A Message on her Confirmation from Commissioner Baer

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

I am incredibly honored and humbled to have been nominated by Governor Hochul, and confirmed earlier today by the New York State Senate, as the Commissioner of the Office for People With Developmental Disabilities.

For the last year I have traveled across the state visiting programs, clinics, and homes, and meeting with self-advocates, families, direct support staff, agency executives and community partners.  I have heard about what is working well in our system and where there may be opportunities for improvement.  The insight I gather from hearing from all of you helps to inform agency policy and the evolution of our work at OPWDD.

It is in response to your feedback that I launched a new Office of Advocacy this year, which employs several people with lived expertise in having a developmental disability. This team helps inform the work of the agency, by sharing their daily experiences in navigating the service system, as we evaluate policy development and implementation.  The Office also supports people with developmental disabilities and their families in advocacy throughout the state.

Additionally, understanding the struggle of our non-profit sector led to an historic $850M investment in our certified residential and site-based day service providers, making funding available for increased wages for front line staff in order to enhance sustainability and access to these vital services.  This investment complements four back-to-back cost of living or inflationary increases Governor Hochul has invested in the OPWDD non-profit sector over the last four budget cycles.   

Feedback from advocates about how hard it was to access quality health or dental care led to the rebuilding of the OPWDD Dental Task Force, a renewed focus on people with developmental disabilities who are aging, and this year’s $25 million investment to create Regional Disability Health Clinics with increased capacity to serve people with developmental disabilities. A $75 million investment in OPWDD’s Institute for Basic Research in this year’s enacted budget will also modernize the facility and add a genomics lab to provide nation-leading research into the role that genetics plays in people’s diagnoses. Finally, I am excited to work with some of the field’s staunchest advocates to create a Center for Learning on the Willowbrook State School Campus to honor the people who lived there and their families who exposed the atrocities that occurred more than 50 years ago.

As your Commissioner, I will continue to honor the voices of self-advocates, family members, and marginalized communities in OPWDD’s work. I am grateful to live and serve in New York State and I am committed to improving the experience that people with disabilities, their families, and our providers have with our system.

While the current federal climate is uncertain, we will be advancing strategies that impact people’s lives for the better by overhauling our residential programming to increase efficiency and choice; conducting regular listening sessions for families; building upon our outreach efforts to marginalized communities; creating a Commissioner’s Taskforce on Aging to recommend strategies to assist aging New Yorkers with developmental disabilities; cultivating partnerships to encourage more employment of people with developmental disabilities and continuing our statewide campaign to elevate the role of direct support professionals to encourage hiring and retention.

I am so grateful for the trust of Governor Hochul and the faith of the New York State Senate to serve in this important role and I look forward to continuing to work together for the people we love.

Sincerely,

Willow Baer
Commissioner