Generous pay for some executives at group homes for the disabled

[photo credit: Nathaniel Brooks in the NY Times
The day facility run by the Young Adult Institute
in Tarrytown, N.Y. The network collected
more than $1 billion from Medicaid over
the past decade.

The New York Times published a story this week on the money paid to executives of one nonprofit in New York State that operates a network of group homes for the developmentally disabled - $1 million salaries plus car, and then tuition and living expenses reimbursement for their children - all thanks to $1 billion from Medicaid over the past decade.

(See: Reaping Millions in Nonprofit Care for Disabled, by Russ Buettner.)

The story underscores concerns that exist elsewhere, including in California, where budgets are increasingly coming under scrutiny, services are being cut, state facilities are being shut down, and the developmentally disabled are being dispersed to privately-run facilities.

According to the article, New York state "spends, by far, more than any other caring for this population: $10 billion this year, and roughly 20 cents of every dollar spent nationally.

"More than half of that money goes to private providers like the Levys [the executives mentioned in the article], with little oversight of their spending.

"And the providers have become so big and powerful that they shape much about how the system operates, from what kinds of care are emphasized to how much they will be paid for it."

California spends much less. The downsizing and phasing out of state-run developmental centers here began decades ago. However lack of oversight of regional centers and other privately-run group homes that continue to take over care for the developmentally disabled - and the influence those providers have in shaping policy - are real concerns here as well.

Protection and Advocacy and the Department of Justice (DOJ) have a role to play to ensure that the disabled are protected and that the increasingly limited funds earmarked for their care are spent in support of effective and appropriate programs - not to benefit the coffers of nonprofit corporations. We can only hope that the squeeze on budgets and this kind of spotlight on executive pay will push them to step up more forcefully.

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Disability Rights California