Nearly 58% of infants and toddlers eligible for Early Intervention services in New York City alone “have not received all of the support they’re entitled to,” reports Chalkbeat, citing figures recently released by the state comptroller. The audit, which ran from July 2018 to February 2020, found that in the rest of the state, 42% of children did not receive the services.
Learn more here, including the challenges families face, from provider shortages to possible racial and geographic inequities.
A bill to end the subminimum wage for people with disabilities was reintroduced on Feb. 27, 2023, in Congress, reports Austic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN). The bill, called the Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act (TCIEA), was first introduced in 2014.
The bipartisan legislation would provide states and employers with the resources to transition workers with disabilities who are in “sheltered workshops” into fully integrated and competitive jobs (known as competitive integrated employment), which includes earning at least the minimum wage alongside individuals without disabilities while phasing out the subminimum wage for individuals with disabilities.
Sheltered workshops, long considered problematic by many, are supposed to provide work skills opportunities for people with developmental disabilities. In addition to the controversial but legal practice of paying subminimum wages, critics say they segregate people with disabilities from the larger community and fail to provide skills that can be applied elsewhere.
In good news, Subminimum Wage Employment Of People With Disabilities Declines Sharply (Disability Scoop)
NY Chosen by Dept. of Labor to Participate in New Competitive Integrated Employment Strategy (The Boost)
What the Disability Community Told Us About Sheltered Workshops (ProPublica, 2022)
Photo: Creative Commons
As is terribly apparent to anyone in need of services for a loved one with intellectual and developmental disabilities, the latest annual “Case for Inclusion” report shows services at a breaking point.
The report is from United Cerebral Palsy and the American Network of Community Options and Resources (ANCOR).
“Threats to community-based services due to workforce and funding shortages have existed for decades, but the threat has escalated to dangerous levels, forcing providers to deny access to crucial care and other support services for people with IDD,” said Armando Contreras, president and CEO of United Cerebral Palsy, in a Disability Scoop report.
Check out Disability Scoop for an easy-to-understand analysis of the report.
The use of corporal punishment in New York schools has been in the news, in part thanks to two recent articles: A Times Union investigation finding some 1,600 substantiated cases (and 18,000 complaints) of corporal punishment in New York public schools; and a New York Times article showing it’s used in some of the private Hasidic-run schools located throughout Brooklyn and the lower Hudson Valley.
Now, the Times Union reports, “state lawmakers have introduced a series of bills … intended to make it clear in state law that corporal punishment is illegal in all schools in the state.” The bills range from adding explicit language to already existing state Education Law to adding corporal punishment to the state’s definition of child abuse in an educational setting.
An earlier Times Union investigation finding that staff at New York schools serving children with disabilities “intentionally misused physical restraints on students” resulted in the drafting and submission of a bill, “Keeping All New York Students Safe Act,” by New York State Assemblywoman Michaelle C. Solages.
Photo: flickr
Helping adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities expand their work skills “can be a win-win for small business owners,” reports Inc. magazine.
The article begins by citing Bureau of Labor Statistics showing the unemployment rate for people with disabilities fell from 9.1 percent to 7.1 percent between January 2022 and January 2023. It then pivots to a 2018 study by Accenture of 140 U.S. companies showing that businesses actively employing people with disabilities generated 28 percent higher average revenues than those that did not, “and profit margins that were 30 percent above non-disabled workplaces. What’s more: employees with disabilities who are happy in their jobs are likely to stay in those positions for much longer than their non-disabled peers.”
Read the whole article here.
The Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) is asking interested people to support the passage of Andre’s Law, a bill reintroduced in the New York state legislature that would “prohibit New York State from financially supporting, and sending its children to, institutions that employ electro-shock and other “aversive therapies.”
Find ASAN’s “How to Get Involved” suggestions here. It’s as easy as clicking a link.
The bill would stop the state from sending any more children to the Judge Rothenberg Education Center in Canton, Mass., which it says is the only institution in the country to use such devices for behavior modification on students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). More of the JRC’s residents come from New York than any other state, notes the organization.
The New York State bill is named after Andre McCollins, who has spoken out along with his family after he was tortured at the Judge Rotenberg Center.
Are you a parent or sibling of an individual with intellectual/developmental disabilities? You may be a candidate as a LEND Family Specialist in the 2023-2024 Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and related Disabilities
The Westchester Institute for Human Development (WIHD) is having a learning session for people interested in the LEND Program, one of 60 LEND Interdisciplinary Leadership Training Programs nationwide funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) of the Federal Government. LEND Program Family Discipline Trainees graduate with competencies required by family leaders and advocates in the field of developmental disabilities.
LEND provides:
Learn about the role of Family Specialist in the LEND program at a panel hosted by Karen Millman and Mariela Adams.
Date: Feb. 28, 2023
Time: 7 p.m.
Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/99140408126?
Photo: Trusted Reviews via Creative Commons
A National Center for Learning Disabilities report released this month suggests that standardized assessments can help hold schools accountable for the academic performance of students with disabilities. k12dive.com does a good job breaking things down, and is quick to note that the report also says assessments still have a long way to go before being accessible to all types of learners.
Standardized tests have become increasingly controversial, one problem being the belief they don’t value diversity. But the NCID “along with our disability and civil rights partners, have long advocated for including the performance of students with disabilities, students of color, English learners, and students impacted by poverty on statewide summative assessments when determining how well a school is meeting the needs of students,” the report reads. “For our communities, these assessments have historically been viewed as a tool to identify opportunity gaps as they provide annual, comparative data on student progress.
“For others, though, the assessments are seen as taking away too much valuable instructional time and not providing actionable information,” it continues. “Because of the ongoing tension around the value of summative assessments, NCLD sought to discover what’s working and not working for students with disabilities in the current assessment system and to forge a path forward that’s more inclusive and equitable.”
In a move being praised by disability advocates, reports Disability Scoop, the Social Security Administration “is making a big change to the way [it] determines monthly payments for people with disabilities receiving Supplemental Security Income benefits.”
The proposed rule by the SSA removes food from “the calculation of In-Kind Support and Maintenance (ISM). We also propose to add conforming language to our definition of income, excluding food from the ISM calculation. Accordingly, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) applicants and recipients would no longer need to provide information about their food expenses for us to consider.”
As it currently stands, ISM is food, shelter, or both that somebody else provides for the SSI recipient. In-kind support and maintenance is counted as income when SSI benefits are calculated. For example, if someone helps pay for rent, mortgage, food, or utilities, the amount of SSI benefits are reduced.
The SSA says it expects the proposed changes will simplify its rules and “make it easier for SSI applicants and recipients to comply with program requirements … and improve the equitable treatment of food assistance within the SSI program.”
Photo: Flickr
COVID-19 put the Medicaid renewal process on hold, but starting Spring 2023, New York will resume eligibility reviews and renewals for people enrolled in the program.
Most OPWDD services are provided through New York State’s Medicaid program, jointly funded by the federal and state governments. Accordingly, you might need to take action.
So what to do? First, make sure Medicaid has the correct address for recertification paperwork, which in theory, I believe, should be sent when it’s time without you having to do anything else. (See ARC’s deeper dive on the steps, below.). I personally also called the Westchester County Department of Social Services to confirm the case was still active and to ask if they had an idea when my family member would need to recertify. They did not have any idea.
If your family member has a care manager, you might also check with them about any Medicaid concerns.
ARC suggests that you:
Photo: Creative Commons