Caregiver Spotlight: Iris N.

Iris N., a caregiver who lives in Brooklyn, has cared for her aging father Felipe for the past five years. And for the last year she’s been paid for it, thanks to New York’s Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP). “It’s the best thing that’s ever happened,” said Iris whose father lives in the same building, one floor up, which allows her to easily travel between her home and his to pay bills, prepare food and check in. “I’m able to be home where I can tend to my children and attend to my father; and because he’s diabetic I have to keep an eye on him.”

CDPAP is “a beautiful experience” because it provides her father with the care he needs and allows him to remain in the comfort of his own home, explained Iris. “The program has made a difference in our lives.”

In late March, Iris attended a PPL registration session in Manhattan — part of a large, three-day event that spanned three NYC boroughs — to transition herself and her father to PPL, the new statewide fiscal intermediary (FI) for CDPAP. “It was very personal and professional,” said Iris of her registration experience. “They took time with me, even though I was so nervous.”

Thousands of CDPAP consumers and PAs attended the PPL mega registration event, with many thousands more making the switch to PPL through the various channels available to them. PPL became the state’s sole FI for NY CDPAP on April 1, a change that will strengthen the integrity of the program for New Yorkers.