Developmental Disabilities Reform Act

Draft Review & Revision Meeting 2

April 30, 2009
Martin Luther King, Jr. Library, Room A-10

Meeting Notes

In attendance: Sandy Bernstein, University Legal Services; Tina Campanella, Quality

Trust; Karen Davis, QT Board; Thelma Green, Project ACTION!; Emma Hambright,
DDS; Mat McCollough, Office of Disability Rights; Phillippa Mezile, DDS; Victor
Robinson, Project ACTION! & Quality Trust; Elaine Saunders; Clydie Smith, DDS; T.J.
Sutcliffe, The Arc of DC; Morgan Whitlatch, Quality Trust; Bob Williams, DDS; Weadé
Wallace, Advocates for Justice and Education; Antoinette Wiseman

Meeting notes:

1. Welcome, Introductions and Announcements

The group welcomed new participants.

Notes from Meeting 1 were distributed. Meeting 1 participants are asked to review the
meeting notes and contact T.J. Sutcliffe (tjsutcliffe@arcdc.net or 202-636-2963) with
any corrections. Meeting notes are not intended to be a transcript of the discussion, but
rather attempt to highlight key items discussed and the resolution of each item.

Calendar changes announced at Meeting 1 are still pending. These are:

a. The June 18th meeting will be rescheduled; and

b. To accommodate people who are unable to attend review and revision meetings
on Thursday afternoons, a Saturday meeting will be held on May 30th. Location is
to be determined. An announcement will go out soon.

T.J. has asked the 5 Expert Review Panel members to provide short biographies. She
hopes to be able to provide these at the next meeting.

The group added a fourth “ground rule” (one person speaks at a time) to the three
identified at Meeting 1 (avoid acronyms and jargon; use respectful language when
referring to people with disabilities; respect the person, even if you don’t agree with the
idea).

2. Comprehensive Developmental Disabilities Services Task Force and Plan

Eligibility

The group discussed the proposal in the draft Developmental Disabilities Reform Act
(DDRA) for the Department on Disability Services (DDS), Developmental Disabilities

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Administration (DDA) to change its eligibility criteria from a diagnosis of intellectual
disability to a diagnosis of developmental disability. Bob Williams provided an overview
of the proposal, which features a 2-year phase-in period, guided by a community-led
Task Force.

After much discussion, the group agreed to support the 2-year phase-in period. One
participant thought there should be no delay (in other words, the change to
developmental disability should happen right away). The group also noted that it will be
important to determine the level of need and cost, and that DDS will need to plan
carefully for the changes in eligibility and services.

The group agreed to change the sections of the draft DDRA related to the
Comprehensive Developmental Disabilities Services Task Force and Plan in the
following ways:

Revise the process for appointing the Task Force as follows:

o The DDS Director will appoint the Task Force members.
o The DDS Director will solicit nominations for the Task Force from the
general public.
o The DDS Director will publish a preliminary Task Force membership list
and solicit comments on the proposed membership, prior to making final
appointments.

Revise the composition of the Task Force as follows:

o Include people currently receiving DDA services;
o Try to include 1 person from each Ward of the District;
o Provide a suggested list of government agencies to participate in the Task
Force, but do not make it an exhaustive list. Allow the agency Director or a
designee to participate.

Expand the scope of work for the Task Force as follows:

o To make recommendations for workforce development for direct support
professionals. This includes certification, training, pay, and benefits.
o To help DDS develop regulations to implement the recommendations of
the Task Force.

Give the Task Force a clear end date (either after the regulations are done or
within a year or possibly slightly longer). The Drafting Subcommittee will take a
closer look at this.

The group discussed the Eligibility section of the draft DDRA and agreed to change the
section in the following ways:

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Delete the discussion of the reasons a person might appeal a determination of
ineligibility (page 26, lines 13 to 16). Instead, the draft should simply state that a
determination of ineligibility can be appealed.

Clarify that seeking third-party payment for any assessments needed to complete
an eligibility determination should not delay the determination.

Other changes:

The group also recommended that DDS be required to develop certification

requirements for direct support professionals. This change was agreed to and may be
discussed again at the June 11th meeting, which will cover the draft DDRA section on
“Quality standards and monitoring.”

3. Next meeting

The next meeting will be Thursday, May 7th from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. at the Martin Luther
King, Jr. Library, 901 G Street, NW in room A-5.

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