OLRS notifies Director John Martin, ODMRDD expressing opposition to the Department's intent to establish an ICF/MR pilot project

On May 27, 2008, OLRS Executive Director Michael Kirkman notified Director John Martin, Ohio Department of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (ODMRDD) of OLRS' opposition and concerns regarding ODMRDD's intent to create new Intermediate Care Facility for the Mentally Retarded (ICF/MR) beds for residents currently residing at the Gallipolis Developmental Center.

Letter from OLRS to Director Martin, ODMRDD

The following is the text from OLRS' letter. You can also download the PDF version of the letter to Director Martin.

I am writing you to address the recent change to the "GDC pilot" as put forth in HB 562, the capital budget. As you know, you and I talked some time ago regarding the use of "Nancy Martin" (therefore state matched) IO waivers for this pilot. I readily agreed that moving individuals from DCs to integrated settings was wholly consistent with the intent of the settlement agreement, and stated that I would support the pilot. I was, therefore, distressed and concerned to hear rumors that the purpose or intent of the pilot had been refocused, from using waivers to provide state operated community based services to the creation of new state owned and managed ICF beds.

Over a two week period I attempted to contact you by phone, and Tim Tobin of this office spoke with Mark Seifarth in attempts to gather more information regarding the rumored changes. Unfortunately, no information was forthcoming. Thus, with the capital bill moving it is unfortunately necessary to send this letter, as it is now too late for a meaningful dialogue on this change to occur.

It is unlikely that the needs of the 32 people for whom a waiver was anticipated have changed. What is more likely is that one of the legitimate reasons for the pilot, providing an opportunity to evaluate state provided waiver services, has mutated into simply preserving state jobs, while the community integration component has now receded to the point it is no longer a meaningful component. This also begs the question of what happens to the cost savings that were to be obtained by using allocated waiver match to fund the pilot and, perhaps more importantly, what happens to the 32 Nancy Martin waivers and the individuals slotted for them.

As you know, Ohio is already well above the national average in congregate living settings, and below average in percentage of individuals who are served in integrated community settings. It has long been the position of this office, supported by the language of the federal Developmental Disabilities Act and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, that allocating scarce dollars to development of new state owned or managed ICF/MR beds is not only bad policy but ignores the state's obligations to provide services to people with disabilities in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs.

It is now being rumored that these "small" ICFs will be a model for the DCs around the state. This would represent a major policy shift by the state of Ohio, one that would put the state farther out of synch with professional and legal paradigms in this area.

As noted above, this change occurred without discussion or dialogue with advocates or, more importantly, the people most affected. It reflects a type of thinking that one had thought long past the field of serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities: develop first, assess second.

Finally, I am not so naïve to believe that this letter will cause the administration to reverse its position on the pilot, as that bus has left the station and is almost at its destination. I write, simply to put you on notice of our position, and to make you aware that, should any person affected by this change contact our office, in our role as the Protection and Advocacy System for Ohio we will have an obligation to advise them on their legal rights and to represent them in seeking available remedies.

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