Seventh Community Health Advisory: Coronavirus (COVID-19)
...and another week passes.
While we continue to have several COVID-19 related meetings and a significant amount of our workload is still related to responding to our community needs during this pandemic this week we saw the return of some of our regular community meetings. Remember, to keep track of the events at VMRC follow us on social media, regularly check out our calendar, and don't forget my weekly communication to the board of directors summarizing the activities of the week for various directors ( Directors Travels).

Our Director of Consumer Services, Cindy Mix, in conjunction with Larry Link, our Financial Analyst, have been working hard to ensure every consumer we serve is engaged in a conversation about their current wellness and changing needs during this public health crisis. This week we continued to reach out to consumers on our caseloads and though we completed the 100% outreach mark we still have just over 10% of our consumers that we're needing to follow-up with. The 10% figure will drop significantly next week as our deadline for reporting just ended this week. Below is a summary of the Purchase of Services (POS) activity related to COVID-19 over the past 3 weeks.

3/12/20 through 3/27/20--189 POSs captured by fiscal as being approved plus 527 requests for add’l services = 716
  • Respite—165
  • PATCH—336
  • Supported Living Services—11
  • Personal Assistance—5
  • Daycare—7
  • Homemaker—1
  • Nursing Respite—1
  • Crisis Service—1

3/30/20 through 4/3/20--additional POSs generated-- 410
  • Respite—239
  • Nursing Respite—1
  • PATCH—134
  • Daycare—1
  • Homemaker—1
  • Supported Living Services—14
  • Personal Assistance—18
  • Behavioral Intervention Services—1
  • Supported Employment —1

4/6/20 through 4/10/20—additional POSs generated— 430
  • Respite—242
  • Nursing Respite—1
  • PATCH—155
  • Personal Assistance—19
  • Day Care—2
  • Supported Living Services—4
  • Medical Supplies—2
  • Homemaker—3
  • ABA—1
  • Crisis Service—1

I know many are wondering and asking when this will end. I wish we had an answer for our community but the mantra is still that the "virus dictates the timeline not the government or the people". Having said this, much of the news today is showing that our efforts to bend the curve are helping and having a positive impact. Thank you to everyone staying at home and special thank you to those who must go out and keep the service system moving along and those who are directly in contact with our consumers during this difficult time you are truly part of the army of community heroes.

Sincerely

Tony Anderson
Executive Director
Valley Mountain Regional Center.
Resource Development

Resource Development has completed two important documents this week describing the policies and procedures related to VMRC's implementation of the new Participant Directed Services and an FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) to explain our work on the "Surge" Plan.

Participant Directed Services
In response to the recent directive from the Department of Developmental Services called DEPARTMENT DIRECTIVE 01-033020: ADDITIONAL PARTICIPANTDIRECTED SERVICES, Corina Rameriz, Admin Asst from Resource Development and Debbie Beyette, Fiscal Manager, worked tirelessly to research and put together a process for us to implement this new directive. The directive actually just added three new services to an already allowable approach to service but since VMRC was not utilizing this approach we had no basis to add to which required us to create a completely new policy which now encompasses the new services. It is important to note that this policy is UNRELATED to the current Self-Determination Program.


What is a Surge Plan?
There have been a lot of questions and rumors lately about Surge Planning so our Resource Development team worked on this FAQ to help people understand what this is about. The planning is an important part of our COVID-19 response at VMRC and requires significant work on the part of our staff and providers. The word "Surge" just refers to the possibility of our local healthcare system being overrun by COVID-19 cases and each regional center has to be prepared fo rthis increased need within our own system regionally. Check out our FAQ to more answers:


Brian L. Bennett
Assistant Director 
Resource Development
Clinic Director Updates

Personal Protective Equipment
This week with so many questions and desperate appeals for Personal Protective Equipment we felt it was important to provide some resources for our community highlighting clinical guidance for the use of PPE and some ideas for people who are not able to get the PPE they need.

FOUR DOCUMENTS ON PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT

Helpful Care Forms for Person Centered Health Services
We've been looking at a variety of forms consumers can use if they find themselves in a hospital setting that can help ensure they receive person centered care. Here are a few tools we've found that we like that will help self-advocates to help guide their care:

  1. Patient with COVID-19 Form Disability by Stoney Brook University.
  2. My Health Passport by Florida Center for Inclusive Communities.
  3. Patient Summary by the Ohio Association of County Boards of DD and Dr. Susan Abend of the Right Care Now Project.
  4. My Special Needs, Staten Island Hospital.

Claire B. Lazaro, MSN, RN, NP, PHN, CCRN, FNP-C
Clinical Director
An Update from Our Fiscal Department

I hope this note finds you all healthy and safe! I’ve been receiving so many questions regarding consumers and stimulus checks so I thought I would compile a one stop shop if you will for all the information I’ve received. Hopefully this will clear up any questions you may have and if not, as always, I will do my best to get you an answer.

Popular Questions:
What does my consumer (who receives SSI) need to do in order to receive their stimulus check?
a.       Nothing- Any person who receives SSI will automatically receive their payment.

How will my consumer receive their payment?
a.       They will receive their payment the same way they receive their SSI payment.

If my consumer works and isn’t on SSI, what do they need to do in order to receive their check?
a.       If they filed taxes in 2018 or 2019 they do not need to do anything. They will receive their payment the same way they did their tax refund.
b.       If they did not file taxes, they should go to IRS.GOV and fill out the short simple form to receive their check. See attached instructions.

Will these funds count against my consumer for SSI/Medi-Cal determination?
a.       No. These funds will not count as a resource for 12 months. Consumers have 12 months to spend this money with no penalty!

If my consumer utilizes a payee agency would that agency be responsible for helping my consumer fill out the short form (if they work) to receive their check?
a.       Per SSA, much like the requests for taxes, unemployment benefits and Able Accounts, the payee agency cannot apply for Economic Impact Payments on behalf of our mutual clients. Just like e-filing taxes, these forms require that consumers create their own account on IRS.GOV and also requires their e-signature so a payee agency should not be assisting with these. An independent payee (like a parent, or family member) could absolutely assist a consumer in filling out this form.

My consumer receives SSI but their parent claims them on their taxes, will my consumer receive a check?
a.       No, anyone who is claimed on another person’s tax filing is not eligible to receive a stimulus check.

More detailed information is listed below:

Jessica Pate
Revenue Coordinator

North Valley Hills Update
Dena Hernandez, Regional Manager
 
SCDD North Valley Hills may have closed its doors during this COVID 19 Pandemic, but our staff are working from home to keep finding ways to work together to support, educate and inform our communities. A couple of resources I would like to share:

Safety Tips
Our office worked with Mr. Robert Balderama, VMRC Board Member, Self-Advocacy Council 6 Member and SCDD Statewide Self Advocacy Network Member along with other self-advocates from across the state of California to put 4 informative “Safety Tips” videos together. All four COVID-19 Safety Tips videos made by fantastic self-advocates are now available. Thank you for following us this week to watch and share these videos. The videos will continue to be available on our website , Facebook , and Twitter . These videos were made safely and without violating any health guidance from the state.


I am also sharing a resource to help us all stay connected during this time- a good old fashioned PHONE TREE- this is a way to keep in touch with family, friends, co-workers, support staff and neighbors during this sheltering in place time! Check it out and start your phone tree today!

Please check out our website www.scdd.ca.gov  for more user friendly and plain language tips and materials. Have a question or concern- feel free to contact me at 209-473-6930 or dena.hernandez@scdd.ca.gov

Dena Hernandez
Regional Manager
SCDD North Valley Hills Office
Local County Public Health Resources
  1. Amador County (7 known cases April 17, 2020 - no new cases this week)
  2. Calaveras County (11 known cases April 17, 2020 three new cases)
  3. San Joaquin County (369 known cases - 17 deaths April 17, 2020 - 34% increase in cases this week)
  4. Stanislaus County (187 known cases and 4 deaths April 17, 2020 - 45% increase in cases this week)
  5. Tuolumne County  (2 known case April 17, 2020)
  6. VMRC - 2 confirmed consumer cases April 10, 2020 - no new cases)
  7. California (28,157 cases and 973 deaths - 28% increase in new cases this week)
  8. National (672,293 and 33,325 deaths April 17, 2020 - 31% increase in new cases this week)