NYAIL Newsletter, October 2022

NYAIL News 2022, Issue 9

RTHP, Advocacy Updates, Supported Decision Making, and Employment Opportunities

Rapid Transition Housing Program is Now Statewide

NYAIL is excited to share that our Rapid Transition Housing Program (RTHP) is now statewide! RTHP provides a rental subsidy and supportive housing services for high-need Medicaid beneficiaries. RTHP, previously known as Nursing Home to Independent Living (NHIL), is a Medicaid Redesign Team initiative funded by the New York State Department of Health and administered by NYAIL.

For more information about RTHP and connecting with the appropriate Housing Specialist please visit our website or contact:

Valerie Brennan

Director of Housing Programs

vbrennan@ilny.org

(518) 465-4650

Advocacy Updates

#FairPay4HomeCare Update

On October 1, 2022, home care workers around the state received a $2/hour pay increase. In New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Yonkers the worker wage is $17/hour. Everywhere else in the state the pay rate is $15.20/hour. While NYAIL appreciates a wage increase, we will continue advocating for #FairPay – a $22.50/hour wage for home care workers. We are also advocating to guarantee the wage increases go to the workers and fairly compensate agencies that support them, not the insurance companies.

Latonya Reeves Freedom Act (LRFA)

The LRFA would secure disability freedom in federal law, it would ensure the right of individuals to live in the community. Despite making progress in community integration for people who need Long Term Services and Supports since the 1999 Olmstead Decision, states and managed care companies still reinforce systemic biases that force older and disabled adults out of their own homes into institutions. The LRFA would address this by generally prohibiting unwanted institutionalization and ensure forcing people out of their homes is illegal based on service caps and waiting lists. Since February there are nearly 180 representatives signed on to the legislation. More information about the LRFA at latonyareevesfreedomact.org and you can take action to support the bill on our website.

NYAIL's 2022 Webinar Series

Supportive Decision Making on Wednesday, October 25

Join us for NYAIL's October webinar on supported decision-making (SDM) on Wednesday, October 25th from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. SDM is now a well-recognized practice allowing people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) to make their own decisions with the support of trusted persons in their lives. SDM has been recognized by courts, and now by statute, as a “less restrictive alternative” to guardianship. Recently enacted Supported Decision-Making Agreement (SDMA) legislation in New York will grant recognition to decisions made by persons with SDMAs made through a recognized process of facilitation, preventing third parties from discriminating against them, or insisting a guardian be appointed because of their disability.

Supported Decision-Making New York (SDMNY) has spent the past 6 years developing SDM facilitation under grants from NYS Developmental Disabilities Planning Council (DDPC), the Ford Foundation and others, and is now the recipient of a $4 million grant from the NYS Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) to design and pilot a facilitation service delivery model for providing SDM facilitation statewide.

Kristin Booth Glen, former Surrogate, N.Y. County, Director of SDMNY and Joan Cornachio, SDMNY’s Associate Director will discuss the SDMNY facilitation model, the new legislation, the pilot project, and how ILCs might be involved. Glen also received the Disability Rights Employment Awareness Month (DREAM 2022 Advocacy Award for her work on SDM.

ASL and captioning will be available for this webinar. Our webinar series is sponsored by Waymo.

Thank you to our NYAIL 2022 Webinar Series sponsor Waymo!

Waymo is an autonomous driving technology company with a mission to make it safe and easy for people and things to get where they’re going. We believe that fully autonomous technology holds the promise to improve road safety and offer new mobility options to millions of people. This is why we're designing the Waymo Driver, our autonomous technology, to give people a new kind of freedom – to go where they want, when they want, while making the frustrations and concerns with driving a thing of the past.

Thank you to the participants who attended our “An Introduction to Disability Rights New York” (DRNY) webinar last month. Jennifer Monthie, Legal Director at DRNY gave a historical overview about each of their protection and advocacy programs. If you missed the webinar or would like to review the presentation, check out the recording on our website.

We're Hiring

NYAIL is looking to hire a Housing Program Specialist to assist with administrative and clerical duties for our Housing Program. If you, or someone you know, is detail oriented and wants to help support people with disabilities, check out or share the hyperlink to the position. Remote working is also an option. For a full list of openings throughout our network of Independent Living Centers, visit our Careers Page.

Don't forget about the New York State D.R.E.A.M. Virtual Career Fair on Tuesday, October 11th from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Preview day for participants begins Monday, October 10th. NYAIL and ILCs across New York have job opportunities open.

Keep an eye out for next month's newsletter featuring a full recap of D.R.E.A.M. or Disability Rights and Employment Awareness Month.

NYAIL administers several statewide and regional programs in collaboration with its member ILCs, all of which are focused on helping people with disabilities live independently in the community.

Learn more about NYAIL's program by visiting: ilny.us/programs