Federal court ruling allows minimum wage exemptions for home care companionship services. On December 22, 2014, a federal district court judge vacated part of a federal Department of Labor (DOL) rule preventing home care provider organizations from seeking an exemption to paying minimum wage and overtime. (Open Minds, Jan. 4)
Federal hiring of people with disabilities on the rise. More than 18 percent of the people hired by the federal government in fiscal year 2013 were people with disabilities, according to new data released by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. The percentage is the highest rate since 1981. (Disability Rights Galaxy, Dec. 29)
When home and health are just out of reach. Using federal funds from a special project, thousands of elderly and disabled nursing home residents have been able to move into their own homes in recent years. The experimental project has reached people in 44 states, including more than 5,400 in Ohio. It connects people to the medical and living support they need to move into private homes, so that they can live independently. (Kaiser Health News, Jan. 5)
Tending to unmet dental needs, a root of elder hunger. Nonprofit food-delivery service Citymeals-on-Wheels recently joined with Columbia University College of Dental Medicine to conduct a pilot study of meal recipients’ oral health. The research has included both phone interviews and dental house calls to low-income seniors, many of whom haven’t seen a dentist in years—sometimes decades. (The Wall Street Journal, Jan. 1)
Mental health advocates seek relief for autistic Va. inmate. Mental health and civil liberties advocates are urging Gov. Terry McAuliffe to intervene in the case of a Virginia inmate with autism who faces trial Wednesday for allegedly assaulting a correctional officer. (Jan. 4)
As caregiving shifts to the home, scrutiny is lacking. California’s frail elderly and disabled residents increasingly are receiving care in their own homes, an arrangement that saves the government money and offers many people a greater sense of comfort and autonomy than life in an institution. Yet caregivers are largely untrained and unsupervised, even when paid by the state, leaving thousands of residents at risk of possible abuse, neglect and poor treatment, a Kaiser Health News investigation found. (Kaiser Health News, Jan. 5)
West Virginia Medicaid preparing to reimburse for behavioral health services provided by clinical social workers. The West Virginia Medicaid program is preparing to reimburse for behavioral health services provided by licensed clinical social workers (LCSW); the target implementation date is mid-2015. (Open Minds, Jan. 4)
Opinions divided on subminimum wage. In early 2015, advocates expect the Transitioning to Integrated and Meaningful Employment (TIME) Act to be introduced in Congress. It will be a reintroduction of H.R. 831, formally known as the Fair Wages for Workers with Disabilities, under a new name. (The Jewish Times, Dec. 31)
Rural doctor launches startup to ease pain of dying patients. ResolutionCare makes house calls so that very ill patients don’t have to get to the doctor’s office. When time is stretch, video conferencing would be used as an alternative. (NPR, Jan. 3)