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Email subject line: Help Ensure Minnesotans with Disabilities Have Access to Needed Day Services

Dear Rep. ___/ Sen. ___,

Thank you for all you are doing to help steer our state forward through this current COVID-19 outbreak. We appreciate all of your efforts.

I am asking you to please push to pass a Disability Day and Employment Services Fixed Cost Relief legislative proposal as soon as possible, to help ensure Minnesotans with disabilities have access to needed day services. As you know, disability day and employment services are being hit hard by the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Many day and employment services providers have had to suspend their traditional services in order to minimize the risk of infection to the individuals with disabilities they support. Day and employment services are only paid when these services are provided, yet fixed costs such as staff health care coverage, rent, utilities, buses and other fixed costs continue, even if services are not being provided. Many of these service providers across the state are nonprofits with little to no cash reserves in case of an emergency such as this. 

INSERT BRIEF NOTE HERE FOCUSING ON LACK OF ACCESS TO CRITICAL DAY SERVICES (IN THE IMMEDIATE AND LONG TERM) FOR MINNESOTANS WITH DISABILITIES IN YOUR COMMUNITY

Emergency funding is urgently needed to help day and employment service providers address our fixed costs so Minnesotans with disabilities can access some form of critical day supports during this pandemic and can have critical day and employment support services to return to when this pandemic passes. This emergency funding for fixed costs is needed so day and employment service providers can try to support Minnesotans with disabilities in new and different ways during this short term pandemic. And, so we can avoid coming back from this pandemic with a decimated infrastructure for these crucial disability community services, where people with disabilities will not have access to innovative, individualized supports during the day.

I am asking you to please push to pass a Disability Day and Employment Services Fixed Cost Relief legislative proposal as soon as possible. For a copy of a current draft legislative proposal, please contact MOHR (the statewide association of disability day and employment service providers).

Julie Johnson, MOHR President: jjohnson@mssmn.org

Lynn Noren, MOHR Government Affairs Committee Chair: lnoren@rise.org

Thank you for your partnership on this critical issue.

Sincerely,