Changes, cuts finally come to Portage County DD board

After months of uncertainty, more than a dozen county employees lost their jobs this week when the Portage County Board of Developmental Disabilities abolished their positions.

In total, 18 jobs will be cut, effective Sept. 29. Of those, 16 are employed at Portage Industries — the workshop on state Route 88 in Ravenna designed for adult services — and two are in transportation services.

Before the decision was announced, unionized members of the board’s service and support administration staff, or SSAs — a separate bargaining unit from those employees who were cut — advocated for “a fair and equitable contract,” including cost of living adjustments.

One workshop employee described the meeting afterward as, “like watching a wedding recital during a funeral.”

The decision, approved by the full board, was announced inside the main room of the workshop where adults with disabilities go to work in a safe and secure environment.

The workshop, known as Portage Industries, is set to be privatized. Due to a federal mandate from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, local boards are no longer allowed to operate services that are recommended by the board’s SSAs.

The board has known of the mandate since July 2015, when it was notified of the federal change, which calls for conflict-free case management. So last week, the board approved a three-phase transition of operational authority of the workshop from board-controlled Portage Industries to a private nonprofit, Portage Industries Inc.

The first phase will begin Oct. 1, with phase two beginning Feb. 1, 2018, and phase three commencing April 1, 2018. Complete control of the workshop will be transferred by May 31, 2018.

The board currently serves about 960 clients, with 700 of those serviced by 20 SSAs, according to Portage DD Board President Ralph Kletzien.

“The board members and administration deeply value all employees, especially during this challenging time with all of the monumental changes affecting all county boards and the DD field,” Kletzien said before the meeting, adding the board is “making some difficult decisions and moving in new directions.”

Omar Nagi, superintendent of the PCBDD, said in a statement staff cuts were necessary due to declining enrollment at the workshop and millions of dollars in deficit spending. He said the board also was not enrolling any new clients on Medicaid waivers, a prominent source of payment for clients.

“The board has accumulated deficit spending approaching $5 million over the past four years. We have been diligently reducing our expenses during this time to best manage our funds through this transition period,” Nagi said.

Parents of clients, as well as the board’s 20 SSAs, have been vocal about the lack of communication from the board. Letters of concern have been sent to the Record-Courier, as well as board administration.

Nagi said a transition committee had been formed with a diverse group of stakeholders, including clients and parents. Still, several SSAs said the committee was not passing along information to them, and therefore they could not pass information to anxious parents

Those same SSAs are currently in federal mediation for a new contract. There are two bargaining units at the board, both under the Ohio Education Association.

“It is unfortunate that these quality compassionate employees are losing their job due to the board’s haste to implement federal mandate earlier than necessary,” union member and SSA Jenn Schumm said of the cuts in the other group.

Les Buchannan, who has been at the workshop for almost 30 years and represents the employees of Unit A where the cuts were made, said the workers have been waiting for months to find out who was going to be cut.

“We’ve had to tell parents ‘We don’t know.’ And that’s scary for them, that uncertainty,” he said.

The board has already begun to contract with Unified Resources, a division of Family & Community Services Inc., to take over services at the workshop.

By 2019, the board was to reach a 70/20 ratio, with 70 percent of the services offered by private companies and 20 percent offered through the board. According to Kletzien and Nagi, that ratio has already been met. Buchanan said 100 percent private services must be complete by 2024.

“So why? Why the rush? They’re going to have the new company, Unified Resources, under F&CS, come in, have us train some of their workers, and then they’re going to cut us,” Buchanan said. “We’ll be losing our (retirement savings). But the board is bringing in career services to help transition us out. That’s it.”

According