ADDP NEW BANNER 2011
Busy Summer for 
ADDP Committees and Staff
ADDP Committees Focus on Busy Agenda

  While some may dream of vacation days and laying in the sun, ADDP Board Members, Committee Members and staff are moving into high gear with a cornucopia of pressing topics that impact people with developmental disabilities, head injuries and the people who work to support them.

ADDP invites members to contact staff or board chairs to help on any of the following areas of activity. As we struggle to finish working in the Legislature to fund FY' 15, which begins on July 1, 2014, early planning is beginning on putting together the disability community's FY' 16 ask that will address the ever-changing needs of our community.

Members interested in joining any ADDP Committee are urged to email Adam Berman. 

Committees include: HCSIS/Information Technology; Residential, Legislative, Transportation, Day & Employment, Membership, Training & Conference, Brain Injury, Family Support, Shared Living, and Adult Foster Care.

Future ADDP updates will provide more updates on individual committee activities with staff contacts noted.
Legislative and Legal Work Continues Year Round
 
For those members who love public policy and budget advocacy, there is no shortage of it with the Legislative Committee chaired by Kevin Rodman Tara Hopper Zeltner Conare and staffed by ADDP's Director of Governmental Affairs and Attorney, Tara Hopper Zeltner.

No shortage for issues, the Committee and Tara are addressing a phalanx of hot topics including:
  • The Massachusetts Budget
  • Currently Filed Legislation
  • The Real Lives Bill
  • National Background Check Bill
  • Employment Blueprint Advocacy
  • The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
  • CMS Home and Community Based Settings (HCBS) Waiver Rule
  • The Dept. of Labor (DOL) Home Care Rule: Shared Living Guidance
  • MA Guardianship laws
  • Aversive Therapy restrictions
  • FDA updates regarding the ban of Graduated Electronic Decelerator (GED) electric shock devices
  • Tracking and Working with CHIA on 257 Rates
  • Other statutory and regulatory provider mandates 
  • Legal analysis of judicial case law and pending lawsuits
  • Contract Review
Email Tara Hopper Zeltner or call the office at extension 11.
Day & Employment Committee:  Change & Challenges
 
Chaired by Dan Burke & Bob Harris, this committee meets on the second Friday of every month at the ADDP office addressing Day Habilitation issues, Employment, Day Services and the endless array of regulatory challenges inherent in these groups.

Current challenges under study include focusing on Community-Based Day Support design, transitioning from Sheltered Workshops contingent on funding, social enterprise, employment collaboratives and addressing issues related to Mass Health.

A small number of this group are serving on a task force with MassHealth to begin planning for a revised rate setting system for Day Habilitation programs. The first step has been for the group to decide whether to modify the current assessment tool (Severity Profile) or select a tool which would better identify needs and separate categories of high needs.  

  

The staff contact for this Committee is Mandy Nichols who can be reached by emailing nichols@addp.org or by calling at 508-405-8000 ext.10.  

 

Additionally, Mandy and select members of the Day/Employment Committee are serving on an ADDP/DDS workgroup charged with implementing the Blueprint for Employing Individuals with Disabilities.  Mandy was a co-author of that plan. 

 

Mandy Nichols also staffs the Training Committee, chaired by Paul Conlon and Marylou Sullivan, the Brain Injury Committee, chaired by Ken Singer and Dafna Krouk Gordon, and the PBS Workgroup headed by Bruce Bird.
Services Supporting Members
 
Additional Member Services include other subject areas such as Adult Foster Care, Family Support, and Residential Services; and Member Retention and Business Member Support.

Staffing these key areas is Adam Berman, whose efforts include member outreach, maintaining databases, membership rosters, specialized member support including responding to unique needs of individual members that may not rise to cross trade issues, member communications and other special projects.  Adam is also staffing the Family Support, Adult Foster Care, Executive Board and Shared Living Committees.

Additionally, Adam manages social media campaigns, assists in the design and writing of the ADDP annual report, and executes all logistical needs of the association regarding training and special events. Adam can be reached by emailing aberman@addp.org or at 508-405-8000 ext. 13.
Upcoming ADDP Trainings

 
June 11 on 14c accuracy

July 24 on CBDS design

To be scheduled in the fall:
  • Massachusetts guardianship and conservatorship laws
  • Disability and Elder law: Irrevocable trusts and other benefits
  • Benefits Training
  • Positive Behavioral Supports
  • Mini Conference

If you have an idea of a training topic, email Mandy Nichols.