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Call to Action, July 11: Implications of Supreme Court Rulings on Disability Rights

AHRC NY presents the Michael Goldfarb Memorial Symposium A Call to Action: The Broader Implications of Recent U.S. Supreme Court Rulings for Disability Rights and Protections.

The day consists of panels moderated by Jasmine E. Harris, Professor of Law, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School. Harris is a law and inequality legal scholar with expertise in disability law, antidiscrimination law, and evidence.

AHRC NY writes that many of the hard-won civil, human, and disability rights that have been the basis of social policy in 20th-century American society and have been taken for granted for decades now, were garnered through the intervention of the judiciary. And it is by judicial intervention that some of these rights, once considered to be “settled law,” are now being rolled back.

Recent decisions “reflect a more hostile interpretation regarding Congressional grants of rights to private parties to hold states accountable to them in health, democratic governance, and public safety. The Court has or will take up key cases about fundamental rights to privacy, due process, and equal protections that are guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. Future rulings could threaten personal rights in the areas of marriage, freedom from compulsory sterilization, intimacy, medical care, the right to sue for damages, and housing, amongst others. The implications for people with disabilities are significant and require sustained attention.”

The panel will explore these implications and discuss areas of action necessary now to counteract recent rollbacks on disability rights and consider how to approach upcoming cases before the Court and their implications on the ground for people with disabilities.

Michael Goldfarb was AHRC New York City’s executive director from 1975-2011.

Details

When: July 11, 2021

Where: CUNY Graduate Center, Proshansky Auditorium, 365 5th Ave., NYC

Time: 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Photo: Kstudio via Freepik

Primer on NY’s Housing Navigation Service

Housing Navigation is a time-limited, paid service that helps people with I/DD who need or want to move to community-based housing to obtain and maintain stable, long-term housing of their choice. Certified housing navigators have taken a 30+ hour course with the New York Alliance for Inclusion & Innovation (NY Alliance).

Full disclosure: I received the NY Alliance certification, but am not currently a housing navigator.

Services include:

Developing an individualized person-centered housing plan;
developing an individual housing budget including the optimization of benefits and financial consulting;
implementing a housing action plan which includes the person’s housing vision and housing budget;
finding a home in the community of choice;
coordinating a move;
housing sustainability plan and transition to ongoing service providers;
housing crisis resolution.

Is OPWDD housing navigation a reimbursable service?

Yes, per OPWDD, housing navigation could be a reimbursable service. (What each navigator charges is up to him/her/they.) Here’s a summary of some of the ways. Be sure to check out all the details at the New York Housing Resource Center (NYHRC):

1. Self- Directing (“Other Than Personal Services”): Housing access start-up services, development of an individual housing action plan and or implementation of the housing action plan are eligible to be funded through OTPS for people with Self-Direction budgets.

2. Community Habilitation Services: If an individual is receiving Community Habilitation (CH), Housing Navigation type services can be part of the CH services if the person’s Life Plan includes Housing as a goal, and the services are detailed in the relevant Staff Action Plan. The service rules and regulations for Community Habilitation apply.

How to find a navigator

You can visit the Housing Navigator Directory to find one in your region.

The New York Housing Resource Center (HRC) for People with Intellectual / Developmental Disabilities was developed by New York Alliance for Inclusion & Innovation with funds received through the Balancing Incentive Program grant (BIP). The HRC acts as a clearinghouse for information and resources for the housing professional across the state and helps to foster collaboration between and among the housing industry and related professions, service provider agencies and people with I/DD. The HRC provides all housing stakeholders with technical assistance on housing matters and community training for people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and their families.

GOP Still Keep Medicaid Cuts on Table as Part of Debt Ceiling ‘Negotiations’

And I do mean “negotiations” in quotation marks because the Republican Party’s bad-faith bargaining tactics are simply out to hurt the most vulnerable citizens in the country.

On a more measured noted, President Biden and House Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy “hope to strike a budget compromise this weekend,” reports the AP. But a person familiar with the talks, it writes, said the two sides are [still] ‘dug in’ on whether or not to agree to Republican demands to impose stiffer work requirements on people who receive government food stamps, cash assistance and health care aid, some of the most vulnerable Americans.”

Yes, Republican lawmakers in the House are still holding the economy hostage and threatening to hurt the country’s disability community while doing so.

Below are some of this week’s stories on the GOP tactic that puts people with disabilities at risk.

Disability and Aging Groups Join Senator Casey and Hundreds of Care Advocates a Save Medicaid Online Rally (ARC)

How The House GOP’s Medicaid Work Rule Would Hurt Family Caregivers And People With Disabilities (F0rbes.com)

The Medicaid Work Requirement Horrors in the Debt Ceiling Deal (Theprogressive.com)

Do You Know About NY’s I/DD ID Card?

I confess to not knowing about this until recently, but New Yorkers with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) can be issued a Developmental Disabilities Identification Card to help any encounters with first responders.

The state bill authorizing the cards was passed in 2018. They’re available to people who have a medically diagnosed developmental disability and are meant to be presented to law enforcement, firefighters and emergency medical services personnel to aid in the communication process.

The front of the card reads: “I may have difficulty understanding and following your directions or may become unable to respond. I may become physically agitated if you prompt me verbally or touch me or move too close to me. I am not intentionally refusing to cooperate. I may need your assistance.”

The back of the card includes a name, address and date of birth, emergency contact info and a space for additional, customizable info.

You can use a printable form and mail in your request for an IDD/ID card at IDD/ID Card Request Form.

NYC’s Success Academy Calls Police on Disruptive Students with Disabilities

The sprawling Success Academy Charter School network in New York City called on police to respond to students in emotional distress at least 87 times between July 2016 and December 2022, according to a report published on TheCity.com.

A city regulation that makes police a last resort doesn’t apply to any New York City charter school.

Critics, The City writes, “have long claimed that the network achieves its academic results by getting rid of students with disabilities.”

The feature article — produced for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network in partnership with The City — is an excellent deep dive into the practice of calling law enforcement, as well as a larger look at how Success Academy allegedly treats its students with disabilities. It’s well worth a read.

Photo: Creative Commons

Biden Admin Proposes New Rule to Streamline Medicaid Billing for IEP Services

The Biden administration is making it easier for schools to bill Medicaid for special ed-related services. The action is part of a three-pronged plan, the administration says, to help schools deliver healthcare services to millions of students in more equitable ways.

The change would take away the need for the family consent provision when schools bill for Medicaid services provided through a student’s individualized education program (IEP).

Many children with disabilities receiving services under the IDEA are also enrolled in Medicaid either due to their disability status and/or based on their family income. Children with disabilities are more likely to have low income, and those covered by Medicaid are more likely to have greater healthcare needs than those who are covered by private insurance, according to the U.S. Department of Education (ED).

ED predicts of the 500,000 new students who are found eligible under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part B each year, nearly 300,000 are likely to be eligible for Medicaid and impacted by this rule.

The proposed changes “do not alter any of the critical parental consent provisions required by IDEA nor do they impact the parental consent obligations under the Family Educational Records and Privacy Act (FERPA),” said the ED and Health and Human Services (HHS) in their joint announcement.

Additionally, they noted, “the proposed rule does not alter the requirement that IEP services must be delivered at no cost to the child’s family, the requirement that IEP services cannot diminish other Medicaid-reimbursable services, nor Medicaid’s position as payor of first resort for IEP and Individualized Family Service Plan services.”

Montclair, N.J.’s 3rd Annual Disability Pride Rally

Disability Pride Month is (unofficially, I suppose) the month of July. But all awareness months should be held year-round, so kudos to Montclair, N.J., and its third-annual Disability Pride Rally, which took place May 24.

Hundreds of people reportedly showed up, guest speakers covered topics such as accessibility and disability rights, some great homemade signs could be seen on the parade route and, if the photos are any indication, a great time was had by all. Check out the (short) article, which includes fantastic photos from the day.

Montclair, N.J.’s 3rd Annual Disability Pride Rally

Enrollment of Children with I/DD in Early Intervention Services Dropped During COVID-19

Enrollment of young children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) in early intervention and special ed services dropped significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic. The not entirely surprising news comes from K12dive.com, which looked at an analysis released by the National Institute for Early Education Research at the Rutgers Graduate School of Education.

Among the findings: Young children with disabilities who are Black, Latino/Hispanic and Asian, as well as those who live in lower-income states, are less likely to receive early intervention and early childhood special education services.

The State(s) of Early Intervention and Early Childhood Special Education: Looking at Equity is the first equity-focused report to look state-by-state at the two federally funded programs for young children with disabilities. The report focuses on the 2020-2021 school year and also includes data beginning with the 2005-2006 school year.

To read about the issues and the recommendations being offered, check out the whole article here.

Chalkbeat also has a good summary of the study.

First Autism Certified Destination on East Coast Is High Point, N.C.

High Point, N.C., has become the first Certified Autism Destination (CAD) on the east coast and the second CAD in the U.S., according to Autismtravel.com.

That website is run by the organization that created the certification, the International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards (IBCCES). It announced back in January that Visalia, Calif., had become the first CAD. IBCCES separately certifies individual amusement parks, zoos & aquariums, park and rec departments and more across the country.

The CAD designation is given to communities where multiple attractions, lodging, and entertainment options have completed IBCCES’ training and certification process that it says ensures autistic or sensory-sensitive visitors have a positive experience.

High Point’s nonprofit tourism arm has been working on the certification since 2021, reports Greensboro.com.

Erie County, N.Y., ‘Building Community Connections Event’

Other towns have been designated autism-friendly by various organizations, and/or hold various developmental disability meet-and-greets with area shopkeepers, first responders and more. Which brings us to an event held in Hamburg, N.Y., this past week.

Called “Building Community Connections,” it was organized by a special education teacher, Meg Comerford at Frontier Central High School, as a way for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) and the local police department to interact and get to know each other, reports wkbw.com.

Image: Flickr