Disability and Progress-July 25, 2024-Affordable Housing for People with Disabilities

[00:00:57] Speaker A: And greetings. Thank you for joining and progress, where we bring you insights into ideas about and discussions on disability topics. I want to remind you that if you would like to have a comment or chat with us or suggest somebody to be on in the future or ask a question, you can do that by submitting it to disability and progressamjasmin.com. that's disability and progressall written [email protected]. okay. Charlene Dahl is my research woman and peer woman. Hello, Charlene. [00:01:33] Speaker B: Good evening, everyone. [00:01:34] Speaker A: Thank you for joining us on this July 25, 2024 episode. Oh, I engineer, too. That's right. Okay. Erin's my podcaster. Hello, Erin. This week I want to first start out by thanking Joanne. Lip sync or lip pink? Sorry, lip pink. Joanne was responsible for gathering and coordinating all the people to come here. She is also the coordinator of Minnesota Metro Regional Quality Council, which is MRQC, which is probably a much quicker way to say that. So thank you for coordinating this, Joann, and helping me out with all the topics that should be discussed. Tonight we are speaking with Sophie Iverson. Sophie is a metro regional quality council associate and she will be with us. We also have Carly Hargus. Sorry, Carly is the Arc Minnesota advocate, associate and self advocate as well. And we also have Heidi. Heidi is the department of Human Resources representative. And last but certainly not least, we have Doctor Frank Cadwell. Hello, Frankenhein. [00:02:57] Speaker C: Hello. Thanks for having us today. [00:02:59] Speaker A: Yes. Where are you? There you are. Frank is a college professor where he was informing me that he does computer programming. He's also a parent advocate. And so we're speaking tonight about disability and housing and how affordable and it is and how affordability and how it all works. So thank you for joining everyone. Do we have everyone figured out now? [00:03:30] Speaker D: Yes, it looks right. [00:03:31] Speaker A: Okay. Can you hear me, Carly? And I still don't hear them. [00:03:41] Speaker B: Yeah, I can hear you. [00:03:42] Speaker A: Okay. We've got thumbs up and checks. All right. So just make sure you work your mics close, please, so you come out nice and clear. Thanks so much for starting. And let's start with Sophie. Hi, Sophie. [00:03:58] Speaker E: Hi there. [00:03:59] Speaker A: Thank you for joining us. Can you start out by giving us a brief summary of an explanation about, you know, the MRQC? And I guess I kind of introduced the presenters, but give us a little bit of idea about what the MRQZ is and what they do. And also, how did you get involved? [00:04:27] Speaker E: Yeah. Hi there. Thanks for having me. My name is Sophie and I am the Metro Regional Quality Council Associate. And the Arc Minnesota Metro Regional Council is part of the regional Quality Council and is made up of various community members, advocates, state and county representatives, and providers within the metro area whose goal is to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities. And the Metro Regional Quality Council specifically serves Dakota, Hennepin and Scott county, and it also promotes all communities of people with disabilities so that services and supports can help them live a life based on their hopes and dreams. The council works together with our members to continually monitor and improve the quality of services, and it also seeks to improve person centered outcomes, quality of life indicators, and drive overall systems change. The council meets once a month and has various work groups that are in areas of transportation, housing and employment. As you probably mentioned, this time we're going to be focusing more on the housing workgroup that our council has and the project that we've been working on. And to join the council, you can go to it is qualitycouncilmn.org and you can find the metro and the information there. [00:06:08] Speaker A: And how did you discover the MRQC? [00:06:12] Speaker E: Yeah, so I discovered the MRQC because I actually had been an intern at the ARC back in 2021 through a different department, and then I was notified of the RQC through there through my internship. And I've always been an advocate for people with disabilities. I have a disability myself, and so being involved in that is my, is my passion. And through that, I was first joining as an RQC member and then now serve as the associate alongside Joanne, the coordinator. [00:06:48] Speaker A: Excellent. Carly, you have a housing journey story. Can you share a little bit about your housing journey and some of the barriers that you have faced? [00:07:03] Speaker E: Sure. [00:07:05] Speaker B: I had moved out on my own in September of 2009. I also have a disability. I have a rare metabolic disorder and also epilepsy. But I moved out on my own in 2009 and actually got in contact with the arc of Minnesota's housing Access services program. And so I had, my sister was in college and my brother was off getting ready to go to college, and I wasn't. I did try online courses, however, it wasn't the right fit for me. So I was like, well, college life wasn't, but it's like I needed to break away from my parents house. So I ended up finding a small apartment in town and I was five minutes away from my parents and stuff. However, a major barrier was transportation for me, so I was relying on neighbors and friends and family to take me to different places and I really didn't have much of a social life, so I was. So I ended up moving then to Winona, Minnesota. I currently lived in Iceland, Minnesota. I moved to Winona, Minnesota then in 2019, and so now I do have, transportation is still kind of an issue, but it's better. I am able to use the city transit currently now. So that's been a plus barrier wise there. And I'm having more of a social life. I guess before my social life depended on my going out to dinner with my parents because I was so limited the transportation that way. [00:08:52] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, I mean, that's amazing thing about small towns, right? They, you know, everyone, they are often very lovely about helping you out, but it's still not quite independent when you have to, you know, and, and they're probably excellent and very willing to help, but it's not the same that you, you know, you always have this. Well, are they going to feel okay about taking me wherever and is it convenient for them if there's no, you know, you don't, there's none of this. I want to go where I want, when I want, and I don't have to want to. I don't want to have to feel beholden to anyone. So who are some of your supporters? As along the way. [00:09:45] Speaker B: My parents were really supportive and my grandma was also in town and I gave me the encouragement to move on, my move out on my own because it was a little scary. I mean, sure, you live with your parents most of your life and then this is like, well, now, oh, I'm on my own. But the Arcs housing Access services program also did help buying programs like an energy assistance program to help save money in that source and also getting me on section eight. So, I mean, those did help financially wise. Yeah. So otherwise, like, now it's like I am also signed up with the cardinal of Minnesota who helps with grocery shopping and errands also. So that's another support system that way that I have. And I'm also, I also was able to get on Social Security too. But I have more connections now in Winona with friendships now, and I'm just relying on transport city transit still help from like friends every now and then if it's longer distances. But I have, I feel more and more, I guess, more independent now that I'm not relying on family members anymore. [00:11:01] Speaker A: Right. Heidi, your representative. Did you want to add anything to Carly's story? [00:11:14] Speaker D: Sure. Hi, I'm Heidi Hamilton from Department of Human Services. And it's really great to hear Carly's story about how she was able to decide what was important to her and really make decisions based on that. We at the department provide different services and supports to help people like Carly find different housing options and help them figure out what kind of supports they're going to need to live in their home, in the community. The Carly made about transportation is a huge deal for people. [00:11:54] Speaker A: Absolutely. [00:11:56] Speaker D: Yeah. On where people decide to live. [00:12:00] Speaker A: So what are some options that for Carly's situation? Like, obviously she has, I'm guessing that some of her transportation is like a bus when it decides to run. But like, I don't even know. I understand, like, in the twin cities we have metro mobility. I don't know if they have that there. And now I feel like more and more of the cabs that used to have these special kind of programs, they're losing it to Uber or Lyft. Lyft. So what does, does she have any other options besides busing or people who live in that part of that area? [00:12:49] Speaker D: Sure. Well, we have different areas of the state have tried to get creative on how they're looking at transportation options. And I know there are some areas that are looking at using home and community based waiver funding to pay for Uber and Lyft, which has been interesting to figure out how that, how that works with public funding. So I think people are just being creative and trying to figure out solutions for transportation. [00:13:18] Speaker A: I'm wondering if you would talk a little bit or one of you would talk a little bit, maybe you, Heidi, about, you know, informing listeners about the current DHS requirements for housing and maybe an overview of different types of housing programs. [00:13:40] Speaker D: Sure. There is a huge affordable housing crisis in Minnesota. [00:13:45] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:13:47] Speaker D: It's even a bigger problem when you talk about accessible affordable housing. [00:13:51] Speaker A: Right. [00:13:52] Speaker D: So it's a big challenge finding places to live. And we need to talk about two aspects. We need to talk about how people pay for their housing and what services and resources are available for that. And then also what services are available to help people live in the community. [00:14:14] Speaker A: Let's start with paying for housing because that's a big deal. [00:14:18] Speaker D: Sure. [00:14:19] Speaker A: You can't pay for what you can't afford to live in. [00:14:23] Speaker D: That's right. We have a resource in Minnesota called Housing Benefits 101, which is a website, the address is mn dot hb 10 one.org. and it's a free website that helps people learn about the different options for paying for housing. It's very complicated and there's different options depending on what your individual situation is. And so this website covers a lot of that information and provides plain language articles and brochures and simple visuals to help explain to people the process you can go through to figure out how to help pay for your housing. And I encourage people to take a look at that and see what benefits they may qualify for in their individual situation. There's options, including income supplements for people who have low income. There's project based housing where an entire building is subsidized by the state or federal government. And then there are voucher programs where a person can take a voucher to a unit where the landlord accepts it. So there's a lot of different options available. And I really encourage people to take a look at that website and see if they can find out some more information that's helpful for them. [00:15:42] Speaker A: I wonder, Heidi, if you could, you know, I think when I first moved to Minnesota, there was a voucher program that I used and like, is there a brief way you can kind of go through, like, what the brief qualifications are for each one of those for landlords, or for people like, can anybody with a disability use any of those? And it's just a matter of where they can get in or how does that work? [00:16:17] Speaker D: It's a little challenging to go through the programs in that way because there's so many different programs and each has a little different criteria for accessing it. But generally, when we talk about the voucher programs, it's available for anybody who meets the criteria. And a lot of times it can be either low income voucher or a voucher specific for people with disabilities, and it's available anywhere where a landlord accepts it. Now, there are some landlords who don't accept voucher programs, and so you would need to have a conversation with the landlord and figure out if it's something that they'd be willing to accept. In the environment we're in right now, where it tends to be a landlord environment, you know, really supportive of landlords, it's a little more difficult to get a landlord to take a voucher when they have five other people. [00:17:14] Speaker A: And they can pay full rent. Yeah. [00:17:16] Speaker D: Right. So it really is a lot of building up relationships and working with the supports that we have to help people find housing and helping develop those relationships and talk about how, how you'd be a good, a good tenant in that building and figuring that out with the landlord. [00:17:38] Speaker A: And do these programs offer the landlords any incentives to be willing to do them? [00:17:50] Speaker D: Not typically. It's typically that the landlord doesn't need to accept a lower rent amount. They're accepting a full rent amount. It's just paid through public funds. [00:18:05] Speaker A: Gotcha. Gotcha. So one of the things that I have heard sometimes is like, if somebody does find accessible housing or affordable housing, even that, it's just not in, I think it's a little different in the small, small towns, you know, if they can find it. But in the Twin cities especially that it's maybe nothing in as good a place area. And so I wonder if you could speak to that and what is being done with that, if anything? [00:18:46] Speaker D: Yeah, I think that that's a big challenge. We do have services that can help people figure out what's the most important thing for them when they're looking for housing. So if it is location, if it's the type of housing that they're looking for, if it's, you know, like we talked about earlier on a bus line. So we have supports that can help people figure out how to make choices on what's going to be the most important for them. But I know that the issue that you're mentioning about the location of affordable housing is definitely a concern that I think everybody needs to be aware of and continue to talk about. [00:19:28] Speaker A: Can you talk a little bit about, you know, the whole idea of a group home versus living independently in an apartment living and kind of talk a little bit about that, the services that where there are similarities or differences and things like that? [00:19:49] Speaker D: Sure. We have a variety of services that are available in Minnesota through our Medicaid or Medical assistance program, and we have services that are available to help people living in their own home or a family home that provides as needed assistance, helps people learn different skills, helps people figure out their transportation, figure out how to pay their bills, and provide assistance as the person needs it. Then we also have services that are available in multifamily housing units and apartment buildings, but that the units are controlled by a provider. So the services in those settings are licensed, but the setting itself is not licensed. And that's a nice in between kind of place for some people who may not be quite ready to live in their own home, but are not also wanting to live in a more congregate setting. And then we do have services in a licensed residential setting where both the services and the setting are licensed. And these are community residential settings which provide 24 hours care to an individual or assisted living settings where the providers on site, but may not be directly with the person 24 hours a day. So we have a range of services available, really depending on what a person's level of needs are, what their preferences are for the type of services that they're receiving. A lot of times it might depend on what other natural supports they have in place and housing costs like we discussed as well, factors into that decision. But no matter where a person lives, if they're receiving Medicaid services, certain federal rules apply that require that people have enough information to make an informed choice about where they're choosing to live and the types of services that they're choosing to receive, that they're treated with respect and in a person centered way so that they can make their own decisions about how and when and where they get their services and that they have the opportunity to be involved in the community to the extent that they want to be. [00:22:06] Speaker A: All right. Well, I guess, Doctor Frank, it's your turn. So you have a housing story. Could you talk a little bit about what it's like being a parent of a person with a disability and also group home living and things like that? [00:22:31] Speaker C: Sure. First of all, it's really good to hear from Heidi. I'm actually learning a lot about what's out there, and I think that that's the main story that we have as parents. Our son isn't ready to move out yet, necessarily of his family home, but it's a situation where it's hard to understand as a parent all of what's out there. And so, for example, in his case, and it really is about, or in my opinion, it's about, you know, our kids or the people living their best life, whatever that best life happens to be. And in his case, he really likes hanging out with, you know, people that he can, can relate to and things like that. And so sometimes we think, you know, a group home would be a good setting for him just because, you know, now his guitar might be a different situation, obviously, but, you know, depending on that situation. But it's, you know, it's good to know. Or it's, you know, he enjoys, you know, that type of setting. And generally speaking, the state has been or they appear to have been, you know, closing a lot of group homes and a lot of changes there because there's been such a movement to independent living. And then also as parents, it's really overwhelming to try to understand all of the different things that are out there, and everything is so disparate. So, you know, you have the housing fund and the healthcare fund and this fund and that fund, and there just isn't, you know, it's not like you can, you know, spend money in different ways and are you going to be on a waiver program or are you going to use licensed services and all those things? And then in his case in particular, you know, while he can do a lot of things, you know, he's pretty easy, or easy isn't the right word, but he's, he's pretty agreeable to a lot of things, but he, he needs somebody there because he has epilepsy and he might have a seizure or all these different things that, you know, sometimes even it takes convincing of the, the caseworker or something because it's like, you know, he can't be, you know, left alone. Like, you know, that's why we do, for example, metro mobility and things like that, because it's not like he can just kind of get on a bus and, you know, he's a very trusting individual. You know, he will, he's the type of person that will take the candy from the guy in the van. So he needs to, you know, we, you know, he kind of vulnerable a little bit. [00:25:35] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:25:35] Speaker C: His, you know, his safety needs to be, needs to be observed and watched out for and those sorts of things because, you know, he'll just, he'll, you know, which is, it's a nice quality, you know, in a large way because. [00:25:48] Speaker A: It'S really easy for you guys. [00:25:50] Speaker C: Well, easy for us. And he's very enjoyable to be around and people really like him and all those sorts of things. But, you know, the, unfortunately, it can be a big, bad world out there. So I think it's, I think, you know, with, with staffing the way it is. And then, you know, sometimes as a parent, you kind of feel like you're in this desert of, you know, where do we go? Because you, all of a sudden, you're responsible for finding staff, you're responsible for finding roommates. And oftentimes, my understanding is there's kind of limits on how many. And correct me if I'm wrong here, Heidi, you know better than I do, but, you know, limits as far as how many people with special needs can be under one roof and kind of all of those sorts of things that need to be worked out. And then, and so those things can get really hard because all of a sudden, you can't necessarily share all of these things across different people. And then, you know, in his case, he needs, he needs, he needs staff. He needs someone there to make sure he's getting his meds, to make sure all these other things are happening. Not that he needs somebody over him and following him around, necessarily, but just making sure that those things are taken. [00:27:19] Speaker A: A little bit of attack once in a while. [00:27:20] Speaker C: Yeah. It's just hard as parents, there's just so many different things, and it can just kind of blow you away and then just to kind of, you know, another person's story within MRQC, you know, everybody has different needs, right? Like, there's another person who's a parent advocate, and she really can't have a multi dwelling for her son because he really needs a yard, because he needs areas, you know, to run around in and things like that. Whereas, you know, my son is, is the opposite of that. If he kind of has his little area, he's, you know, he's usually good to go. But, yeah, so those are the things I think that from a parent perspective, all of these just different, different things that you have to do or figure out just gets to be really overwhelming. [00:28:18] Speaker A: So there's a couple things I hear here, and so Carly or Heidi, whoever would be best to jump in and address this. So one of them, I feel like it's the parent of a person with a disability who wants just the best for their son or daughter is overwhelmed totally with knowing what choices and what might be the pros and cons and what, you know, they might, you know, how much do they have to be responsible for the overall things? Can you speak to that a little bit first? [00:28:54] Speaker D: This is Heidi. Okay. It is overwhelming, and I admit that the system that has been created over the past 40 years is very complicated. And I understand how challenging it is for families, for people with disabilities to figure out how to navigate that system. We do have a resource, the disability hub, which is a people that you can call and ask questions to help you navigate the system and help explain things to you. Excuse me. So we've made that available to people to try to help alleviate some of the challenge, but, and we also are always trying to look for ways to simplify our system. We have a project right now we're working on called Waiver Reimagine, which is attempting to streamline the waivers to make them easier to understand, for people to navigate and provide more opportunities for people to direct their own services, if that's the choice that people make. But I really appreciate hearing about the personal experience that you're having navigating the system. [00:30:10] Speaker A: And is there a. It sounds like, and I've heard a little bit of this, that group homes have closed, that there's the staffing shortages? I have had some on my show, and I know the ones that are working are really working hard to give incentives to staff and make a pleasant environment for staff. There comes a point where you're doing what you can do, and so is there a lack there. Is there a lack of group homes. Is the system just not robust enough to handle that staff wise? What does this look like now? [00:30:51] Speaker D: Yeah, our data is still showing that there's a lot of group homes available across the state. And, I mean, I don't know if they're available in the place where people want them to be, but we are definitely experiencing a workforce shortage crisis in the state and across the country. The legislature has made some really significant investments over the past couple of years to increase staff wages, but it's not enough. There's just not enough people to really provide the services. And so we're having to figure out ways to be creative and support people using assistive technology and other things that can really make this, the staff that we do have go further in supporting people. [00:31:37] Speaker A: But it sounds kind of like the staff that you do have, then they have almost an extra burden, so to speak, put on them because they have to work kind of twice as hard because they don't, they don't, maybe they're, maybe they're not fully staffed or maybe they're, you know, because, so I, it just, I mean, I wonder what it feels like. It's, it's changed compared, let's say, ten years ago or twelve years ago. I think there always needed to be a higher pay. And that part, I mean, I think they've done some of that, but I don't know that it, like you said, it may not be enough, but I don't know what it feels like there's more that's changed that there's such a shortage. So, and I don't know if you have the answer to that, but it's just my observation, I guess. [00:32:40] Speaker D: Yeah, I wish I had the answer to that. I know we've done quite a few studies on what, on what's happening. Part of the issue is also the aging population of our state, and we have more people who are older and living longer who also need staff to support them. And just the number of staff we have available are not keeping up with the growth of the population of people needing supports. [00:33:08] Speaker A: We were talking about housing. Is there any, how I hear Heidi and whoever else wants to chime in is that, you know, it's hard enough for, I don't think I like the term able bodied people, but, you know, just quote people who don't need the services that people with disabilities do to find housing that they can afford or be in. So I can't imagine what it is for people with disabilities. Now, are they making any attempt to try to remedy this? And do you know anything about what they're doing? [00:33:52] Speaker D: Nobody I can answer from this state perspective. [00:33:56] Speaker A: Okay. Yes. [00:33:58] Speaker D: We are making services available to people that will help them specifically with their housing search, especially because it's so challenging now to find a place that because you're competing with all of the other people out there, we have a new Medicaid benefit called housing Stabilization Services, which is available to people who are on medical assistance. They don't need to be on a waiver or need any additional supports in that way, but it's really to help people find housing and figure out how they're going to pay for housing and all of the things that go along with that and help them develop relationships, negotiate with the landlord. We were actually the first state in the country to offer a benefit like this through our Medicaid state plan program, and now other states have followed suit. [00:34:56] Speaker A: Heidi, you're a little far from your mic, so if you could be. Right. [00:35:00] Speaker D: Sorry. So 18,000 people accessed that service in 2023, and we are continuing to see growth because it's a huge, huge need to even just have that additional support to help people find. Find that housing. [00:35:20] Speaker A: I wonder. There's this mentality of kind of not in my backyard and is this, do you think, the. What, what, how do we educate, you know, the general person that, you know, group homes are fine and that they're. It's a lot of times you get renters that are there for a long time or people that are there for a long time and it's stable. And, you know, what. What can be done, do you think, to educate the general public to be okay with, you know, people with disabilities living kind of around them and. And in their area. And, I mean, it. I make it sound maybe a little worse than it is, but there are sometimes this attitude, so maybe you could speak to that. [00:36:12] Speaker D: Sure. I think it's more exposure and more people meeting individual people with disabilities who work at their grocery store or just are part of their community and see that they are members of the community. Years ago, Minnesota had state institutions where people with disabilities were housed and were put separate from the rest of the community. But now people are living in all neighborhoods and are, everywhere you go are people with disabilities. And so I think it's just a matter of continuing to develop those relationships and for people to see that people with disabilities are just like everybody else and are enjoying their lives and their communities just like everybody else does. [00:37:08] Speaker A: Sophie, I wonder if you could talk a little bit about how benefits and earned money affect housing. Yeah. [00:37:19] Speaker E: So with, in regards to if someone is searching for housing or looking to maintain housing, I mean, we, many of us, or all of us know that in order to get housing, most of the time you need to have some sort of income or ability to pay for housing. And sometimes it can become challenge because many people, or many people with disabilities are in the community, might receive benefits like, excuse me, like Social Security or other forms of payment. We've talked about other housing programs that offer section eight vouchers or subsidized housing, and this can often contradict with the other parts of someone's life, namely paying for housing or even having access to services. Because in the state of Minnesota, there is some programs that have income limits. There are some programs that require someone to be under 200% of the federal poverty guideline, and there is some requirement in the services or programs like medical assistance. There are different types of medical assistance in the state of Minnesota, and each of those might have an income limit. And so someone who is receiving Social Security benefits, or SSDI or SSI, might have not necessarily a barrier to receiving those services, but just a little bit more of need, a little bit more of an awareness of what programs and how the different programs interact with each other. And one place that you can definitely talk about that, if that is your situation, is calling the disability hub. They're a great resource. They have people and staff who are trained in walking through those different programs with you. In addition, the Arc Minnesota also has a help desk that has staff who are versed in those different programs, or at least have the resources to share that, and so definitely reach out to them if that is something that you're concerned about. And I think Heidi or Carly can also talk more into how Social Security and other programs may be impacted by your income. But I think that's a, that's the basis that I would want someone to be aware of. [00:40:01] Speaker A: You know, I don't know. I think I do see that as a barrier. Just hearing it is like, why is this such a deal that you have to be so poor to be able to be given, you know, a lower income, to be able to live somewhere? I don't think I understand that concept of keeping somebody. It's like, it's. It's that old thing that they say, keeping you in your place type thing. So, Carly, I wonder if Carly or Heidi or one of you wants to kind of address this. [00:40:35] Speaker E: Sure. [00:40:35] Speaker B: Yeah, I can speak a little bit of, like, my experience. I am currently on RSDI, but I was on SSI, and it's like, with that, my income could only be under, like, $2,000. So that would, like, that's the checking, the savings, and like any other assets that can only remain under $2,000, your bank account could, you always had to make sure that it's like you, because if you, if you went over, like, the 2000 mark, you'd get your Social Security taken away or you'd have to reapply. And, I mean, I think even trouble now for people with disabilities, if they want to get married or move, that's. [00:41:17] Speaker A: Another, that's probably a whole nother show. [00:41:20] Speaker B: A whole other thing in general. But, I mean, it's also getting cut because, like, you're adding another person to the household. So I'm moving out as a couple. That's another way, too. To like that, you really have to think about, it's like, well, how are we gonna correspond this? It's like if we're depending just on one person's income. [00:41:41] Speaker A: So to me, in a nutshell, it's okay, so stay poor, don't develop a relationship. I mean, there's so many things I feel like, what? I'm not sure if there's anything that is happening in the, I mean, I know the legislator stuff is kind of done now, but I would hope that somebody starts addressing this more, because everyone knows that stable relationships, stable people who live in a long term housing situations create a whole bunch of good things environmentally, including, you know, safer neighborhoods, and, you know, who's living by you and just so many other things. So I don't know if anyone wants to kind of speak to the whole poverty thing. Go ahead. [00:42:40] Speaker C: Yeah. So I mean, just to speak from our experience as well. My son works at a thrift store once a week, and he does get paid a very small amount of money for that. And he, and every so often, my wife usually takes care of it. So I'm not exactly sure how often we get these things, but maybe quarterly or something. We get something. We get these adjustments from Social Security. It says, oh, you know, for the next three months, $8 or something is going to be taken out of a Social Security check, literally that amount, or eight or $20. And there's two questions about that. One is how much is it costing the federal government to have them sit there and actually figure that all out? [00:43:32] Speaker A: Amazing, right? [00:43:33] Speaker C: Yeah. Number one. And then number two is it gets to your point about trying to, you know, that it's basically staying poor, putting a person in their place. And that's the thing about that. So that income is and that's where I get into the disparate things. Because you have the money for healthcare, then you have a different fund for housing, then you have a different fund for this and a different fund for that. [00:44:06] Speaker A: God forbid, if you get sick. [00:44:08] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, exactly. God forbid if you get sick. But also, you know, there's been, you know, and I know this would be a whole nother show, so I don't go too deep into this, but there's, there's, you know, minimum income has been experimented with, and there's been a lot of success around that because people know what they need, and they're not going to go out and spend money on stuff that they don't need. And so it's been highly successful to allow people the freedom to decide how they need to spend their money. They're gonna go first, find housing and food. That's what they're gonna do. They're not gonna go out and, you know, party or something. [00:44:52] Speaker A: And so maybe the ones that don't control. I'll go a little step further. The ones that maybe just don't have the ability to control the choices of how they're spending the money, maybe that person that would have been writing to you and deducting the $20, you'd get somebody who would check in with them. Let's see. I see you have this much. So let's lay out a thought plan of what you're spending that on this month. Exactly. It is interesting because I'm. I don't want you to quote numbers necessarily, but I'm guessing for Social Security, I would guess your son doesn't make more than $900 a month. [00:45:35] Speaker C: No, that's. That's. You're pretty much almost right on the money there. [00:45:38] Speaker A: And so. And then for the once a week, you know, I'm guessing, what, $50, if that. If that. [00:45:46] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:45:47] Speaker A: So if you do that, you know, you're $200 more. So that's. That's $1,100. It's not even a living wage. So this is. I'm. I don't know if any of you have answers, but this is something that I feel like this is probably one of the deep, deep things that needs to be addressed. And even more than. I mean, housing is important. I don't want to say it's not, but just if you don't even have the income to live in the housing and pay your bill and buy food and pay for transit and buy yourself clothes when you need to, then there's a problem. [00:46:39] Speaker C: Well, and in his situation, getting back to what we were talking about before with staffing in his situation, he, if we're not around, he needs more space than just one person because he needs staff to help him. [00:47:00] Speaker E: Right. [00:47:01] Speaker C: They can't, they need a place to sleep if they're going to be there at night or whatever. So you, and the thing with staff, and I apologize, Heidi, if you said this, I can't always hear really well in these headphones. But the thing about, I think with staffing is that there needs to be a career path for a lot of people want to do this work, but they can't make it a career. So then they go off, they use it for something where they're, you know, it's a college job or something. [00:47:34] Speaker A: Right. [00:47:35] Speaker C: And they get to be 25, 26, and they go off and start a. [00:47:39] Speaker A: Family and they want to. Yes. [00:47:40] Speaker C: Yeah. And there, but there's a lot of people that want to keep doing it. And so there should be a career path for this because whether it's my son or whether it's people that are middle aged with disabilities or even seniors. [00:47:58] Speaker A: You know, which there will be a whole lot more. [00:48:01] Speaker C: Exactly. So you have seniors out there that need help and need things and need staff in order to help care for them, and they don't, you know, they don't necessarily need a nursing home. So it'll be a lot cheaper to have somebody come in a few times a week. But if they're, if there's no money for that, then it winds up being this sort of situation where then they have to go to a nursing home, and then we as a society wind up, excuse me, overspending for that. And so it just winds up being kind of a self fulfilling prophecy kind of thing. But, yeah, so I think, you know, as hopefully, and I know that the state is trying to do things to make it more of a career. And I hope that that continues to be something that's explored that, you know, you have experienced people that are doing this because then they can help the parents, too, because, again, we as parents, it's a, it's, it's hard to, you know, go about our own lives and then, you know. [00:49:10] Speaker A: Right. [00:49:11] Speaker C: Try to be figuring all this other stuff out that. Yeah. [00:49:16] Speaker A: Carly, Heidi or Sophie, any of you want to respond to this or. [00:49:25] Speaker E: I think I can. This is Sophie. I can just click respond. I just want to note, and I think Frank kind of said it. Is that the issue, so to say, with Social Security disability or Social Security in general, it's a federal issue. It's not a state issue. And as much as us as Minnesotans and people who utilize state Medicaid programs, it's constantly competing with the, literally with the federal government of the, who controls Social Security and how those rules are operated. And so when we look at, oh, what do we do about it? Well, what we do about it is contact your state senator, contact your, you know, federal state representative and talk to them. Share story just like Carly and Frank are sharing on here and continue to bring awareness and educate what is going on in the state at a federal level. Because hopefully through that means we can push the dial a little bit more towards creating a more equitable situation for people who are on Social Security and utilize these supports and services. [00:50:45] Speaker A: Absolutely. We need to wrap things up. Is there anything more anybody would like to add? [00:50:53] Speaker C: Well, I would just like to thank you for having us here today. It's been, you are so nice to get to know you and this has been a new world for me. So thank you. [00:51:03] Speaker A: Well, I wish you the best of luck for finding a place for your son to jam out and maybe some musical buddies that he would feel good sharing with. And I think we have a long road to go, but I'm hoping that some brilliant soul out there who is very loud and musical with their wheels will start turning them and make some changes. Sophie or Heidi? Anybody else need anything more to add to? [00:51:42] Speaker D: I'll just mention the couple websites that, yes, please do. So there's the disability hub, which is a great resource for any question related to disability services. And the website there is disabilityhubmn.org dot. And then the other website is HB 101 which provides a information about housing benefits in Minnesota. And that's mn dot, HB 10 one.org dot. [00:52:16] Speaker A: Thank you so much. [00:52:18] Speaker E: I will quickly mention again the regional quality Council. If you want to join or get more information about that, you can find [email protected]. [00:52:30] Speaker A: Dot thank you everybody. I really appreciate you being on anddez. Just want to, you know, thank Joanne Lapink one more time for all helping, you know, kind of corralling everyone and also for helping me with the topics here. Thanks. Thank you everyone so much for joining me. I really appreciate it. This has been disability in progress. The views experience on the show are not necessarily those of KFEi or its board of directors. My name is Sam. I'm the host of this show. Charlene Dahl is my research PR person and Erin is my podcaster. Thank you everybody. From Mister QC, we have Sophie Iverson, Carly Harguth and Heidi. Heidi. I forgot what it was. Sorry, the last name. Hamilton, I think. And doctor Frank Caldwell. This is KFAI, 90.3 FM minneapolisandkfai.org. the views expressed on the show are not necessarily those of KFAI or its board of directors. My name is Sam. Thanks again for joining me. You can reach me at disability in progressamjasmin.com. thanks for listening. [00:53:52] Speaker E: KPI dot.org dot.