Their vision of community based supports, for some individuals feels like someone else’s delusion.
Submitted this to a Survey Monkey questionnaire the BDS was seeking answers. To steal the phrase from the fake Steve Balmer, the whole community based supports, is a bunch of “smoke and mirrors”!
Who knows…I’m not holding my breath
in a 7 question survey found on the client portal of my area agency, last week wether I was on my male-period or what, I decided to be blunt
Here was the 4th question: What improvements or changes would you like the Bureau of Development Services to consider regarding self-directed programs?
listen to the area agencies’ concerns as families are not allowed to be in contact with BDS or have BDS involved more with families and individuals
They also asked “Are there any innovative approaches or best practices you have encountered that support self-directed programs?”
listening to the individuals and not push them what a coordinator’s grand view is of supports and services.
Another one I threw in a Direct Support Professional shortage and how the state has a law that prohibits anyone making over $20 an hour without justification, the question was ”
What areas do you feel you need additional support to successfully manage your self-directed program?”
more *qualified* direct support staff that can be paid in a liveable wage [sic]
Anything else you want the BDS to know… I sure sounded off…
The Bureau knows for years pushing clients out into community based supports 6+ hour days and 5 days a week in the wild has not worked for a number of clients. Their vision of community based supports, for some individuals feels like someone else’s delusion. Also the importance of direct support professionals and how they need to be paid better, and the career ladder shouldn’t have DSP and management on the opposite sides of said ladder
I really don’t care about political correctness to conservative bureaucrats anymore – if their grannie panties go up in a bunch, not my responsibility. I can’t see this anymore.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BDbQm73MAr-/?taken-by=stevenclickford
In the same week I posted my experiences in a previous life dealing with The Moore Center, the Union Leader ran a story on Saturday through their City Matters columnist about a Bedford family whom their son is about to turn 21 and will be going on a wait list.
The mother, Christine Bodi tells the paper “The system is really broken”
Say that a thousand times over.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BDbR17gMAvD/?taken-by=stevenclickford
In the article, the individual, Andrew is severely autistic in functioning level and therefore he should be able to get services not to long after his birthday because after all the lower functioning are at higher risk, right?
Well you’d think. But The Moore Center (like other families that just wanted a glimmer of hope – once in their lives) would soon crumble as they sent the family the infamous letter stating there isn’t any funds.
As I previously posted, the area agency seems to not cooperate well with the local school districts, and without having a direct connection, how are they supposed to know whose aging out of school system?
Meanwhile the Bureau of Developmental Services is on defense and their publicist gave the paper a non answer thanks to the HIPAA restrictions.
While the Union Leader did say it’s “good deal” for having a public/private system (i.e Bureau funding Area Agencies), some fare better than others.
I don’t want to get too hyper local on this subject, while I did initially post about my dealings with them with skepticism (with hopes they had changed) this report kinda shows how they haven’t that much.
I feel there is a time and a place to feel for others frustrations despite the need to be somewhat selfish. I do this because I don’t want other families or individuals to go through what I went through eight years ago.
I’m going to pop a question: Is “Community Based Supports” just a glorified word for a reversed cookie-cuttered system?
I’m not an advocate, but I am active in the special needs community more than I have before. Some families have opted to keep their children or individuals to be in what some will say it resembles of Laconia State School. It’s even scandalous to the point where the Bureau of Developmental Services will question families or agencies because the federal funds are supposed to be used in “community based supports.”
But why in the hell are we telling families what they can or cannot do? Isn’t just as bad if authorities tell every family to put their able bodied child into an institution because that’s a one sized fits all?
The problem with the group-think of the out of state special interest groups, is families can have a “choice” but that “choice” may differ to what the family feels living in their own closed-minded community.
It is very important to focus on the state I live in, and that Pittsburg is very diferent to Salem; just like how Claremont is very different to say Dover. The problem is all the “progressive”, “let’s take down Laconia like places for our own political capital!” doesn’t go well for the entire state.
The progressive movement will refuse to believe any “regressive” agendas (such as lack of training, tolerance or understanding) in actually the largest communities in the state, just an hour north of the Boston, Massachusetts city line.
And that’s the real problem. People can talk all day about forcing other adults to accept autistics, but the problem is you cannot, and will not change a vast majority of adults of how they view developmentally disabled people.
Also many autistics, or Dev Disabled people, stick to their own group. If they feel comfortable being in their own groups (say a Special Olympics outing/event), then why are you insisting that’s “not good enough”?
Sadly a lot of this agenda comes from the many special interest groups, which I’ll leave nameless, but any of them on US302, NH Route 3 and the side streets of Downtown Concord, which I think you got the picture.