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Dignity Alliance Massachusetts’ Response to the Request for Information American Rescue Plan Act Home and Community-Based Community HCBS Initiatives May 2021 (See Glossary for description of abbreviations) Download the DA American Rescue Plan RFI.docx Access to Services and Supports and Community Integration

1. Amendments to the Frail Elder Waiver to Support ...
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Dear Senators, Dignity Alliance Massachusetts supports the Holyoke Soldiers' Home bond bill S. 2439 as well as adoption of Amendment 13 proposed by Senator Lovely and Amendment 16 proposed by Senator Collins. These amendments ensure that the construction of a replacement facility on the campus of the current Holyoke Soldiers' ...
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Read two articles from the Boston Globe. The first is by the Globe Editorial Board, Holyoke veterans deserve more than a new building, from April 8. The second is the published letter (April 14) in response, In pushing old-style approach for a new soldiers’ home, Mass. abandons key blueprint for ...
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Honor Our Aging Veterans, but let Holyoke’s Soldiers Home Fade Away. Honor Our Aging Veterans, but let Holyoke’s Soldiers Home Fade Away. By Richard T. Moore In his famous address to the United States Congress on April 19, 1951, exactly seventy years ago, General Douglas MacArthur ended his valiant military ...
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Dignity Alliance Massachusetts advocates for the adoption of the following amendment affecting Line Item 7004-9030: Alternative Housing Voucher Program, mobile housing vouchers for people with disabilities under age 60 in the amount of at least $14.2 million. For questions or other communication, please contact Shaya French at sfrench@bostoncil.org. Download the ...
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Dignity Alliance Massachusetts advocates for the adoption of the following amendment affecting Line Item 4120-4000 (Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission): For a pilot project to develop community-based comprehensive sites to provide behavioral health services for adults under age sixty. The goals are to deter persons from nursing home placements and to discharge ...
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Dignity Alliance Massachusetts advocates for the adoption of the following amendment affecting Line Item 9110-1640 (Executive Office of Elder Affairs): Level funding at $1,000,000 with a requirement to add two new treatment sites. Supporting information:  This account was increased from $800,000 to $1 million in the FY ’21 budget, however, ...
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Dignity Alliance Massachusetts urges the Commonwealth to put aside the current proposal to construct a 235-bed, congregate care facility and, instead, follow the Veterans Administration’s Small House Model Design Guide to create resident-centered communities focused on the needs and preferences of veterans. The Small House Model provides exceptional rehabilitative and ...
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Last Week Tonight with John Oliver – April 12, 2021 – John Oliver explains the industry behind nursing homes and assisted living facilities, and why long-term care needs fixing. Penny Shaw, nursing home resident and advocate and member of Dignity Alliance Massachusetts, has a cameo appearance ...
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Dignity Alliance Massachusetts endorses the petition letter of the Vaccine Equity NOW! Coalition and demand that Governor Baker take immediate action to prioritize access to the vaccine for the communities hardest hit by the pandemic. Download the entire statement: DAM-VEN-Petition.docx. The Black, Latinx, and immigration communities have suffered a disproportionate ...
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Dignity Alliance Massachusetts has endorsed the following Advocacy to add to listing of disability conditions to qualify for vaccination priority. Download the entire statement: DAM Disability Vaccine Letter.docx. People with quadriplegia, cystic fibrosis, multiple sclerosis (MS), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and intellectual and developmental disabilities, among other many disabilities and ...
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Dignity Alliance Massachusetts has endorsed a set of transformative goals in March, 2021. Download Dignity Alliance Massachusetts Mission and Goals March 2021.docx. OUR MISSION Dignity Alliance Massachusetts is dedicated to transformative change to ensure the dignity of older adults, people with disabilities, and their caregivers. We are committed to advancing ...
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Call for Compassionate Care Visitation Policy for Nursing Home Residents Download the full resolution which includes references: Nursing Home Compassionate Care Visitation for Nursing Home Residents Dignity Alliance Massachusetts.docx. March 13th marks the tragic one-year anniversary of banning visitations for nursing home residents during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dignity Alliance Massachusetts ...
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Download the testimony: Testimony 105CMR150.000 Standards for Long-Term Care Facilities DPH Hearing 2021.docx or scroll down. (Download includes extensive references, references are omitted below) Testimony submitted to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health Regarding Proposed Amendments to 105 CMR 150.000 Standards for Long Term Care Facilities March 1, 2021 With ...
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Download Dignity Alliance's comments on the renewal of the Commonwealth's 1115 Renewal: 1115 Waiver Renewal DAM.docx. Comments regarding the Renewal of the 1115 Waiver Dignity Alliance Massachusetts, a grass-roots coalition of aging and disability service and advocacy organizations and supporters, is dedicated to securing fundamental changes in the provision of ...
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ENSURING WE NEVER FORGET DISABILITY RIGHTS HISTORY Wednesday March 10 noon - 1:30. Panelists: Alex Green, Reggie Clark, Woody Gaw and Donna Jay. Sponsored by Harvard Law School Project on Disability. REGISTER HERE ASL interpretation provided. In 2020's waning months, activists rallied to oppose the decision of the City of ...
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The Joint Committee on Covid-19 and Emergency Preparedness and Management will hold its first in a series of oversight hearings on the state's COVID-19 vaccination distribution plan on Thursday, February 25, 2021. The hearing will be held by the newly created Joint Committee and will seek testimony from the Baker ...
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Whereas, Older Adults and People with Disabilities in Massachusetts and all Americans age fifty or overs are already on edge about their financial and retirement security: The one-two punch of the pandemic and the economic crisis puts millions of people in our community in danger; and Whereas, Social Security is ...
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The hearing was held on October 13. For more information, including video testimony, visit: https://malegislature.gov/Events/Hearings/Detail/3580. Paul Lanzikos can be seen and heard around the 30 minute mark in the first video. Unfortunately, closed captions are not included. From State Senator Becca Rausch: “As the Senate Vice-Chair of the Elder Affairs ...
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We urge the immediate creation of an initiative to demonstrate the efficacy of nursing facilities operating primarily with single-occupancy rooms. This addresses consumer demand and expectations for privacy, dignity, and choice as well as optimizes infection control protocols. While Governor Baker’s proposal to eliminate three and four bedded rooms is ...
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