Ms. Brooks,

We wish to express our disbelief in the way that you and your office is choosing to discriminate against CDR. Where, in this country, do we not give someone the right of due process? This has become the most exploited, exaggerated defamation of a stellar program that is indeed a gift to families who have loved ones with special needs. My family and I took the time to read the correspondence between your office and Mr. Darling as well as that from Commissioner Reed of Monroe County . (WHEC website) How can anyone study these documents and see any justice in what Monroe County has done to CDR?? It is obvious that the Commissioner ' s office is prejudiced and lacking in factual information and chooses not to open their door to communication in order to clarify these major (!) discrepencies. I am going to address my relationship with CDR at this time and for the past 6 years...My family and I will be planning to contact your office regardless of your current decision. We are shocked and have never in our lifetime seen such outright blatant disregard of an organization who ' s only purpose is to support and advocate for those in need.

http://www.whec.com/whecimages/cdr_letter.pdf
http://www.whec.com/whecimages/cdr_county_allegations.pdf
http://www.whec.com/whecimages/cdr_letter-to-county.pdf

' CDR is a blessing in our lives. For the past 6 years our son has received services through CDPAS / CDR Rochester, NY. We have never had such consistency, professionalism, compassion and dependability in the lifetime of our  son ' s 29 years of being in a fully dependent  state . Matt ' s quadriplegic condition has left him totally dependent on 24/7 assistance and the CDR program has more than stepped to the plate to give both he and us peace of mind that he will be cared for as well as we, his parents, could do.

Using both family and non family members as caregivers has proven to be a life-changing improvement to our family ' s quality of life.  We, as well as our son,  interview  individuals  that we would like to consider for caregiving so that they ARE fully aware of the expectations of the job. No one comes in NOT knowing what they need to do. If they do not feel that they are able to handle the responsibilities, or we are not comfortable with the interview, the individual is not considered. This is just the first part of the process.  We have carefully hand-picked these individuals and along with CDR ' s screening process of background checks/health checks/interviewing, we know that we have the very best of care that can be provided. We, as parents,  have peace of mind. In the past, prior to CDR, we have had to use "professionally trained, State certified" service providers that have been nothing short of a nightmare. It was our only option at the time.

The services would have various aides coming to see our son, many of whom did not have the skill-set to care for him and had never even met him personally. Even with knowledge of his physical condition (totally dependent) and body weight (98 lbs), someone would be sent who would not be able to get him to the toilet. These individuals  even shared with me their concerns about dropping him. A few times the "well-trained professionals" attempted to dictate how and when and to what degree we, as parents,  should be caring for our own son. Not only did I find this distasteful, but highly disrespectful as his parents who only allow and provides the best of care. Needless to say, I fired this person on the spot and as such we had no one to care for Matt for a period of time as this agency ' s follow-through was terrible. There were MANY times when the service, or the aide, would call us shortly before we were to leave for work indicating that they would not be able to report for Matt ' s care and that there was no one left to send to help out. We were sent scrambling trying to figure out which parent would miss work and consequently hope that our employers would understand. (and this happened often!)

With CDR this has NEVER happened! The caregivers communicate between themselves and if one can ' t make it on a particular day, the other one will as is an integral part of the program, should you choose. It has worked  100% in all of 6 yearsl  We have the very best care and top-notch caregivers for our son and have total peace of mind (as does he) for the very first time in all of his care-giver experience. We would not consider for ONE moment trading Matt ' s caregivers for any of the "professional, certified, trained, State approved" individuals who have failed  us for years. Maggie Brooks, I hope that you read this and if you do and respond to me, Matt, his caregivers and I will contact you personally for follow-up. To those of you who do not have a special someone in their lives who need this level of assistance, you need to walk in our shoes to so appreciate the Gift of CDR and their employees. '

Carol Willson