Posts Tagged ‘Gina Macris’
Judge signals overhaul of RI’s Developmental Disability system
By Gina Macris,Developmental Disability News Chief Judge John J. McConnell, Jr. of the U.S. District Court is gearing up to order a soup-to-nuts overhaul of Rhode Island’s troubled developmental disability service system and he wants a detailed plan hammered out during the next year. Chronic problems exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic have pushed McConnell’s long-simmering…
Read MoreTODAY: COVID-19 and Developmental Disabilities Forum
By Gina Macris, Developmental Disabilities News, contributing writer Rhode Island’s developmental disabilities community will have a chance to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on services for adults who are intellectually or developmentally challenged during an online forum hosted by the Community Provider Network of Rhode Island (CPNRI) July 21. The hour-long session, to be facilitated…
Read MoreAdvocates Press for Justice: More lives lost to COVID19 in Rhode Island Group Homes
By Gina Macris As the death toll from the coronavirus has ticked up in Rhode Island group homes for adults with developmental disabilities during the last two weeks, two community organizations have turned their focus to the multiple aspects of social justice – in health care equity and in issues of race. As of June…
Read MoreConcerns for Adults with Developmental Disabilities and Coronavirus
Photo: Pew Charitable Trust By Gina Macris, contributing writer on developmental disabilities The incidence of coronavirus in Rhode Island’s group homes for adults with developmental disabilities remains relatively low – at a little over 7 percent – but in the last week there have been two more deaths among residents in congregate care, for a…
Read MoreRI: Life and Death in Split-Screen Reality
By Gina Macris The statistics are grim: five deaths since April 1 attributed to COVID-19 in connection with group homes in Rhode Island, including four residents with developmental disabilities and one caregiver. But stories from the developmental disability community are not all about vulnerability. Some people with intellectual challenges are nevertheless working on the front…
Read MorePredictions of disaster begin to come true in Developmental Disabilities community
By Gina Macris, contributing writer on developmental disabilities A total of 23 adults with developmental disabilities in Rhode Island group homes — not quite 2 percent of all the 1180 adult residents in congregate care in the state — have tested positive for the coronavirus, as of April 9. All but four of the residents…
Read MoreDD (Developmental Disabilities) Community Calls for Help
By Gina Macris for RINewsToday Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo announced March 26 that the state will soon release a total of $15.4 million in state and federal Medicaid “retainer payments” to shore up private service providers facing unprecedented challenges in the coronavirus pandemic. The announcement came hours after representatives of private service providers and…
Read MoreRI Developmemtal Disabilities Chief Steps Down
By Gina Macris, contributing writer, Olmstead DD News Photo: Kerri Zanchi, by Anne Peters Kerri Zanchi, who for three years has led Rhode Island’s Division of Developmental Disabilities, announced March 5 that she will step down at the end of the month to pursue a different professional opportunity closer to her family in Massachusetts. Zanchi,…
Read MoreDirector of RI BHDDH to Step Down
By Gina Macris Rebecca Boss, Director of the Rhode Island Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals (BHDDH) for three and a half years, will step down at the end of this month – in three weeks – to pursue “new opportunities,” according to a departmental announcement December 11. As director, Boss has supervised…
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