Independent Perspective 1729 with Todd Vaarwerk with his 2022 Disability Advocacy (Awareness) Year-in-Review.

Host:  Welcome to Independent Perspective, a public affairs presentation of Western New York Independent Living (WNYIL). Our guest today is Todd Vaarwerk, Chief Policy Officer of WNYIL. And I’m your host Ernie Churchwell. Welcome back to the program, you fount of knowledge on all things, Todd.

Guest:  Always good to be here and thank you for the compliment

Host:  Our pleasure for both. You’re here because we're coming up on the end of 2022 and so it's time to look back on what all has happened in the realm of disability advocacy. And I guess it would be fair to say we had some wins. We had some things that didn't come out quite the way we wanted. And there are other things that are still up in the air. What are the high points that come to your mind?

Guest:  Well, I think of the highest thing in terms of the critical activity we managed to get done was the work we were able to do with fair pay for home care. Advocates were able to get the state to negotiate raises for people working in personal care jobs. That would be $3 an hour over two years. You can't imagine how complex advocacy of like that is. So, while we know that that still doesn't reach fair pay for home care’s ultimate target of 20 to 15 an hour for home care aides. That's a significant step when especially when you consider that the first offer was including them in a one-time bonus program for up to $3,000.

Host:  Is there still an issue concerning some middlemen that are taking a good chunk out of the home care aides’ money?

Guest:  Well, that's the thing with advocating on a legislative level once the legislators are done with it, the regulator's get their hands on it and regulating is sometimes infinitely more complicated. So yeah, there are some problems with that as we move from the legislators to the regulators, but the fact that we got the legislators to commit that in the budget is a major first step.

Host:  Great. Well, now that you've covered fair pay for home care what else has been hot this year?

Guest:  Well, a lot of local issues, hot this year improving access to housing for people with disabilities. We were able to work with Housing Opportunities Made Equal to get some lifts, put on some homes. You know, that's critical stuff in terms of being able to keep people in the community. And as people, regular listeners know, we're actually able to do some stuff with local government to improve the citizens’ voice in City of Buffalo politics. Again, another significant move, which wouldn't have happened without the collaboration of advocates.

Host:  Are there things on the other side of the ledger that you wish had gone differently?

Guest:  Yes. With the budget, we're never happy with things that happened in the budget. The direct service professionals really needed more. The responding to disability issues in the wake of tragedy and emergency is something that is that we're still really strongly working on. And well, how do I say this. They'll just edit out the pauses anyway. We're kind of rolling back on people being out of nursing homes in the community. So, what you're going to see in 2023, is a bigger push towards reminding people about the basic promise of the Olmstead decision of the US Supreme Court.

Host:  Okay, and if you could remind people, what the Olmstead Decision portends for people with disabilities.

Guest:  The Olmstead decision is the thing that says that the Americans Disabilities Act guarantees that people with disabilities get the right to receive services in the most integrated setting appropriate to the individual. And we need to do some more work on that.

Host:  All right, well, I guess as in just about every year in the past, you have your work cut out for you. I'm sure people will have questions how can they reach you?

Guest:  They can always give me a call at 716-836-0822 extension 101 or email me at tvaarwerk@wnyil.org

Host:  Thanks so much for being with us Todd.

Guest:  Always a pleasure.

Host:  You've been listening to Independent Perspective, a public affairs presentation of WNYIL. Our guest has been Todd Vaarwerk, chief policy officer of WNYIL and I’ve been your host Ernie Churchwell.