WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES APRIL 23, 2020 21
Staff ers at Life’s Worc, which operates group homes for the developmentally disabled, taking precautions. Courtesy of Life’s Worc
Group homes fi nd little help from the state
as they scramble for more medical supplies
BY BEN VERDE
BROOKLYN PAPER
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 — which
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 welloff
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 buyers 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 ten 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 non-profit, you find that money and
you do it.”
For their part, Clune and his fellow
advocates at NYDA argue that a
change in policy to prioritize group
homes would help facilitate supply
allocation more than an uptick in
funding — and they’re continuing
to push for a change in the state’s
priorities.
“This should have nothing to do
with funding,” Clune said. “It should
have absolutely everything to do
with protecting the people who are
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