This Tuesday’s regular meeting of the Monroe County Legislature saw consumer advocates from the Center for Disability Rights return to ask for relief from the County’s decision to cancel CDR’s Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Services (CDPAS) contract.

Monday was the deadline for Monroe County seniors and people with disabilities served by CDPAS to switch to one of five for-profit agencies. The transition has been difficult for many. A significant number who already switched have reported that promises to match CDR’s wages and benefits for aides have not been kept. Others have complained about a lack of communication from their new agency, others about additional restrictions and requirements that were not imposed by CDR. Carmen Hernandez sent written testimony to be read by a friend, describing the “ordeal” of being forced to transition to a new agency after ten years with CDR. “I have visited all five of [the agencies] and met with three of them,” her testimony said, “and still today I am not satisfied with my choice because my aides are not going to be getting all the benefits they used to get from CDR.” She also noted that some of the agencies were not wheelchair accessible for her to enter the building.

Ms. Wheelchair New York, Michelle Fridley, came from Ontario County to speak to Monroe County Legislators about the high quality of CDR’s services. One of CDR’s newest Board members, she told the County Legislators, “With help from the NHTD waiver (Nursing Home Transition and Diversion waiver), CDR rescued me from going into a nursing home, which is where I’d be right now without CDR and CDPAS. I would not be with my daughter Felicia, I would not be where I am or who I am.”

Another CDPAS consumer who attended the hearing and had signed up to speak was told that someone had called to cancel her request. She denied having called to cancel and the cancelation call did not come from her phone, but she was not permitted to testify. This was described as consistent with the County Legislature’s rules, but raises a question about whether third parties would generally be permitted to cancel requests to speak. CDR will work with the individual to pursue her rights.

Another group impacted by the County’s decision to end CDR’s CDPAS contract is people who are both deaf and blind or low vision. Rochester is reputed to have the highest per capita deaf population in the country. When deaf people lose all or part of their vision, they need different kinds of assistance to communicate and navigate their way about the community. This assistance is called Support Service Provider (SSP) services. As a non-profit, CDR put the rate surplus paid to home care agencies back into a variety of disability services, including SSP services.

At Tuesday’s County Legislature meeting, a deaf advocate for deaf seniors and a deaf-blind advocate each testified about the importance of meeting critical needs in Rochester’s deaf community. They passionately urged the County Legislature to either restore the CDR contract or directly fund these essential services.

Although it was County Executive Maggie Brooks’ big night to present her annual budget for a formal vote, she stayed out of the meeting room until after the public comment part of the agenda was over. In contrast, at least some of the Legislators listened and will hopefully be inclined to lend their support.

One proposal is that Legislators call upon the NYS Dept. of Health to conduct an independent review of Maggie Brooks’ allegations against CDR. CDR has successfully completed NYS audits of various Medicaid services that CDR continues to provide, so an independent review is expected to clear CDR’s name following Brooks’ actions this past summer.