ANCOR conferences keep us in tune
Posted May 4, 2009
Opportunity Village is very engaged in national, state and local activities because we rely on public funding and regulatory systems for our very existence. Experience has also shown that our active involvement continues to give us valuable avenues to impact that very important system upon which we depend. This article will focus on the national focus. I will post information on this website at a later time that details our state and local activities.You may wonder what Village services have to do with the federal government. To borrow an expression, the three biggest reasons are Medicaid, Medicaid and Medicaid. In less than 10 years, Opportunity Village's major funding source has shifted from state and county sources to Medicaid. This change has many implications for us in how we provide services as well as where we focus our attention.
Medicaid is a federal program that funds healthcare and other essential services for elderly, disabled and low income individuals. In order to use federal Medicaid dollars, each state is required to meet certain standards and pay a portion of the costs of the services it provides. Individual states have great flexibility in how they use Medicaid so the program looks very different from state to state. Every state participates in Medicaid because it is so critical in providing the basic safety net for these populations.
Our national association, the American Network of Community Options and Resources (ANCOR) is a critical resource for us to keep current in all the changes in Medicaid as well as numerous other federal programs that fund and regulate virtually every aspect of our services. Medicaid is administered by the Department of Health and Human Services. The Village is also heavily regulated by the Department of Labor as an employer and particularly because of the employment of persons with disabilities.
From its early days, Opportunity Village has had a very active involvement in ANCOR. In fact, our first Director, Don Boyer, was one of the first Presidents of this association. We continue to participate in ANCOR's programs and activities today through attendance at ANCOR Conferences as well as by accessing weekly publications, participation in web trainings, responding to legislative alerts and making use of a variety of membership benefits that help to strengthen Village services.
One of the most important interactions that I have with ANCOR is my membership on the Governmental Activities Committee as Co-chair of the Employment Sub-Committee. The full Committee works actively with our ANCOR staff who lobby with our federal legislative and administrative levels of government. ANCOR relies on our relationships with elected officials to voice critical issues that impact the individuals that we support and our agencies that provide that support. This activity is carried out through several phone meetings on a monthly basis together with 2 or 3 face to face meetings each year that take place in conjunction with our Conferences.
ANCOR's Governmental Activities Seminar takes place in Washington, DC each September. Through this annual contact with our Iowa Congressional offices coupled with regular contact with our Legislators and their staff members who work on disability issues, we have had some significant accomplishments for persons with disabilities as well as for the Direct Support Professionals who work for agencies like the Village. ANCOR also gives us direct access to the key players in the various federal programs that are vital to our services. Our ANCOR members are briefed by these officials and of equal importance, we have the opportunity to pose questions and give feed-back as they make changes in programs.
ANCOR's recent Spring Conference in San Francisco was focused on the many aspects of serving and supporting individuals with disabilities. The quality and variety of presentations was outstanding. Some of the most beneficial and informative speakers that have presented at ANCOR have been from outside the field of disability services ranging from the airline industry to hospitals as well as consultants to major corporations.
Many times, the presentations that we hear at ANCOR keep us from getting comfortable or complacent and challenge us to keep growing and improving.
Could the Village get along without ANCOR and these kinds of national connections? I guess it's a lot like asking what would happen if you never sharpened a chain saw. For a while at least, you would not be able to tell the difference, but over time, the results would be more and more evident.
If you would like to know more about ANCOR, please visit their website at www.ancor.org. ANCOR is an important resource to Opportunity Village helping us to enhance our services to persons with disabilities.