CP State will, once again, hold an art contest from which we will produce a commemorative poster. This year, more than ever, we believe it is important that we continue to offer opportunities for the people we support to express themselves through art.

ANNUAL ART CONTEST & POSTER 

Featuring Artwork by People with Disabilities from CP State Affiliates

We know that it may be more difficult for you this year, but we are asking that each Affiliate select and submit one piece of original artwork created by someone receiving services from your agency.  It must be submitted by the Affiliate. There is no minimum or maximum age. You may submit artwork by children or adults, but please submit just one piece of original artwork per Affiliate.

Please email a high-resolution (at least 240 dpi) picture of your Affiliate’s entry to Bill DeVoe at wdevoe@cpstate.org by September 14, using your Affiliate name and “Art Show” in the subject line. We will display the pieces in a virtual art gallery during our virtual conference October 26-28. A commemorative poster will be printed and sent to affiliates.

Please make sure that we have permission to publicly display the work and the artist’s name.  We ask that you obtain permission to use any of the art on our website or in some of our Conference-related materials. Click here top download the permission form. Please complete the form and send it with the artwork.

2020 SNAPSHOTS 

We will also conduct a photography exhibit. Make sure to submit work that we have permission to display publicly and on line A permission form is attached.

We would also like to have permission to use any photograph submitted in publications or online.

Please send us a digital version of the photo so that we may incorporate all the entries in the conference materials.

Contact me if you have any questions at (518) 478-4809 or wdevoe@cpstate.org.

In June, CP Unlimited welcomed 2 students from Columbia University Graduate School of Business for the start of their Summer Fellowship Program.  Stephanie Lin and Li Wang met with CEO Susan Constantino and CFO Tom Mandelkow to share their interests in learning about the services we provide, and their hopes that their projects will provide useful analysis and information to CP Unlimited.

The Governing Board and Management of CP Unlimited would like to thank:

Bruce Usher, Co-Director of the Tamer Center for Social Enterprise; Elizabeth Strickler ’86 and Mark T. Gallogy ’86 Faculty Director &   Professor of Professional Practice at Columbia Business School for sponsoring the students and giving us the opportunity to host the fellows.

Our special thanks to Program Director Ivy Hatsengate for her advice and guidance.

========================

Stephanie Lin’s educational background consists of a double major for Finance and Statistics at NYU. She also has just finished her first year of an MBA at Columbia Business School and will complete her degree May 2021. Her work experience involves 3 years at Deloitte as a data consultant.

Her interest in CP U is giving her new experiences in working with a non-profit entity, particularly specializing in data analytics. Her experience as an intern is definitely helping her become ready for the nonprofit world: a sphere she hopes to work in post-MBA.

Stephanie wrote:

My project is about measuring the ROI of telemedicine. For context, CPU engaged in a telemedicine project since late 2018, and now want to assess if the grant money used to fund it was put into good use.

What I want to learn is what needs to be considered when assessing a project in the nonprofit space. I am used to evaluating the value of things from a for-profit perspective, so this internship is definitely a great learning opportunity for me to understand how nonprofits assess differently.

I hope to bring to CPU my background in data analytics for financial consulting, as well as my first year of an MBA education.

========================

Li Wang recently graduated from Columbia Business School with concentration in Finance and Healthcare Management. She received her bachelor’s degree in economics from Tsinghua University in China. Her focus on healthcare industry for 7 years in Tokyo, Japan involved working as a strategy analyst for Takeda Pharmaceuticals, then as a management consultant for Price Waterhouse Coopers.  Li has accumulated rich experience in business analytics and organizational transformation.

Her project in CPU will be looking at the impact at COVID-19 in an IDD setting. This will give her the experience in looking at the health care industry in US and understand the financial impact of COVID-19 to OPWDD service providers in New York State. She is looking forward to gaining practical skills in risk/crisis management.

Li Wrote:

I am trying to quantify the financial impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the revenues and costs at CP U, and develop forecast of the upcoming years and recommendations for higher operational efficiency.

This project is tremendously helpful for me to understand the services for IDD population, healthcare system in New York and the impact of COVID-19 on the economy and our society.

Hopefully, the project results will bring a bit more visibility of the operations for CP U and be helpful in preparation for any potential crisis.

The Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS), the Office of Mental Health (OMH), the Office for People With Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD), the Department of Health (DOH) and the Office for Children and Family Services (OCFS) will be conducting three training sessions on completing the July 1, 2019 – June 30, 2020 Consolidated Fiscal Report (CFR):

All fiscal employees that feel they may benefit from the Webinars are welcome to attend. As each NYS CFR Agency is separately notifying providers, you may receive more than one announcement regarding this training.

Each session contains different content as noted below.

Session	Date	Start Time	End Time	Content
1	7/28/2020	10:00am	12:30pm	Getting started, Time to do the CFR, Core Reports
2	7/29/2020	10:00am	12:30pm	General and Agency Specific Changes/Highlights, Steps to a successful submission, Claiming
3	7/30/2020	10:00am	11:00am	COVID-19 Instructions

Use the links below to register for the sessions listed above. Please note that you must register for each individual session that you plan to attend.

Session 1 – Registration – https://meetny.webex.com/meetny/onstage/g.php?MTID=e4ad1fa88f2e46ba2b14c8bdf35febd6b

Session 2 – Registration – https://meetny.webex.com/meetny/onstage/g.php?MTID=e97cd7ef0c99db5963f623d46578c0f50

Session 3 – Registration – https://meetny.webex.com/meetny/onstage/g.php?MTID=e13f38bc338d35a6e17bec371ac74633e

After the webinar is completed, a recording of the webinar will be posted for your viewing and a link will be sent out to all registered participants.

Note: Representatives from the State Education Department (SED) will not be present at these training sessions, and information regarding SED programs will not be covered. SED encourages filers to view the CFR on-line training modules located on the Rate Setting Unit’s website at the following address for CFR training guidance: http://www.oms.nysed.gov/rsu/Training/CFRTraining.html

Governor Cuomo announced during his daily press briefing that group homes certified by the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) may resume visitations at their discretion beginning Friday, June 19. 

Visitors will be required to wear masks and will be subject to symptom and temperature checks. Cuomo indicated that providers must notify the state once they reopen for visitation and follow state guidelines, but the specific details remain unclear. We anticipate further guidance from OPWDD within the week. 

We realize restrictions on visitation put immense emotional strain on loved ones who have been separated for months. The advocacy of CP State and its Affiliates was instrumental in reopening visitation in our residential programs, with appropriate precautions and procedures to ensure the health and safety of the people we support, our staff and communities. 

We thank families for their patience and understanding throughout this challenging time, and staff throughout the state for finding innovative ways to sustain connections between family and friends. 

Click here to read the June 16 OPWDD Commissioner’s message on visitatation.

On June 15, the Board of Directors of Jawonio Inc unanimously approved Associate Executive Director, Randi Rios-Castro, to become the next CEO of Jawonio. Randi will succeed Jill A. Warner, who is retiring on September 30, 2020. Warner will stay on until the end of the year to work on the final stages of the campus revitalization and capital campaign.

“For the past two years, I have had the opportunity to work with Randi on a variety of important agency issues. She continues to impress me with how quickly she has developed a deep knowledge of both the program and the operations areas throughout the organization,” said Michael Algranati Chairman, Jawonio Inc Board of Directors. “At the same time, Randi has begun development of internal systems that will streamline agency processes and procedures. Additionally, Randi has begun to establish important community relationships by working closely with our non-profit, business and government partners on the state and local levels.”

Warner commended Rios-Castro, saying she is “the right person at the right time, who will embrace the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead and in doing so, ensure a strong and sustainable future for Jawonio.”

“We’re very proud of Randi,” said CP State CEO and President Susan A. Constantino. “She is a fitting successor to Jill, and we wish them both the best.”

“We are sorry to see Jill Warner go, but Jawonio will be in very capable hands” said CP State Executive Director Mike Alvaro. “Randi will be only the fifth CEO in the agency’s 73-year history, and that is a testament to the quality of their leadership.”

The dance workshop for children with disabilities scheduled to be conducted by artists from the New York City Ballet in Saratoga Springs this July has been cancelled.

The Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) will not be conducting their annual classical programs this summer, including performances by the Philadelphia Orchestra and the New York City Ballet, so the ballet company will not be coming to Saratoga Springs for their annual week in residence.

Officials at the NYC Ballet have contacted us and indicated that they expect to be back in Saratoga Springs next July and will plan to conduct a workshop during their week at SPAC. We expect to have specific plans for the 2021 workshop early next year and are excited that we can again work with the NYC Ballet to conduct this wonderful event.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Al Shibley at ashibley@cpstate.org or Deb Williams at dwilliams@cpstate.org.