May 1, 2012

Dear Family:
We are writing to tell you about important state law changes to your children’s Healthy Kids health insurance
coverage.
• Starting July 1, 2012, children using Healthy Kids Silver through Harvard Pilgrim Health Care will be
changed over to New Hampshire Medicaid, which is managed by the New Hampshire Department of
Health and Human Services.
• Dental coverage will also change from Delta Dental to Medicaid.

What does this mean for my family?

1. Healthy Kids Silver and Healthy Kids Gold will now be called Medicaid.
2. You will get an insurance card from New Hampshire Medicaid for your children prior to June 30, 2012.
This card is for both medical and dental. You must stop using your NH Healthy Kids card(s) after June
30, 2012.
3. Your child will have some new services that were not offered on Healthy Kids Silver.
4. There are no co-pays to pay.
5. You must continue to pay Healthy Kids Silver premiums for May and June 2012.
6. Beginning July 1, 2012, premiums will be temporarily waived . Medicaid will inform you of when
premiums will be charged again in the future and provide plenty of notice so you can plan ahead and have
no gap in coverage.
7. Most doctors and other providers who participate in Healthy Kids Silver, also participate in Medicaid.
You may want to ask your provider if they are enrolled in New Hampshire Medicaid. You can also call
Medicaid Client Services at 1-800-852-3345 x4344 and they can tell you if your provider is enrolled in
Medicaid. If your provider isn’t enrolled, Medicaid Client Services can help you to find a new provider.
We may also ask your provider to participate in Medicaid.
8. The process for re-determination will not change but we will have a new address.
9. NH Medicaid will be changing to a managed care system later this year, so please look for future letters
from NH Medicaid about this change. These letters will tell you what you need to do to become a
member in the new Medicaid managed care program.

We know that health coverage for your children is very important to you. It is important to us too. We look
forward to helping you keep your children healthy through these changes and beyond. We hope that not
charging premiums for a while and having no co-payments will help your family during these difficult times.
For questions please refer to the contact information enclosed with this letter.

Thank you very much. We look forward to working with you to ensure the continued good health of your
children.

Sincerely,
Kathleen A. Dunn
Medicaid Director

Home is not only where the heart is, it’s also the place to learn the necessary skills that allow you to succeed in every facet of life. It’s where lessons are taught and where compassion is shown. It’s where sharing is expected and where mutual respect is demonstrated.

Finding the right home situation is the mission of The Moore Center’s Residential Team, which seeks to place adults over the age of 21 with developmental disabilities and acquired brain disorders in residential settings that offer a safe, supportive and caring environment.

“Simply put, we’re the matchmakers who help clients find the right living situation to lead the most fulfilling life possible,” said Denise Gookin, Residential Shared Homes Manager. “It’s a great responsibility, but the best job imaginable.”

At present, three community residences are staffed 24 hours a day, providing services to people who require a high level of support, structure and personal care. The most typical residential setting is a shared home where people live with an unrelated family or with a roommate. Both types of settings are supported by residential teams who match individuals and providers based on interests, activity level, home environment and medical and social needs.

“There’s really no ‘one size fits all’ situation,” said Cecile Johnston, Residential Shared Homes Coordinator. “These are real people with real challenges and real opportunities for success. You can never overlook the emotion involved with making sure that both the clients and providers feel comfortable with each other.”

The ability to determine the best fit comes from experience and The Moore Center’s Residential Team boasts a combined 141 years in the field, an impressive track record in an industry where turnover can be problematic.

“Where others in our field have only read about placing clients, we’ve lived it,” said Carol Durocher, Residential Shared Homes Coordinator. “We pride ourselves on our problem solving and teamwork. I know that we all work together for the sake of the client and that the answers to a difficult question are just a cubicle away.”

The team’s measure of success differs from client to client. For one client, learning to brush his teeth independently was an incredible mountain to climb. For another, transitioning from violent behaviors that almost necessitated a state hospital placement to living peacefully as part of a family was a tremendous outcome.
“We just take such glory from both the large and small successes,” said Gookin. “We recognize that our clients often face some pretty incredible obstacles and for them to work hard and make the changes that allow them to be productive members of society is very special.”

Gookin adds that the team’s combined experience, sense of teamwork and commitment to “not making this a 9-5 job” creates an situation where clients are not only supported and empowered, but also placed in situations where all involved emerge richer from the situation.  “After all, we’re talking about people’s lives and how they are going to become happy and find the right fit,” she said. “There’s nothing more important than feeling connected and feeling like you’re part of a family. Who doesn’t want to feel cared for and loved?”

Boynton went on to say that New Hampshire is facing a critical workforce shortage in the area of DSPs as the population of the state is aging faster than the national average.  He said there is a strong focus on community and home-based supports as well as an increasing demand on state funds, thus the support provided by the TD Charitable Foundation could not have come at a better time.  “We are so grateful to the TD Charitable Foundation for helping enable us to provide best-practice training to direct care workers to meet the projected need.”

The TD Charitable Foundation is the charitable giving arm of TD Bank N.A., which operates as TD Bank, America’s Most Convenient Bank®, and is one of the 15 largest commercial banking organizations in the United States. The Foundation’s mission is to serve the individuals, families and businesses in all the communities where TD Bank operates, having made over $56 million in charitable donations since its inception in 2002. The efforts of the Foundation are coordinated locally through TD Bank’s community relations departments and are focused on the areas of affordable housing, education and financial literacy, and the environment. More information on the TD Charitable Foundation, including an online grant application, is available at www.tdbank.com.

Paula Roberts, The Moore Center’s Early Supports and Services Director, will explain Autism Protocol funding and services for children age 0-3. Autism Protocol services build upon the Early Supports and Services provided through a child’s IFSP (Individual Family Support Plan). These additional services vary based on individual child and family needs.  Services funded via Autism Protocol funding include, but are not limited to, consultation, therapy and family support services designed to assist families in identifying, accessing and implementing behavioral and sensory strategies that are known to assist children who have Autism to achieve their optimum potential.

A map to the Moore Center can be found HERE.

The support group is sponsored by The Moore Center. There is no fee to attend the meeting, and the meeting is open to all who may benefit from attending.

Please RSVP for the meeting to Steve Hambleton

For more information, Click HERE.

The forum will be held Thursday, May 3, 2012 from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at The Moore Center, 195 McGregor Street, Unit 400, Manchester, NH.

Space is limited. RSVP at 206-2739 by April 27th. Child care provided by reservation only.

For directions, please visit www.moorecenter.org. Please do not park in any parking spaces designated for DHHS/State employees and other businesses. Use the South entrance of the Mill West building. There is additional parking in the back of the building. For back of the building parking, use the Riverside South entrance. Take the elevator to the 4th floor.

Bishop’s Charitable Assistance Fund Board Member Ovide Lamontagne (right), presents a check for $5,000 to Moore Center President and CEO Paul S. Boynton (center) and Janet Lehto (left), a member of The Moore Center Family Support Council and of The Moore Center Board. The grant will provide respite funding for families served through The Moore Center’s Family Support Program.

The Moore Center recently received a $5,000 grant from the Bishop’s Charitable Assistance Fund for respite funding for families served through The Moore Center’s Family Support Program. The Moore Center serves people with intellectual, developmental and personal challenges by creating opportunities for a good life.

The Moore Center’s Family Support Program provides important services such as financial assistance, resource support, and opportunities for recreational and community outings and events to more than 1,100 families.  These families are caregivers to other family members at home who have intellectual or developmental disabilities or acquired brain disorders.

“Clearly, families of dependents with a developmental disability live with enormous stress and challenges above and beyond the day-to-day stresses that average families face.  It is essential that they have respite available,” said Moore Center President and CEO Paul S. Boynton.  “We are so grateful to the Bishop’s Charitable Assistance Fund for its support and for helping us to make sure these families can take care of basic needs such as grocery shopping, attending doctor’s appointments and school meetings and tending to other dependent family members’ needs.”

The Bishop’s Charitable Assistance Fund makes grants to tax-exempt organizations without regard to religious affiliation for projects that help people in New Hampshire meet their basic needs.  The Fund is operated by volunteer lay men and women who serve as Directors and who make recommendations to the Bishop of Manchester for grants to any organization in New Hampshire whose mission is consistent with the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.  The Fund raises money through solicitation of individuals, businesses and philanthropic organizations.  An annual accounting of funds raised and disbursements is available at www.catholicnh.org/BCAF.

Millions of 16-24-year-olds aren’t in school or viable employment. Many have spent time in child welfare and/or juvenile justice, many lack family or other stable adults to support them, and they face unemployment at least double the rate facing the general population. This disconnection costs the country millions of dollars in social services, and an incalculable amount in lost human potential.

“When we look beyond the statistics to the rates of homelessness and joblessness and the pervasive sense of hopelessness that can be the daily reality for far too many, we begin to understand the depth of the problem,” said Christine McMahon, President & CEO of Fedcap. “This problem won’t be solved by any one agency or department or system acting alone. It requires innovative and effective partnerships. Today we ask each of you to embrace the challenge, understanding that we are searching for accessible solutions to specific problems that, once identified and understood, can be solved!”

More than 400 social workers and other child-welfare experts attended Friday’s symposium, Changing the Story for Disconnected Youth, in person at Rutgers in New Jersey, and many others logged on to join remotely from across the country and as far away as the United Kingdom and New Zealand. A panel of four people who had been in foster care shared their experiences and insights, and the event contained many lessons for those who work with or on behalf of disconnected youth.

“This is the most important discussion in New Jersey right now,” said Allison Blake, Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Children and Families. She challenged the social workers and other child-welfare experts in attendance to invite youth to the table and listen to what they say. “It’s rare that we invite them to participate in policy review, be part of the development of a training curriculum. We have to practice authentic engagement and not just pay lip service.”

“Social work schools can play a crucial role in improving the life chances of these disconnected youth by partnering with clinicians, administrators, policymakers and the youth themselves,” said Kathleen J. Pottick, Acting Dean of the Rutgers School of Social Work. “We need to accelerate research efforts to find strategies that work – and that work quickly, to avoid another generation of disconnected youth.”

“The enormous response to our invitation to this event clearly shows the scope of this problem and the widespread desire to tackle it,” said Andy Germak, Executive Director of the Rutgers School of Social Work’s Institute for Families. “Now we must identify the most effective ways to put that willingness to work.”

The panel of former foster youth included three college students and a Washington, DC, Family Court judge who grew up in New Jersey.

“Child welfare took us when I was six,” said the Hon. S. Pamela Gray, Magistrate Judge in the Family Court of the District of Columbia. “My younger sister and I clung together through move after move. They moved us in trash bags. I really began to feel like I was trash. Self-hatred turned into acting out. Nobody cared about me and I didn’t care about anyone.

“Foster children are an asset, as peer mentors, adult mentors,” Judge Gray said. “I know what can happen if someone takes an interest. My tenth-grade home economics teacher saw that there was something there, some potential in me.”

“The system definitely made you realize that you were not a regular youth,” said Tony Conover, a senior at Rutgers. “I’ve had a lot of case workers. I can name two who made me feel like I was more than just a case file.”

“Ask me how I’m doing, ask me about me, not just about my case file,” agreed Jaleesa Suell, a senior at The George Washington University, describing how she wished she had been treated. She added that foster youth needed greater access to mental health resources after they emancipate.

“I’ve been in more homes than my age,” said Antoine Wood, a student at the University of the District of Columbia who is still in foster care. “As I go to age out, I’m terrified about the financial piece.”

Moderator William Waldman, Executive in Residence at the Rutgers School of Social Work and previously Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Human Services and a member of three gubernatorial cabinets, commended the panelists for “paying it forward.” To his fellow social workers he added: “We should never engage in the soft bigotry of lowered expectations when serving disconnected youth.”

Paul Boynton, President & CEO of The Moore Center, closed the symposium with a challenge: “Now it rests on each of us to turn these bold solutions into actions.”

About Fedcap

Fedcap helps people break through barriers to achieve long-term economic independence. Our programs and operations in the Northeast bring education and the power of work to youth in transition, adults with conviction histories, veterans, individuals with disabilities, and many others facing barriers to employment. We place people in jobs across a wide variety of business sectors and employ 1,500 in our own $90M managed-services operations. Fedcap is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. For more information or to make a donation, call 212-727-4200 or visit http://www.fedcap.org/. Follow Fedcap on Facebook and Twitter.

About The Moore Center

The Moore Center serves people with intellectual, developmental and personal challenges by creating opportunities for a good life.

About Rutgers School of Social Work

The Rutgers University School of Social Work  develops and disseminates knowledge through social work research, education, and training that promotes social and economic justice and strengthens individual, family, and community well-being in this diverse and increasingly global environment of New Jersey and beyond.

Media Contacts: Barbara Rosen, VP, Communications at 212-727-4260, 973-979-5912 or brosen@fedcap.org; or James Cook, Communications Coordinator, at 212-727-4375 or jcook@fedcap.org