DRNC is working to make sure that people with disabilities who live in facilities* stay safe and that their rights are protected during the COVID-19 crisis. We are using phone, email and video calls to connect with service providers ​and people living in facilities. Our focus is on those places with reported cases of COVID-19.

* Residential facilities, nursing homes, group homes etc.

When to Contact DRNC

  • You have not been given information about the signs of COVID-19, how to stay safe, and how staff will help you stay safe.
  • Staff and visitors are coming into the facility with symptoms of COVID-19 (coughing, fever, shortness of breath) or are not being screened for symptoms at the door. Information about COVID-19 should be posted at the entrance and around the facility.
  • There are staffing shortages in the facility. 
  • You live in a small facility or group home where someone is sick and you can’t get physical distance to be safe. 
  • Staff aren’t being careful with personal hygiene to protect against COVID-19 (washing hands frequently or using hand sanitizer, staying 6 feet away when possible, wearing protective gear if caring for someone who is ill). 
  • You don’t have access to medications, food or other necessary items.
  • You are being abused or neglected, including extreme isolation, lack of human contact, and/or over–medication.  

Resources

An official statement from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that you are entitled to the economic stimulus fund, even if you live in a nursing home and medicaid pays for your care.

Nursing Home Residents, Medicaid, and Stimulus Checks: What You Need to Know – “The money you are issued belongs to you, not the nursing home. This is true even if the Medicaid pays for your care.”

News

DRNC Responds to Deplorable Death Toll in NC Facilities
DRNC is actively working to address the life-threatening failures to protect facility residents during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Organizational Representative Payees and Beneficiary Stimulus Money
Economic Impact Payments (EIP)  belong solely to the beneficiary to manage. In other words, the stimulus money is for the person whose name appears on the check. DRNC calls for DHHS to provide urgent direction to facilities who serve as payees for residents.