 Abledon Unair's major sponsorship was given by Green Mountain Support Services, empowering neighbors with disabilities to be home in the community. Also sponsorship was given by Washington County Mental Health Services, where hope and support come together, and Champlain Community Services of Vermont. Welcome to this edition of Abledon Unair, the one and only program that for the past seven plus years in Vermont and beyond has been focusing on the needs, concerns, and achievements of the Divinely Able. I'm your host, Lawrence Seiler, and before we introduce our guest today, I would like to thank our sponsors, Green Mountain Support Services, Washington County Mental Health, and Champlain Community Services. With me on the phone is Tom McAvanna, Executive Director of IAC New York City Interagency Council for Developmental Disabilities. Thank you, Tom, for joining me again, but this time in a different state, on the show. Okay. Tell me the missions and goals of the Interagency Council for Developmental Disabilities. When you say, when you said be empty, how long did it really take? I know about the Willowbrook Consent Decree, but how long did it really take for advocacy and parents to really get together to empty institutions for people with special needs? Because there are still 39 states to be exact that do have developmental centers and institutions. What is the difference between, since you say institution, what's the difference between a developmental center and an institution, or is there both intertwined there somewhere? In terms of how we became, well, throughout history, you know, 1800s on, you know, people with special needs have been really, they were treated horrifically back then, words changed, they were called infirmed, feeble, etc. Has it really changed as far as the humanitarianism of people with special needs? Yes or no? Yes, I think it has tremendously. I think people have good stories towards... In terms of services with IAC, how do you guys help with the training of staff with group homes and other agencies? Parts of the state, upstate and special education programs, education schools, the message that children with through training and technical assistance as well as legislative and political advocacy? In terms of DSPs, because I know here in Vermont with DSPs, there are agencies that have them. But exactly how has DSP movement, direct support professional movement with staff changed or not changed through the years? Because DSP's way back used to get paid seven something an hour as much as an aid would. But how has that changed with as time went on? Understood it. Is the minimum wage was increased? Can you elaborate on that in terms of the amount of work that DSPs have to endure? Person as they negotiate the world through travel training and through... Now I completely understand that people go into being DSPs that they shouldn't be really in it for the money because it's not a money making, it's having a heart, correct? So in terms of... Long and short of it, in terms of the field of special needs, what are managers really looking for or what are people that are hiring people really looking for when you hire people who want to work in the field of special needs? Being the fact that you've been in the field for 42 years. Did you know what you were really getting into when you first started working with people with disabilities? No, be honest. I was able to work my student teaching around so I find the solutions are problem faster than I could. In terms of... As far as group homes to concern, because I know here in Vermont, there's what they call live-in providers where if a person wants to live, if they want to live on their own but they need a little assistance, they live with a family and then they're given a stipend for supplies and food and clothing and stuff like that. Do you guys have that in New York or how does that work? Or is there more group homes than live-in providers? There are many throughout the summer at the top of my head that have been converted to more supportive living through a supportive apartment program and now New York state has two of these such as shared living and a living way called an individualized support services, ISS, where the individual will get some rental support for example. And there's also called self-direction services where individuals may or may not have 20-fen support, still want to live on their own and maybe with some additional supports in the home either through direct support staff or also maybe some personal care services from the local county or city that they can be able to sustain a more independent life. You know, we'd love to try and create as many individualized situations as possible to respond to what the person wants. So it's taken some time to do that because we still have a fairly large population in certified residences and many of them are aging. So we're almost a victim of our own success. Speaking about aging, what really happened, I'll give you a prime example, which there was an instance where, I mean you know him, Louis Torres, he was working as a manager and there was a situation where our client, not mentioning names of course, where a client was aging out and then that person had to go into a nursing home. So what really happens when a client or a person with a special need really needs other services, a nursing home or another residence that the state, that OPWDD cannot really provide, what happens then? There's a general population, sometimes individuals need to move into a nursing home. Sometimes they are cared at home and with family for people with disabilities, for example, in many of the residences and are able to remain there. We're able to provide additional supports and services in folks who may have a residence. So we try not to look at the nursing home as a solution, but sometimes families also support that decision. You work as a team, you work as that person's circle of support to determine what's going to be best for that person, with the person's own desire and voice being the loudest. Okay, since we said nursing home, I know this is a part of life. What happens within, let's say a group home situation within your agency and if a person has no family whatsoever, and I've tested this on many of my shows before, what happens then? How does the person's burial get taken care of through the state? Do you guys, as a council or as an agency, help with that situation? How does that work? Because it's part of life. That are being lost. Is there an accessible entrance? Is there an accessible bathroom? A room on the first floor, which sometimes we have done, we have moved to this living at home, maybe just getting all those kinds of supports. It looks to make the adequate plan older, situations individual. What are the future goals of your agency? How do you guys see within the 21st century? Because we're getting into some really heavy politics with our current administration and our current administration is not really in favor of people with special needs and services. So how do you see yourselves in the future? These services and employment services, we employ states. Is it all paid? Is services for people with special needs all paid through by Medicaid? Care certainly is all food needs of the population. So there's a number of different things that are pieced together. For many of the services in New York state, especially in the larger congregate settings, that is all funded via Medicaid. So for there, we have to make sure that our local do the value that we bring to community, not just throwing taxpayer dollars away, but it is taxpayer dollars that are then reinvested. Well, I would like to thank you for joining me on this edition of Abledon on Air, Tom. And we'll be talking again. Thank you so much. Real quick before I end, what is the address and phone number in case anyone's on the website? On our website, what's the address of phone number that people can reach you guys? Okay, thank you so much. This puts an end to this edition of Abledon on Air. For more information on IAC, you can go to www.iac.ny.org or that's correct. Okay, that's www.iac.ny.org. And for those who want to reach us by website, you can go to www.orcamedia.net and look up Abledon on Air and this puts an end to this edition of Abledon on Air. I'm Lauren Seiler. See you next time. Thank you to our sponsors, Washington County Mental Health, Green Mountain Support Services, and Champlain Community Services. Thank you. And this puts an end to this edition of Abledon on Air. I'm Lauren Seiler. See you next time. Abledon on Air, major sponsorship was given by Green Mountain Support Services, empowering neighbors with disabilities to be home in the community. Also sponsorship was given by Washington County Mental Health Services, where hope and support come together, and Champlain Community Services of Vermont.