MAHONING COUNTY Gripes aired vs. MRDD board

The superintendent said the women aren't happy with what the board is doing.
YOUNGSTOWN -- A county official says he plans to see if there's merit to allegations leveled against the county's Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Board and superintendent.
There is an informational meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Leonard Kirtz School in Austintown to update parents and guardians about the MRDD's funding issues, and Anthony Traficanti, Mahoning County commissioner board chairman, said he plans to attend.
Three women -- Rosemary Hodos of Boardman and Suzanne Macias and Terri Mannion, both of Austintown -- attended the commissioners' Thursday meeting and listed several complaints they had with the board and Larry Duck, MRDD superintendent.
All three have children or relatives involved in MRDD programs.
Qualms with Duck
Macias' main complaint was that the MRDD board, while facing a budget crisis, bought new white buses without flashers to transport adult clients. She said that's a safety issue, but Duck and the board told her that many counties are using the alternative white buses.
Duck, interviewed later, said the new buses were purchased because some of the older buses had logged more than 240,000 miles.
The board decided to go ahead with the bus purchase now while it had a chance to do so before projected state budget cuts further impacted the MRDD's operations.
Also, busing children in a yellow bus is the law for school-age children, but not for adults. He said the board saw using the white buses as a "normalization and dignity issue" because the clients using them aren't children.
"We never stop the buses where the adults have to cross the street," Duck said. "We also have a flashing red light that comes on that gives the warning that the bus is stopping. The white buses are within the law."
Missing workshop
Mannion said she was concerned the board plans to cut one of its three workshops for mentally retarded pupils and adults. The MASCO workshops are on Bev Road and Marwood Circle, Boardman, and Rayen Avenue in Youngstown.
Duck said he told the women it's a good possibility a workshop will be closed, "but I can't say that until the state fiscal budget is passed." The state fiscal year begins July 1.
Hodos was upset the MRDD board spent nearly a half-million dollars to expand its board offices in Austintown, while at the same time laying off people.
Duck explained that the addition, which the board deemed necessary, was paid for from capital improvement money, not operating funds.
Disagreement
Duck said he and the board listened to what the women wanted to do. "But we disagreed, and they are not satisfied with what we doing," he said.
The MRDD expects a $3 million to $4 million loss this year because of the end of the Community Alternative Funding System program. CAFS is a type of Medicaid reimbursement for services to disabled MRDD-eligible individuals and disabled schoolchildren.
It pays for adult day programs such as the workshops, transportation and other services. The program ends June 30, resulting in the loss of $200 million statewide for MRDD boards and public schools.
The MRDD superintendent said a mailing was sent out to 1,175 families of consumers served by the board explaining the CAFS issue. He said the complaints have been few and "people are generally satisfied with what we are doing."
Tax funding
The MRDD gets 75 percent of its funding from property tax levies. The MRDD board has asked commissioners to put a 3-mill renewal levy on the November ballot. That levy brings in about $11 million.
Traficanti said perhaps its time for people to be elected to boards like the MRDD to improve accountability.
But that change will have to come from state legislators, he said.
In the meantime, he remains a proponent of a performance audit for all county social service agencies "so the public can see if taxpayer money is being expended properly."