Disability Rights Advocates Dispute County Claims of Neglect

By: Seth Voorhees, Rochester YNN July 23, 2010

An agency that advocates for disability rights is denying allegations of neglect, which led Monroe County to terminate a contract to run a program that oversees nurses and aides for the disabled.

Monroe County sent a letter to the Center for Disability Rights Thursday announcing the termination of a 12-year relationship between the two.

CDR was contracted to oversee the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program, which provides nurses and aides to people who need constant medical care in their homes.

The Monroe County Department of Human Services investigated CDR following some complaints from at least 12 clients according to the county regarding the level of care they were receiving.

CDR was contracted as a vendor to oversee the distribution of Medicaid payments as well as other assistance to clients who are need in home assistance who might otherwise end up in nursing homes.

According to the county, one complaint involved a quadriplegic whose aide never showed up on a particular day, and was later hospitalized and is now in a nursing home.

There are other examples the county brings up as well.

The Center for Disability Rights says it learned of the termination in a letter, and only read about specific allegations in the newspaper.

“People have a right to good care. They have a right to independence and they have a right to safety. All of those things have to be addressed in this program, and if even one of those is lacking, then we’ve done something wrong as a community in protecting them, and our job is to oversee this,” said Human Services Commissioner Kelly Reed.

“As a whole they’re false. There are some incidents where we have not been perfect, sure. But as a whole, an allegation of widespread lack or failure to provide quality services is absolutely false,” said Chris Hildebrant of the Center for Disability Rights.

County Executive Maggie Brooks responded to the latest volley in the dispute with the CDR.

“They have fallen short of providing good service. They have put people and lives at risk in our community. We cannot do business with that organization.”

Brooks made those comments this morning at a ceremony in Highland Park.

CDR believes the county is not clear that there is some sort of misunderstanding regarding CDR’s role as a fiscal intermediary. According to the contract, CDR has sent a letter to the county hoping to be able to sit down and work out the differences.

The county sent letters to the affected clients notifying them of the termination of the CDR contract.

Those clients have 10 days to choose another agency. The county says five other agencies provide those same services.

Clients will be given more time to choose, if needed.