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Oct 28, 2024 View in browser
 
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By Katelyn Cordero and Maya Kaufman

Beat Memo

The state Office for People with Developmental Disabilities launched a Request for Proposal earlier this month for an independent program to assist individuals with disabilities, their families and caregivers with support and services.

The program, which was approved in the 2023-24 budget, will support individuals as they navigate the OPWDD system, but it will be independent from the department to prevent any conflict of interest.

The state put out two RFPs, the first for a community-based organization that will conduct community outreach and engagement to inform individuals of the resources available to them. The second RFP is for education grants to inform caregivers and parents of the new resources available to them.

The state allocated roughly $2 million to the efforts to start up the program, which will serve as a helpline for families that need extra assistance outside OPWDD, such as in the case of a denial from the department.

Lara Kassel, coalition coordinator for Medicaid Matters, said the new program will fill a hole for people who need assistance outside of OPWDD being that there is a void for independent support when they are trying to access services, or fight a denial.

“There are other avenues that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities take to get help navigating systems or accessing services. … This program will be different because it is entirely independent,” Lara told POLITICO.

“Very often people may be needing help with the services provided by a care coordination organization, or the services provided by an OPWDD office, and this program will be entirely independent of the OPWDD system entirely.”

IN OTHER NEWS:

The state Department of Health has been awarded $340,000 in grant funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for a project to improve surveillance of spina bifida, a birth defect affecting the central nervous system.

The funds will support the first year of the five-year project, which will involve developing a surveillance database with information on New Yorkers living with spina bifida. Researchers will use the data to estimate the prevalence of spina bifida and assess those individuals’ health care use, access to resources, quality of life and long-term health outcomes.

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation is partnering with the nonprofit Healthy Birth Day to expand a stillbirth prevention program in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens.

The “count the kicks” program teaches parents-to-be about the importance of tracking their baby’s movements during the third trimester of pregnancy to detect any changes in their normal movement pattern, which can be a sign of distress.

ON THE AGENDA:

Monday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Opioid Settlement Fund Advisory Board will meet.

Tuesday at 1 p.m. The City Council hosts an oversight hearing on the effects of hospital closures on community needs.

GOT TIPS? Send story ideas and feedback to Maya Kaufman at mkaufman@politico.com and Katelyn Cordero at kcordero@politico.com.

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ODDS AND ENDS

NOW WE KNOW — Demand for bariatric surgery is plunging.

TODAY’S TIP — Adults ages of 50 and older are now being advised to get vaccinated against pneumonia.

STUDY THIS — DNA analysis detects many more preventable or treatable conditions that are not identified by standard newborn screening methods, per early results from a study led by Columbia University researchers.

WHAT WE'RE READING

Governor Hochul's office had a psychiatric patient arrested at a union’s behest. (Crain’s New York Business)

Emails reveal how health departments struggle to track human cases of bird flu. (KFF Health News)

Fatal drug overdoses are dropping, but not everyone is spared. (The New York Times)

AROUND POLITICO

California’s mental health commissioner resigns amid scrutiny over London trip, Rachel Bluth reports.

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