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Action Scores Big in 2008 Legislature
Rick Jensen
ActionDD public affairs Officers, April 2008

WOW!!  The 60th Legislature ended on time and campaign season 2008 is now in full swing! ACTION realized some very significant accomplishments and made some new legislative friends, but first a little civics 101. When we speak of the “60th Legislature”, we are referring to two meetings of the legislature; a long 105 day session and a short 60 day session. The end of the 2008 short session marks the beginning of the preparation for the beginning of the 61st Legislature which starts just a few short months from now.
       The big news for ACTION was the passage of authority for the University of Washington Medical School to provide incentive grants to medical school students that seek training to improve healthcare services to people with developmental disabilities. Fifty Thousand dollars has been included in the Supplemental Operating Budget to fund the first round of grants. This issue, initiated by ACTON, is the culmination of two sessions worth of work with key legislators and the UW Medical School representatives. We can thank Representative Brendan Williams, the prime sponsor of House Bill 1394 introduced during the 2007 session, and Senator Claudia Kauffman for introducing a similar bill in the Senate in 2008. A lot of very interesting dynamics followed this proposal.
       HB 1394 passed the House in 2007, but after being reported out of the Senate Higher Education Committee with a unanimous vote it got mired down in the Senate Rules Committee. During the interim we spoke to many legislators that wanted this is to, not only be re-activated in 2008, but “super-sized” to include Community and Technical Colleges that provide nursing and healthcare technician training. So when Session 2008 began, Representative Williams asked the House to re-pass his HB 1394 which they did, and Senator Kauffman introduced the “super-sized” version in the Senate. Senate Bill 6470 directed the Department of Social and Health Services to administer the expanded version. HB1394 was once again passed out of the Senate Higher Education Committee amended to reflect the changes in SB6470. Then along came DSHS’s “fiscal impact statement”. It would cost $150,000.00 for DSHS to administer $50,000.00!!! ACTION President Maureen Durkan said “I want that job!” In the end the UW Medical School representative came to the rescue by telling key legislators not to require additional funding to get the program going providing that the pilot was limited to medical students in UW programs. And that is how it ended up, the language in the original HB 1394 is a budget proviso and the UW Medical School folks have already been in contact with ACTION and the program is getting underway.
       An exciting ACTION accomplishment and we need to remember our friends that helped make this happen. Along with Representative Williams and Senator Kauffman, it is important to remember Senator Paull Shin, chair of the Senate Higher Ed Committee, Senator Karen Keiser, chair of the Senate Health & Long Term Care Committee, Senate co-sponsors Senators Margarita Prentice, Chris Marr, Mark Schoesler and Representatives Dan Roach, Al O’Brien, Chris Hurst, Timm Ormsby, Geoff Simpson and Maralyn Chase.
       A good offense is only as good as the defense, and we had to employ the ACTION defense when two bills popped up that directly the sale of surplus RHC properties. The first one, House Bill 3197, sponsored by new appointed House member Liz Loomis was quickly withdrawn when Representative Loomis and House Capitol Budget Committee Chair Bill Fromhold found out this measure was going to be controversial. Once Representative Loomis was made aware of ACTION opposition she asked the chair not to hear the bill.
       Then along came the Senate version, SB 6760, sponsored by Senators Debbie Regala and Joe Zarelli, providing for surplus property sale authority to DSHS and adding Fircrest, Frances Haddon Morgan Center and Yakima School to the existing statute pertaining to surplus land use management on Rainier School and Lakeland Village properties. The proceeds from the sale of surplus property would be deposited in the DD Trust. The Senate Ways & Means Committee hearing was crowded with the proponents of the bill and was quickly reported out of committee. But with the help of many ACTION members that contacted their legislators and some important assistance from the Senate Capitol Budget sub-committee chair Karen Fraser and others, the bill was amended on the Senate floor to prohibit the sale of surplus property.
       Again, an interesting dynamic! We argued that surplus property should not be sold but rather kept and used as revenue producing property. In addition, we felt a change in the statute at this point would conflict with the ongoing Fircrest Master Plan. In the end the bill passed adding FHMC and the Yakima school to the existing land use statute, and Fircrest was removed from the bill pending the completion of the Master Plan. Thanks again to Representative Chase and Speaker Frank Chopp’s Chief of Staff Majken Ryherd.
       Speaking of the Fircrest Master Plan, funding for Phase 2 was provided in the Supplemental Capitol Budget recommending the study focus on joint local and state utilization of the property. Something that Speaker Chopp was very interested in and used his influence to insure that Master Plan continued. Other Supplemental Budget items included money for contracts with the school districts to provide transportation, building space, and other support services as are reasonably necessary to support educational programs of students living at FHMC and Fircrest ($1.4 million).
       ACTION supported the Federation of State Employees successful initiative that strengthens the employee protections in the Whistle Blower laws. This measure is a good step towards protection employees from retaliation for voicing their professional opinions.
       Yes, Session 2008 was short but it didn’t lack for excitement. Now it is time to start gearing up for 2009, the beginning of the 61st Legislature. Some of the issues we’ll working on during the interim include adding RHC residents in the patient bill of rights statutes, comprehensive background check requirements for caregivers, monitoring the medical school incentive grant programs to gather information to keep the program going and growing in the next biennial budget and continue to build strong legislative advocates all over the state. Remember it is a big election year; our friends can’t help us if they don’t get re-elected, now they need our help.

Yakima Valley School celebrates 50 years of giving back
Erin Snelgrove
Yakima Herald-Republic

SELAH — By the time her daughter was 8 1/2, Anne Kruger knew she was out of options. 
   
Theresa was wheelchair bound. She was too heavy to carry, and she suffered from frequent seizures.

That’s when Kruger turned to Yakima Valley School for help.

 “I wouldn’t know what I’d do if she had to be some place else,” said Kruger of Yakima, whose daughter is now 35. “She is such a happy, happy girl in spite of her (limited) physical and mental capabilities. I don’t think she’d be that happy if she didn’t have that care and wasn’t so close to home.”

Kruger is one of a growing number of people who values everything the Selah-based center has to offer. As one of five state-run nursing facilities, Yakima Valley School is home to 91 full-time residents with severe developmental disabilities. It also offers 16 respite care beds for individuals who are cared for at home, providing a break for their families and guardians.
The center gives people the medical attention they need. But more than that, it offers them the companionship and support to lead fulfilled lives, Kruger said.

On Wednesday, the school is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

 “The staff is fantastic. They all seem to love their jobs,” Kruger said. “They just love the residents and do such special things for them. They are great."

 

KRIS HOLLAND/Yakima Herald-Republic Yakima Valley School's adult
training specialist Linda Graser helps Geoff into his wheelchair on Thursday.

Feeling of Home

The nursing facility features a five-story, red-brick building perched on a hill on Speyers Road. A sign out front reads “Central Washington Tuberculosis Hospital.” It’s dated 1947.

Eleven years later, the building was transformed into a state hospital for the severely disabled. Its residents were children, at first, and teachers from the Selah School District taught classes there.

But as the residents grew older, the center switched gears and now focuses on the medical needs of its residents. Of the 91 residents there, most are in their 40s and unable to care for themselves.

Instead of the brick building, they now live in a series of duplexes, situated on cul-de-sacs.

The staff has worked hard to make the rooms homey. In each of the buildings, the central gathering place is furnished with televisions and leather recliners, and bedrooms are decorated with everything from family photographs to stuffed animals.

Doctors make house calls, and meals are delivered. Staff are available to help the residents 24 hours a day to attend to their various needs, be it reading them stories or giving them baths.

 “You could have a really bad day at home, but when you come here you forget about it,” said Carol Brown, who provides recreational therapy. “You are focused on that individual. You can sit with a gentleman and just hold his hand. I cherish those moments.”

The services are financed through Medicaid, the joint state-federal program that provides basic health care to low-income individuals and families. The average cost for the school’s full-time residents — under a daily rate set by Medicaid — runs about $172,500 per person every year, said Paul Reynolds, regional administrator for the Division of Developmental Disabilities of the state Department of Social and Health Services. Region 2 covers Yakima and seven other Central Washington counties.

The school is also reimbursed for serving severely disabled adults and children who use the facility’s respite beds on a short-term basis. And, there’s a furnished apartment where families can stay overnight, usually while passing through or visiting Yakima from another part of the state.

Of the center’s 276 staff members, 27 have worked there more than 20 years, said Tammy Winegar, the facility’s superintendent. Their jobs are varied, providing everything from dental and mental health services to physical and speech therapy.

There’s also therapeutic recreation. Depending on the residents’ interests, this includes taking residents on outings to the movies or the mall, coloring pictures or applying makeup. For some, it could be the simple act of sitting in front of a blowing fan.

Employees stay because they enjoy their jobs, Winegar said. For many, it’s become a second home.

“There never was a day when I woke up and said ‘I didn’t want to work here,’” she said. “Just seeing the smiles and the positive impact we have on people’s lives makes me want to come to work each day.”