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Dear PIEN friends, On July 27, 2001, my long home-care ordeal turned a corner. Reversing a February recommendation, a hearings officer at the Maine Department of Human Services has now confirmed my original eligibility for 13 hours of home care per day , plus 2 night time hours, each day, These 15 hours are the maximum hours that the current DHS rules allow any consumer to receive. The earlier recommendation was to cut me to 5 daytime hours of care instead of 13. I am hoping that the restoration of my care hours to their 1998 level has set a precedent across the continent for PWP's who wish to stay at home, and avoid institutional care, as long as possible. I am grateful to the listmembers, and their friends who have been behind me, as a sounding board. I wish to thank especially Linda Herman, co-author of "When Parkinson's Strikes Early, " Katie Wolfe, Wisconsin attorney, and earlier, when I was a newcomer to PIEN, Stephan Schwartz, deputy attorney-general of New Jersey, for many practical suggestions. PIEN certainly has a wonderful functioning role as a "virtual family." I distribute the 15 (13 + 2) hours as I need them, as the program I am on is consumer-directed. I can assign hours or shifts, on nights, on weekends and holidays, as long as I am competent, and able to find and hire suitable help. I can go with personal care attendants on travel out-of-state, with no restrictions. The burden of proof has been met, and I no longer feel like I am under surveillance. I had first qualified for this level of care in August, 1998. Administrative Hearings Officer Ronald Stoodley's nine-page, single-spaced typed decision is decisive and without hesitation. His recommendation to DHS Commissioner Kevin Concannon, is that my case is reliable and credible. There are more than 900 pages of double- spaced, typed transcript that document the eight months of hearings. This has been a long, prayerful battle, especially when I was cross-examined aggressively on at least three different occasions. My lawyer, Helen Bailey, from Maine's branch office of the federallly-funded Disability Rights Center, and I have received many complements and positive comments for our hard work. I was very, very fortunate to have her assistance, and it has had many positive spin-offs. The next step, expected to happen any day now, is confirmation of the decision as final, by Commissioner Concannon. Ivan Suzman Portland, Maine USA [log in to unmask] *51/39/36 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn