ARRM's Daily Dispatch

Grassroots Advocacy: Education and engagement phase, by the numbers

The past five months have seen ARRM members engaged in grassroots advocacy across the state. Through all of your grassroots work we have educated legislators, candidates and those in the community about disability issues, and showed that disability services are a core government service that should be protected. Below is a snapshot of some of the great work going on statewide.

Candidate Forums: ARRM members have been holding candidate forums across the state in the last couple months. Through all your hard work we have had 60 candidates out at disability centered candidate forums, educating new candidates and legislators alike.

Site Visits: Site visits are still the best tool we have as providers to show legislators the daily work that is being done for people with disabilities. Throughout the last couple months ARRM members have had 14 site visits, with many more coming up post election.
Advocacy BBQs: Partnering with the MN CCD, ARRM assisted this summer in planning advocacy BBQ’s for the disability community. At these BBQs dozens of candidates from the Minneapolis metro area were able to mingle and talk with the disability community about the issues that are most important to them.

Grassroots Roadshow: Barb Brynstad and Sara Krogman have been available for one-on-one training with members to talk about grassroots advocacy. Not only is this a great resource for members only, this is an opportunity to get the framework and set goals for your agencies grassroots efforts. To date Barb and Sara have spoken with seven different organizations, with many more scheduled in the next couple months.

Stephanie Vance Training: In September, ARRM brought in Advocacy Guru Stephanie Vance to do a half day training on the importance of grassroots advocacy. This training was tailored to DSPs, family members and self advocates. ARRM was thrilled to have almost 175 people register and attend this event. After a great training they are now more prepared to go forth and advocate!

Advocacy Partners: The Advocacy Partner program is the foundation of ARRM’s grassroots program. We have added three new partners to the program to provide additional peer-to-peer support.

Special Recognition: This year at our Annual Leadership Conference, ARRM recognized Rep. Rod Hamilton (R-22B) with the ARRM Cares Leadership Award for his extraordinary work during the last legislative session. Rep. Hamilton has been a champion of disability issues and truly one of our strongest advocates at the Capitol, we at ARRM are very thankful to him.

This past month, at an event hosted by Lutheran Social Service, ARRRM also recognized Rep. Patti Fritz (D-26B) for her past leadership within the DFL caucus on issues related the disabled and elderly. We are very thankful to her and the work she does everyday representing the disabled and elderly communities.

For more information on how you can get involved in grassroots advocacy please visit our advocacy arsenal by clicking here: http://www.arrm.org/advocacy/ or contact Sara Krogman at skrogman@arrm.org.

--Sara Krogman, Field Coordinator

Minnesota CADI waiver renewal approved

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has approved the DHS application for renewal of the Comunity Alternatives for Disabled Individuals (CADI) Waiver program.  The CADI plan will be effective from October 1, 2010 to September 30, 2015.

Policy changes will be made to the Disability Services Provider Manual (DSPM), an announcement will be sent out once the changes are made. The following are some of the changes or policy clarifications included in the renewal:

• Listed services for back ground study requirements per Minnesota Statute 256B.49
• Included fifth bed exception language
• Background studies will be mandatory and no longer optional for CDCS
• Changed name from "Assisted Living" and "Assisted Living Plus" to "Customized Living" and "24-hour Customized Living"
• Clarified that Environmental Accessibility Adaptations includes monitoring or surveillance systems
• Clarified that emergency back up plans address providers not showing up
• Expanded CADI service optionsin keeping with the goals of common service menu
• Included DHS workplans to discontinue use of contract between counties and providers and to develop statewide rate-setting methodologies for all disability waivers

For more details you can go to the DHS Disability Services home page and click on to the link under "CADI Waiver plan approved."

--Barb Jacobson, COO

 

 

 

 

 

Call for presentations deadline is October 29, 2010

As an organization, ARRM is committed to providing training that supports all of our member organizations. As such, we are seeking proposals for presentations for the 2011 annual ARRM Conference. This conference provides an opportunity to share ideas, learn best practices, and explore new techniques.There is no desired format for these presentations; speakers are encouraged to develop programs appropriate to their material. 

If you are interested in presenting at ARRM's spring conference, the deadline for proposal submission is October 29, 2010. All proposals will be reviewed by the 2011 ARRM Conference Committee, and selections will be announced in January, 2011. 

For more information and to complete an online form, please visit ARRM's website.

Special session disaster relief summary

Governor Pawlenty called the Legislature into a one-day special session yesterday to pass a package of disaster relief for the September floods in southern Minnesota and the June tornadoes and flooding in Wadena. The bill authorizes new bonding and spends about $34.8 million from the state general fund as a match for federal emergency assistance funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), replacement of local roads and bridges, flood hazard mitigation, and conservation easements. The bill was approved by both the House and the Senate and sent to the governor for his signature.

At the end of the 2010 regular session, the general fund had a positive balance of $5.5 million. To pay for this additional spending, the legislation recognizes the extension of Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) that was approved by Congress in August. That additional funding would have been recognized in the November forecast. Recognizing these funds allows the additional spending without putting the general fund into a deficit in fiscal year 2010-11. The remaining FMAP funds roll over into the fiscal year 2012-13 biennium and reduce the projected deficit by roughly $191 million to about $5.6 billion.

A summary of the legislation is available here, and a spreadsheet outlining its fiscal impact is available here.

--Craig Wieber, Chief Fiscal Analyst

Results of ARRM's member survey will be used to highlight our economic impact

Last week, ARRM sent out the first portion of our annual member survey to collect information on the economic impact of our membership across the state. When completed, this information will allow us to demonstrate the value we provide - above and beyond the care of our most vulnerable citizens - by employing individuals and stimulating economic activity across the state.  

We understand this can be a lot of work, but providing reliable and complete information to the new governor and legislature is a key component in making our case in the upcoming session. We need all members to complete this survey for it to be accurate. Any information that is provided will be kept confidential and will only be reported on the aggregate.

If you have any questions about the survey or any of the information requested, or require assistance in completing it, please call me at (651) 291-1086, extension 9, or via email at cwieber@arrm.org.

--Craig Wieber, Chief Fiscal Analyst

October's economic update brings mixed news

The state’s October economic update was released yesterday by Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB). Economic updates are done every quarter to present updated revenue data, and to compare the results with projections from the most recent forecast. This is the last update before the upcoming elections; the next complete forecast is in November.

Total revenue collections were $55 million higher than forecasted from July through September. Projections for individual income taxes were nearly identical to actual receipts, while collections for sales and corporate income taxes were $49 million higher than projected. Higher collections in other, smaller fees and surcharges account for the remaining $6 million.

What does this mean? The news is mixed - the update shows that tax collections for the current fiscal year are helping to erase a $77 million shortfall left over from the previous fiscal year that ended in June. Higher receipts in sales and corporate income taxes are a positive development, but may be due to the timing of collections and not higher than projected growth.

Overall economic recovery is still predicted to be long and slow. The number of jobs in Minnesota is still below pre-recession levels, but is recovering better compared to other parts of the country. This additional revenue is good news, but will not likely cause forecasters to increase revenue projections for the upcoming biennium.

The original document published by MMB is available on their website here.

--Craig Wieber, Chief Fiscal Analyst

ARRM unveils new members-only grassroots advocacy tool

 
As ARRM gears up for another challenging legislative session, we’ve created a useful new tool to help self-advocates and staff become more involved in grassroots advocacy.

The members-only “I’m an ARRM Grassroots Advocate!” refrigerator magnet (4.25" x 5.5") helps the people who live and work at your program sites remember the home’s legislative district, and the names and contact information for local and federal elected officials.

If you would like to order some magnets, please contact Sara Krogman at skrogman@arrm.org or Barb Brynstad at bbrynstad@arrm.org.

More grassroots opportunities

All of your hard work last session resulted in a zero percent rate cut, but the fight isn’t over yet! Going into next session, we’re asking ARRM’s members to participate in at least one more grassroots activity than you did last year.

Join ARRM Facebook page, follow us on Twitter, host a letter raiser activity or conduct a site visit; we have a menu of opportunities that will fit your unique circumstances. Let’s make our voices heard again this session: ask your state legislators to prevent cuts to core services for Minnesota's most vulnerable citizens.

You can check out ARRM’s full suite of grassroots tools and tips in our advocacy arsenal at http://www.arrm.org/advocacy. And if you've met with an elected official or candidate lately, let us know how the conversation or visit went. Fill out our convenient online feedback form at http://www.arrm.org/feedback.htm.

--Sara Krogman, Field Coordinator and  Barb Brynstad, Communications Director