MRDD Group seeks funds from Medicaid

MRDD programs and staffing could be affected if another agency gets some of its Medicaid funds.
AUSTINTOWN -- A funding request from Iron and String Life Enhancement, a private organization that runs group homes for people with mental and physical disabilities, could signal fundamental change in the way services for people with mental disabilities are delivered in Mahoning County.
Larry Duck, superintendent of the Mahoning County Board of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, took under advisement ISLE's request that MRDD share Medicaid funding should ISLE be approved by the state.
Duck said ISLE, 12 S. Phelps St., has applied to the Ohio MRDD to become a habilitation center, and in a letter asked the MRDD board to agree to provide Medicaid money for ISLE's clients with mental disabilities.
Duck said at Tuesday's Mahoning County MRDD meeting that if ISLE gets part of MRDD's Medicaid money, programs and staffing could be affected.
"I know this is a shock to MRDD employees, but we are Medicaid-driven and don't have full control," Duck said.
No precedent
Also, the superintendent said there is no precedent in the state for such a move, and no rules exist to govern how it would be done.
"This is a very important statewide issue," Duck said.
Because of the possible economic ramifications for MRDD programs and employees, Duck said he wants to confer with the state MRDD Association and others before deciding to recommend to the board that it resist or make changes. He said he expects to make a recommendation early in 2003.