Director’s Column

Agency for Persons with Disabilities Does Well

By Director Barbara Palmer

The Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD) had a banner Legislative Session with many positive measures being approved to help people with developmental disabilities. The agency will begin serving people with a rare disorder called Phelan-McDermid syndrome on July 1.

Also, APD will receive a record budget of $1.31 billion on July 1. This is an increase of $100 million over the prior year. This is a historic financial commitment to individuals with developmental disabilities in Florida.

Budget highlights include the following:

$36.4 million to offer waiver enrollment to people with critical needs and individuals in Category 6 who live in the family home, are at least 30 years old, have been on the waiver waiting list for 10 years, and have a high level of need. The money is expected to enroll more than 1,300 people into the Medicaid waiver.
$2.5 million to offer waiver enrollment to people with Phelan-McDermid syndrome which is a new disability APD will now serve.
$25 million for service provider rate increases for:

Adult Day Training-1:3 staffing ratio rate increase
Adult Day Training-three percent across the board increase
Personal supports-three percent across the board increase
Residential habilitation-three percent across the board increase

$37 million for a provider rate increase to assist with compliance with the U.S. Department of Labor Home Care Rule for 1:1 services for personal supports, life skills development 1 (companion), respite, and residential habilitation live-in. An additional $9 million is included in the budget to begin the rate increase effective April 1, 2016.
$0.5 million to continue the Employment Enhancement Project (EEP) for a fourth year which provides internships and on-the-job training for individuals on the Medicaid waiver waiting list.
$1.3 million for improvements to William J. Rish Recreational Park (Billy Joe Rish Park). Rish Park on Cape San Blas in Gulf County is a state park that was built and designed for people with disabilities.
$2.2 million for the new client database software and the electronic visit verification project. This is the second year of funding to continue system development.

We are excited by the outstanding support APD received from Governor Rick Scott and lawmakers throughout session and the cooperation with stakeholders to achieve common outcomes to benefit everyone involved. We look forward to continuing our collaboration into the future.