There are more than 9,000 individuals with Developmental Disabilities in Louisiana waiting up to nine years to receive home and community-based services they need now. Meanwhile Louisiana has more individuals in ICFs/DD per capita than any other state – almost four times the national average. The need for reform is long overdue to better serve people with developmental disabilities.
LaCAN is advocating for Louisiana to consolidate and close developmental centers and implement resource allocation across all settings to provide a better quality of life for current residents and use the cost savings to serve the people on the waiver waiting list.
Governor Jindal’s Executive Budget moves towards increasing Home and Community Based Services!
Governor Jindal released his executive budget with many proposed changes addressing needed reforms that would result in improved quality of life for people with developmental disabilities with cost efficient services. Several items in Governor Jindal’s proposed budget are monumental steps forward in transitioning Louisiana from its historical over-reliance on institutional and segregated services to providing home and community-based services. Items in the Governor’s proposed budget that reflect best practices for individuals with developmental disabilities and move Louisiana in a positive direction include:
- Consolidation of Northeast Supports and Services Center into Northwest Supports and Services Center.
- Transition of individuals with low support needs in remaining centers to appropriate community-based services.
- Including an additional 150 New Opportunities Waiver (NOW) slots for people on the waiting list.
The Governor’s proposed changes are good for people with developmental disabilities and for Louisiana. In addition to these changes offering people with developmental disabilities the opportunity for a better quality of life, it is more cost effective to provide home and community based services as opposed to providing services in an institutional setting. Cost savings realized through these efficiencies can be used to serve individuals on the waiting list.
LaCAN members are encouraged to express their gratitude to Governor Jindal for proposing these reforms and inform their legislators that the state needs these reforms to the system serving people with developmental disabilities.
Follow the links below to:
- E-mail Governor Jindal
- Contact your legislator
- Read the Governor’s press release
- Read the La Developmental Disabilities Council’s Press Release
- See Governor Jindal’s FY 2010-2011 Executive Budget – DHH’s Budget begins on page 129 (145 on the pdf viewer).
- A complete breakdown of the Governor’s budget including supporting documents.
- Go the Louisiana State Legislature
- The House Appropriations Committee schedule:
- March 16-17, 2010: DHH budget presented
- March 29-30, 2010: Public testimony
- All committee hearings are open to the public and can be viewed online
- The House Appropriations Committee schedule:
- Read the Fact Sheet on Governor Jindal’s Budget Proposal
Institutionalization vs. Home and Community Based Services (Shattering Myths)
- Shattering Myths: Quality of Life
- Shattering Myths: Outcomes of People Leaving Institutions
- Shattering Myths: People with Intensive Needs in their Communities
Click here to watch Minnie & Viola Hendrix’s Story two ladies who successfully moved from a developmental center into their own home in the community.
Facts
- There are 1,078 people who reside in the developmental centers in Louisiana at an average annual cost of over $173,000 per person.
- Nine states and the District of Columbia have closed ALL of their developmental centers. Louisiana has six operating developmental centers. We also continue to fund the operation of three campuses of old developmental centers that now have less than 15 residents each.
Downsize by Implementing the Resource Allocation Model in Developmental Centers
Louisiana has begun using the Resource Allocation Model and Supports Intensity Scale (SIS) on New Opportunities Waiver (NOW) recipients to assess individual needs and provide services based on their assessed level of need. Some waiver recipients’ services are being reduced because they were previously receiving more than the SIS assessment indicated that they needed. In order to be fair, the Resource Allocation Model should be applied to residents in developmental centers where OCDD has estimated that about 200 residents would be at the lowest level of need. These residents should receive the level of support they need in the community instead of the standard high cost associated with being in a developmental center. This would create significant cost savings and more importantly improve their quality of life.
- LaCAN also supports implementing the Resource Allocation Model in private ICFs/DD. Click here to read the Fact Sheet on Resource Allocation Model
History of Abuse and Neglect
There is a documented history of abuse and neglect in Louisiana’s developmental centers. In the civil service commission case of Stephanie Riley v. DHH, Pinecrest Developmental Center it was found that on June 18, 1988 an employee of Pinecrest Developmental Center abused Client # 6328 by “attempting to force her from under the bed by poking or striking her with a broom handle, resulting in injury to the client.” Pinecrest, along with Hammond Developmental Center, was also the subject of a 2004 U.S. Justice Department lawsuit over allegations of staff mistreatment of residents. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2007. However, there were allegations of abuse at Pinecrest Developmental Center as recently as October 2008, when five employees were arrested on a total of forty charges of cruelty to the infirm. In addition, the Advocacy Center’s 2009 report Beyond Repair details cases of abuse at Northeast Supports and Services Center (formerly Ruston Developmental Center). Unfortunately, the cases outlined in the report are not isolated events. For each documented case of abuse, one must wonder how many cases of abuse are occurring that will never be reported?
- Click here to watch Kyle Everett describing incidents he witnessed that indicate the lack of safety and oversight in large institutions.
Recent Decisions and Actions
- On February 12, 2010, Governor Jindal presented his FY2010-2011 Executive Budget to the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget with a positive direction for change of the developmental disabilities system in Louisiana.
- On December 15, 2009, The Commission on Streamlining Government has recommended consolidating and closing developmental centers. Click here for more information on recommendations from the Commission on Streamlining Government.
Laws
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