Florida Senate Bill 82 - Impact to Solo Waiver Support Coordinators (Senators)

These are the Senators that need to be e-mailed.
bean.aaron.web@flsenate.gov
harrell.gayle.web@flsenate.gov
book.lauren.web@flsenate.gov
diaz.manny.web@flsenate.gov
farmer.gary.web@flsenate.gov
flores.anitere.web@flsenate.gov
hooper.ed.web@flsenate.gov
passidomo.kathleen.web@flsenate.gov
rader.kevin.web@flsenate.gov
rouson.darryl.web@flsenate.gov

They should be given some information about SB82 and the potential impact of the poorly written bill in regards to the removal of Solo Waiver Support Coordination.

1. There is no Supporting statistical evidence that shows an Agency is any better at providing services to consumers. I bet that Qlarant Audits would show a Negative trend towards agencies and the service they provide versus Solo Waiver Support Coordinators.
2. Solo Waiver Support Coordinators and Agencies are required to complete the exact same requirements to provide services to consumers. The only difference is in the number of WSC's providing the support.
3. Two WSC's are not any different than Three, or Four or Ten. In actuality I would venture to predict that the larger the Agency the less control and less compliance to APD and State Regulations. Primarily because the Agency gets away from focusing solely on services to the Consumer and more on the  management of the Employees in the Agency.
4. Additionally, what happens to an Agency of 4 WSCs when one of them is disqualified from providing services by Medicaid, or voluntarily leaves. Does the Agency have to Dissolve because it has less than the threshold? If this is the case this cold impact up to 172 Consumers if the Agency had a 4 WSCs and a FULL Caseload. What happens now? Because an Agency has to have at least 2 Employees, does APD intend to maintain the same criteria for letting an Agency continue to operate?
5. Waiver Support Coordinators are not a bunch of unqualified, uneducated individuals. It takes a 4 year degree, and 2 years of experience along with a Multitude of other things, like a Background check, Liability insurance and an actual PLAN for how they intend to adhere to APD and Medicaid Requirements. There is already a Critical Need for WSCs and forcing them to work for Minimum wage at an Agency will cause a decrease in the WSC field.
6. Medicaid Sets the Rates that are paid for Support Coordination Services. If an Agency were forced to have to compete by lowering their Rates they would further cause issues in the potential WSC hiring pool because the salary would be further depressed.