Pennsylvania Providers Coaltion Association Announces its Formation

May 23rd, 2008

Pennsylvania Providers Coalition Association

Harrisburg, PA

Contact: Joan W. Martin (717) 441-6056

The Pennsylvania Providers Coalition Association (PA-PCA) of community long term living service agencies, announced its formation at a press conference held in the Capitol Rotunda on May 22, 2008 at 11:00am. The PA-PCA is a new membership organization in support of the administration's rebalancing initiatives from nursing facility care to the community. The Steering Committee spoke at the Capitol Rotunda to announce and celebrate the launch of the new group. Speakers included Joan W. Martin, Deborah Yacobozzi, Donna Boyer, Tina Seidel, William Kepner, and Mark Davis.

Tina Seidel, of the Northeast PA Center for Independent Living in Scranton stated that "It is the mission of the Pennsylvania Providers Coalition Association to continuously improve and promote the availability, accessibility and quality of the full range of home and community based services in the Commonwealth in a way that offers consumers choice, control, and personal independence through self-direction to the maximum extent possible, and it is the vision of the Pennsylvania Providers Coalition Association to be the voice, advocate, and resource for providers of community long term living services in Pennsylvania."

Joan W. Martin of United Cerebral Palsy of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg noted the recent creation of the Office of Long Term Living by the Departments of Welfare and Aging. She stated that "With so many people in new positions in a new structure, it is imperative that we ensure that the policy-makers understand its customers, the system, its values, and its needs." She further stated that "in support of the Administration's initiatives aimed at rebalancing the service system toward the community and away from institutional settings, the Association applauds the Nursing Home Transition Project's transition of over 3,500 individuals since July 2005." As the symbolism of our logo shows, we hope to see community services eclipse institutional care.

Donna Boyer of JEVS Supports for Independence in Philadelphia noted that "the Charter group includes the agencies that have been providing these services the longest - since the Demonstration Program in 1984, including Steering Committee members' collective experience of over 200 years of services in the community. Further, the organizations participating in the formation of this new association serve about 20,000 consumers in about a dozen different programs funded by the Office of Long