Ready, willing and able Sep 30, 2009
The states Office of Developmental Disabilities Services is encouraging the effort as a means to help disabled individuals become more self sufficient and more integrated in the community ... To do that, it will have to challenge the perception that people with physical and mental shortcomings are not able to meet an employers needs, explained Mariah Forrest, regional coordinator for the states Office of Developmental Disabilities Services. (Coos Bay-North Bend The World, OR)
2 DDSO suspects plead guilty in bid-rigging scam, 1 to stand trial Aug 8, 2009
During Friday s proceeding, one private contractor and one state-employed maintenance supervisor for the Central New York Developmental Disabilities Services Office pleaded guilty to felony charges. James Cummings, 60, of Turin, who has been a DDSO maintenance supervisor since 2003, pleaded guilty to combination in restraint of trade and competition in exchange for five years of probation. (Utica NY Obserer, NY)
DDSO supervisor pleads guilty; others in court Friday Jul 31, 2009
Risucci also agreed to resign from his post as maintenance supervisor at Central New York Developmental Disabilities Services Office in Rome. Risucci was one of nine people indicted in connection with the alleged bid-rigging scheme. (Utica NY Obserer, NY)
3 plead guilty and name names in DDSO bid-rigging scam Jul 18, 2009
The men, plus another, face charges tied to at least 94 projects at the New York Developmental Disabilities Services Office in Rome ... So with encouragement from within the agency, the contractors said, they continued to provide fraudulent bids to various maintenance supervisors at the Central New York Developmental Disabilities Services Office from 2003 to 2008. (Utica NY Obserer, NY)
Cambridge Family and Childrens Service receives grant from Cambridge Savings Foundation Jul 2, 2009
This is achieved through providing resources for adoption, foster and group care, developmental disabilities services, volunteer mentoring and community based programs. Many of the programs and services are run in partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families and the Department of Developmental Disabilities. (Cambridge Chronicle, MA)
State says bidding process shored up after allegations against DDSO Jun 21, 2009
Somewhere along the line, there was a breakdown in the bidding process at the Rome-based Central New York Developmental Disabilities Services Office, prosecutors and auditors agree. Some might blame it on laziness, and some might call it simply bending the rules until they broke, prosecutors explained. (Utica NY Obserer, NY)
Retired state employee faces 77 counts in bid-rigging scam Jun 18, 2009
ROCCO LaDUCA / Observer-Dispatch Thomas VanDresar, 60, of Rome, awaits arraignment in Oneida County Court Wednesday, June 17, 2009, on 77 counts in connection with an alleged bid-rigging scheme at the Rome-based Central New York Office of Developmental Disabilities Services Wednesday, June 17, 2009 ... Thomas VanDresar, 60, of Clinton Street in Rome was the first of nine individuals to be arraigned on a 143-count sealed indictment alleging several state employees at the Central New York... (Utica NY Obserer, NY)
Improper contract probe nabs 9 Apr 9, 2009
2 million in contracts relating to the Western New York Developmental Disabilities Services Office in West Seneca ... Roman was one of six supervisors at the Western New York Developmental Disabilities Services Office (DDSO) in West Seneca who steered contracts to favored bidders. (Buffalo Business First, NY)
Rome agency targeted in fraud case Mar 14, 2009
The arrests of two people this week may only be the beginning of the fallout from an alleged rigging of bids at the Rome-based Central New York Developmental Disabilities Services Office, state and Oneida County officials said. In January, the state Comptroller s Office released a report that stated employees at the agency had spent more than $1 million for 168 rigged contracts from 2003 to 2008. (Utica NY Obserer, NY)
Contractor to challenge conclusions of audit Mar 7, 2009
The state detailed in the January audit how Scott Risucci of the Central New York Developmental Disabilities Services Office in Rome used taxpayer funds to overpay vendors who worked on group-home buildings for developmentally disabled people. The state said the agency would often pre-select vendors to win the bidding process, set a price target and ask the vendor to submit a bid. (Utica NY Obserer, NY)
