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An Educational Effort
By pfcadmin - April 2nd, 2012MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD
Get to know your Legislator, Get your Legislator to know You!
Attention to the Families who receive Supports Coordination for Intellectual Disabilities
Tell your story of what your life is like to legislators who can impact the funding for services that will affect you and your family member. You have probably heard the accounts regarding the proposed Pennsylvania governor’s budget. There is no expansion of the waiver to provide for individuals on the state-wide waiting list who may be graduating from school or have aging caregivers or other unmet needs. There is also the proposal to decrease funding for Base Intellectual Disability Services which includes any services not funded through the waiver such as Family Driven Supports Services. It is important for the Legislators to understand your needs and your life story as they look at the proposed budget. They need to hear from you, the individuals most affected, so they understand the human impact of the decisions they will be making.
The need to educate is now. Educate your Legislators about the family experience of having a son/daughter living at home with little to no supports and what that is like.
What will happen if a caregiver becomes ill or is no longer able to care for their family
member?
What happens when an individual ages out of children’s services or graduates from school
with nothing available to support them?
What happens if your family member has complicated needs which the Providers under the
current fee structure cannot support?
Let your voice be heard.
Here are links to find and contact your local Legislators!
Contact PA Governor Corbett
Meeting with Deputy Friel
By pfcadmin - January 12th, 2012We need families!! Time for Action is Now! The State is making decisions on Support Services for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities. The Department of Public Welfare needs to know how Community Base Services help individuals on a personal level. Come and share your stories! Join with Visions for EQuality to meet with Deputy Secretary, Kevin Friel, to advocate for Loved Ones with Disabilities!!! For more information and to register for this meeting, see the link above to Visions for EQuality’s flyer!
If you can not make the meeting, but want to share your story or advocate for an Individual with Disabilities you may write directly to Governor Tom Corbett.
1.) Write a letter to the Governor asking him to keep his campaign promises to the disability community. Tell him how your family member or the individual with a disability you care for uses community services and the benefits of being a part of the community.
2.) Include a photo of that family member or individual.
3.) Send your letter by JANUARY 20th to :
The Honorable Tom Corbett
225 Main Capitol Building
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17120
4.) You can send the same letter to your State Senator and State House Representative;
Follow up with a phone call or fax,
Phone: (717) 787-2500
Fax: (717) 772-8284
You can get help with your letter by contacting Visions for EQuality directly at (215) 923-3349 or your Supports Coordinator.
Legal Resources
By pfcadmin - December 16th, 2011Liliana Yazno-Bartle, Esq. is an attorney at the law offices of Caryl Andrea Oberman, a private practice concentrating on the legal needs of those with disabilities and their families. Lily presented to our families on December 7, 2011 at an outreach event. She was very informative and gave useful resources on estate planning, guardianship, and powers of attorney. Future planning is very important to caregivers who care for an individual with intellectual disabilities. Aging caregivers have many different concerns for their loved ones. Being prepared and having your wishes documented is a good way to ensure that your loved one will not be lost when you can longer care for them. Estate planning, guardianship, and powers of attorney are a few options when planning the future for your loved one with a disability. You can contact your supports coordinator to discuss future planning options or any legal adviser. You may also contact Lily directly or the law office of Caryl Andrea Oberman at (215) 830-5025 or at their website
www.caryloberman.com
Please inform your supports coordinator if you do use a legal adviser and have any legal documentation to be included in your loved one’s individual support and service plan.
In addition, Liliana provided this list of low cost legal resources:
Community Legal Services or Philadelphia Legal Assistance
1424 Chestnut Street 42 South 15th Street, Suite 500
Philadelphia, PA 19102 Philadelphia, PA 19103
(215) 981-3800
Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia
1700 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, 2nd Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19103
(215) 627-1700
Legal Clinic for the Disabled
1513 Race Street
Philadelphia, PA 19102
(215) 587-3350
Law School Legal Clinics are also another low cost resource a few are as follows:
University of PA Law School
34th & Sansom Streets
Philadelphia, PA 19104
(215) 898-8427
Temple University Legal Aid
1719 North Broad Street
Philadelphia, PA 19122
(215) 204-1800
Another great resource for information and legal documents would be the Disability Rights Network of Pennsylvania, you can visit their website at www.drnpa.org
Staying Warm this Winter
By pfcadmin - December 13th, 2011Keep your home safe and warm this winter with these two great resources!
The Philadelphia Housing Development Corporation (PHDC) offers help for families who qualify under their Home Repair Programs, they aid families with heater repairs and roofing. Visit their website at www.phdchousing.org
The Energy Coordinating Agency (ECA) offers to help families lower their energy costs by helping families conserve their energy. The ECA offers a variety of help, from their Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) to their Utility Emergency Service Fund. The ECA also links you to LIHEAP (Low-income Home Energy Assistance Program) and a Heather Hotline. If you need Energy Assistance or just want to find out the best ways to conserve, visit their website, Energy Coordination Agency
PA Senate Bill Replaces term “Mental Retardation” with “Intellectual Disability
By pfcadmin - December 1st, 2011The Pennsylvania State Senate Bill NO.458, Printers NO. 1299 which was passed unanimously in both the Senate and the House amends the Mental Health and Mental Retardation Act of 1966 by renaming it the Mental Health and Intellectual Disability Act. This amendment will change the language used in the entire law, which defines the term and controls the Department of Public Welfare’s use of the term.This legislation renames the existing act and replaces the terms “mental retardation” with “intellectual disability.”
The amended Act replaces the current definition as: “Intellectual disability” means significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning that is accompanied by significant limitations in adaptive functioning in at least two of the following skill areas: communication, self-care, home living, social and interpersonal skills, use of community resources, self-direction, functional
academic skills, work, health and safety. The onset must occur before the individual’s twenty second birthday.
Information provided by the PA Department of Public Welfare, Office of Developmental Programs’ Public Notices on November 29, 2011
Welcome!
By pfcadmin - August 4th, 2010We are pleased to announce the launch of our new website. We hope you find the information here useful and informative. Please check back regularly for updated Blog posts. Thank you!
Home Heating for Winter
By pfcadmin - August 4th, 2010If you live in Philadelphia and had a problem with your home heater last winter and you qualify for help, now is a good time to call the ‘Heater Hotline’ at 215-568-7190. Summer is a slow time of year because people are not thinking about heating their homes so it would be a good time to call and see if you qualify for help.
Michael Dallas Waiver
By pfcadmin - August 4th, 2010Anyone enrolled in the Michael Dallas Waiver prior to June 30, 2010 will be auto enrolled in the Independence Waiver July 1, 2010. The Independence Waiver will be adding ‘ventilator dependent’ and ‘shift nursing’ to its list of services. What is important!!! Whoever the providers used now under the Michael Dallas Waiver must be providers in the Independence Waiver…this is very important.