00:00:00 Speaker 2 

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 to the program Todd.  

00:00:15 Speaker 1 

Always good to be here. 

00:00:21 Speaker 2 

We're delighted to have you because there's nothing that happens in Albany that you don't know about, if it affects people with disabilities. 

00:00:25 Speaker 2 

And there have been some hot conversations in recent weeks about programs for people with disabilities as the New York State budget was going past its deadline. What can you tell us about that? 

00:00:38 Speaker 1 

I can absolutely say a good deal about that, actually. This is the kind of the epitome of New York State budget processes. It's all about negotiation, right? They say that a good compromise is that nobody's happy. Well, it's a good compromise cause nobody is happy. Most of the disability programs that asked for more money got a portion of what they asked for, but not the whole thing. By way of example, Access to Home went to 4 million instead of 5 million. The DSP's got a 2.8% cost of living adjustment instead of a 3.2% cost of living adjustment. Stuff like that. What's really important to remember though is that as part of the process, there's going to be some changes coming in, a couple of big programs, most importantly Consumer Directed Personal Assistants. 

00:01:35 Speaker 2 

Alright. And I gather that you're going to tell us more about the one fiscal intermediary change? 

00:01:43 Speaker 1 

There we go, the single fiscal intermediary. This was a thing that actually genuinely comes up as part of budget negotiations. For the listeners that pay attention, you know that the governor comes up with her budget, then the Senate comes up with their budget and the Assembly comes up with their budget, and they all get into a room, and they have a conversation about what to do next. 

00:02:04 Speaker 1 

Well, as part of that conversation, someone glommed on to the idea of clearing up the vast number of physical intermediaries that run the Consumer Directed Personal Assistant system. Now what we're really concerned about is that rather than just reducing it to a manageable number or getting rid of the people that didn't file cost reports, they went with a single fiscal intermediary, one out of state company that will be the employer of record for an estimated 300,000 PCAs in New York. We were able to advocate kind of in a marathon session to make sure that people with disabilities interests were covered by making sure that Independent Living centers were treated like full fiscal intermediaries, but as subcontractors to the statewide intermediary. 

00:02:57 Speaker 2 

I guess anything that has a lesser influence for the 600 plus for-profit, fiscal intermediaries is probably a good thing. 

00:03:07 Speaker 1 

Well, you'd think so, but this is going to be one of those changes that's going to take a while, because there might be legal challenges or there might be administrative things about how they're going to handle it or how they're going to roll it out. 

00:03:21 Speaker 1 

But it's important to remember that the advocacy was about keeping a core Independent Living value involved in the program and that's consumer control and having consumer experience still be a part of the way that program operates and develops. 

00:03:40 Speaker 2 

Alright. So, any idea when the changes will come about? 

00:03:45 Speaker 1 

Now, they say a year from the passage of the budget, which would be April 15, 2025. But I expect it'll be a tad longer than that. 

00:03:56 Speaker 2 

Alright, but ultimately you anticipate people with disabilities will continue to have a say in their home care... 

00:04:04 Speaker 1 

Oh, yes, people with disabilities are still going to be hiring the people that they want in the Consumer Directed program and they're still going to be able to be working for them. The importance here is that there are going to be people involved in that process who are people with disabilities themselves who will be able to help the consumers through the processes they need to get all that done. 

00:04:25 Speaker 2 

Todd, we're running low on time. I'm sure people will have questions. How can they reach you? 

00:04:29 Speaker 1 

They can always give my office a call. 716-836-0822 ext. 101 or email me at tvaarwerk@wnyil.org. 

00:04:43 Speaker 2 

Thank you for sharing your vast knowledge with us. 

00:04:46 Speaker 1 

Always a pleasure. 

00:04:47 Speaker 2 

You've been listening to Independent Perspective, a public affairs presentation of WNYIL.  

Our guest today was Todd Vaarwerk, chief policy officer of WNYIL, and I've been your host, Ernie Churchwell.