Motion to Enforce Settlement Agreement Filed

The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare said it will not make a new budget tool until January 2023. That means the Department will violate the KW settlement agreement. Back in 2016, the Department said it would make a new budget tool by January 2020, at the latest.

We need a new budget tool. A judge said the current budget tool violates the constitutional rights of adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities.

When the lawyers for adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities heard the Department decided not to finish the budget tool on time, they spoke to their clients. The lawyers also spoke to other adults receiving DD services through Medicaid. The lawyers wanted to know what adults wanted them to do about the Department breaking its promise. With that feedback, the lawyers asked the judge to make sure the Department keeps its promise and filed a Motion to Enforce the Settlement Agreement. A budget tool must come sooner, not later.

The lawyers for adults also asked the judge to add two “safeguards” while adults wait for the new budget tool:

1.    Give the Department only 90 days for fair hearings in budget appeals, and approve the appeal if a hearing does not happen within 90 days;

2.    Change the definition of “health and safety” to include the inability to hire and keep support staff at a lower hourly rate as a health and safety risk.

We will not hear from the judge about this immediately. It will take time. Please check back here to receive updates or contact the lawyers.

For more information about the lawsuit, please click this link.

Embed Block

Add an embed URL or code. Learn more

The Jack Hansen Show Episode 6: Larkin Seiler and Jen Magelky-Seiler

In this second of three episodes filmed in north central Idaho, Jack speaks to Larkin Seiler and Jen Magelky-Seiler about Larkin’s involvement as a key member of Community NOW!. Larkin gives his opinion on the Community NOW! recommendations and what he is doing to advocate for adults with developmental disabilities.

Click on the links to learn more about Community NOW! and its recommendations.

Watch Episode 6 and share it with your friends, family, and community!

The Jack Hansen Show, Episode 6

The Jack Hansen Show Episode 5: Julie Fodor and the Center on Disabilities and Human Development

In the first of three episodes recorded in north central Idaho, Jack interviews Julie Fodor, Director of the Center on Disabilities and Human Development, in her offices at the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho.

In this episode, Julie explains what the Center on Disabilities and Human Development is, how it is involved in Community NOW!, and how to help others understand person centered planning.

You can also learn more about the Center on Disabilities and Human Development on their website.

Watch Episode 4 and share it with your friends and family today!

The Jack Hansen Show, Episode 5

Winter 2018 Training Newsletter

Have you gone through free training yet? Part of the K.W. class action settlement makes sure that anyone can get free training on how to do an appeal. The free training covers how advocate to get a higher budget if you need one.

You can learn more about free training here.

Our Winter 2018 newsletter is out now, too. In this newsletter, learn about how to take the training online, how to get reimbursed for helping with an appeal if you are a Service Coordinator or Support Broker, and new rules about transition services. Get the newsletter here.

The cover of the Winter 2018 newsletter

Meet Jack Hansen in Moscow, Idaho!

Do you live near Moscow, Idaho? Jack Hansen, star of The Jack Hansen Show, will be coming to north Idaho next week to record new episodes of the show.

On Friday, August 17, Jack will be at Mikey's Gyros, 527 S. Main Street in Moscow. To meet fans and community members. Ritchie Eppink and Molly Kafka, lawyers with the American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho who represent all adults in the Idaho Medicaid program for adults with developmental disabilities in the K.W. v. Armstrong class action lawsuit will be there, too.

The Jack Hansen Show logo (cariacature drawing of Jack Hansen, with "The Jack Hansen Show" in a speech bubble)

Here are the details:

What: Meet and Greet with Jack Hansen

When: Friday, August 17, 2018, 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm

Where: Mikey's Gyros, 527 S. Main Street, Moscow, Idaho

Do you want to print a flyer to hang up in your home or around town? Download the flyer and print it out!

How to Get Paid for Helping with a Budget Appeal

Targeted Service Coordinators and Support Brokers can now get paid for helping people with budget appeals. If they complete the free training, they can submit invoices to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare and get paid for their time helping someone with a budget appeal. They can even get paid for helping with past appeals that they did after the completed the training.

Learn more in our Summer 2018 Suitable Representative news bulletin:

Our Health and Welfare Summer 2018 suitable representative newsletter

This newsletter explains who can get reimbursed for helping with appeals and how to get paid. It also has information about the upcoming free training in Rexburg.

SIS Materials + How to Join the KW News Email List

During our conference call this morning about the SIS, people asked if they could see what the SIS assessment forms look like.

Here are some materials from the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, known as "AAIDD." AAIDD is the organization that created the SIS.

Here is the adult SIS assessment form.

And here is an example of the SIS filled out.

Here is AAIDD's Frequently Asked Questions about the SIS.

We also talked about the KW news email list. If you sign up for this email list, you will get email updates with important news about the K.W. v. Armstrong class action lawsuit and the Idaho DD Medicaid program. Follow this link to join the KW News email list, open to everybody.

Questions about the SIS? Q&A call this Friday

Do you have questions about the Supports Intensity Scale assessment, called the SIS? The lawyers for all adults in the Idaho DD Medicaid program will be available to answer them this Friday. Look below for how to join the call.

Thumb about to press numbers on a mobile phone to make a call

Call in for a conference call about the SIS:

Date: Friday, June 15, 2018

Time: 10:30 am Mountain Time / 9:30 am Pacific Time

Number: 1-866-244-8528 (toll free) and then press code 728182

Why you should take the SIS

Watch the new video about why you should take the Supports Intensity Scale assessment, called the "SIS." The video shows Ritchie Eppink, one of the lawyers who represent each and every adults with developmental disabilities in the Idaho medicaid program who get a budget each year. He is one of the lawyers who represent all those adults in a court case called K.W. v. Armstrong.

That court case is about how the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare comes up with each person’s budget each year. The court ruled that the budget tool that the Department uses now is not fair. The Department has to come up with a new tool. Our job is to make sure that the Department does that right.

To make this change, we need to get good, up-to-date information about what people need. To do this, some people will have to take the new Supports Intensity Scale assessment. That’s called the “SIS.”

Have you been asked to take the SIS? If you have, please take it. The best way to make sure that the new system is fair is to make sure the Department has current information about what you need. If you do not take the SIS, we might end up with a worse system. Or it might take much longer before the system gets better.

Any information you give as part of this first round of SIS assessments in spring and summer 2018 will NOT be used to affect your budget or services in any way. The information from this round will just be used to build a better system.

If you need help to take the SIS, please let the assessor know what help you need. If you have questions, you can contact Ritchie at (208) 344-9750 extension 1202.

On June 15, 2018, we will hold a conference call to answer questions about the SIS. The call will be at 10:30 am MT and 9:30 am PT. To join, call 1-866-244-8528 (toll free) and then press code 728182.

If you've been asked to take the SIS, please take it. With your help, we will make a better system for adults with developmental disabilities in Idaho.

The Jack Hansen Show Episode 4: Community NOW! and Christine Pisani

In the newest episode of The Jack Hansen Show, Jack interviews Christine Pisani, head of the Idaho Council on Developmental Disabilities.

In this episode, Christine explains what the Council on Developmental Disabilities does. Then Christine and Jack talk about Community NOW! Community NOW! is a group of adults with developmental disabilities and family members, plus Medicaid providers and officials. They meet to talk about changes they want to see in the Medicaid program for adults with developmental disabilities.

You can read more about the status of Community NOW! on the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare website for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, My Choice Matters.

Watch Episode 4 and share it with your friends and family today!

The Jack Hansen Show, Episode 4