Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson (District 36) on changes to Disability Lifeline

Last Friday, nearly 60 people representing government, the public, educational institutions, nonprofits and business attended “Disability Lifeline: A Community Conversation” hosted by United Way of King County, State Representative Mary Lou Dickerson, King County Executive Dow Constantine and Seattle City Council Member Tim Burgess. The meeting gave voice to the changes facing the old GA-U program (now called Disability Lifeline) and provided the community an opportunity to generate creative solutions to help ease the transition for people that will be dropped from the program due to new time limits instituted by the legislature this year (24 months in a 60-month period).

As of July 1, DSHS identified and reviewed the cases of more than 4,400 people statewide that have received DL benefits for at least 20 months. Nearly 40% appear to meet the federal disability standard for SSI and 1,000 new expedited Medicaid (DL-X) approvals were obtained. According to Doug Houser, DSHS Region 4 Social Services Coordinator, when the time limits go into effect in September, nearly 60% statewide – 930 in Seattle and King County – will lose their DL benefits since they don’t appear to meet the federal disability standards and will have exhausted their allotted time on the program. In the next six months another 800 people will lose their benefits, with more following each month thereafter until June 30, 2013 when the time limits are set to expire.

DL recipients facing September termination will receive a notice from DSHS in the upcoming weeks outlining the reason for termination, their Fair Hearing rights and referral resources. DSHS indicated a willingness to work with providers that have clients whose benefits may be about to expire to ensure that all information relevant to their case has been considered, but indicated that a release of information would be required.

Panelists fielded comments and questions on a range of issues from how the housing voucher program was going to work to the management of incapacity evaluations, the process for negotiating contracts and fair hearing rights. DSHS was encouraged to continue the process of allowing current mental health contractors to complete medical evaluations under the Early SSI Transition Project and to proactively work with providers who have clients about to be terminated from the program.

In addition, ideas were generated in small group discussions on how to best prepare agencies and clients facing termination and how to monitor the effects of Disability Lifeline on the community. Recommended suggestions included:
• coordinating legal advocacy services
• educating clients about DL changes before they receive a termination notice
• using 2-1-1 as a referral and data source
• collecting exit data from private and nonprofit housing providers on where people terminated from DL benefits are moving
• collecting arrest and emergency room visit data
• shifting funding if needed to respond to needs
• working with private landlords to ensure continuity of housing for those facing termination from DL benefits

State Representative Mary Lou Dickerson who sponsored the bill and led the effort to push the Security Lifeline Act forward during this difficult legislative session ended the meeting by saying that “we need to wrap a blanket of care around those that are about to lose their benefits” and echoed comments from a concerned citizen who reminded everyone that our community should have a coordinated response in place to ensure that individuals losing their benefits don’t fall into homelessness.

The next community conversation is planned for sometime in late September/early October. If you would like to be on the invite list, contact communityservices@uwkc.org

Background: This year the legislature passed the Security Lifeline Act (ESSHB 2782), which created a number of new programs, but most importantly renamed the General Assistance-Unemployable, Disability Lifeline – a program that provides $339 in cash and medical benefits to very low income people unable to work due to a temporary physical or mental health disability. For the first time, Disability Lifeline sets a time limit on receipt of benefits to 24 months in past 60 months, requires participation in chemical dependency treatment and vocational rehabilitation when deemed necessary, establishes an early SSI Transition Project that focuses on early identification of SSI potential, and creates a housing voucher program.