4
QUEENS WEEKLY, APRIL 26, 2020
Group homes fi nd little help from the state as
they scramble for more medical supplies
BY BEN VERDE
Due to an oversight
from the state government,
group homes for the
developmentally disabled
are now forced to fend for
themselves as they try to
buy much-needed protective
medical equipment —
which are in short supply
and rising in cost amid the
novel coronavirus, according
to disability advocates.
Facilities that care for
the developmentally disabled
are not listed as priority
recipients of personal
protective equipment under
state guidelines, which
only prioritize hospitals,
EMS operators, nursing
homes, and dialysis centers.
This oversight leaves
these homes scrambling to
find medical supplies, such
as face masks and rubber
gloves.
The lack of regulatory
help from the state has
forced financially well-off
group homes to compete
on the open market for supplies,
while less cash-flush
facilities have been forced
to rely on donations and
handmade replacements
— rather than allocating
resources based on need,
according to advocates.
“What should happen is
that it is not based on the
financial resources, but it
is based upon the actual
need of the particular facility
throughout the state,
so that those that need the
PPE get it,” said Tim Clune,
the executive director of
Disability Rights New
York (DRNY). “All of these
congregate-care facilities
must have the necessary
protective gear to prevent
the spread of COVID-19.”
DRNY filed a formal
complaint on April 9 with
the United States Department
of Health and Human
Services against Governor
Andrew Cuomo for failure
to prioritize group homes
and other congregate care
settings as priority recipients
of protective equipment
— but that has yet to
yield positive results.
Group home operators
have faced intense competition
and exorbitant prices
in their pursuit of personal
protective equipment, and
have begun joining forces
with other care providers
in the region to pool the
necessary cash and have a
unified voice on the market
. Janet Koch, the head of
Life’s Worc, which operates
group homes for the
developmentally disabled
throughout New York City
and Long Island, said she
and a cadre of other group
homes on Long Island
pooled together $30,000
each at the start of the pandemic
through a “providers
alliance” to buy protective
medical supplies — allowing
them to scoop up the
equipment before it was all
bought up.
“We were ahead of the
curve for sure, we got in
right in the beginning,”
said Koch.
Other homes are still
scrambling to stock up on
protective supplies with
no end of the pandemic in
sight — and the market
for more masks, gloves
and other supplies is bare.
Some group homes have
put up huge sums of money
just to be entered into the
running for receiving the
life-saving supplies, without
any guarantee they
would even receive it.
After $2.6 billion in
budget cuts over the last
10 years, and the drawnout
delay of a yearly three
percent cost of living funding
increase from the state,
this is no small feat for
most homes — but with
lives on the line they have
little choice, said Koch.
“If you have nothing, or
here’s a chance, suddenly
that risk becomes life or
death,” she said. “Even if
you’re a nonprofit, you find
that money and you do it.”
Staffers at Life’s Worc, which operates group homes for
the developmentally disabled, taking precautions.
Courtesy of Life’s Worc
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