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In pandemic, most vulnerable lose most

Subhead
State shutdown has devastating effect on disabled adults, RCO struggles
Lead Summary
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By
Lori Sorenson

A small handful of RCO clients returned to work last week, four months after the organization was forced to shut down March 18 under pandemic stay-at-home orders.
The effect of shutdown on staff, clients, employers and others has been devastating, according to RCO director Elizabeth Schear.
“It’s huge,” she said about the pandemic’s toll on RCO, which helps adults with disabilities achieve social and professional independence.
Because so many of RCO’s services involve in-person and group hands-on jobs, the social distance that protects clients from the virus also threatens their independence and social stability.
“As long as we’re not allowed to have clients in the building, we can’t provide services they need,” Schear said earlier this month when she announced layoffs for most of her staff.
Those services include job skills development, supported employment, job searching assistance, behavior management, social skills development and independent living skills.
And, as long as clients can’t work at their job sites and in-house work projects, revenue isn’t coming in and the nonprofit’s financial outlook is grim.
In June Schear announced layoffs of 13 mostly full-time staff members (a $525,000 payroll) and all 40 clients, which comprise a nearly $60,000 annual payroll.
Schear said it was one of the most difficult things she’s ever done, because of repercussions not only for clients and staff, but for employers who rely on their work, parents and guardians, residential providers and others.
To keep everyone informed and encouraged was a job in itself, Schear said. “I can’t do it as fast as the rumor mill goes,” she said.
Mostly she was concerned about rumors that RCO is closing.
“We’re not closing,” she said. “We’re trying to stay open as long as we can and in order to do that, we have to reduce expenses. … If we don’t have clients coming, we don’t have revenue.”
So far, RCO is still afloat, albeit tenuously. Local grants and pandemic relief funds have trickled in, but Schear said she’s disappointed in the Minnesota Department of Human Services.
“We need to get the word out to help the individuals who can’t speak for themselves,” she said.
“DHS should have asked the federal government for one-time relief payments for providers of day employment and enrichment support. They didn't even ask. Thirty-five other states in the U.S. asked and received the money for their providers.”
Meanwhile the dial is turning to slowly allow disabled adults to return to work at congregate settings.
On July 12 DHS announced individuals who live in group homes and other congregate care settings will be able to attend day services programs.
“This is sort of what we wanted to hear, but it is going to take quite a bit of planning and negotiation with the residential providers to ensure we bring people back to RCO in a safe way,” Schear said.
Providers are required to have a COVID-19 preparedness plan in place to protect service participants and staff and follow other state licensing requirements related to hours and capacity.
“It is worth noting that the requirements of the return to work COVID plan create about twice as much work for our staff but our billable rates for services have remained the same,” Schear said.
“So, we are providing fewer hours of service to fewer clients with twice as much work per client served. This makes the road to recovery even more difficult.”
Essentially Schear and her team are rebuilding the program from the ground up under the new pandemic circumstances.
“We lost a lot of revenue during the time we were not permitted to be open and serve clients,” she said. “As a result, we will have to operate the rest of the year very conservatively to ensure we make up some of that lost revenue.”
Meanwhile she’s hopeful for better days to come.
“We’re doing what we can to bring our services back up after this is over,” she said.
“I am working on a plan now to ensure RCO stays in the best possible financial position to endure whatever else is in our future.”
 
RCO goes virtual, updates website
One of the ways RCO is transitioning for future stability is the introduction of virtual services, thanks to a grant from the Luverne Area Community Foundation, which also provided resources for a new RCO website.
“This is an excellent resource for learning more about Rock County Opportunities and the work we’re doing in our community,” Schear said.
“It also explores all the ways you and your loved ones can get involved as clients, employers, art partners, or supporters.”
The site includes information about RCO’s virtual connections and classes for clients, in addition to details about RCO’s pandemic plan and a list of services. Visit www.rockcountyopp.com.

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