OLMSTEAD UPDATES

News blog follows implementation of landmark 2014 federal consent decree that requires Rhode Island to remedy violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the U.S. Supreme Court's Olmstead decision. Over ten years, Rhode Island must reinvent state services for citizens with developmental disabilities to give them opportunities for supportive employment and meaningful activities in their communities.

By Gina Macris

The Rhode Island Senate’s Project Sustainability Commission, which is evaluating the state’s fee-for-service Medicaid payment system for private agencies serving adults with developmental disabilities, will meet Wednesday, Dec. 12 at 3 p.m. in the Senate Lounge at the State House.

Three members of the commission will summarize the views of all 19 panel participants regarding the planning, programming, and funding of the current system, as well as the family or consumer experience, according to the commission chairman, Sen. Louis DiPalma, D-Middletown. State officials, private providers, families, and consumers of services funded through the state Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals are all represented on the commission.

The meeting is open to the public, and a portion of the session will be reserved for comments from the audience, DiPalma said.