1) What’s Happening in the Nation’s Capital?
Congress Adjourns for Two Week Recess: Act Now to Promote Independent Living!
2) National News
AARP Highlights CILs in Guide to Home Modifications
Hundreds of People with Disabilities to Protest Outside Authors Guild Headquarters April 7th
Housing Information: Omnibus Act and Stimulus Bill
Obama’s Recent Remarks on Disability Policy
Representative Baldwin Adopts Disability Rights Movement; Encourages Advocates
3) State News
Bigoted Donut Shop Promotes the “Fun” Side of Forced Institutionalization
Florida Senate Moves to Use Community-Based Funding for Segregated “DD Villages”
Montgomery Divided Over Proposal to Ban Bricks' Use in New Sidewalks
4) Announcements and Additional Resources
NYLN Presents: A National Teleconference and Webcast on Education
“People Who Sit In The Disability Seats When I’m Standing On My Crutches” Website Takes Humorous Look at Common Phenomenon
Congress Adjourns for Two Week Recess: Act Now to Promote Independent Living!
Following the work on the FY10 Budget Resolutions, both the Senate and House of Representatives are now on a two-week recess from April 6 until April 20. Advocates are encouraged to meet with their Senators and Representatives while they are at home to educate them about NCIL’s legislative & advocacy priorities.
Let your voices be heard, let your elected representatives know the power of the Disability Rights Movement! Invite them to town hall meetings or to participate in a community event that highlights the work of your Center. Anyway you choose, get Congress to understand the value and power of the grassroots community known as Independent Living!
Congress must include disability legislation in healthcare reform. Long term services and supports must be incorporated. Our top priority for years has been passage of the Community Choice Act (S 683 and HR 1670), formally MiCassa, into law. For too many years people with disabilities have been forced into nursing homes because home- and community-based services are not available. Now is the time to create real choice in this country for those that qualify for nursing home services. This is a national problem that needs a national solution.
Another hot issue is access to accessible medical equipment. How many times have you been transferred onto an examination table? Shouldn’t the table be accessible so all involved will be safe, comfortable and dignified? The Promoting Wellness for People with Disabilities Act promotes accessible standards for examination tables, mammogram machines and weight scales. How can we discuss healthcare reform when the very equipment used is not accessible to a community that relies so heavily on the system?
Other healthcare reform legislation that must be included in long term care includes Ending the 24 Month Waiting Period for Medicare and eliminating the CMS “in home rule”
This year Independent Living got an increase in funding not only in the 2009 Appropriations, but also in the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA). NCIL worked tirelessly to increase funding for Part B & C Independent Living Centers. Now that we have new funding, collaboration with the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) has been stressed. We now know how Part B funds will be distributed but have not heard how or when Part C funds will be delivered. NCIL has created a fact sheet and press release for our members to use when advocating for IL funds.
Congress is also looking at the Reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), which includes the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA), where Independent Living is authorized. It is critical Congress reauthorizes WIA this year. Section 725 of the Act establishes the Independent Living Program. We need to change the language in the Act so that the following provisions are included:
- Change the current funding formula so that funds can be distributed equally, grandfathering CILs that have previously been awarded; and change the language so CILs have the ability to carryover funds from one year to another.
- The appointment of a CIL Executive Director to the SILC is mandated. Governors are granted the authority to make appointments to the Councils. Directors of Centers for Independent Living were given the authority to choose “at least one center director” to represent them on the Council. In some states, this conflict has caused great confusion and resulted in unnecessary delays in the appointments. Ex-Officio, Non-Voting Membership clarifications are also needed. When problems arise there is no appeal processes for State Plans for Independent Living (SPIL). Title VII has no method for a Center to appeal the State Plan if they believe it has not been developed according to Section 704 requirements.
- Other changes include clarifying the language around what Statewide Independent Living Councils can and cannot do. Dramatic changes in RSA’s interpretations of SILC language have caused distress to the ability of SILCs to carry out their mission effectively.
These are a few of the issues NCIL has been working on. Please contact your Senator and Representatives and let them know about Independent Living and our priorities. The 2009 Legislative and Advocacy Booklet are available at http://www.ncil.org/news.html.
If you need further information contact Jason Beloungy or Elizabeth Leef at the NCIL office at 202-207-0334, or by email jason@ncil.org and elizabeth@ncil.org.
AARP Highlights CILs in Guide to Home Modifications
Centers for Independent Living were highlighted in a recent AARP publication on home modifications, excerpted below. See the Guide.
“What should I do if I need modifications to my home because of a disability? If you need modifications to your home as a result of a disability or failing health, and the modifications will help you to stay in your home, you should:
- Contact your local Center for Independent Living (available in most states) or a similar disability services organization to get advice and referrals on evaluating the extent of the modification (e.g., grab bars in bathtub or door widening for wheelchair access). The Center for Independent Living can also give you advice on designing and contracting for a modification. If you are having difficulty locating a Center for Independent Living, ask your local Area Agency on Aging for help.”
Hundreds of People with Disabilities to Protest Outside Authors Guild Headquarters April 7th
The Reading Rights Coalition, representing millions of disabled people who cannot read print, will protest the threatened removal of the text-to-speech function from e-books for the Amazon Kindle 2 which promised for the first time easy, mainstream access to over 255,000 books. Hundreds of disabled Americans (the blind and people with dyslexia, learning difficulties, spinal cord injuries, seniors losing vision, stroke survivors) will march to demand that the Authors Guild reverse its decision.
When Amazon released the Kindle 2 electronic book reader on February 9, 2009, it promised the device would be able to read e-books aloud using text-to-speech technology. Under pressure from the Authors Guild, Amazon has agreed to give authors and publishers the ability to disable the text-to-speech function on any or all of their e-books available for the Kindle 2. This decision has serious discriminatory and censorship implications for the disabled and is simply bad business. Read More.
Housing Information: Omnibus Act and Stimulus Bill
Source: Steve Gold Information Bulletin #282 (Excerpted)
This [Information Bulletin] discusses a number of housing programs in both the Omnibus Appropriations Act for 2009 and the Stimulus Bill. All of the funds will be subject to the requirements in Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, including a minimum of 5% accessible units for people with physical disabilities and another two percent for people with hearing and visual disabilities, targeting the units for people who require the accessibility features, and providing reasonable accommodations.
1. Congress has $30 million for 2009 housing choice "Mainstream" vouchers to be used only for non-elderly people with disabilities. That's about 3,400 new vouchers - Mainstream Vouchers. These are competitive vouchers and must be applied for them. Interestingly, we do not know how many of the 2008 Mainstream vouchers were actually applied for and appropriated. Some unconfirmed rumors have it that there may be 1,500 not used.
2. $4 billion was appropriated for Housing Authorities' capital funds to modernize and develop public housing. About $3 billion will be allocated by formula and you can go to the HUD website for a state by state breakdown. Another $1 billion will be competitive. HUD will soon issue a Notice of Funding Availability for the criteria.
3. Under the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, Congress increased the allocation by $1billion. These funds can be and we must demand should be used to rehabilitate affordable housing. Too often, jurisdictions that received CDBG used only a very small percent of the funds on housing. These funds can also be used to provide rental subsidies for people with disabilities to leave institutions. In the past, again, very few jurisdictions used CDBG funds for this. Read More.
Obama’s Recent Remarks on Disability Policy
Please find below President Obama’s recent remarks on disability policy, compliments of the LA Times.
Q: I'm Gary [Karp], and Mr. President, thank God for you. (Applause.) Sir, my question regards the true renaissance that's happening with people with disabilities. They are an emerging population -- millions of people with more potential in capacity, more mobile, more educated, more healthy, more empowered technology, but still trapped in very, very old social models that see them in terms of tragedy and charity and need and care. And the modern population of people with disabilities simply does not fit that model. And as your plan succeeds and you generate these jobs, and as baby boomers retire, we're going to need every single person of capacity to work that we can. And that must include many, many, many thousands, if not millions, of people with disabilities. (Applause.) So -- I see you nodding your head, so my first question is, do you subscribe to what I'm saying, and next of all, can you talk about how your disability agenda will release this emerging potential that's currently wasted and untapped?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, you are exactly right, that we need everybody. And every program that we have has to be thinking on the front end, how do we make sure that it is inclusive, and building into it our ability to draw on the capacities of persons with disabilities.
That's true on the education front, where our recovery package increases funding for children with disabilities. It is true in terms of how Hilda Solis, our Secretary of Labor, will be thinking about our training programs, to make sure that we are not excluding from training for high-tech jobs, the new jobs of the future, persons with disability.
It means enforcing the ADA and fighting back on some court opinions that have tried to narrow in ways that I think are inappropriate the original intent of that legislation.
So one of the things that I think is important is to make sure, as you pointed out, that we don't see this as an afterthought, a segregated program, but we are infusing every department, every agency, every act that we take with a mindfulness about the importance of persons with disabilities, their skills, their talents, their capacity.
That I think is the approach that my administration is going to take, and we hope that by taking that approach that attitude will infuse state and local governments that are also receiving federal money. Okay? (Applause.) This young lady right here has had her hand up for a while. Read the full text of Obama's Los Angeles town hall meeting.
Representative Baldwin Adopts Disability Rights Movement; Encourages Advocates
Source: The Daily Cardinal, by Sara Lieburn
U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) was the keynote speaker at UW-Madison’s McBurney Disability Resource Center’s first annual Disability Awareness Conference at Grainger Hall Saturday. Baldwin spoke about recent federal legislation affecting people with disabilities, and said the amendment to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), signed by President Bush last fall, broadened the legal definition of disability.
According to Baldwin, legislators in Congress need to hear personal stories from constituents on issues related to disability in order to address them, adding that hearing from a disabled friend of hers increased her personal awareness of the issues. “They’re not going to make the right choices until they know what it means,” she said.
According to Cathy Trueba, the director of the McBurney Disability Resource Center, Baldwin was the first-choice speaker because of her work on health care for people with and without disabilities. “She’s worked tirelessly to bring a voice to the community’s people who have been left out of conversations politically, socially and culturally,” Trueba said.
Chris Bjorkman, educational outreach specialist for the McBurney Disability Resource Center and UW-Madison senior, said she planned the event to educate students on campus about disability and deaf culture issues.
Bigoted Donut Shop Promotes the “Fun” Side of Forced Institutionalization
Source: Silicon Valley ILC
Psycho Donuts of Campbell, California recently opened a store that features padded cells, waitresses dressed as institutional staff, and a “fun” focus on forced electroshock treatment in their advertising.
From their website: “Psycho Donuts has taken donuts to the next demented level. We bid a fond farewell to the tired, round ring of lameness, and the drab, time-weathered environment of donut past. Psycho Donuts has taken the neighborhood donut and put it on medication, and given it shock treatment.
If you are concerned, contact Sarah Triano, saraht@svilc.org. You can also take action by signing an online petition.
On April 4th and 5th, send a letter to the editors of the San Jose Mercury News, The Campbell Reporter, and to the Metro Silicon Valley at:
April 6th, call and email the following people:
- The Mayor of Campbell, Jane Kennedy: 408.855.2125, janek@cityofcampbell.com
- The City Manager of Campbell, Daniel Rich: 408.855.2125, danielrich@cityofcampbell.com
- California State Senator Joe Simitian: 650.688.6384, 408.277.9460; 650.688.6370 (fax)
- California Assembly Member Jim Beall, Jr., 408.282.8920; 408.282.8927 (fax)
April 7th, show up at the next Campbell City Council meeting at 7:30pm and voice your concern in person: Campbell City Hall, 70 North First Street, Campbell, CA 95008.
Florida Senate Moves to Use Community-Based Funding for Segregated “DD Villages”
A petition to block Florida Senate Bill (SB) 1124 is included below. Sign the petition at: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/VetoSB1124/index.html.
“Please vote n on SB1124! Stop discrimination, abuse & segregation of people with disbilities!
SB 1124 will diminish inclusion and promote segregation. Segregation Promotes ABUSE of the Disabled. Approximately 67 percent of perpetrators who abused individuals with severe cognitive disabilities accessed them through their work in disability services in segregated environments. (Sobsey, D. and T. Doe. 1991. “Patterns of sexual abuse and assault.” Journal of Sexuality and Disability, 9(3): 243259.)
Please PROMOTE INCLUSION of persons with disabilities & VOTE NO on SB1124. Persons with disabilities have the right to be safely included and to live, work, and play in any community in Florida. Don't promote discrimination and perpetuate the culture that believes people with developmental disabilities should be warehoused in "planned segregated communities."
Please uphold the Olmstead Act. On June 22, 1999, the Supreme Court affirmed the right of individuals with disabilities to live in the community in the Olmstead v. L.C and E.W case.
Montgomery Divided Over Proposal to Ban Bricks' Use in New Sidewalks
Source: Washington Post, by Ann E. Marimow
Elected officials in Montgomery County have taken up the cause of the disabled community and introduced legislation that would ban the use of bricks, cobblestones and bricklike concrete pavers for most new or reconstructed public walkways. Their aim is to ensure safe passage for residents who have trouble traversing uneven surfaces.
Under the legislation, backed by a majority of County Council members, bricks could be used as decorative borders and for already approved projects. But the effort has been met with resistance from leaders of Montgomery communities -- from Chevy Chase Village to Silver Spring to Friendship Heights -- who say they have successfully installed smooth, safe brick surfaces that in some cases are easier and less expensive to maintain than concrete.
The initiative has stoked debate that pits aesthetics against safety. Similar discussions have played out in neighboring Arlington County and on the historic brick-lined streets of Boston.
Bill McCloskey, a retired public relations executive, said he has tired of navigating the heaving, hole-pocked brick path he walks from his home in Bethesda to the Friendship Heights Metro station. "I have never understood why designers think they are anything but disruptive," he wrote in an e-mail to encourage council members to ditch the bricks. "They will not lie flat, they will trip you, they will get slippery, they are impossible to clear of snow."
Rockville resident Geraldine Carroll, on the other hand, said she'd take warm, attractive brick over flat, dull concrete any day -- even in her black boots with three-inch heels. The design, Carroll said, reminds her of European cities such as Geneva and London. "Women like to wear nice shoes, and they'll still wear nice shoes on cobblestone," she said. Read More.
NYLN Presents: A National Teleconference and Webcast on Education
Please join The National Youth Leadership Network (NYLN) for a national teleconference and webcast on Education Tuesday, April 14, 2009 at 8:00pm Eastern; 7:00pm Central; 6:00pm Mountain; 5:00pm Pacific and 2:00pm Hawaii.
Please join us as the speakers will be discussing the following issues:
- Independent Living: Links to life after high school, post-secondary and beyond!
- Transition: Links between school and career goals!
- Education for all: Individuals with cognitive disabilities succeeding in post-secondary education!
Spread the word! Help young people with disabilities talk about education. To sign up, go to http://www.nyln.org and click the teleconference link. After you register, you will receive the toll free number and the link to the website in your email.
This teleconference and webcast is supported by Independent Living Research Utilization (ILRU) in conjunction with NYLN. The opinions and views expressed are those of the presenters and no endorsement should be inferred. We look forward to seeing you on April 14th!
A Note from the NCIL Education Committee: The NCIL Education Committee meets to advocate for student rights, school to adult life transition and other education issues. We are looking for a few new members of the Education Committee. If you are involved with education issues in your community, please consider joining the Committee. For more information please contact Elizabeth Leef at elizabeth@ncil.org.
“People Who Sit In The Disability Seats When I’m Standing On My Crutches” Website Takes Humorous Look at Common Phenomenon
The new website www.peoplewhositinthedisabilityseatswhenimstandingonmycrutches.com is a photo journal of one man’s experience on the New York City subway system. He photographs people occupying priority seating despite his obvious disability. He explains, “I don’t take pictures of anyone if there’s an open seat within sight — except for a few of those listed under the “Hall of Shame” tag. I also don’t take pictures of elderly people, visibly pregnant women, or anyone who looks like they might have a disability. Of course, it’s important to keep in mind that there’s no way of knowing whether someone has a disability just by looking at them.” People visiting the site are allowed to comment.
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April 6, 2009