the difference between the client contribution and $583.42. 
Hopefully, next year the legislature will revise the proviso to be consistent with rising inflation which was taken into consideration in the personal allowance proposed rule. The calculation is as follows: 
  • add together all benefit payments and third-party benefits; then
  • subtract the personal need allowance of $164.53, as required by the proviso language and the proposed rule; then
  • subtract that total from $583.42. If the final result is zero or less, there will be no reimbursement payment. If the final result is a positive number, the agency is authorized to cover the difference between the client contribution and the payment standard of $583.42.
  • The room and board payment for a client under the age of 22 is $583.42, regardless of that client’s benefit payments and third-party benefits.
Thank you for your advocacy! If you want additional information regarding this issues, please contact our CEO Alan Abramowitz at alan@arcflorida.org or 850.241.3232.