"The Virtual Center for Independent Living for West Virginia""The Virtual Center for Independent Living for West Virginia"Home > Advocacy in Action > 2006 Legislative Initiative Funding Facts
Mountain State Centers for Independent Living joins the WV Statewide Independent Living Council, the Fair Shake Network along with other disability advocacy organizations and recognize the on-going budget concerns in the State.
We believe the budget should not be balanced by compromising the independence of our citizens with disabilities and reducing the State's ability to comply with Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act as upheld in the Olmstead Decision of the US Supreme Court.
For more information on the Olmstead Decision please visit (in PDF format) the WV Olmstead Plan signed by Governor Joe Manchin in October 2005.
State funding for the RYPAS program in 2007 should be maintained at $340,000 or increased. Funding at this level will continue to support the current recipients of the program and ensure they have adequate services to remain in their own homes rather than moving into nursing home care. As recipients leave the program due to death or a change in their living situation, individuals from the waiting list are moved onto the program.
In Fiscal Year 2005 this program made it possible for 23 individuals from 16 counties in West Virginia to remain in their own homes. Counties of residence include:
Other recipient statistics include:
Currently there is a waiting list of six individuals from Kanawha, Monongalia, Roane and Wood counties. Waiting list statistics include:
Ron Yost Personal Assistance Services Funding provides funds for people with disabilities to hire personal assistants to help with their personal care and other daily activities of independent living. The program is consumer controlled and consumer directed.
The Ron Yost Personal Assistance Services Funding board oversees the program and is composed of seven people with disabilities and two-ex-officio non-voting members, one representing the WV Statewide Independent Living Council and one representing the WV Division of Rehabilitation Services. Members of the board are NOT eligible to receive services from the Ron Yost Personal Assistance Services Funding program.
Recipients of Ron Yost Personal Assistance Services Funding are people with severe disabilities who are in need of support and assistance to enable them live in their own homes and communities instead of a nursing home or other restrictive, segregated setting. These services can include, but are not limited to assistance with bathing, cooking, dressing, and housekeeping.
Characteristics of the Ron Yost Personal Assistance Services Funding Program:
The Ron Yost Personal Assistance Services Act was passed by both houses of the WV Legislature during the 1999 Legislation Session. It was signed into law by Governor Cecil H. Underwood in April, 1999. The purpose of the Act was to establish a consumer directed, personal assistance services program to meet the needs of individuals with severe disabilities who are not currently receiving such services from any other program.
Ron Yost was an advocate for disability rights in West Virginia for 15 years. He helped write legislation that established the Attendant Care Program operated by the WV Division of Rehabilitation Services and was instrumental in getting it passed. This program was named in memory of Ron Yost by the legislators who sponsored the bill and created it.
Ron was an individual with a severe disability himself, a spinal cord injury resulting in quadraplegia. He understood the need for such services and how much difference having an attendant or personal assistant made in the quality of life of a person with a disability and that person's goal of independent living. Ron passed away in January 1997 just as efforts to pass the Personal Assistance Services Act were gearing up for the Legislative Session. He had a great impact on his community (Huntington) and on the disability community across West Virginia.
For more information on the Ron Yost Personal Assistance Services Program, please contact:
Posted: January 27, 2006
www.mtstcil.org
