Articles from prior issues of The Advocate

November/December 2000

A New Frontier in Service - Challenges of the Millennium
Highlights of the NADE Delegate Assembly
September 16 – 22, 2000
San Juan, Puerto Rico

NADE President Terri Spurgeon presided over the 37th meeting of the NADE Delegate Assembly in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The National Officers, Regional Directors and Committee Chairs presented reports.

The Delegate Assembly elected the following Officers for 2000 – 2001:

President – Elect Jeff Price (North Carolina)

Secretary Shari Bratt (Nebraska)

Treasurer Lyle Larson (South Dakota)

The Delegate Assembly recognized the re-election of Dean Crawford (Texas) as President of the Council of Chapter Presidents and representative on the NADE Board.

In addition, the Delegate Assembly took the following actions:

l discussed NADE’s position on the DCM pilot and agreed that the disability professionals NADE represents do in fact possess the necessary skills to improve the decision making process. NADE joined NCDDD in agreeing to the extension of the pilot to 6/30/01, no statutory revision to Section 221 until the end of FY 2001 and the examination of the pertinent data, which will not be available until the end of November 2000. NADE will request representation on the analysis team, who will review all the pertinent data collected from the DCM pilot.

l discussed NADE’s position on the Prototype Project and its impending rollout. Although prototype has been in effect for close to a year, it is still too early to make a judgment as to the efficiency of this process and its impact on the future directions of the program. Early indications are that prototype costs more, impacts productivity and processing time, and has a longer than expected learning curve. On the positive side, NADE is a supporter of the Single Decision-Maker role, which provides greater discretion and a sense of greater professionalism to the adjudicator. NADE has agreed to continue to be actively involved in this process, be responsive to our members’ concerns, as well as to the public good.

l discussed NADE’s response to 2010 Vision Plan. NADE applauded SSA’s efforts to align services with those of today’s private sector and agrees with SSA’s provision to develop a highly skilled workforce and acknowledges that the DDS staff is indeed a highly trained and skilled group who can provide the best possible service to the disabled citizens.

l discussed the Certification Committee’s proposal for certification of the State Agency Medical Consultants and agreed to request the Committee to redefine/address the number of hours required for part-time/full-time SAMC.

l NADE will prepare a recruitment letter for both support staff and medical consultants highlighting NADE’s accomplishments.

l discussed and approved the use of the July membership printout for the annual membership contest.

l discussed legislative and program issues anticipated for 2000 – 2001.

l discussed and directed the NADE Board to develop a position paper supporting Presumptive Disability for Title II Claims.

l discussed and approved a resolution from the Pacific Region that NADE Submit a request to SSA that they revise the Medical Listing 2.03 and 2.04 to recognize the test results from more modern and automated tools other than the Goldmann Perimetry.

l discussed the Consistency Review Workgroup proposals. There were two proposals: one included the use of case banks to perform focused reviews on specific issues e.g. listings, vocational decisions, etc. The second proposal includes on-going reviews of pre-adjudication cases that are simultaneous to the DQB review and including a clustering aspect that will focus reviews on three DQBs per quarter, but will provide feedback on findings to all regions.

l discussed the proposed revisions to the Long Range Plan and agreed to the proposed revisions and directed the Chairman of the Long Range Plan to continue his work in the refinements to the 2000 Plan as well as operational goals based on NADE’s membership input.

l discussed the National Disability Examiner Certification proposed by SSA. SSA has solicited for a contractor to assess the feasibility of certification for State disability examiners. A full report will be available in December 2000, which NADE will review.

l discussed plans for the 2001 National Training Conference scheduled October 27, 2001 thru November 1, 2001 at Hyatt Regency (512-477-1234), Austin, TX. Room rates are $132 per night single/double.

l discussed plans for 2002 National Training Conference scheduled for September 21 – 28, 2002 at Doubletree Hotel (503-238-4466), Portland, OR. Room rates are $107 for single and $126 for double.

l extended its appreciation and special thanks to the Puerto Rico Chapter for hosting an outstanding 2000 Training Conference in San Juan.

l extended its appreciation to Terri Spurgeon for her dedication and leadership during this past year.

l welcomed Sue Heflin as the 38th President of NADE.

Thanks to Susan LaMorte for preparing this summary.