In regards to the proposed budget by the Governor, there are many options for parents, caregivers, advocates, and individuals living with disabilities to have their voice be heard. If you have not yet heard about the proposed changes to long term care in Wisconsin, they will impact many individuals who utilize any type of long term care services. Essentially, the proposed budget outlines the expansion of Family Care statewide, and the “rolling in” of the IRIS program into Family Care, according to Wisconsin Board for People with Developmental Disabilities (BPDD). Also according to BPDD, Family Care would change to include medical care. In IRIS, their 10,000 participants have the ability to choose how to spend their money on services such as bathing, cleaning, and others that allow them to live independently. There is also a projected cut of $19 million to the personal care program. While self-direction in Family Care can compare to the self-direction of IRIS, they are not the same. According to BPDD, in IRIS, each person is told how much they have in their budget, so that they know how much they can spend on long term care services. In Family Care, members usually are not told how much funding they have for long term care services, but are only told the budget they choose to self-direct. While IRIS members are able to self-direct all of their services, Family Care members have to work within the Resource Allocation Decision (RAD) guidelines, and work within those restrictions. Most Family Care members only choose to self-direct supportive home care. A large difference between the programs is the restrictions on who one can hire to provide services. In IRIS, there are not any restrictions on to who can provide services, besides a background check. For example, a family member could be hired as a service provider. In the Family Care program, a person has some flexibility in choosing providers in the ones you are self-directing, but usually limited to using providers in their MCO provider network for all services the individual is not self-directing.
Please remember that this is only a proposed budget, and nothing is finalized. All individuals have lots of options for their voices to be heard on this topic. For instance, there are multiple WI Legislature Joint Finance Committee Public Hearings coming up in March. At these meetings, all individuals have an opportunity to voice their opinions on the proposed state budget. The nearest one to the Fox Cities is at Brillion High School (W1101 County Road HR, Brillion WI 54110) from 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 18th. Representative Steineke will also be holding listening sessions on the State Budget. These are on Tuesday, March 10th at 6:30 p.m. at Nichols Village Hall (N9065 Krull Rd. Nichols, WI 54130) and Monday, March 23 at 6:30 p.m. at the Howard Village Hall (2456 Glendale Ave. Howard, WI 54313). Also in attendance will be Representative Dave Steffen and Senator Rob Cowles. Also remember that it is possible to write, email, or call your legislature at any time. Writing a letter to the editor is also an effective way to educate the public and your representatives about your opinions regarding these matters.
SOAR Fox Cities has created a parent Facebook page where parents will be able to connect with each other online. This page is not anonymous, but private to those who are added to the group. For questions or comments regarding the proposed budget or if you wish to be added to the SOAR Fox Cities, parent page, please call Mitch Cornils at (920) 731-9831 x111 or email him at [email protected].
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