Although we stabilized CDR after Monroe County had terminated the contract with CDR to serve as a fiscal intermediary in the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program, we had only done so for the 2010 fiscal year.

That ends on December 31st. So yesterday, CDR laid off about a dozen staff people.

Men and women. White folks, people of color and Spanish-speaking individuals. Some had disabilities and others were (at least temporarily) able bodied. They were from every part of the organization. Advocates, finance and human resource staff, quality assurance, direct service providers, and clerical workers. Some were with the organization for a short time while others had been with us much longer, in fact one had been on staff more than 25 years. The ONLY thing they had in common was that they didn’t do anything to deserve to have their employment end.

In order to give people as much notice as possible, the CDR Board approved the 2011 budget last week which included the layoffs. When we notified people, we told them they will continue to receive their regular pay through the end of the year and CDR will pay out their accrued vacation leave. We met with them to explain the situation, provided them with letters of reference and RochesterWorks was here to offer assistance with their job searches.

We then met with the rest of the office-based staff. While it was clear that people were sad about the layoffs, they also heard a positive message. In July, we said that we would stabilize CDR for the rest of the fiscal year. We did, and with these reductions, CDR is solid. The 2011 budget doesn’t just do that for another year. Based on our projections, we will be fine in 2012 as well… and beyond that.

Although we have eliminated some projects like our Olmstead litigation efforts, a Statewide Get out the Disability Vote Project and our community organizing initiative in the Autistic community, CDR has maintained all of the core programs and initiatives.

We still provide waiver services for persons with brain injuries or developmental disabilities. We still assist people in returning to the community from nursing facilities using the Nursing Facility Transition and Diversion Waiver (which we created). In fact, these efforts were recently featured on National Public Radio (www.npr.org/2010/12/09/131912529/a-new-nursing-home-population-the-young).

All About You Home Care – the only disability-led home care agency in the area – continues to provide Home and Community Support Services and grow. We continue to operate our recreation and day services out of the Edgerton Recreation Center.

And of course, we continue to serve as a fiscal intermediary for the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program in 10 other counties. CDR will continue to have a strong presence in our Geneva and Corning offices and, we expect to continue to see growth in those areas.

We will maintain our Albany office and continue our policy analysis and budget advocacy. In fact – we are in the middle of preparing recommendations on how Governor-elect Cuomo can save hundreds of millions of dollars by moving people from institutions into the community and de-medicalizing services.

Amazingly, within hours of the layoff, we had already gotten a phone call from one of the local home care agencies asking if CDR had closed its doors.

We haven’t, and we aren’t.

Although we lost the Monroe County contract, in 2011, CDR will still be an $18.8 million non-profit organization. We are about the same size as we were four years ago.

Of course, CDR is changing, but we are used to that; we have changed a lot over the last 12 years. In the coming year, one of the most important changes we need to make is recognizing that CDR is no longer a Rochester-centric or Monroe County-centric organization. Our geographic base is much broader now. We serve people from the shore of Lake Ontario all the way to the Pennsylvania border. And because our base is more diversified, CDR is actually becoming a stronger organization. But one thing that won’t change is CDR’s commitment to advocacy. We will continue to fight for the full independence, integration and civil rights of people with disabilities.