Nonprofit providers of services for individuals with developmental disabilities are taking issue with a recent New York Times article that they say inaccurately and unfairly misrepresents their work and motivations. Five associations of nonprofit disability service providers expressed their concerns in a Letter to the Editor of the Times.  Signing onto the letter were Seth Stein, Esq., Executive Director of Alliance of Long Island Agencies; Susan Constantino, President & CEO Cerebral Palsy Associations of New York State; Peter Pierri, Executive Director of the Interagency Council of Developmental Disabilities Agencies, Inc.; Yvette Watts, Executive Director of New York Association of Emerging & Multicultural Providers, Inc.; and Marc Brandt, Executive Director, NYSARC, Inc.

“The recent New York Times article, ‘Aiding Disabled, Nonprofits Rake in State Money,’ is misleading and unfair to the vast majority of non-profit service providers who work to ensure that they offer quality supports, services and programs for people with developmental disabilities,” the providers wrote.  “While the article focuses on one agency, the headline and the story by reporter Russ Buettner use the terms nonprofits and nonprofit providers when referring to alleged abuses of the system by a very few, thus leaving the impression that this is a widespread problem.”

The Times article claimed that reimbursement models for the Community Habilitation program was “creating multimillion-dollar surpluses at some nonprofit agencies and eye-popping salaries and benefits for those who run them.”  Buettner reported that direct service employees typically earn $10 to $15 an hour while nonprofits that employ those workers bill the state and “collect three and four times that amount — with some having received as much as $67 an hour.”

Buettner cited the case of Human Care Services for Family and Children in Brooklyn , stating that the agency had  recorded a $2.6 million surplus on the $7.4 million it billed the state under the program.  As a result, the article claimed, Executive Director had been able to increase her salary to nearly $400,000 per year.

The article included both broad brush charges and language which many provider agency executives found to be offensive.  For example, Buettmer quoted NYS Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) Commissioner Courtney Burke as saying that a fee-based reimbursement system had created inappropriate incentives for providers.  “They basically try and line their pockets by billing as much as possible — the more people and the more services, the more they line their pockets,” Ms. Burke said in an interview. She said her goal was to change “the incentives in the system, to be focused on not quantity, but quality.”

“The nonprofit provider agencies we represent have adopted a code of ethics and practices to ensure that funds are used to provide the best possible supports for people with disabilities and their families,” said the provider associations.  “We have worked in collaboration with government agencies and provide annual fiscal reports of our operations to the appropriate State agencies. There are also annual program surveys to ensure that we meet all regulations and guidelines as required by local, state and federal agencies.  We strongly reject any accusation that providers are simply interested in  ‘lining their pockets’ by billing as much as possible.”

The Letter to the Editor went on to state that “the vast majority of provider agencies do not maintain large surpluses or pay excessive salaries to their executives. If a provider is able to generate a surplus in one program, it is typically used to offset losses incurred by the many underfunded programs our agencies provide. The salaries of the executives are readily available to the government agencies, and agencies are required to follow IRS guidelines…  Most agencies also adhere to the guidelines put forward by the Commission on Quality Care’s ‘Report on Executive Compensation’. ”

The associations expressed support for rooting out individual cases of abusive behavior.  “If the practices of one or even a few organizations appear inappropriate, then the facts should be investigated.  We like other New Yorkers, support immediate corrective actions when agencies are found to be abusing the system….  OPWDD receives extensive detailed cost reports itemizing both income and expenses every year from the providers.  If they have any information that indicates that providers have unethical billing practices they should investigate immediately and not wait for the New York Times to call. However, a headline condemning a community of providers based on the experience of one provider is irresponsible at best.  There needs to be a balance in reporting so that the readers are not left to believe all providers operate in a questionable manor.”

Another article in The New York Times series of investigative reports on disability service providers was published today.