Florida Civil Legal UPDATE

The Advocacy Center will be sponsoring a Seminar on Representing Persons
with Disabilities in Medicaid Waiver Determination Hearings.  The
seminar will be held from 12:00 p.m.  to 2:00 p.m., on Wednesday, March
11, 2009, at 1000 N. Ashley Drive, Suite 640, Tampa, Florida 33602.

The seminar will include an overview of how to represent persons with
disabilities who have challenged a denial or change in services by APD.
Many of these individuals will need lawyers to assist them through the
proceedings before the Division of Administrative Hearings. Since
September of 2008 thousands of individuals have had their level of
service changed and many are still without counsel to represent them.
The Advocacy Center is willing to provide technical assistance and
consultation to any attorney choosing to handle a case pro bono.

There is no fee to attend this seminar, and those wishing to attend, are
requested to contact Rhonda Orlosky, at rhondao@advocacycenter.org or by
calling 813-233-2920, ext. 209.

I’m passing this along from our friends at Florida’s Children First.

Attached is a publication we think may be of help/interest.  It is the
result of a collaborative effort among the Advocacy Center, FCF and DCF. (DCF is
paying for printing and distribution to caregivers and kids)

FCF is proud of our work on this and hopes it will advance our efforts to
get folks working together to serve young people in foster care with
disabilities.,and in so doing, protect their rights.

Kudos go to Robin Rosenberg for making it really happen.

Link to Transition: The Passage from Youth to Adulthood at FloridaLawHelp.org.

Many programs have begun aggressive advocacy on behalf of developmentally disabled Floridians who have been placed in new coverage “tiers” and denied their right to a fair hearing.  The Health & Senior Law Umbrella Group has been involved in this work; we’ve also launched a statewide pro bono effort to provide training in these matters.

This, tonight, from the Advocacy Center:

A lawsuit has been filed by the Advocacy Center for Persons with Disabilities, Inc. (Advocacy Center) in the Circuit Court in and for the 2nd Judicial Circuit in Tallahassee, Florida against the Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD). The lawsuit is titled Lyons v. Agency for Persons with Disabilities, Case No. 2009-CA 0144 and has been assigned to Judge John C. Cooper.

Plaintiffs are William Layton Lyons, Francesca Correa, John Bodack and the Advocacy Center. The Advocacy Center is a non-profit corporation authorized by federal law to pursue legal, administrative, and other remedies for individuals with disabilities in Florida. APD is the state agency charged with the administration of home and community based waiver services for individuals with developmental disabilities.

The lawsuit alleges that cuts to the funding levels for home and community based services for individuals with developmental disabilities will cause Plaintiffs and thousands of others to experience immediate irreparable harm. The lawsuit also alleges that Plaintiffs and thousands of others have been denied their right to a hearing in violation of chapter 120 of the Florida Statutes.

3,600 individuals who have had their home and community-based Medicare waiver services reduced by the Department, and who have requested a fair hearing on the merits of their individual cases, have had their hearing requests denied en masse.  At least that’s my take.  Form your own by reading the full release, which also links to the pleading filed by the Advocacy Center.