New Jersey is in the process of moving new legislation forward - and it's one of those things that makes so much sense you have to wonder why it's just happening now. Why wouldn't it have been this way all along?

The legislation is sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg and would require the state to provide clear information to families and individuals with developmental disabilities that explains all available state and federal services and how to access them. The bill, just approved by the Senate by a vote of 40-0, heads to the Assembly for consideration next.

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New York (where MediSked is headquartered) is the eighth state to transition to a managed care model and while we're excited and confident that it will work well, save money, and provide better supports and care for all enrolled - it seems that many families are freaking out. 

I came across this article titled, State moves to address concerns over managed care switch for developmentally disabled, on capitalnewyork.com and I was honestly a bit surprised to see despite efforts from the state and OPWDD to keep everyone calm and address potential anxieties, parents are really worried that the systems their children are currently in could come apart at the seams.

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The State of Rhode Island is in trouble after a serious lack of progress in a 2014 consent decree to move intellectually and developmentally disabled people out of sheltered workshops and other restrictive environments.

Yesterday, U.S. District Court Judge John J. McConnell Jr. ordered the state to take action (about 20 actions actually) or they could potentially face fines that could total as much as $1 million a year.

The mandated actions include the state hiring a program developer and employment specialist by the end of July and by August 1st they must "appropriately increase salaries, benefits, training, and supervision for district support professionals and job coaches."

Also included in the judge's plans is th creation of a “live database” that would enable the tracking of all involved individuals and their status. By July 29, the judge ordered, the state must provide him and Court Monitor Charles S. Moseley access to the entries from which they “will select files at random for verification.”

Most dates specified in Wednesday’s order come this spring and summer, but one is Dec. 31.

It was reported that “Governor Raimondo included a total of $6.8 million in her proposed budget to support the requirements of the Consent Decree, including $1.8 million for specific investments in integrated community employment and day services and $5 million to support wage increases for direct care workers.”  

Judge McConnell wrote that if the provisions of Wednesday's order are not met on schedule, he will hold a contempt hearing which could result in fines. "Total monies to be paid as a result of an order of this court will not exceed $1 million per year," he wrote.

The 2014 consent decree, considered a landmark in national disabilities rulings, followed a year-long investigation by the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division that found that Rhode Island grossly violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Department of Justice cited “the state’s failure to develop a sufficient quantity of integrated transition, employment, vocational and day services and supports for individuals with I/DD.”

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As you can imagine, here at MediSked we're pretty big on using technology to transform peoples' lives for the better. We're constantly working hard to make our software platforms better and more user-friendly to benefit everyone who uses them. 

This year, we've taken a big step forwad with our incredible person-centered portal that gives individuals and their families visibility into their assessments, plans, records, and notes - and we couldn't be more proud of what we're doing! We know that providing this tool is going to open up new channels of communication and change lives - and we love to hear (and share) all kinds of stories that end that way. 

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