Waiting in Oklahoma - YOU can help

If you believe people on the Waiting List have been without services long enough, please contact the elected officials listed below Also circulate this to others who want to help. When you contact the officials:

Call first and then write a follow-up e-mail reminding them of your concerns and wishes! This is important! Do NOT just send an e-mail or call. DO BOTH! (Anyone can call. If they have a loved one on the Waiting List, if they have a friend or if they or their child is on the Waiting list)

1. Give your name, address and phone number.
2. Tell them why people on the waiting list are important to you.
3. Ask them to redirect funds from state institutions to community based services.

Why should funds be redirected?
1. There are currently over 6,050 people who area waiting for services, some who have been waiting for over six years. NONEof them are waiting for, nor want, services at a state institution. We could provide the services Oklahoma families want and save tax dollars at the same time.

2. Oklahoma tax payers would save money. Developmental Disabilities Services Division of the Department of Human Services estimates that moving the approximately 239 individuals at state institutions into the community will provide a savings of $40,000 per year, per client – and will, additionally, reduce other necessary budget allocations for the physical plants.

3. Oklahoma could provide more services. Providing home and community based services in Oklahoma costs an average of $376/day. The Developmental Disabilities Services Division of the Department of Human Services estimates that the daily rate to serve clients in state institutions is $505/day - a difference of $127/day. In other words, if two people from state institutions were moved into community based services, we could take one person off the Waiting List.

4. Caregivers could return to work, reducing welfare programs and boosting tax revenue. Because many people on the Waiting List require 24/7 care, families are forced to make decisions that drive them into poverty. Parents leave employment to provide care, relegating them to a destitute status. Thousands who, with proper training and support, could be employed and be paying taxes, are not. Single-parent-families become full-time caregivers, dependent upon social programs for their income. Military families and others who seek or need to maintain employment must reject assignments and possible promotions.

5. Currently the Federal Government is providing financial incentives to move people from state institutions. By utilizing the “Money Follows the Person” program, we would receive 82.45% in federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) funds for the first year a person transitions from an institution to community based care, instead of the 64.9% we will receive beginning July 1, 2011. This incentive continues through 2015.

Please call and email these elected officials TODAY!
President Pro Tempore Senator Brian Bingman: bingman@oksenate.gov, (405) 521-5528
Senator Clark Jolley: jolley@oksenate.gov, (405) 521-5622
Senator David Meyers: ingraham@oksenate.gov, 405.521.5628
Speaker of the House Kris Steele: krissteele@okhouse.gov, (405) 557-7345
Representative Earl Sears: earl.sears@okhouse.gov, (405) 557-7358
Representative Ron Peters: ron.peters@okhouse.gov, (405) 557-7359
Representative Jason Nelson: jason.nelson@okhouse.gov, (405) 557-7335
Governor Mary Fallin: info@gov.ok.gov, (405) 521-2342

And don't forget your own State Representative and State Senator!

To stay connected, visit http://www.waitinginoklahoma.org