News & Information > News Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
January 6, 2010
  CONTACT:
Melanie Mowry Etters
Communications Director
(850) 488-4257

APD to Hold More Community Meetings

Tallahassee - The Agency for Person with Disabilities has scheduled a second round of public meetings across the state to receive more feedback on the new individualized budget concept called iBudget Florida. The agency has been hosting meetings with stakeholders and the public over the past several months to gather comments for developing a draft plan to be submitted to the Legislature on February 1. APD Director Jim DeBeaugrine will lead the meetings and be available to talk with those interested in iBudget and other new initiatives.

Individualized budgeting is a concept that is being used in many other states for people enrolled in developmental disabilities Medicaid waivers. The idea is to give each individual an amount of money based on a formula or algorithm. The calculation takes into consideration a person’s characteristics and other factors. iBudget Florida is being designed to make the funding process fair and equitable for all Medicaid waiver customers. It will provide for more self-direction for the person to direct their care. The new system will also allow the agency to have more budget control and financial predictability.

Some of the customer benefits from iBudget are:

The upcoming iBudget meetings are scheduled as follows:

If you are unable to attend the scheduled meetings, you may learn more about the iBudget plan on the APD Web site at http://apdcares.org/ibudget/.

The agency annually serves about 35,000 Floridians with developmental disabilities of mental retardation, autism, cerebral palsy, spina bifida, and Prader-Willi syndrome. For more information on the agency, call 1-866-APD-CAREs or visit http://apdcares.org.