FLAPSE Conference, Day Two, Sommer’s Entry
Today’s opening session “State of the State: Where We are and Where We are Going!” was presented by Bill Palmer (Vocational Rehabilitation - VR), Jane Johnson (President of APD), and Joyce Lubbers (Program Director of the Florida Department of Education). Palmer spoke first, giving an update of VR in Florida and where they are headed. He said that a major goal for their upcoming strategic plan would be to increase the percentage of people with disabilities successfully employed. Currently, only 6.65% of this population and only 23.1% of persons with mental health disabilities are employed.
The next speaker was Jane Johnson, Director of the Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD) in Florida. She addressed the looming budget cuts head-on, emphasizing that we should all work together in this transition. She said that these cuts are coming directly from the Florida legislature, which has proposed caps on funding due to APD’s large budget deficit. You can read more about these changes on the APD website. Her vision for APD is to be able to take the one billion dollars in Medicaid waiver funding and be able to serve more people (currently 15,000 people are on a waiting list for services), so even though services will be reduced, more people will be served overall, all while eliminating the budget deficit. Jane Johnson also brought to our attention that October is Disability Awareness Month, and October 17th is Florida Disabilities Mentoring Day. Education is key to success for persons with disabilities, so spread the word!