Governor Patrick and Secretaries of A&F and EOHHS heard us loud and clear after we made over 1,500 phone calls over a 10 day period (Nov. 13 - 26) requesting them to release long, overdue Day Habilitation rates.  

As you know, it worked! 

We highly encourage you to thank our state leaders (more information detailed below.)   

Proposed rate increase is 9.722% effective February 1, 2014.

The Day Hab phone campaign was successful because the following agencies signed up for a day to make calls. Thank you!! 

• BAMSI
• Bay Cove
• CLASS
• Grow Associates
• HMEA
• Road to Responsibility
• The Arc of South Norfolk
• The Price Center
• Vinfen
• WCI

We also want to thank the following providers who committed to make calls during the last 10 days of the campaign, but did not need to phone-in to state leaders because the collective advocacy from the previous agencies worked! 

• Alternatives
• American Training
• Bridgewell
• Charles River Center
• Community Connections
• Human Resources Unlimited
• New England Village
• Northeast Arc
• Seven Hills

Stay tuned for more information on the Day Habilitation rate hearing. We anticipate the public notice will soon be released.

Our strategy is to advocate for one issue at a time. The next move will be to gain employment funding to achieve milestones in Blueprint for Success. We are currently collecting stories of individuals working in or who have previously transitioned out of sheltered workshops. These stories will be used for budget advocacy purposes in the near future.

We also want to express our appreciation to members who have served or continue to serve people with disabilities in sheltered workshops. We know and respect the job you are doing everyday to make the lives of all participants meaningful and productive.  As the state moves from sheltered workshops to CBDS and Supported Employment, we should never lose sight of how important these programs have been in meeting the needs of people with significant challenges. Those programs have made tremendous gains on behalf of people with disabilities when no other programs were available and your efforts should be honored and respected as we continue to look at more options for the people we serve. 

Lastly, we would also like to show appreciation to the following providers for their commitment to the DDS/ADDP/Arc Employment Workgroup to develop a mutual plan that revamps employment services in Massachusetts. We are also grateful that this plan you helped create has been adopted by numerous disability providers outside of the Workgroup.

Some Employment Workgroup members (left to right): Sharon Smith, Richard Royse, Bob Harris, Barbara L'Italien, and Gary Blumenthal. 

Workgroup core provider members 

• Bruce Bird, Vinfen President and Chief Executive Officer
• Gail T. Brown, New England Village Executive Director
• Daniel Burke, Lifeworks Inc and The Arc of South Norfolk President and CEO
• Bob Harris, CLASS Inc/Arc of Greater Lawrence President
• Don Hughes, Riverside Community Care Associate Division Director for Clubhouse and Employment Services
• Joe Krajewski, Community Connections Vice President of Programs
• Barbara L'Italien, The Arc of Massachusetts Director of Government Affairs
• Richard Royse, Eastern Middlesex Arc Executive Director
• Sharon Smith, Work Inc. Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer

Workgroup guest provider members 

• Colleen Brosnan, Sunshine Village Director of Day Services
• Colt Duckworth, Kennedy Donovan Center Transitional Jobs Coach Program Coordinator
• Char Gentes, Riverside Industries, Inc President/Chief Executive Officer
• Gina Golash, Sunshine Village, Executive Director
• Jean Goldsberry, Minute Man Arc Executive Director
• Phil Philbin, Seven Hills Assistant Vice President
• Donna Sabecky, Community Connections President and Chief Executive Officer
• Leo Sarkissian, The Arc of Massachusetts Executive Director

We look forward to working with you to organize the Day Habilitation rate hearing and to advocate for funding of employment supports, as well other crucial disability services.

Thanks again!

Regards,    

Gary Blumenthal

Mandy Nichols 

Dear [insert name of state leader],

I'm writing to thank you for supporting disability services, specifically Day Habilitation. I greatly appreciate you releasing the Day Habilitation rates at an increase of 9.722% effective February 1, 2014. As the only community-based therapeutic day time service in Massachusetts designed for adults with developmental disabilities, Day Habilitation provides a combination of clinical services, medical oversight, and life skills/adult daily living. This increase will help us better serve individuals with disabilities with complex clinical and medical conditions. Thank you!

Sincerely,