Extension Allows More People to Sign up for Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program
A federal judge granted a June 20 extension to a Preliminary Injunction agreement that attorneys from New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG) and Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP negotiated with the New York State Department of Health (DOH) in April to give New Yorkers who rely on the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP) and their personal assistants more time to enroll with Public Partnerships LLC (PPL), which took over the program on April 1 as the state’s sole financial intermediary.
The decision comes after NYLAG and Patterson Belknap filed a pre motion letter on May 15 proposing an updated Preliminary Injunction that would extend the PPL enrollment deadline through August 15 in an effort to protect continuity of care on behalf of older and disabled New Yorkers at risk of losing access to critical in-home care services through CDPAP as a result of the state’s rushed and tumultuous transition from 600 fiscal intermediaries to one. The proposed updated Preliminary Injunction would also require DOH and PPL to dramatically expand access to facilitators, who are PPL’s current subcontractors, to provide one-on-one assistance to all consumers and personal assistants still facing challenges, as well as introducing new public reporting requirements meant to improve accountability, transparency and oversight.
Judge Frederic Block of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York issued the June 20 extension to the existing preliminary injunction during a May 20 conference to discuss the proposed changes with attorneys representing both parties in the Engesser et al v. McDonald case, a class action lawsuit NYLAG and Patterson Belknap filed in March on behalf of CDPAP consumers against DOH. Within the newly extended June 20 timeline, the parties will negotiate to try to reach an agreement on the proposed improvements benefiting CDPAP consumers and their personal assistants. NYLAG and Patterson Belknap are expected to file their full motion to amend and extend the existing Preliminary Injunction next week.
“We are grateful that Judge Block extended the Preliminary Injunction an additional two weeks to see if we can reach an agreement with the State and submit briefs to the court,” said Elizabeth Jois, supervising attorney in New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG)’s Special Litigation Unit and one of the attorneys litigating the case. “The bottom line here is that there are still many people who aren’t enrolled with PPL, many personal assistants who aren’t onboarded and many personal assistants who aren’t being paid correctly. We need the state to use all its resources to fix these issues.”