[bscb-announce] BSCB Position Regarding ADA paratransit reform

[Rick Morin]

Hi all,
Last April, Governor Patrick issued Executive Order 530 that formed a
cross-disciplinary commission tasked with making recommendations regarding
how to reform social and paratransit services throughout the Commonwealth.
The situation in the Commonwealth can be summarized as - the expenses of
running such services as The Ride in the Boston MBTA service area are
growing faster than its funding sources can support.
There are a series of meetings being held throughout the Commonwealth where
consumers can provide input to this commission. You can obtain a schedule of
these meetings and more details about the work of the Commission at
http://www.mbta.com/execorder530.
Simultaneous to the work of the Commission, The Ride in Boston is pursuing
initiatives to control costs and to ensure that only the people who
legitimately need The Ride are using The Ride.
The Bay State Council of the Blind Board of Directors formed a working
committee of Bob Hachey, Sharon Strzalkowski, Jerry Berrier and myself, Rick
Morin to develop a carefully considered position regarding ADA paratransit
services in the Commonwealth with specific comments about the work we are
aware of that is happening at The Ride.
Attached is the Position Paper that we delivered yesterday to the Executive
Order 530 Commission as well as to the MBTA/The Ride.
This paper has undergone many revisions and reflects BSCB's official
position on the topics therein.
Rick Morin has been appointed by Bob Hachey to be BSCB's point person on
these matters.
One thing is certain, there will be changes in how eligibility for ADA
paratransit is determined and we expect some service delivery changes. We
will continue to watch and participate in the process of ADA paratransit
reform and will refine and evolve our position as we learn more.
You are welcome to contact Rick with any comments, concerns or questions you
have regarding this position paper and the Board will consider all input. We
encourage you all to speak at public meetings as individual consumers and to
reinforce BSCB's position. 
A posting went out yesterday about a meeting being held by the MBTA that
will inform us of their plans for In Person Eligibility Assessments. We need
and welcome your participation in this meeting. Please contact Rick if you
plan to attend this and any future meeting.
These matters bear a very high sense of urgency.
Please review the attached position paper and look forward to your input. We
highly recommend that you send your input to Rick directly rather than
posting to this and other lists. Rick will contact each person who has input
to discuss your feedback.
Hope to see many of you at the October 3rd meeting.
Kind Regards,
Rick Morin
781-373-1044
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