Posts by Oregon Support Services Association
Back to the Future
Let’s get one thing straight up front: this isn’t new. Not at all. In fact, this has been around for years. In Oregon, we started to dream this dream fifteen years ago and more. Support Services Brokerages started here. Take a moment to read this treatise/article/manifesto/guide by Ellen Cummings, a national consultant on Self-determination. What jumps out at you? Do you see Oregon’s past reflected in these descriptions? Do you see Oregon’s future? Ellen begins by speaking to archaic systems that have yet to see change in the field of intellectual and developmental disabilities services: “There are many in current unchanged...
Read MoreChoosing Between Vital Parts is a Losing Proposition for I/DD
When it comes to full lives for Oregonians with intellectual and developmental disabilities, we want it all. As a member of the Oregon I/DD Coalition, OSSA helped to identify four top priorities for the 2015 legislative budgeting session. These four priorities, together, represent a pathway to richer lives for Oregonians with I/DD. The four priorities are: DSP Wages: Raise the wage for Direct Support Professionals. Brokerage and CDDP Workload Model Budget: Fund workload model at proposed 95% equity for CDDPs and Brokerages. Fairview Trust: Keep the promise of community housing opportunities for people with IDD and restore the Fairview Trust. Employment: Continue...
Read MoreThe Time for Advocacy is Now!
Distressing news out of the capitol: lawmakers may be looking to cut $140 million from human services in order to fund a budget “hole.” The question is, what does a $140 million cut to human services look like? Though plan hours are not likely to be cut, vulnerable areas include provider pay rates and Brokerage funding for Personal Agents. Brokerage Personal Agents and direct support providers have worked to implement dozens of system changes over the past two years. With these changes has come a lot of additional workload and responsibilities, which is already cutting into the bottom line: time spent with Brokerage customers. Any reduction in funding is going to...
Read MoreDD Awareness Event Honors Margaret Theisen as DD Champion
Last Friday March 6th, the Oregon Council on Developmental Disabilities hosted the 2015 DD Awareness Celebration kickoff event. As part of the festivities, attendees enjoyed guest speakers Robin Shobe and state DD Director Lilia Teninty, and the unveiling of the 2015 DD Awareness poster “I Have Something to Say,” highlighting adaptive technology, with participation from poster model Maddie Zielinski. Sherri Osburn, Vice Chair of the Oregon Council, served as emcee, and Senator Sara Gelser read a message to the community from Governor Kate Brown. Senator Gelser also presented awards to this year’s DD Champion recipients, Jim Wrigley of Disability...
Read MoreOSSA’s Vision for the Future of Disability Services in Oregon
Sometimes, in the midst of change, it is hard to see the way forward. Oregon’s system of services to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities once felt like it had a clear identity as a national leader for progressive, community-based service. We closed down institutions. We gave control to the people using the services. We showed that giving people self-determination can not only be right, it can also be cost-effective, good business. Somewhere, in the crush of change and hurtling, forward momentum, we have lost the clarity of that identity. Now is the time to work to reclaim that pioneering spirit at the heart of our state. Make no mistake,...
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