Posts Tagged ‘Gina Macris’
RI again faces millions in fines for developmental disabilities consent decree non-compliance – Gina Macris
By Gina Macris, Developmental Disabilities News For a second time, the state of Rhode Island is facing multi-million dollar fines for non-compliance with a 2014 consent decree which seeks to enforce the rights of adults with developmental disabilities to live regular lives in their communities The state was in the same position about this time…
Read More$100M added for Human Services in RI budget – Gina Macris
by Gina Macris, Developmental Disabilities News Rhode Island’s next fiscal year promises to turn a corner in restoring services for children and adults with disabilities with about $100 million in new funding and a new long-term plan to reassess the rates the state pays private service providers. The House and Senate passed the $13.6 billion…
Read MoreRI House Finance considering major increase in pay for DD, Human Services workers
By Gina Macris, Developmental Disabilities News Last June, direct care workers serving adults with developmental disabilities in Rhode Island were making an average of about $13.18 an hour. In July, 2021, their starting pay jumped to about $15.75 an hour. And beginning July 1, they will make about $18 an hour – a $2.25 increase…
Read MoreRhode Island may not be capable of providing services required by civil rights settlement
by Gina Macris, Developmental Disabilities News Two community organizations have questioned whether Rhode Island’s Executive Office of Human Services (EOHHS) can comply with a recent civil rights settlement agreement that requires the state to make available home and community-based services to all those children who are entitled to them by law. On May 18, the…
Read MoreRI’s Olmstead Consent Decree Coordinator steps down – 6th in 8 years to do so
By Gina Macris, Developmental Disability News Aryana Huskey, Rhode Island’s latest statewide coordinator for implementing the 2014 Olmstead consent decree, has stepped down after 14 months to accept a job with the Healthcare Workforce Management Initiative run by the state’s Executive Office of Health and Human Services. She is the sixth person in eight years to…
Read MoreFederal judge steps in on state’s failed recruitment of adult DD caregivers – Gina Macris
Federal judge steps in to jump start Rhode Island’s hiring efforts for caregivers of adults with developmental disabilities.
Read MoreOur crisis of care – bills would set competitive rates for all human service workers – Gina Macris
by Gina Macris, Developmental Disabilities News, contributor Bills Would Set Competitive Rates For All RI Human Service Workers Christina Battista, a supported employment coordinator for Skills For Rhode Island’s Future, says she never would have been able to earn a master’s degree or hold a job if it weren’t for a personal care assistant. “Someone…
Read MoreDevelopmental Disabilities News: Court warns state to stop missing Civil Rights Consent Decree deadlines – Gina Macris
By Gina Macris, Developmental Disabilities News Amid politely-worded warnings from a federal judge about missing court-ordered deadlines, the state of Rhode Island has laid out a timeline that would put a new system of developmental disability services in place and ready to go by July 1, 2023. The launching pad for the overhaul will be…
Read MoreConsultant linked to setting up state DD system wins contract to fix it – Gina Macris
By Gina Macris, Developmental Disabilities News The parent company of the healthcare consulting group Burns & Associates, instrumental in setting up the Rhode Island developmental disability system that led to a federal civil rights investigation, has been selected to help fix the problem. Burns & Associates is now a division of Health Management Associates (HMA),…
Read MoreDevelopmental Disabilities News: Proposed budget spurs hearing on consent decree status – Gina Macris
by Gina Macris, Developmental Disabilities News Caregivers for adults with developmental disabilities would get an average pay boost of about $2.25 an hour, from $15.75 to $18, in the proposed budget of Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee for the fiscal year beginning July 1. But a federal judge has signaled he may want some wage…
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