July 26, 2010: The mission for CDC has remained the same for many years. Sometimes the ways to continue to meet mission objectives changes and this past year has seen many of these unsettling shifts in the landscape.

After more than a decade of effort the Board of Directors at its May meeting decided that it could not continue to prop up The Playscape licensed childcare program in Rensselaer. Despite an outstanding reputation, quality second to none and deeply committed staff the program had continued to lose money. With the lengthened recession the organization had run out of options and needed to re-focus on its core services. Fortunately an area church had been exploring development of a childcare ministry and after careful negotiations CDC was able to conclude a lease agreement with Tri-County Bible Church that avoids any disruption of care for the children, their families and the community. The church initiative, Treasure Keepers Childcare & Preschool Ministry, will utilize the same space and essentially the same staff in seamlessly taking over the reins of this valued community service by late summer.

The agency has also worked diligently to trim its expenses in response to the series of rate cuts implemented by the state because of lower revenue figures. From 3 -10% reductions were put into effect in late spring. We do not operate with those margin levels so some difficult choices had to be made. We have had to ask staff to pick up for staff who were either laid off or not replaced as a direct consequence of the economic climate. So far it has been encouraging as staff have stepped up to the plate and kept all existing programs at their same quality of care.

The issue of time limitations for prevocational services still remains for thousands of individuals in the state. State officials have failed to appreciate the many therapeutic and societal benefits that come from paid work even at low levels of productivity. They are worried about Medicaid coming back at them.

It is also time for a brief update on our fire recovery. The thrift store has continued to do very well at its downtown location, 430 N. Illinois, and the part of the main building that did not get serious smoke damage is fully operational. Settlement discussions continue with our insurance carrier and are expected to conclude before the end of summer. No final decision has been made with regard to the thrift shop wing – whether to rebuild, partially rebuild, close off or tear down what is left.

January 17, 2010: Please click here to go to our special page about the fire that affected our thrift shop and main administration building.

January 9, 2010: The economic distress of our country is evident at every turn. The governor and other elected officials at the state and local level are focused on the budget figures. The drop in revenue has forced these units of government to rein in expenses. In the past several months the state has cut payments to hospitals for Medicaid, cut 3-6% of funding for state universities and also reduced K12 education dollars by 300 million.

Services for individuals with disabilities have so far avoided these significant reductions; however, we have had major issues as well in Medicaid reimbursement policies and procedures. CDC and other providers have been working diligently with state officials to reconcile Day Service and Supported Employment proposals that would place fixed time limits on available services. A solution, after months of negotiations, appears imminent but is not finalized.

Another matter of great concern is property tax legislation. This year the full impact of the current property tax changes hits county governments. We have been extremely fortunate that the five counties that have been served by the organization for over 50 years provide substantial funding to offset unique transportation expenses and to fill gaps as needed in state funding for those on a waiting list but unapproved for services. It is likely that unless a legislative fix is put into place some of our counties will simply not have enough revenue to continue supporting our services because such funding is discretionary. If CDC were to lose all county funds as an indirect result of the circuit breaker kicking in it would represent over 6% of our budget and result in draconian cutbacks to transportation and other services.

Further funding reductions could still be implemented by the governor if revenues continue to fall short of budget projections. Any actions would be on top of any other Medicaid or county cuts already anticipated. For all these reasons CDC has been looking at every option to reduce costs or enhance income. Many changes have already taken place as of the first of the year but more are under consideration as we prepare for what might happen this year.

All of these changes can be unsettling but we are committed in each decision that we might make that the welfare of the children and adults is our first priority.

July 17, 2008: OASIS, which stands for Objective Assessment System for Individual Supports, is a state initiative resulting from provider recommendations to improve the fairness in which limited funds are annually allocated to individuals with disabilities. CDC has supported this effort from the start. The development of OASIS has progressed to the point where the Division of Disability & Rehabilitation Services launched a pilot implementation plan for District 4, including Benton, Carroll and White counties. While progress has been tough and paperwork is burdensome, the resulting Residential Services plan is largely satisfactory.

When OASIS moved to developing a budget methodology for Day Services the process broke down and has become unworkable. Documentation standards are extremely challenging and effective funding for all providers, like CDC, is so meager as to jeopardize the ability of organizations to even offer these services. The effort was to be a collaboration between the state and providers (affiliated with The Arc of Indiana and INARF another well respected provider association – CDC is a member of both). Much of the problem centers on the way providers will be reimbursed and the uncertainty of transportation. Information has not always been shared as promised and there is a tone from some state staff that providers are rolling in dough and just greedy for more profits.

The proposed system is a nightmare in terms of handling plan changes and claim adjustments. It penalizes services with larger group settings found in workshops and reduces the amount of services possible through the annual consumer budget. Financially, it limits consumer/family choice and complicates the waiting list in Indiana – now standing at roughly 15,000 individuals.

Our organization has always operated an extensive transportation network at a significant loss because without transportation in our rural communities there is no access to services. While inadequate, state funding is essential to hold down the rising cost of providing transportation across the area. As of April 1st we have not been able to bill for Day Service transportation and have heard only that it is still on the table. From our standpoint, 90 days without any dialog or funding, does not bode well. If transportation costs were to be included within the budget, instead of outside like they were in the past, it would reduce available funds by about 20% for everyone we serve.

CDC has written to the state expressing our concern and dismay over how this has come to pass in the past six months and urge them to seriously consider several solutions put forth by the provider groups which are practical and benefit all consumers. Stay tuned.

March 20, 2008: The Indiana General Assembly passed sweeping property tax legislation that was signed into law this week. While it caps all property taxes by one of three categories for all residents, the legislators did include language that preserves the permissive funding of programs for citizens with developmental disabilities. Originally the current option was eliminated. This was a huge issue for CDC and almost every other non-profit provider in the state – for us we get roughly 5% of our total budget from the five principle counties served by the agency. These critical dollars underwrite our transportation service losses, sustains the quality of all of our services and enables us to serve people who are desperate for services but must wait their turn on a waiting list. We are delighted in the support we had from area legislators in supporting this exception.

The problem still remains long-term for all community rehabilitation facilities because as the counties adjust to the restrictions of the property tax it will be difficult for local elected officials to continue funding organizations like CDC in the future. While counties could continue to support our agency it becomes a struggle over how to allocate a smaller pie. We know of no county that wants to trim our funding but also recognize that we stand to lose if the options are public safety personnel or our narrower but key mission. We are going to work diligently with each of our counties to seek local solutions during the current year. With the property tax cap rolling out over the next two years we have time to craft strategies that would preserve this essential base of program support.

At the federal level there is grave concern about our country’s fiscal woes. The most recent budget sent to Congress from the administration essentially proposed the elimination of Medicaid funding for day services – that would close all of our adult services except for the group homes. Whether a political ploy or not I resent consumers placed into the crossfire of party maneuvering. It appears as if these recommendations will not gain traction but deficit federal spending continues and could well lead to reduced service funding in the near future regardless of our next President. As our state and national economy weakens it puts all human services in a more vulnerable position.

December 3, 2007: The Board, staff and consumers are extremely excited that, after three frustrating attempts, the organization was a recipient of a Community Focus Fund grant in Rensselaer for $414,000 to replace the old part of our roof, expand/upgrade the parking lot, add a children’s classroom and expand space for adult services. Jasper County government sponsored this effort. Match funds came from CDC’s replacement reserve and the Jasper Foundation.

Now we are finalizing the plans before the architect converts them into working drawings for bid. We are shooting for a spring groundbreaking and fall completion. Stay tuned.

The celebration continues further south where the Carroll County BZA unanimously approved the multi-agency service facility proposed by North Central Health Services (NCHS). CDC will be an active beneficiary of this project which will house our Heartland offices and provide meeting space for county residents joining with other tenants – Area IV Council on Aging, Family Health Clinic of Carroll County, WIC and CAP of Western Indiana.

July 23, 2007: After much work, CDC has finally unveiled its new website to give it a fresher look, make it more informative and easier to navigate than our previous website. There may be a few elements under construction but we are too close to not make the site available to the community. We have new information on Access Housing and are setup to maintain more timely updates than in the past. We have also done a lot to keep staff more informed of training and HR information.

Mid-summer 2007: CDC is fully involved with the OASIS project that is being rolled out in Area IV as a pilot. Area IV is a strangely shaped service area that includes Bloomington, Terre Haute, Lafayette and the counties of Benton, Carroll and White. The state expects this to be fully operational next July and that is when we will find out if it can deliver funding in a more equitable and streamlined manner as hoped – so far so good.

We are busy overhauling Day Services components to improve flexibility and outcomes. This is also part of a major agency-wide effort to improve quality and customer service. Continuous improvement is required within the organization – we owe it to our customers, the mission and our community.