The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) is announcing the availability of $1.2 million in federal Clean Water Act grants are available for local projects to restore water quality and abate nonpoint source pollution. Local, state and regional governmental agencies, as well as public schools, universities, and non-profit watershed, environmental or conservation organizations, and 501(c)3 non-profit organizations […]
Gina Macris
Gina Macris is a career journalist with 43 years’ experience as a reporter for the Providence Journal. She retired in 2012. While at the Journal she wrote two series about her first-born son that won prizes from the New England Associated Press News Executives Association. Gina now publishes the Developmental Disability News.
Posted inBusiness
Girls Who Code and Raytheon Technologies launch Pilot Leadership Academy for STEM College Students
Raytheon Technologies today announced that it is partnering with Girls Who Code (GWC) to launch GWC’s Leadership Academy, a semester-long program for over 100 U.S. college students. Program participants will join GWC advisors and Raytheon Technologies mentors to build their leadership, technical and professional skills while growing their network of peers studying STEM fields. The program, which targets […]
Posted inNews
Hazard pay for developmental disability workers on its way
Private employers of congregate care workers – including those in group homes for adults with developmental disabilities – began applying April 28 for COVID-19 hazard pay that could be in the paychecks of their employees as early as next week. Over the weekend, Governor Gina Raimondo announced the Congregate Care Workforce Stabilization Fund to temporarily […]
Posted inColumns
U.S. District Court Judge to hear status of COVID-19 supports for Rhode Islanders with Developmental Disabilities
Chief Judge John J. McConnell, Jr. of the U.S. District Court in Rhode Island will hold a hearing Tuesday. April 28 – accessible to the public by telephone – on the state’s supports for adults with developmental disabilities during the coronavirus pandemic. McConnell oversees implementation of a 2014 consent decree and companion agreement mandating integration […]
Posted inEnvironment & Health
Deaths in Rhode Island developmental disability congregate care now totals five
Since April 1, the coronavirus has claimed five lives of four adults with developmental disabilities living in Rhode Island group homes and one group home caregiver. But some young people have chosen to work on the front lines during the pandemic to help feed Rhode Islanders and keep up with an aggressive cleaning regimen adopted […]
Posted inCity & Government, Environment & Health, News
COVID-19 hits DD Group Homes in Rhode Island
A total of 23 adults with developmental disabilities in Rhode Island group homes — not quite 2 percent of all the 1180 adult residents in congregate care in the state — have tested positive for the coronavirus, as of April 9. Of that total, 9 are hospitalized. Read the full story now on Developmental Disability News
Posted inColumns, News
“Huge Disaster Brewing In All Our Back Yards” – CEO of RI Developmental Disability Group Home Agency
David Reiss, CEO of the Fogarty Center, manages 18 Rhode Island group homes for adults with developmental disabilities, where all but 10 or 12 of the 80 residents have no place to go and no active family support in case of an outbreak of COVID-19 infections. “We may be able to prevent people from getting […]
Posted inColumns
Those with developmental disabilities, in group homes, at higher risk warn R.I. advocates
Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo announced March 26 that the state will soon release a total of $15.4 million in state and federal Medicaid “retainer payments” to shore up private service providers facing unprecedented challenges in the coronavirus pandemic. The announcement came hours after representatives of private service providers and a prominent advocacy group expressed […]
Posted inCity & Government, Columns, News
Judge seeks advice on how to help RI with COVID-19 response
Chief Judge John J. McConnell, Jr. of the U.S. District Court in Rhode Island has asked the independent monitor for a 2014 consent decree to advise him on ways the Court can respond to the needs of adults with developmental disabilities and their families and alleviate the burdens on the developmental disability service system in […]
Posted inCity & Government, Environment & Health, News
RI DDD will limit face-to-face contact; providers launch emergency plans
In an open letter to Rhode Island’s developmental disability community, Kerri Zanchi, Director of the state Division of Developmental Disabilities, has spelled out steps the Division is taking to limit person-to-person contact to curb the spread of the coronavirus, while still remaining responsive to the needs of individuals and families. A spokesman for the Division’s […]
Posted inColumns
Judge calls for plan to overcome barriers in implementing RI Olmstead Consent Decree
The Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court in Rhode Island has ordered an independent monitor to bring him a new plan for implementing a 2014 civil rights agreement that seeks to integrate people with developmental disabilities in work and leisure activities in their communities by 2024. With the state falling short of its job-placement […]
Posted inCity & Government, Columns, News
Developmental Disability News: RI Governor proposes privatizing state-run group homes in fiscal 2021
Governor Gina Raimondo plans to privatize the state-run group home system in the next budget, cutting 204 fulltime positions from the state payroll during the 2021 fiscal year, which begins July 1. The privatization is one of many cost-cutting moves Raimondo has proposed to address an overall $200 million structural deficit in a $10.2 billion […]