DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

 

“DSP (direct service professionals) turnover averages 38 percent in the private sector compared with 15% among their state employed counterparts. High turnover threatens the consistency and quality of supports received by people with disabilities”.

- ANCOR conference Materials Fact Sheet

 

               One aspect about the Young Adult Institute (YAI), the agency I work for, that I love is the ability for staff to have the opportunity to be apart of the legislative process. I have been fortunate to go on three advocacy trips to Albany, NY and Washington D.C. with staff and individuals we serve to educate politicians about our field and the needs of the population. As one of the goals of the disability studies’ program, my goal was to develop leadership skills in the field that I can adapt to different settings which was perfect on these trips. On each trip, I felt I had gained the knowledge both through my studies as well as my observational experience at work to present the needs of the field to local senators and other important decision makers. By participating on these trips, it encouraged me to become more abreast to the issues that are important to our industry.

 

My First Experience Lobbying in Albany, NY with

NYSACRA

www.nysacra.org

Date: 1/27/2009

 

              Each year, there are lobbying opportunities in the state capital that allow groups to voice their concerns. I was selected to attend the NYSACRA (New York State Association of Community and Residential Agencies) conference but I was nervous initially because I had only been in the field for a short duration and we did not obtain the talking points (main points to address on your appointments with local politicians) prior to going on the trip. On the ride to Albany, I spoke with my co-worker about what she thought this trip would to which she replied this was her first time as well.

              When we arrived in Albany, we were greeted by our director who gave us the run down on how the lobbying days would work. Throughout the two days we were there, we were told to speak from our heart and talk about our experiences in the field. Many staff members brought pictures of working with people with disabilities and shared that they too were new to this process.

On the second day of our trip was when all of the appointments were scheduled. Before we started, we heard a motivating speech from Diane Ritter, the head of the Office for People with Disabilities (OPWDD) at the time, who narrated for us the importance of the day and how to get our message across. Our team, which comprised of staff only, split into three groups based on your director for each region (i.e. Westchester, Long Island, Brooklyn, etc) and they guided us to our destinations to meet with local senators. Prior to coming on the trip, our addresses were researched so we knew who we would be speaking to. Due to the fact that I was not enrolled in the disability studies program, I felt I did not have adequate enough time to prepare for such appointments but I did speak to my current position and was able to present that to the people we met with.

 

 

My Second Trip Lobbying in Albany, NY with

Westchester Coalition of Self Advocates & Families’ Day

Date: 3/24/2010

 

            When I went on my second trip to Albany, I was extremely exited because I had been in the field for a year, been accepted to the Graduate Certificate program in Disability Studies and was attending this trip with advocates from the self advocacy group I worked with. On the trip, it seemed that the group appeared to be larger and I was happy to see DSPs working with advocates this time. Not having them on the first trip made me feel as if we were not united in our efforts to allow people with disabilities to be as any other citizen in the United States by advocating for themselves.

            The main points that we discussed were to reinstate the COLA (cost of living adjustment) in order for DSPs to receive a higher wage rate and not to allow budget cuts to  happen which would impact services for our guys and hinder development for more residences. The strategy we would use would be to allow the residents to express how they felt about their services and tell the politicians how these decisions are impacting us. Senator Andrea Stewart Cousins, who represents parts of Westchester, was probably the most receptive along with Susie Oppenheimer who represented New Rochelle, NY before retiring. Both women met with us directly and did not send one of their assistants to speak with us. We took several pictures with them and the day was productive. Unfortunately, as with my first trip, the COLA was not passed but the budget did not receive a cut which was a small victory that year.

 

 

 

Lobbying in Washington D.C. and the

ANCOR Conference

www.ancor.org

Date: 04/29/2013 - 04/30/2013

 

            The political climate going to the WashingtonD.C. trip was very different than Albany. Our field was facing a large cut, not only to our industry, but to the health care field in general especially mental health by Governor Cuomo. Our trip was comprised of only staff (about nine of us) plus executives who provided us with several pieces of information on what we would discuss. The time spent would be split between the ANCOR (American Network of Community Options and Resources) conferences, which was a DSP led group from all over North America that represented the needs of staff, to the second day of our trip that focused on our scheduled appointments. It was unfortunate that during the time of the conference, congress was in recess so we only had one scheduled appointment with the legal assistant for U.S. Representative Carolyn B. Maloney.

            Due to the fact that we had only one scheduled appointment, the remainder of our time was used to locate the offices of our officials and leave materials, prepared by ANCOR, for them to review. When you do this type of work it is important to see if the assistant for the representative is available to speak with you and we were able to speak with several of them about not pushing forward Governor Cuomo’s proposal. It was interesting to see how many assistants were in their early twenties but very well verse in politics. Our group was complimented by Senator Charles Rangel’s assistant who said he did not see many groups coming through advocating for Medicaid as we did. We emphasized to him the importance of that funding to our population to which he agreed.

            If there is one important lesson that I learned in advocating and listening to the many speeches during my trips, it has been not to consider the struggle for people with disabilities to be over. I was blown away at the ANCOR conference by one of the presenters who discussed how in West Virginia, she was able in ten years to close all of their group homes. Many of us in the audience thought to ourselves, how can this be? She easily replied that as counselors, we strive to provide the least restrictive environment as possible and why not advocate for people with disabilities to live on their own. It was her forward thinking that made me realize that we have a long way to go in terms of providing quality services to this population in order to make their dreams become a reality. I understand that our more medically frail individuals may not be able to achieve this but at least their our agencies that are adapting the principles of normalization that Wolfensberger discusses.

            As a student of Disability Studies, many of the courses I took helped me to be able to frame the narrative that I wanted to convey on these trips. When I took Disability Law and Policy, I was able to learn about the legal process which helped me frame my message to politicians. Also, through developing research skills in Research Methods, I prepared for my D.C. trip by learning how to research the voting history of local politicians which enabled me to have a dialogue with them of how their decisions impacts our industry. Overall, I am very happy that I was able to apply what I learned from my studies into my career because it helped me to appreciate more what I have been educated on and allowed me to use my knowledge in a practical way.

 

For more on my trip to Washington D.C.,

please click on the link below:

 

http://www.yai.org/about/sharing-our-stories/dsps-carry-their-message-to.html

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.