Today, COVID-19 was officially declared a pandemic.  That’s why I want to personally update you on the steps we are taking to ensure the health and safety of our consumers and staff.

The Center for Disability Rights (CDR) has been closely monitoring the outbreak developments and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommendations regarding COVID-19.  At CDR, we take the health and safety of our consumers and staff very seriously. Our staff are taking proper precautions as determined by the CDC regarding stopping the spread of the Coronavirus.

This includes:

• vigorous hand washing for at least 20 seconds,
• practicing social distancing, which includes the elimination of hand shaking, hugging or touching,
• regularly cleaning and sanitizing all high touch surfaces in our public spaces,
• disinfecting of all meeting rooms after each appointment, and
• using hand sanitizer.

We know that even in the middle of a pandemic, people with disabilities still must get their needs met.  In fact, our services may even be more important because of COVID-19.  Consequently, we have arranged for the following options to ensure continuity of our services and to make sure you get the help you need right away.

First, if you have respiratory symptoms or are running a fever over 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit, PLEASE DO NOT COME TO OUR OFFICES.  We can work with you remotely.  You can call us at 585-546-7510 or any of our local numbers.  If you are Deaf and need our services, you can contact our Deaf Independent Living Services staff person on her videophone at 585-286-3496.

If you leave a message for a staff person and do not hear back within 24 hours, call back and ask for the person who is covering that position or the supervisor.  The staff you contacted may be out of work and we might not know you called. 

Another option to get your needs met is to contact us by email.  We have several webpages designed to help you.

CDPAS

If you are a consumer or designated representative in our Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program, you can report an issue at this link: http://cdrnys.org/consumer-directed-personal-assistance-issue-reporting-form/

If you are an attendant/personal assistant in our Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program, you can report an issue at this link: http://cdrnys.org/consumer-directed-personal-assistance-attendant-reporting-form/

POOLED TRUST

If we made a mistake on a disbursement from your Pooled Trust sub-account, you can report that using this form: http://cdrnys.org/pooled-trust-disbursement-error-report-form/

If we made a mistake on a deposit into your Pooled Trust sub-account, you can report that using this form: http://cdrnys.org/pooled-trust-deposit-error-report-form/

If you have a general issue or an unresolved issue that you have already notified us about, you can report it to us on this page: http://cdrnys.org/pooled-trust-report-form/

SERIOUS OR UNRESOLVED ISSUES

If you have contacted us and an issue still hasn’t been resolved, or if an issue is serious and needs immediate attention, you can contact me – the President/CEO of CDR – on this page: http://cdrnys.org/contact/

OFFICE VISITS

If you come to our offices, we will be screening people for respiratory symptoms and fever.  This is intended to keep everyone safe and we appreciate you cooperating with this process. 

We are also instructing our staff to stay out of the office if they have respiratory symptoms or are running a fever over 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit.  We have contingency plans in place to ensure continuity of service, but the staff who have been working with you may not be available.  Please bear with us.

MORE INFORMATION

For the most updated information regarding the Coronavirus please visit the CDC webpage: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

Additionally, you can contact the New York State Department of Health using the Coronavirus Hotline at 1-888-364-3065 or their website: https://www.health.ny.gov/diseases/communicable/coronavirus/