Jackie Yingling Gives Testimony For Senate Finance Committee Budget Hearing

Good Afternoon,

Thank you, Senator Kruger, and members of the Senate Finance Committee for the opportunity to speak today regarding the Governor’s proposed deficit reduction plan. My name is Jackie Yingling. I live in Rochester, NY. I am the parent of a charming and engaging 25 year-old daughter, Rachel, who happens to have a developmental disability.

I am concerned about the proposed cuts to OMRDD Family Support Services and Local Assistance funding. These cuts would have a tremendous adverse effect on individuals with disabilities and on agencies such as The Advocacy Center in Rochester, NY. The subsequent negative effect on families will be devastating.

For over 5 years, my daughter was able to continue to live in our home only because of the supports provided by OMRDD Family Support Services and The Advocacy Center. If we did not receive those services, she would have had to have been removed from our home and placed in a residential setting. This would have been terribly traumatic for Rachel and our family. This would have also cost the State of New York many tens of thousands of dollars more.

Many families are in the same situation today. These people (voting citizens) are surviving with their family unit intact because of the supports and services they receive. Julie Buick, a fellow parent, asked me to tell you this: New York State cannot afford to cut services to individuals with disabilities and their families. Cutting funding for OMRDD will affect programs such as Family Support, Respite, Family Reimbursement, Individualized Funding, and Home of Your Own, as well as OMRDD financial support to provider and advocacy agencies. Every one of these programs allows individuals with disabilities to live with their families or in their own homes with supports they choose. The current situation is bad enough, with thousands of people on waiting lists for residential services. Cutting these programs will result in significant cost to the state of New York by forcing people with disabilities into institutional and restrictive settings.

Providing individuals with disabilities and their family members with advocacy and OMRDD support services makes good fiscal sense. These efforts promote solid, productive citizens who become contributing members of their communities.
Everyone benefits.

Our lives, and that of our daughter’s, have been significantly improved because of the services we received. Please ensure
that now, and in the future, all New York residents have the
same opportunities.


Jackie Yingling

(Jackie's daughter Rachel signed with Jackie and her picture was on Jackie's written testimony, but I can't transfer it here.... grrr!)

Pat Muir Gives Testimony Before the DDSO

Commissioner Ritter, and members of the forum, thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak on behalf of my son and other adults with autism about the need to develop a state wide training curriculum in autism, which should be mandated for all direct service providers. My name is Pat Muir, and my son, Nathan, is a twenty six year old young man with autism. This issue is the one that most profoundly impacts Nathan’s ability to live the adult life he wants.

In high school, Nathan was included in regular classes, helped manage the boys basketball team, participated in recreational activities, and had a summer job at a local day camp. He cooked meals for the family and his regular chores included mowing the grass each week. Support from trained educational staff was critical to help him accomplish his goals in preparation for his self determined future.

A reaction to a prescribed medication caused a significant behavioral regression. Over the next several years, Nathan’s world shrunk to the size of a small bedroom in a certified group home. But his dreams remained the same: to take care of his own home, to work and to be part of his community.

In order to regain the skills he had lost, support and accommodations provided by trained staff persons would be critical. We assumed that voluntary and state agencies would provide support staff having a solid basic understanding of autism, how it can impact learning and behavior and best practices for supporting individuals in their communities. After all, OMRDD agencies are in the business of providing supports, accommodations, and training to individuals with developmental disabilities, including autism. However, we learned that individuals who provide direct care are not required to have education or background in human services or developmental disability. And while OMRDD regulations set general categories for instruction of providers, it is left to each individual agency to decide on the extent of trainings, so there is no established standard.

Today, Nathan lives in his own home with support from residential habilitators. New employees must attend two full weeks of training before they can begin to deliver any direct service. But out of those two weeks, only 30 minutes are spent learning about autism.

When Nathan was first included in a regular classroom, the school psychologist gathered the team and told us that for inclusion to work, we must all agree that Nathan could NOT FAIL. Any failures would be ours, because it was up the team to provide needed supports.