More Hiking!

This past Saturday Chris and I went out hiking again. We went to South Mountain (yay for free admission all of the time), and tried to tackle a trail that got the better of us last weekend. We started out a bit later in the day than usual, and didn't make the summit of the trail this time either. I did get some great pictures, though. Because it was midday and sunny (its nearly always sunny here), I really felt like we were doing DESERT hiking this time. Our long-term goal is to be able to hike down into the Grand Canyon and back out again (although probably not in the middle of the summer), so getting used to the heat is pretty important, as well as being able to go the distance. We're going to try and hike quite a bit this summer, and just start out early if need be. There are really miles and miles of great trails around Phoenix, and we've decided that its time to start exploring them.Here's me hiking. Chris wouldn't let me take his picture. I'm carrying a Camelbak Mule. After our last hike we decided that if we wanted to be able to hike through the summer, a hydropak would be a necessity. We do live in a desert after all. I researched a bit on Amazon, then we randomly decided to go to Cabela's and try some on. Chris and I are both such unusual sizes that we wanted to make sure the same pack would fit both of us. Surprisingly enough, it did with only one minor modification. I found this pack at Cabela's for $50 when they're normally $90 and up. It holds 100oz of water, which is about 3 liters. Yesterday was our test run, and it worked really well. Even full of water the pack wasn't heavy or sloshy, and it had lots of room to pack other things. The water tasted fine even though we didn't really rinse it first. I really liked that my camera case was hooked through the waist belt. It made it really easy to get out the camera and take pictures. We're keeping an eye open for a good deal on another one, and we may check Cabela's again to see if they're still on sale. Between the two of us we drained the pack yesterday and it wasn't even REALLY hot out.One of the main interest points of this trail (besides the view) is the petroglyphs that are on some of the rocks. I'm not sure what this one is supposed to be- the sun? A turtle?This is exactly what it looks like. A mountain. Or a huge pile of rocks. Or both.This a view of Phoenix. It doesn't look so bad from up here.These are some shots of the trail that we were on. It was mostly dirt and loose gravel.Definitely challenging hiking. Uphill. Both ways. We'll make it to the top eventually. I plan to take lots of pictures when we do- I can't wait to see the view from the summit.This is one of my favorite pictures from the day. It took me several tries to get the focus right. Thank goodness for digital photography. Its an old, gnarled tree, with the Phoenix skyline in the background.

Book Review: The Hole in our Gospel

What would happen if we woke to this headline: "One Hundred Jetliners Crash, Killing 26,500"? Given that there's a public outcry (and rightly so) when just one jetliner crashes, I can't even imagine the media coverage, photos, government investigations, and economic impact of 100 crashing jetliners. And what if the same catastrophe happened the next day? And the next? Its almost inconceivable.
But it happens.
Every day more than 26,500 children die of mostly preventable causes related to their poverty. That equals 10 million children who die over the course of a year- all from preventable causes. And yet, as Christians, God tells us to take care of the poor and downtrodden. How do we reconcile 10 million dead children with Jesus' example? The Hole in our Gospel by Richard Stearns attempts to answer this question, but the answer isn't an easy one. He argues that Christians have reduced what is supposed to be a life-changing Gospel to a single transaction for "fire insurance". As the CEO of World Vision, Stearns is perhaps uniquely qualified to discuss what he calls "the horsemen of the apocalypse"- the factors that work against the poor. Along the way, he tells his own story- from a boy deciding to save himself, to the CEO of Lenox china, to his call to lead World Vision.
Stearns details some of what he has seen as the CEO of World Vision. Obviously, he's had the opportunity to see a great deal of poverty and hardship in the world, as well as meet with people on the front lines who are making a difference. He does a great job of balancing statistics with individual stories, and of spreading hope as much as conviction. I felt that the book was a bit light on concrete ways to help, but I did appreciate that the author didn't push World Vision's agenda too much. Instead, he tells the stories of ordinary people who follow God's leading and do extraordinary things. His point is that we can ALL do extraordinary things- all that is necessary is that we bring what we have to God and let Him use it.
This book was an inspiring call to action. I'm still pondering what it is that God would have me (and us) doing, but I think it would be impossible to read this book and walk away unconvinced. There is an accompanying website, which contains a blog, testimonies, and other suggestions for getting started with giving. Stearns also puts his money where his mouth is- there is a note on the book jacket stating that all royalties from the sale of this book will benefit World Vision's work with children. In the end, it comes to this: Jesus gave his all for us, how can we do anything less for others?

Presenting...

The "What the Heck was I Thinking" purse. Or maybe, just maybe, we should call it...the Butt purse. At least, that's what Chris called it when he saw it. Yes, it is indeed made from a pair of my old jeans. Why? Well because I have a seemingly never ending supply of jeans with holes in the knees and I simply refuse to throw away perfectly good denim. I'm always trying to think of ways to use them up. I made one pair of jeans into a skirt, cut up several pairs to make wallets, and have one sitting on my desk with some other fabric just waiting for me to have time and motivation all at once. Here's a shot of the rear...er, back of the purse.I think if I had it to do over again (which I don't plan to, so don't even ask), I wouldn't have put the oval piece in the bottom. I did it to give it a bit more space (and because I couldn't get the bottom edges even), but it just about ruined the shape and it looks funny besides. Its all lined inside with the same fabric that's on the handles, which means that I can turn it inside out if I want to. And the best part is...I left all of the pockets open, so I can stuff things in them, in addition to all of the space inside. Pockets were really the reason I started this whole thing. I wanted a purse with pockets so I don't have to dig for my phone, or a pen, or whatever I'm looking for. While I was driving I was thinking through how to make this purse. It went together more or less like I'd figured. Which is pretty good considering I basically cut it all by eye without much measuring. Now all I have to do is figure out what to fill it with.

How much is a trillion dollars?

With all of the budget talk happening, we've been hearing about a trillion dollar deficit. Really, that's a pretty hard number to wrap your mind around. However, there is an illustration here that shows exactly what one trillion dollars looks like. Check it out. THIS is what it looks like- the number that's being throw around like its a penny here and there.

Kitchen Tip Tuesdays- Stock-making tips

Making our own stock (for soups, or just for flavoring) is something we do off and on, but its also a bit of an ongoing process. This isn't intended to be a tutorial on making stock, but just a few tips to make it easier.
In our freezer are some zip-top bags labeled beef, chicken, and veggies. Pork can go in with the beef bag if you eat it (we do). Any time we trim a piece of meat, have a few chicken bones, or have odd pieces of vegetable, they go into the correct bag. We also save shrimp shells when we have them, and they get made into fish stock. The great thing about stock is that it uses the parts that you wouldn't use for anything else- necks from the chicken or turkey, beef ribs, etc.
When we're ready to make stock all we have to do is find the correct bag, add onions, carrots, celery, spices or herbs, and water, and let it cook and reduce all day. The time spent reducing is essential for the flavor of the stock- it concentrates the flavor. Stock that has not reduced enough won't have a lot of flavor.
When our stock is done reducing, we strain it twice. Once through a colander to get the big chunks out, and once through a mesh strainer to get the smaller bits out. In order to cool it quickly we put frozen water bottles or ice packs into the pot, then get it right into the refrigerator. We let it cool overnight, then skim the fat off of the top and get rid of it. This makes for fairly lean stock that still has good flavor.
Since we mostly use stock in small amounts for flavoring other things, we freeze it in ice cube trays, then store in gallon zip-top bags. This does take some time, but if you do several trays at once you can get all of the stock frozen pretty quickly. We also freeze some larger containers for use when we make soup.
Some reasons that we make our own stock:
Cost. By saving parts we would normally throw away we can make several gallons of stock for just a few dollars.
Health. Because of the amount of time it spends cooking and reducing, our stock does not need a lot of salt. It does need some, but nowhere near the amount in a commercial product. I also like knowing exactly what goes into a batch.
Taste. Homemade stock tastes better than what you get from a can or box. This isn't bragging- its just true.
Convenience. By freezing our stock in ice cube trays, we can use only what is needed add flavor to a particular recipe. No worrying about using up an entire can or box of stock.

For more Kitchen Tips, check out Tammy's blog here.
For easy to follow directions for making chicken stock, go here. Once you understand the method, you can adapt it for whatever kind of stock you need.

On the Swagbucks Bandwagon

If you've been reading my blog for long, you've probably noticed the Search and Win banner in my sidebar. Maybe, just maybe, you didn't know what it was, so I figure its high time for an explanation. The Search and Win banner leads to the Swagbucks website. Well, to be honest, it leads to my referral link at the Swagbucks website, as do all of the links in this post. Yes, I'm encouraging you to join Swagbucks, and to do it using my referral link- but why?
Well, Swagbucks is a way to earn points towards prizes by doing something that you do anyways- searching using Google. When you search through Swagbucks you get pretty much the same results as if you used Google (there's even options for an image search, and for comparison shopping). In the process, you earn points that can be redeemed for prizes. The best prize, so far as I can see, is the $5 Amazon gift card. The gift cards are in the form of codes that you enter into your Amazon account and use for discounts on your orders. You can add them to your account when they are e-mailed to you, then the gift codes are just there and waiting to be used. Of course you can get just about anything on Amazon, which makes the codes very useful.
To be honest, this takes a bit of patience, but it does pay off. Most of the time, I earn a few Swagbucks each day just by using their search feature. So far I've earned enough for two $5 Amazon cards. However, that's where the referral program comes in. If you sign up for a Swagbucks account using my referral link, then when YOU earn points, I also get points. Once you have a Swagbucks account, you get your own referral link, which you can then post, e-mail, or use however you want to get people to sign up and help YOU earn points towards prizes.
I've tried several other "search to earn points" programs before, and so far this is the only one that has actually paid off in a reasonable amount of time. Earning referral points makes it pay off even more quickly. So if you've been thinking about jumping on the Swagbucks bandwagon, or even if you've never heard of it before but are now intrigued, think about jumping on here.

I seem to post "still here" type posts a lot, but yes, I am. Not much happening on the DDD/DES front, although I am glad that I opted to set up a separate blog for that. It is much easier than debating whether I should post what's coming in to this blog when I know people who aren't necessarily interested read here too. I have a few ideas for keeping the EI in AZ blog going when there isn't necessarily news there, unfortunately the last thing I feel like doing after work is often more work. I have so many other things I could (and should) be doing- things that would fill me up instead of drain me out. I keep saying this over and over, and yet not changing anything. If I remember right, that's the definition of insanity. Which of course would be nothing new for me.
We've had in-laws in town this week, which has been interesting. They've been making the rounds of quilt shops and cooking classes, and we've mainly been joining them for dinner and Rummikub. Yes, we lead exciting lives. Its funny though- you go over there and hear 3 sewing machines running simultaneously. I think tomorrow we're doing lunch at the best Greek restaurant ever. They always go at least once when everyone is in town, and we're lucky enough to get to tag along.
We're also working on getting the AC systems working in BOTH our cars. We had tax return money set aside, but put car repairs on hold when we weren't sure what was happening with Early Intervention. Since hopefully things will be stable for the time being (and I have a pretty solid backup plan if they aren't), we decided that the cars needed to be done ASAP (it was 93* here today). Chris' mom was wonderful and added enough to our car fund that we should be able to take care of both cars and have some left over for savings. What a luxury it will be to have AC while driving around all day! I swear I will never take that for granted again.
After the excitement of the past few weeks I could do with a little boring. It was really odd seeing my families this week after having said goodbye to most of them last week. Obviously we just went went right back to where we left off, since in most cases we didn't even miss a session. It did make me realize how thin our ice is though. I feel like whatever movie it is where everyone says, "I serve at the pleasure of the king." Well, I serve at the pleasure of the DES. Which of course is NOT how it should be- the federal laws are in place precisely so that EI programs won't be subject to the whim and whimsy of state budgets. Birth-3 services are just THAT important.

I may regret this...

but I started a separate blog for DDD/DES updates. The link is here:
http://eiinaz.blogspot.com/ (EI in AZ). Please change all relevant links and bookmarks. :) I may still post brief updates here, but I'll probably try and keep the long ones over there.
I copy-pasted all of the old entries from my DDD/DES tag and backdated so they are still in order. I also put a feed up in the sidebar of this blog so that it will show when I post something to the DES/DDD blog. I plan to keep it as up to date as I can.

CVS!

I finally have a trophy receipt from CVS! Chris and I are pretty well stocked up on personal hygiene things, so my current challenge is to get as many freebies or near freebies as I can to donate to our "pantry" at work. Due to budget tightening, they are asking people to donate personal care things to help our group homes (in addition to the mini food pantry that we always have going).
I stopped in at CVS today to pick up a few freebies, but did even better than I expected. The front of my CVS store has a price-scanning machine where you can also scan your Extra Care card and it gives out coupons. I've never tried it before, but I did today. It spit out a "get a $25 gift card w/prescription transfer", and the $5/$15 coupon that made my deal even better. I was planning to split into 2 transactions, but the incentive to get to $15 made me change my mind. Here's how it all went:
Purchased:
1 Dry Idea Roll-On Deodorant
1 Irish Spring Body Wash
1 Colgate Max Whitening Toothpaste
1 Kotex LightDays 64 ct.

Coupons:
-$5 off of $15
-$2 Dry Idea printable
-$.75 Kotex LightDays from 1/11 or 2/22 SS insert
- $.75 Colgate Total from 2/22 or 3/15 SS insert

Paid with:
$5.98 ECB
$.99 ECB (that they rounded down)
$.29 out of pocket (sales tax- still not sure why that didn't come out of my ECB, but anyways)

Received:
$2.00 ECB (Kotex)
$2.00 ECB (Dry Idea)
$2.99 ECB (Colgate)
$4.99 ECB (Irish Spring)

Total:
$11.98 ECB - $.29 OOP = $11.69 profit!

*There is also a coupon out for the Irish Spring soap, but I used it yesterday at Fry's.
The moral of the story is...if your CVS has the price check/coupon machines at the front of the store, use it!

A semblance of normalcy

I've received more than a few comments about how helpful this blog has been to those who are navigating the maze of DDD/DES funding cuts in Arizona. Obviously, I appreciate knowing that people are finding my work helpful. Over the past month or so I've spent more hours than I care to count weeding through information, trying to sort through the relevant issues, compiling links, disseminating information, and overall trying to do my part in this battle that is much larger than any of us. I've tried to post anything that seems relevant and current, while making sure that everything I say is accurate. I've also tried to keep things consise, and be specific about what exactly parents and concerned parties can be doing to help. I think initially I was just copy/pasting from e-mails that I was sending out to my families, figuring that there might be a few people online who could benefit. The blogroll in my sidebar came about when I noticed that some of my hits were coming from here, and that my blog appeared on her list of relevant links. I visited her other links and realized that maybe I there were more than a few people who could benefit from the information I was posting. I left some encouraging comments, started my own blogroll, and kept posting whatever information I had. It all sort of snowballed (sandballed? tumbleweeded?) from there. I'll admit I've been a bit bemused as I watch my hit counter climb. It was a bit disconcerting the first time I googled DDD/DES cuts and was linked back to my own writing, especially because I was looking for something that I didn't know!
Anyways, this isn't to say that I'm changing the subject, passing the torch, or giving up blogging about the issues at hand. I still intend to post news updates, pictures, links, and whatever else comes my way. At the same time, this started as my personal blog. I posted pictures of my cats, mused about God, posted book reviews, ranted about non-DDD politics, and told cute (and anonymous) stories about the kids that I work with. For the past few weeks I've been keeping all of that to a minimum partly out of respect for the people who were visiting solely for updates.
I guess in that way this blog has reflected my life for the past few weeks. With the looming prospect of losing 75% of the kids on my caseload on 3/13, everything else in my life was overshadowed by doing everything in my power to combat the cuts. Obviously, the injunction doesn't mean I'm going to stop passing along information any more than it means that we should all stop sending letters and making phone calls. What it does mean is that I need to bring some balance back to my blog, and back to my life. Everyone who has been checking for updates is welcome to stick around and peek in at the rest of my life. Hopefully, I'll have some interesting things to say. I still plan to post about the DDD/DES cuts as I get information, and I'll always use the DDD/DES tag to label those entries. I'm even considering setting up a separate blog for DDD/DES updates, but I'm not sure I'm ready to take that step yet unless anyone thinks they'd really prefer it that way. At the same time, I plan to be posting about other things. You might agree with some of what I post or not; you might think some of it is silly, or not. Feel free to comment, or not.

As what I hope is a fitting end (or beginning), here's one of my favorite pictures from this weekend.See, we generally use cloth grocery bags because the store gives us a $.05 discount for every reuseable bag. Slowly, it adds up, especially when most of our bags have been free. That, and we need the bags for our produce co-op because when we pick up our order we need something to put it in. Anyways, one of our cats always wants to be in the bags (don't worry, we run them through the laundry). This is him looking irritated because I wanted him OUT of the bag so I could put it back in the car where it belonged.

Capitol Building Rally

Tungland Corp. is organizing another rally to raise awareness about the DDD/DES funding cuts. Here is the info from the flier that is going around:

Don’t Cut Us Out!

March & Rally

for

Arizona’s Developmentally Disabled Children, Adults, & Families

Thursday, March 19, 2009

MARCH 11:30 – 12:30p

Where: Route will be on the sidewalks around Wesley Bolin Memorial Park. We will start promptly at 11:30 AM and will circle around Wesley Bolin Memorial Park adjacent to the Capitol.

RALLY 1:00p – 2:30p

Where: The Senate Lawn at the State Capitol

Organizers: The Arizona Developmentally Disabled community and their provider service agencies represented by the Arizona Association of Providers for People with Disabilities.

Sponsors: If you or your organization would like to be a co-sponsor or volunteer for this event, please contact Colleen at 602.617.2129 or colleen@tungland.com.

· Speech by Arizona State Rep. Kyrsten Sinema and other community and political leaders, community members, and advocates.

· Activities during the Rally: Voter Registration, Locate Your Legislator, Participation via Petition, Give the Governor Your Opinion, Send a Message to Your State Legislator

· Music, Singing, Chanting

Why we’re marching and rallying:

· Last January 31, 2009 the Legislature passed a bill that drastically cut funding for 29,000 Arizona developmentally disabled adults, children, and their families. Governor Janice K. Brewer signed the bill.

· The Legislature ordered the Department of Economic Security to implement the cuts without giving the DES any guidance on how to do it. So the DES discharged staff, cut essential services such as Early Intervention Program (EIP) which helps children under three years olds with disabilities, and slashed the rates they pay to service providers by 10%. These devastating cuts threaten to put thousands of Arizonans with developmental disabilities in immediate and irreparable harm.

Contact Governor Jan Brewer, 1700 West Washington, Phoenix AZ 85007

Toll free 1-800-253-0883 FAX 602-542-1381 Phone 602-542-4331

Or online link at azgovernor.gov/Contact.asp

DON’T CUT US OUT!

They are suggesting that participants wear black t-shirts, representing both loss of services, and the elegance and respect that should be accorded to ALL people. I don't know yet if I'll be attending, but if anyone who reads this does, please let me know how it goes! I'd love to see some pictures!

For Detailed Reading

For those who are interested, the minutes from the ongoing DDD vs. AAPPD case are available here. Most interesting are the court's minute entry containing the facts and findings from the injunction that was issued on Wed. They are available here. It is 21 pages long, but makes for very interesting reading. Here are a few excerpts to whet your curiosity:

"2. The Legislature passed, and the Governor signed SB1001 on January 31, 2009. SB1001 became immediately operative, as it contained an emergency provision. SB1001 attempted to reduce the deficit through a combination of amendments to the prior budget appropriation bills, lump-sum reductions to prior appropriations, transfers of fund monies to the general fund, expenditure reductions and mandatory transfers to the general fund, mandatory personnel expenditure reductions, general fund reductions related to federal matching dollars, and some specific directions to state agencies.
3. The Defendants had little or no time to come up with a plan to implement the DES budget reductions mandated by SB 1001.
4. Defendants conducted an internal crisis decision-making process to determine how they would reduce spending and services within the DES-DDD program of services without guidance or priorities from the Legislature and without an open or public process by which defendants disseminated any information about what was being considered, or that afforded any public input from anyone, including stakeholders in the DES-DDD program, such as beneficiaries, providers and taxpayers."

This is the nuts and bolts of what happened. The Legislature passed a bill ordering the DES to cut approximately $150 million out of their budget, with very little direction as to where exactly the cuts were to be made.
I'm beginning to agree with those who say that making laws is like making sausage- you really don't want to see the process. Unfortunately, since this politicking and process affects people we serve, interested parties NEED to look into it.

"8. As of March 2, 2009, defendants had not notified any beneficiaries or providers about which beneficiaries’ services would be suspended or reduced. This circumstance will likely cause many providers to provide significant amounts of unreimbursed services.
9. Indeed, there is enough circumstantial evidence to create a prima facie case that the defendants are counting on service providers to continue providing a significant amount of unreimbursed services in order to prevent immediate and irreparable harm to multiple program beneficiaries.
10. After hearing, the Court is left with the inescapable conclusion that the haste with which SB 1001 was implemented by DES/DDD has served to create nothing less than mass confusion, anxiety and uncertainty among defendants’ agents, beneficiaries and service providers, as to which beneficiaries will be losing some or all of their services, and for how long. This uncertainty is caused by defendants." (emphasis mine)

This is exactly what happened. As providers, we were finding out from our families who had and had not received termination letters. We did not receive an official list of children whose services were being terminated until the afternoon of 3/6/09- 8 days (including a weekend) before 3/13/09, which was supposed to be the last day for families to receive services. So far as I'm concerned, mass confusion and anxiety describes the situation pretty accurately.

"19. All DES-DDD program beneficiaries have individual service plans (“ISP”). ISPs are essential to plan for the highly individualized, home- and community-based services for each program beneficiary. The ISP is developed by a team that includes the beneficiary, the family and/or legal guardian, therapists and other provider representatives, and DES-DDD itself. The ISP is the document through which services are arranged, provided, evaluated and adjusted when necessary for every DES-DDD beneficiary.
20. In implementing the provisions of SB 1001, defendants have not adhered to the ISP process for any program beneficiaries in accordance with federal or state law and DES-DDD program requirements. Defendants acknowledged that in not one instance (for approximately 29,000 DES-DDD beneficiaries) has DDD evaluated the individual needs of a beneficiary before implementing these spending and service reductions and suspensions."

It took reading further for me to be sure, but I think that when they talk about ISPs, that is a general term that also includes the IFSPs that govern the services for kids ages 0-3. This speaks to the illegality of making blanket changes to services without complying with the proper procedures (including getting consent of the person being served and/or that person's family or legal guardian).
There is much, much more in the minutes than what I'm able to post here. It is definitely worth the time to read in its entirety, even if you have to do it in 5 minute increments between changing diapers and chasing little ones. :)

I leave you with this final thought:

“[i]t is not only the harm to the individuals involved that we must consider in assessing the public interest. Our society as a whole suffers when we neglect the poor, the hungry, the disabled, or when we deprive them of their rights or privileges. Society's interest lies on the side of affording fair procedures to all persons, even though the expenditure of governmental funds is required. It would be tragic, not only from the standpoint of the individuals involved but also from the standpoint of society, were poor, elderly, disabled people to be wrongfully deprived of essential benefits for any period of time.” (emphasis mine)

Regardless of how you personally feel about some of the safety nets that are in place for the poor, these programs keep many people, particularly children, from serious harm. I agree that there are people taking advantage of the system, and that in some cases reform would be beneficial. However, in general, parents and caretakers for people with disabilities are NOT the ones who are abusing the system. The parents I have talked to are overwhelmingly grateful for the services that their children are receiving. What the DES did was to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Nearly every support coodinator or DDD employee that I have talked to has said something equivalent to, "let me at the budget, and I can show you where the money is being wasted." I have no doubt that this is true.

Reinstating Services

The DDD/DES was court-ordered to send out a letter telling parents/families that all of the suspended services will be reinstated. However, we aren't sure when the letters will arrive, since good news generally travels more slowly than bad news. If you are unsure, or waiting for services to be restored, call your SC (support/service coordinator) and make sure the authorizations have gone through. If they have, ask how long the services are authorized for, and if they haven't, ask why not. I was told today by a SC that none of the current authorizations had been officially canceled yet (the computer was supposed to do it over the weekend). There are, however, some children whose authorizations expired or were not renewed during an IFSP.
In my particular case, I was seeing a child whose services were due to end tomorrow (because of when his IFSP was and because the DDD was not renewing any authorizations). The support coordinator called and said that all services had been re-authorized. We don't know for how long, but it shouldn't take more than a phone call to find out.
Keep in mind that for some SC's, Friday and/or Monday may be a mandatory furlough (non-work) day.
Remember, this injunction is a good thing, but it is only a stoppage of the clock. In order to get the systemic changes that will prevent this from happening again, the legislators NEED to be hearing from families who are being affected. There is contact info in the previous post for everyone I could think of.

Stepping It Up

"PHOENIX – (March 11, 2009) Today, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Joseph Hellman issued a preliminary injunction against the Department of Economic Security (DES) preventing the agency from implementing $16.8 million in general fund reductions, including the suspension of non-residential, state-funded services to more than 4,000 children and adults with developmental disabilities and various rate reductions to providers of services to those individuals.
The following is the Department’s statement regarding today’s ruling:
The Department will, of course, abide by the court's ruling, however, we intend to appeal the decision and ask the court to stay the injunction.
The Department’s planned $16.8 million reduction was a result of the lump sum reduction and fund transfers that were part of the special session, as well as unfunded, caseload-driven shortfalls in various programs. The total reduction to DES in the 2009 fiscal year was approximately $153 million.
Information about the budget reductions and impact to children, adults and families is available on the Department’s Web site, www.azdes.gov ." (emphasis mine)

While the injunction is a major victory because it will keep services going for the time being, families and providers are NOT out of the woods yet. As the press release states, the Department intends to ask for a stay so that they can appeal the court's decision.
Because of this, now is not the time to let our guards down. Its the time to keep making noise. Contact those making the decisions. Keep talking about how important these services are, and how discontinuing services hurts kids and families, and violates federal law. Here some specific next steps:

1. Everyone needs to call OSEP 202-245-7549 This is Patty Guard's number, she is the acting director for OSEP (the office of special education programs in the department of education). Tell her you are from Arizona, your child has an IFSP under Part C and your services have been ____________ . Tell her how your procedural safeguards have not been enforced ____________ _________ _____ and that you expect OSEP to assist Arizona in understanding the assurances it made when it took the $9.9 million in federal dollars to administrate this program.

2. Flood the Governor's office with calls, tell her you cannot believe that providing essential supports and services to children and adults with disabilities was not included in the latest round of budget negotions for FY 2009. Here is the contact info for her office.

3. Call your Congressmember and tell them to tell OSEP to stop watching what' s happening in Arizona and get INVOLVED. Tell them to tell Arizona that they cannot violate children's procedural safeguards, that eliminating services to children who have legally binding IFSPs is illegal and OSEP must tell Arizona to enforce your child's IFSP. Here are the contact pages for John Kyl, John McCain, the House of Representatives,

4. Again call your local legislators and tell them they must restore these services ASAP. Here is contact info for the AZ House of Representatives, the AZ Senate, and the AZ State Legislature.

(Remember your child's IFSP is to be individualized and based on your family's priorities, concerns and resources and that all decisions to changes services must be made by the TEAM, which includes you as your child's parents. You are to be provided Prior Written Notice, before any proposed change and you have the right to dispute resolution if you disagree with any proposed change and you have the right to pendancy (your previously agreed upon services continue during the dispute resolution process).
Send your letters to:
DES/AzEIP - disputes
3839 N 3rd St, Suite 304
Phoenix, AZ 85016

DDD Compliance and Review Unit
1789 W Jefferson
Phoenix, AZ 85007

Peri Jude Radecic - AzEIP disputes
Arizona Center for Disability Law
5025 E Washington St, Suite 202
Phoenix, AZ 85034
*Credit for this list goes to Maureen Casey of the EIFA

Feel free to repost any of the information here. I'm blogging about this to get the word out about how important EI is and what we can do to make sure these programs stay around for those who need them.
PS- I am still adding links to my blogroll. If you will be affected by these cuts, or if you have blogged about this issue, leave a comment anywhere and I'll add your link to the list in my sidebar.

Victory!

Finally, the waiting is over! The judge ruled in favor of the AAPPD, in favor of the families and providers, and in favor of federal law! It was ordered that services to kids ages 0-3 be reinstated as quickly as possible! At the moment, this is the best news that we could have hoped for! Families will continue to receive services until further notice. I don't know if this will save some of the providers who are closing their doors, but it should restore services for all of our kiddos!
I double-checked with my supervisor, and we get to start calling families and "breaking" the good news to them!
Thanks to all who wrote letters, e-mailed, rallied, blogged, prayed, and otherwise stood in the gap on behalf of our families. I don't think we're out of the woods yet, but its definitely looking brighter than it has in quite a while.

Here are some of the news stories about the court's decision.

"PHOENIX (AP) - A judge on Wednesday barred the state from implementing budget cuts for services for the developmentally disabled. Judge Joseph Heilman of Maricopa County Superior Court issued a preliminary injunction after a court hearing on a lawsuit filed by program beneficiaries and care providers."

And

"A judge on Wednesday temporarily barred the state from implementing budget cuts for services for the developmentally disabled.
Judge Joseph Heilman of Maricopa County Superior Court issued a preliminary injunction after a court hearing on a lawsuit filed by program beneficiaries and care providers.
"This case raises serious, indeed grave questions of public policy and law," Heilman's order stated. "The procedural violations have serious substantive impact. Sorting out the multiple legal issues can await disposition on the merits. Preventing immediate and irreparable harm is required.""

Pins and Needles

Yes, still. The judge is supposed to hear on the AAPPD case around 3pm today. My understanding is that the state and the AAPPD are going to try and come to some sort of agreement. What that might be, I have no idea. The agency that I work for (Mosaic) is affiliated with the AAPPD, and whenever I hear of a decision I'll post whatever I can here.

DDD Update

Yesterday the judge made a preliminary ruling on the injunction. He ruled in favor of the AAPPD (Arizona Association of Programs for People with Disabilities), and against the Arizona DDD/DES.
Here is the legalese:
"A declaratory judgment that SB1001, First Special Session, of the 2009 Arizona Legislature is invalid and unenforceable and that said Act may not be enforced or implemented, at the very least with respect to the DES-DDD program reductions.
B. Temporary, preliminary and permanent injunctive relief, restraining these defendants, their officers, agents and employees from implementing SB1001 in any respect with regard to the DES-DDD program.
C. Temporary, preliminary and permanent injunctive relief restraining defendant's, their officers, agents and employees from implementing the DES FY2009 budget reductions directed by these defendants as their method of administering SB1001."

The Attorney General's office has asked for time for "special considerations" and they have been given until Wednesday (tomorrow) to submit them. Keep in mind that this injunction is PRELIMINARY and TEMPORARY. The judge is to decide tomorrow how long it will be, or he could retract the injunction altogether. There is hope for some sort of agreement with the DES, since the judge cannot order legislation to give the DES money.
Overall, we are cautiously optimistic. Its a step in the right direction, but nothing official has changed yet. We're still holding our breath(s), and it looks like whatever decision is made will come down to the wire.

For those in the Tucson area, there is a rally this week at Reid Park in Ramada 7. It will be on Friday the 13th from 10am-12pm. This is to show support for families who have been affected by the cuts to AZ Early Intervention.

For those looking for news stories to pass along, here is one that appeared today and summarizes the issue very well.

Something not DDD/DES related

Since it was gorgeous outside yesterday, Chris and I decided to take advantage of the day and do some hiking. We've done the White Tanks hikes several times, so we figured that South Mountain might be interesting for a change of pace. I was actually surprised that it wasn't as far away as I'd thought. It was mostly freeways to get there, so it didn't take much longer than driving to White Tanks. It was totally different though. Either we picked a really secluded trail, or South Mountain in general isn't as popular. We hiked almost an entire trail and didn't meet anyone else along the way. The trail itself was only 1.6 miles each way, but since it was a summit trail, it was a HARD hike. There were parts where it was so steep it was almost like climbing stairs.I was really amazed with how high we climbed in a relatively short distance. This bird was actually below us. He was having a great time floating on the currents of wind.As always, going up was much more difficult than going down. Even so, going down was still work because it was hard not to go down TOO fast.Its really hard to get a good sense of perspective in these pictures. Phoenix is off in the distance somewhere in this one. Really, though, I wouldn't have thought that there was this much open space so close to the city.I have no clue how far those mountains are from where we were, but it looked like a long ways. The area in between is all open space.This is my favorite picture from the day. Its now the background picture on my computer. Yes, I did some color editing.
Even in the rocks, beautiful little flowers grow.

And now, we wait

At least until Monday or Tuesday. That's when the judge should rule on the AAPPD case. A ruling in our favor would prevent 0-3 programs from being cut, at least for the time being. I honestly don't know that it would be a long-term solution- the likely best case scenario that I see at the moment is allowing kids to continue services until their FOCUS dates (authorizations) end, then not renewing. Still illegal though since services can't be reduced without parental consent. I've heard mumblings about pushing the DDD through the same redesign that AzEIP went through last year. In short, each child has a team of therapists, only ONE of which he or she sees on a weekly basis; the rest are consult only. Not a good solution, and still only barely legal, as all of the IFSP's would have to be changed to reflect the change in therapies. I want to make it clear that I'm just speculating here. Right now all I know is that we may have more info on Monday, depending on the outcome of the AAPPD case.
Action steps right now are to write and file those appeal letters. Be sure to emphasize the illegality of what they are doing- an emotional appeal is great, but sadly it won't hold water with the complaint department. And spread the word. Tell everyone you can think of...use any media contacts that you may have. The more attention we draw, and the more people realize the importance of 0-3 services, the better our chances.
Sigh. That being said, we (meaning the company I work for) received a list yesterday of children who will no longer be receiving services after next Friday. There are about 90 names on it...out of around 120 kids that we serve. I haven't seen the list yet, but I'm pretty sure I know most of them since I've had parents contacting me when they received their letters. We're being told to assume that next week will be our last with most of our kids. We will likely try to keep providing services for our kids who are ALTCS eligible, but that will only be enough kids for a few of us to work part time. I'd probably be one of them, and I'm working on some other options to fill in the gaps. I've been doing respite/habilitation on the side for quite a while, so I'm looking to connect with 1-2 other families who could use 5-10 hours/week and are authorized for hab or respite. I have a few families who have asked me if I could work independently and they could pay me out of pocket. I see it as a possibility since I've done similar things before. Unfortunately I well know that most families right now don't have the means to pay out of pocket, and I hate that services will end up being limited either based on an ability to pay, or based on having good insurance. That isn't the intent of IDEA or any of the other laws that govern 0-3 services- the state is supposed to provide the services that the child needs. They're what is known as the payer of last resort, which means that they try to get insurance and everyone else to pay first, but services shouldn't be only for the wealthy. It should be for everyone who needs it. Really, EI saves money in the long run- many kids who go through EI wind up NOT needing more services once they reach school age. Anyways, there I go on that soapbox again.
Really, I'm just trying to relax this weekend and pray that some sort of miracle happens on Monday to at least buy us a bit of time. If it does then we go from there. If not, well I really don't want to think about what that means for so many families.

How to file a complaint

Use the sample letter below as a format. Letters MUST be in writing and must include the legalities of IDEA Part C

Here is the page that describes the process of filing a complaint/appeal regarding your child's services: https://egov.azdes.gov/cmsinternet/main.aspx?menu=98&id=2366

Below the addresses to which you should send your complaint/appeals letters is the portion of the above-linked page that lays out the steps for filing a complaint with DES/AzEIP:

Send complaint/appeal letters to:
Arizona Center for Disability Law
5025 E Washington St, ste 202
Phoenix, AZ

AzEIP - Dispute
3839 N 3rd St
Suite 304
Phoenix, Az
KTaylor@azdes. gov

DDD - Disputes
1789 W Jefferson St., 4th floor
Phoenix, Az 85007

System Complaint

If you believe there has been any violation of the requirements and regulations of IDEA, Part C, including a violation of your child's or family's rights, you may file a complaint with DES/AzEIP.

Steps in initiating a complaint:

1. You must send a written, signed complaint to:
   Executive Director, DES/AzEIP
   3839 N. 3rd Street, Suite 304
   Phoenix, Arizona 85012
   
2. The written, signed complaint must include a statement that there has been a violation of a requirement or regulation of IDEA, Part C, and the facts of the situation.
   
3. The Executive Director or a designee will review the complaint and decide if it is a valid complaint. A complaint will be judged valid if the alleged violation occurred not more than one year before the date the complaint was received, unless:
   1. the alleged violation continues for the child or other children; or
   2. the person making the complaint is requesting reimbursement or corrective action for a violation that occurred not more than three years before the complaint was received.
      
4. If the complaint is judged to be valid, then the Executive Director or a designee will review all the relevant information and will:
   1. conduct an on-site investigation, if necessary; and
   2. give the person making the complaint the opportunity to submit additional information, either orally or in writing.

The Executive Director or a designee will make an independent decision as to whether there has been a violation of IDEA, Part C and send a written copy of the decision to all parties within 60 days of receiving the complaint.

From here

http://takeactioninaz.blogspot.com/2009/03/send-appeal-letter-to-executive.html

For those appealing the DES/DDD letters

I realized that the previous version of this was cut off, so I'm fixing and reposting. Please, please write an appeal letter.

From the AZ Autism Coalition www.azautism.org

IDEA Part C Procedural Safeguards

If your child is between the ages of 0-3 and has been affected by these cuts, you have Federal safeguard rights that are meant to protect your child. Early intervention is partially funded by both State and Federal dollars, thus you must take action and appeal your child’s termination of services. Follow the appeals process (Administrative Review) carefully that is specifically detailed in the DES letter — you have 35 days from the date of the letter to appeal.

Here is a sample letter:

To Whom It May Concern:

My child is _____ years old and has a diagnosis of ___________. He/she has been receiving one hour per week of occupational therapy and speech therapy since __________, along with two hours per week with a developmental specialist. I received a letter from DES dated March 3, 2009, informing me that my child would no longer be receiving any therapies after March 13, 2009, due to the State’s economic hardships.

I respectfully request an Administrative Review and appeal this decision to remove services from my child. My child is entitled to early intervention services based on the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). According to Federal IDEA policy, services can only be stopped if the parents choose to withdraw their consent to participate or the child no longer needs services. Neither of which is the case. Also according to IDEA, services must stay in place while dispute resolution takes place.

Removing services from my child in this manner is a direct violation of IDEA, and I fully intend to dispute this removal of early intervention services.

Sincerely,

Send the letters to:

Division of Developmental Disabilities
Compliance and Review Unit
1789 E. Jefferson St., Fourth Floor
Phoenix, AZ 85007
or fax to: (602) 364-2850

Arizona Center for Disability Law
5025 E Washington St, ste 202
Phoenix, AZ

AzEIP - Dispute
3839 N 3rd St
Suite 304
Phoenix, Az
KTaylor@azdes. gov

I won't say I feel hopeful yet, but this fight isn't over. A majority of my families received their 10 day cancellation letters (including at least one child who shouldn't have received one). There are instructions at the bottom for how to appeal the decision, so we are encouraging parents to write letters of appeal and send them to all interested parties. I posted a sample letter of appeal yesterday, along with instructions for where to send them.
On the legal end, the judge is supposed to rule on the lawsuit Monday. Those present felt that it went well and that we stand a chance. I'm not sure exactly what it would mean for the judge to find in our favor, but it would definitely be a good start.
The magnitude of this situation hits me all over again with every visit that I make. Today I visited a little boy that I've been seeing for almost a year and a half. When we began, he wasn't walking. Now he is walking, climbing, and just about at age level in speech (he has also been receiving speech therapy weekly, and for a short time he also received physical therapy). Its amazing how much good we can do when families can get help EARLY. It is SO much harder to break a bad habit than to just build good habits the first time around. There are countless other kids with a similar story- this is just one.

I'm curious. Has anyone else received a termination letter even though their child qualifies for ALTCS/Long Term Care? I'd be interested to know how many letters were mistakenly sent out.

I suppose I can post this

It will be public knowledge soon enough. I heard from a DDD support coordinator (and my supervisor heard from another source) that 10-day termination letters to families went in the mail today. My understanding is that means most services for children who do not qualify for long term care will end on March 13. We still have not been told when we'll have to stop providing services. It may become clearer when we actually see the letters that go out, but right now it isn't looking good. Families will still have the option of trying to get their insurance to cover therapies (which can be difficult), or paying privately (not cheap). Truly, though, we are in the 11th hour, waiting for a pardon.
I don't know exactly what I thought would happen with all of the protests and everything, but it doesn't appear to have worked. There were ways to avoid these cuts, and they are opting not to take them. What they're doing isn't even legal- an IFSP is a binding document, the same as an IEP, and it can't be changed (including changing services) without the ok of the entire team, which includes the parents. The state could be facing some more pretty serious legal ramifications for all of this.
Honestly, right now I'm sticking to "just the facts m'aam" because I can't bring myself to go any deeper than that. What I'll do job-wise is secondary right now to the thought of probably more than 3000 families of kids ages 0-3 who will be losing services. All of the kids that I WON'T be seeing anymore. All of the kids that I'm just getting to know, and the ones I've been seeing for more than a year. All of the families who have told me that having therapists there has been the difference between being set adrift in a strange land, and having a road map and someone to guide the way.
In a way, though, this doesn't put me much closer to a resolution. We're still providing services, but with an axe over our heads that could drop any minute. And I hate goodbyes. I generally refuse to say them until the last possible minute, and even then I don't do a good job of them.
I've been sitting here with this staring at me since 8:55pm, and I'm stuck. I still don't know what to say. This is still sort of surreal, and it may stay that way until or unless the axe drops and I actually have to say goodbyes.

A New Direction

It is imperative that families, service providers and concerned citizens of Arizona should write to Governor Brewer directly (contact info & link below) to request that she allocates Federal Stimulus funds that will be coming her way to the restoration services in Fiscal Year (FY) 2009-2010 for children and adults with disabilities that have been swiped out from under them as a result of the recent DDD cuts!

The responsibility to decide how to use the Federal Stimulus funds will be solely Governor Brewer's, not DES's ... not DDD's ... not the State Legislature's ... only Governor Brewer's! These funds will be coming to Arizona very soon, so is vital that she receives letter after letter after letter urging her to use Fed. Stim. package funds to help restore services to the children and adults with disabilities who may very well suffer irreparable harm if their support and therapeutic services are not restored, and soon!

• Here is a nice fill-in-the-blank letter (which you can personalize!) via the Children's Action Alliance website: http://action.voiceshub.org/campaign/fedstimulus_DEScuts

• Here is the link to contact Governor Brewer via email (also includes snail mail address & phone numbers): http://azgovernor.gov/Contact.asp

What? You're still here?? Go! Start writing those letters and spread the word!! : )
Source: http://takeactioninaz.blogspot.com/2009_03_02_archive.html

I've started a blogroll in my sidebar of parents and providers who will be affected by these cuts. Please go visit and tell them they aren't alone.

Strength in Numbers

Well at least for today, no news was good news on the DDD front. Thus far none of my families seem to have gotten termination letters (although it would be REALLY early), so we're proceeding with fingers crossed. The lawsuit apparently gets a preliminary hearing today and tomorrow where *someone* will decide if it is worth pursuing further.
On a possibly good note, I've discovered that there are indeed other bloggers writing about this. I found one through my hit counter, and followed the links to a few more. Because there's strength in numbers, I'm putting together a list of links here, as a DES/DDD blogroll of sorts. Please visit and take a good look at the faces of people who will be affected by these cuts.

A speech therapist in Tempe who is keeping track of all of the news happenings
A mom who was at the rally on Thursday.
Parents of a little girl who gets DDD services
Parents of a 2.5 year old receiving speech therapy through AZEIP
A mom/educator who will be affected by the cuts
Father of a boy receiving music therapy Along with the cuts to other services, the reimbursement rates for music therapy have been cut by more than half. From about $40 to about $18. This will put many music therapists out of business even though many kids (particularly those with autism) benefit greatly from music therapy.

If you know anyone else that I should add to this list, please let me know either in a comment or via e-mail. I might either put it on my sidebar or try to keep it updated.