AAPDnews SPRING 2007 A Quarterly Newsletter for AAPD Members Disability Bloggers: Personal and Passionate They're traditional press coverage with stimulating commentary and a splash of rousing rant. They've also become a force with which to be reckoned, holding politicians, businesses, and entertainment personalities accountable to the interests of the public. They're blogs, and they're growing influences in the media landscape. "Blog" is an abbreviation for web log, which is a rolling column of information and editorial content of various lengths, updated regularly, often with the blogger's personality sprinkled throughout to provide a more intimate method of news coverage. Some blogs are thematic, while others cover whatever strikes a nerve with the blogger on a given day. Bloggers often link to each other within individual posts, which creates what is known as the "blogosphere." Open your local newspaper, click onto CNN.com or tune in to the nightly news, and you'll receive the news deemed most important by editors and producers. Spend an hour in the blogosphere and you'll know what the people think is important. Blogs are truly democratizing instruments, capable of producing powerful synergies with traditional journalism. We are seeing a radical transformation of the life cycle of a news item, thanks to blogs. Bloggers pick up an original news story through traditional media outlets, connect that story to other stories, provide commentary, and sometimes add additional information through independent research. Outfitted with all the new information and fresh perspective, news stories often find their way back into traditional media after an attentive editor or news reporter sees escalating interest online. Once the mainline media pick up the story, the process starts anew yet again. The intersection of disability and blogging is an exciting one. Disability culture and pride are enriched whenever a "disability message" crafted by people with disabilities in their own voice can emerge publicly around any current event - even pop culture. Disability blogger Kay Olson wrote recently about amputee Heather Mills' participation in "Dancing with the Stars." She wrote, "... I admire [Heather Mills'] determination to take on the bipeds at their own game. One gambling website is taking bets on whether Mills' leg will fall off during the series. If you want a betting tip from me, put a tenner on her prosthesis staying firmly attached. The current generation of prostheses are secured with tightly fitting silicone liners fitted with pins or suction seals, which roll onto the skin like a sock. The chances of Heather's (leg) flying into the audience during a high kick are precisely zero." See thegimpparade.blogspot.com. Acting as both writers and editors of their own self-selected "news stories," bloggers enjoy complete control of information dissemination. Often making the news extremely personal to their own experiences as people with disabilities, disability bloggers insert an honesty that's often absent in public discussions about people with disabilities, which all too frequently occur without input from people with disabilities. Disability blogger Nick Dupree, who uses a ventilator, recently blogged for social justice for Emilio Gonzales (a 16-month old from Austin, Texas, with Leigh's disease who may be taken off his respirator against the express wishes of his mother, due to "futile care" laws). Two days after sending a signed and notarized affidavit affirming the dignity of those on life support to Governor Perry of Texas, Dupree wrote on his blog, "In an unprecedented perversion of American tradition, Texas is saying 'Take my liberty, and give me death!" See www.nickdupree. blogspot.com. For some with developmental disabilities, blogging is a liberating communication device. CNN did several news stories on Amanda Baggs earlier this year that mentioned her blog, which is filled with clever witticisms and original videos that help to explain everyday realities of being autistic. A recent post entitled, "How to make a phone call, in 70 easy steps" explains the process by which Baggs makes a phone call, or as she put it, "Why it takes me so long to get anything done around here." See ballastexistenz.autistics.org. For other disability bloggers, blogs represent political free press - a way to get personal and organizational positions and qualms out to the masses in the hope of stimulating greater dialogue and more probing investigations. Kay Olson recently blogged about the growing accounts of severely injured U.S. soldiers who were arriving home from Iraq. Suspiciously, these soldiers were being diagnosed as having personality disorders shortly before their discharge, thereby preventing their collection of disability and medical benefits. See thegimpparade. blogspot.com. Still not convinced blogs are powerful? Explore a few more for yourself and see if you don't change your mind. For an extensive list of noteworthy disability blogs, visit Temple University's Disability Studies blog and scroll down the page to view the left-hand list titled "Notable Blogs." See disstud.blogspot.com. AAPD Questions the 2008 Presidential Candidates Pushes Campaigns to Respond This Month In April, AAPD, ADAPT, National Council on Independent Living (NCIL), and Self Advocates Becoming Empowered (SABE) worked collaboratively to create a list of questions to present to presidential candidates that reflect the issues most important to our members. We have sent this list of questions, along with personalized cover letters signed by all four organizations, to the candidates, and requested their responses as soon as possible, but no later than May 31, 2007. Our mailing to the candidates included the following questions: POLITICAL LEADERSHIP 1. Do you support the creation and appointment of a permanent Assistant to the President for Disability Policy at the White House? 2. How will you make sure qualified people with disabilities will be a part of your political team and, if elected, as part of your administration? EMPLOYMENT 1. What steps would you take to reduce employment barriers and improve employment outcomes for Americans with disabilities? 2. How would you reform the federal income support programs (Supplemental Security Income and Social Security Disability Insurance) so that beneficiaries enjoy a greater standard of living and participate more fully in the labor market? 3. According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, between 1993 and 2004, federal workers with significant disabilities left the federal workforce at rate more than seven times the general reduction in the federal workforce during that period. What actions would you take to ensure that qualified workers with disabilities are given meaningful opportunities to participate in the federal workforce at all levels? HEALTH CARE FOR ALL 1. What steps would you take to ensure that people with disabilities have access to affordable, quality health care that is responsive to their individual needs? 2. How or will you use managed care principles to deliver healthcare services? 3. How would you improve the quality of health and rehabilitation services provided to veterans with disabilities? 4. How would you improve the quality of health and rehabilitation services provided to Native Americans with disabilities? Do you support the reauthorization of the Indian Healthcare Act? 5. How will you assure people with disabilities have fair access to Medicare Part D prescriptions? 6. How will you address the inequities caused by the Medicare" homebound" rule? 7. Do you support ongoing Congressional efforts to ensure mental health parity in health insurance (S. 558, H.R. 1367)? LONG TERM SERVICES AND SUPPORTS 1. How would you address America's increasing need for home and community-based long-term services and supports (such as personal assistance services, respite care, and other supports)? i. Do you support the Community Choice Act of 2007 (S. 799, H.R. 1621) and/or the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act of 2007 (CLASS Act of 2007)? ii. What other steps would you take to help states implement the Olmstead v. L.C. Supreme Court decision and help address the institutional bias in the current Medicaid system? 2. Will you propose integrating acute and long term services by using integrated managed care principles? 3. How will you address the shortage of community direct care attendants? 4. How will you address the lack of coordination between Medicare and Medicaid policies? HOUSING 1. What would you do to increase the availability of affordable, accessible, integrated housing opportunities in the community for low and moderate-income people with disabilities and their families? 2. How will you assure the vigorous implementation of all Fair Housing laws? 3. How will you assure that HUD implements programs that will assist states in complying with the Olmstead decision? TRANSPORTATION 1. What would you do to expand access to affordable, accessible transportation for people with disabilities, especially in rural areas? EDUCATION 1. How would you ensure that students with disabilities are included within and accommodated as part of the accountability measures of No Child Left Behind? 2. Do you support full federal funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)? 3. What ideas do you have for strengthening federal enforcement of IDEA? 4. What ideas do you have for increasing the high school graduation rate of students served by IDEA? 5. How would you improve services for students transitioning from school to employment? How would you improve services for students transitioning from high school to higher education? TECHNOLOGY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS 1. Do you support legislative measures to require that Internet technologies be made accessible to and usable by people with disabilities? 2. What measures would you propose to ensure that consumer electronic and telecommunications devices are accessible to and usable by persons with disabilities? 3. How would you ensure enforcement of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act and Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act? 4. Would you support restoration of full funding for the Technology-related Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities Act programs? VOTING 1. What steps would you take as President to ensure that voters with disabilities are able to vote privately and independently, consistent with the requirements of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA)? 2. Would you require the Census Bureau, in its surveys of people with disabilities, to ask questions regarding whether the respondents are registered to vote and whether they voted in the last election? CIVIL RIGHTS 1. Of the existing members of the U.S. Supreme Court, which justices do you consider models for the kinds of federal judges you would appoint if elected president? 2. Do you support an ADA Restoration Act, such as the bill introduced in the last Congress? 3. What steps will you take to protect the diminishment of the civil rights protections under the ADA? INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS 1. Do you support U.S. ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol? If you'd like to contact these candidates' campaigns, and encourage them to respond to these issues, a list of the candidates' official websites' "contact us" pages is included below for your convenience. Most of the sites provide phone numbers, mailing addresses, and online forms on which you can enter questions or concerns. Use one or all of these methods to communicate with each candidate. Feel free to copy/paste the list of questions into the online form or print them off and mail them or fax them. Let's make sure every candidate acknowledges and responds to our concerns. HERE'S A LISTING OF THE CANDIDATES WHO RECEIVED OUR QUESTIONS AND THEIR WEBSITES: Democrats Joe Biden www.joebiden.com Hillary Clinton www.hillaryclinton.com Christopher Dodd www.chrisdodd.com John Edwards www.johnedwards.com Mike Gravel www.gravel2008.us Dennis Kucinich kucinich.us Barack Obama my.barackobama.com Bill Richardson www.richardsonforpresident.com Republicans Sam Brownback www.brownback.com Jim Gilmore www.gilmoreforpresident.net Rudolph Giuliani www.joinrudy2008.com Mike Huckabee www.explorehuckabee.com Duncan Hunter www.gohunter08.com John McCain www.johnmccain.com Ron Paul www.house.gov/paul Mitt Romney www.mittromney.com Tom Tancredo tancredo.house.gov Tommy Thompson www.tommy2008.com Meeting the Challenge of Sport Olympic Training for Wars' Wounded By John F. Register John Register is a veteran of the Gulf War and a former Olympic Trials athlete. He was instrumental in launching the U.S. Paralympic Academy in 2003. Register also conceived of the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) Paralympic Military Program. He is a recipient of a 2007 Paul G. Hearne/ AAPD Leadership Award. Staff Sergeant Joey Bozik departs the plane with trepidation in his eyes. His wife Jayme, close by his side, is also apprehensive about what this next week may bring. Four days of sports clinics and camps? How can Bozik possibly prove a competitor; after all, it has only been a year since he and his Humvee were blasted by an anti-tank mine in Iraq, resulting in the amputation of both of his legs and his right arm. Sports? Yes. Sports. Bozik arrives at the U.S. Olympic Training Center to meet 35 members of the military just like him; there are men and women in wheelchairs, with amputated arms and legs, visual impairments and traumatic brain injuries. While their injuries may be different in degree from his, Bozik immediately identifies with them. They're all here for the U.S. Olympic Committee's Paralympic Military Sports Camp, a four-day event made up of sports clinics and light competition, all hosted by Paralympic athletes and the Paralympic coaching staff. It's rather fitting that such an event should take place at the U.S. Olympic Training Center, especially since the Paralympic Games were formed as a result of World War II. In 1948, Sir Ludwig Guttmann, a neurologist who firmly believed in the power of sports as a tool in rehabilitation for World War II veterans, started the Stoke-Mandeville Games, whereby veterans competed in multiple sports against one another. The Stoke-Mandeville Games eventually grew into the modern-day Paralympic Games. Today, U.S. Paralympics, a division of the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC), contributes to Guttmann's work by incorporating Paralympic-focused sport programs in the recovery of recently injured service members through mentoring, clinics and sport camps. More than 250 injured service members have gone through the USOC Paralympic Military Sports Camps since March of 2003. Bozik participated with 35 other injured veterans at the Paralympic Military Sports Camp in Chula Vista, California. It was evident right away that this group of veterans was not going to succumb to their injuries. The injuries would just have to take a back seat to life. The participants, who were taught by Paralympic athletes and coaches, felt the connection to the elite athletes. An athlete and a warrior are very much of the same mold. Both practice their craft to be the best in the world at what they do. "When you get right down to it and you think about the injuries sustained on the battlefield, you quickly realize that a Paralympic sport has something for each of those injuries," commented Bozik. Many strides have been made since the inception of the program, including the following: • A partnership was struck between the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the USOC in October of 2005 to use Paralympic programming as a tool for both the VA's National Winter Ski Clinic and the National Summer Games. • The Army's World Class Athlete Program (WCAP) allows Paralympic-eligible soldier athletes to remain on duty while training full-time for a sport on the Paralympic national team. • The Veterans' Paralympic Performance Program (VP3) allows Paralympic-eligible veterans who have separated from active duty to pursue Paralympic sport at one of six designated Olympic Training Sites. Whether it is winning medals at a Paralympic Games, or just for the pure joy of recreation, sports have always played an important role in society and the USOC is proud to assist our men and women of service in achieving this for decades to follow. Each component of the program has a similar outcome in mind - to get the service member back into life. Former Summit participants, Sgt. (Ret.) Kortney Clemmons and Spc. (Ret.) Chang Wong are back in college. Others are vying for a spot on the Alpine Skiing Team or enjoying life with their children and spouses. Life does march on. The USOC is actively engaged in offering sport programs and ensuring that these newly injured veterans are learning of the sports programs their brothers and sisters in arms created for them. Bozik, now a banker with Wells Fargo, takes a few quick breaths after finishing a couple of laps in the swimming pool. A smile radiates across his face as he realizes that if he can do this, the possibilities are endless. U.S. Missing in Action at Key UN Event Dear Members, Disability history was made on March 30, 2007 at the United Nations signing ceremony for the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which garnered unprecedented support and record-setting numbers of signatures. The Convention has enjoyed bragging rights since its inception. First proposed by Mexican President Vicente Fox, in just a few years, the Convention moved from an idea to the first human rights treaty of the 21st century, making it the fastest negotiated international human rights treaty ever. Mexico signed. Canada signed. The European Community signed. In fact, 80 of 192 nation-members signed. The U.S., however, was not among them. The U.S. did not even send a representative to the ceremony, a simple act which a number of non-signing countries recognized the importance of doing. John Lancaster, Executive Director of the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL) and the President of the United States International Council on Disabilities (USICD), was present at the signing ceremony and recently shared his first-hand experience in a letter to NCIL members: "As I sat in the observers' area on the floor of the UN's General Assembly Hall, delegates from 80 nations and the European Community took their turn at the official signing table to commit their country to the human and civil rights of people with disabilities. At several points, my eyes welled with tears. They should have been tears of joy and pride as an American, as a citizen in the country that had created this world-wide movement for the rights and empowerment of people with disabilities. Instead, they were tears of shame and embarrassment." The Convention advances eight main principles - respect for inherent dignity, autonomy, and independence of persons; nondiscrimination; full and effective participation and inclusion in society; respect for difference and acceptance of people with disabilities as part of human diversity and humanity; equality of opportunity; accessibility; equality between men and women; respect for evolving capacities of children with disabilities and respect for the rights of children with disabilities to preserve their identities. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities goes beyond simply declaring basic rights and focuses instead on inclusion and participation, the actions necessary to ensure that these basic rights are more than empty promises. Although the U.S. has not been in a rush to issue a statement of explanation as to why it did not sign, the U.S. was certainly not shy in issuing strong language early in the process - indeed, before there was even draft language - of its intent not to sign, citing domestic rather than international focus as most appropriate for change and improvement. Whatever official or unofficial explanation or theory advanced, there is too much at stake for the U.S., after years of gradually increasing involvement in the Convention process, to turn its back on this historic treaty at a most crucial moment. Before the signing ceremony, AAPD issued an action alert over our JFA listserv encouraging readers to contact the White House to urge for the U.S. to sign the Convention. Since the signing ceremony, AAPD has urged members and readers to help build bottom-up support and momentum by encouraging their local municipalities, cities, counties, states, and local and national organizations to pass resolutions supporting the Convention. Several cities in California have already taken action. AAPD is also gathering online signatures for a petition, which will demonstrate the enormous citizen support for the U.S. to sign the Convention. Please visit www.aapd.com/ UN/petition.html to sign the petition. In the years preceding the signing of the ADA, many were heard saying "too progressive," "too expensive," "too much litigation," "too controversial," and "not needed." Yet despite the naysayers, advocates were unrelenting and persevered to see the landmark law signed. As a result, the landscape for people with disabilities radically changed. And regardless of all the advancements under the ADA, there is still so much inequality left to combat - here, in America. For the more than 650 million people with disabilities worldwide, 80 percent of whom live in developing countries and many in destitute circumstance, the vast majority are still waiting for the liberation of a transformative law that can point the way toward true equality and full participation in society. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities provides the opportunity for tides of change across the globe. Because we've had 17 years to begin to see what a society can look like when people with disabilities enjoy broad civil rights protections, we must stay involved, sign, and continue to lead. If the U.S. is to remain a visionary leader on the rights of people with disabilities, it cannot stand by idly. Rather, with the same bipartisan enthusiasm as was seen in the signing of the ADA, the U.S. must sign and ratify the treaty and take a lead role in translating broad commitments into national action - to live up to our status as a world leader in the global fight for disability rights. Please sign the petition at www.aapd.com/UN/petition.html, calling on our President to sign the Convention, and please write your members of Congress asking them to contact the President and urge him to sign the Convention. Andrew J. Imparato AAPD President and CEO Get Your COAT On! AAPD Co-Founds New Coalition Tackling Advanced Technologies on Behalf of Disability Community As a person with a disability, you may have a general sense that the move to digital and Internet-based technologies will provide you with more opportunities for independence. History, however, tells us that this will only be the case if those technologies are designed to be accessible and usable for persons with any type of disability at the outset. In March, AAPD and CSD (Communication Service for the Deaf) co-founded a new coalition of disability organizations to advocate for legislative and regulatory safeguards for people with sensory disabilities. This coalition, known as "Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology," or "COAT," is targeting high speed broadband, wireless and Internet technology providers to make sure individuals with speech, vision, hearing and related disabilities don't get left behind as new products come to the marketplace. Within 24 hours of its inception, more than 50 national and regional disability groups joined COAT. New members included national groups, such as American Council of the Blind, the Assistive Technology Industry Association, Hearing Loss Association of America, National Association of the Deaf, National Black Deaf Advocates, National Court Reporters Association, Speech Communication Assistance by Telephone, Inc., WGBH Media Access Group, and World Institute on Disability. Regional groups joining COAT included the Northern California Center on Deafness and the North Carolina Governor's Advocacy Council for Persons with Disabilities, to name just a few. The rapid growth of the COAT organization signals that the time is ripe to make sure that people with disabilities are included as the nation migrates from 20th century public switched-based telecommunications to more versatile and innovative Internet-based communication technologies. To ensure that these technologies are accessible from the start, COAT has identified the following initiatives: • Making sure there will be hearing aid compatibility for all new phones, including those phones that use the Internet. COAT is also working to ensure that Internet phones are designed to be easily used by persons with vision, cognitive and other disabilities. • Confirming that every communications company provides alternative billing and friendly non-discriminatory customer service to consumers with disabilities. • Requiring that any television device, regardless of its screen size and functions, can display closed captions (the current limitation for TV monitors is 13 inches or larger). COAT is also making sure that any recording and playback device designed to receive or display digital and Internet TV programming will display captioning. • Mandating that all devices, such as DVD players, TV sets and other electronic appliances, have user-friendly interfaces that make operation and programming easily accessible. • Restoring TV video description for persons who are blind or with a vision disability. • Ensuring that any company selling television programming and using Internet technologies passes through any available closed captioning for use by Deaf and hard of hearing persons. Video description capabilities - for use by blind persons - should also be provided. • Requesting that Internet phone service companies connect with relay services and contribute to relay services funds. • Confirming that emergency services such as 911 centers can receive calls from people with hearing and other disabilities who use text paging or who use video relay service. • Increasing the number of people with disabilities using broadband capabilities to access the Internet by reforming the program that funds universal service. Many of these needs are not new and have been proposed to Congress before. Often, due to non-disability related issues, or because legislation was written to stand alone, we were not successful in moving these requirements through committee and positioning them for ratification. COAT is asking the U.S. Congress to act on these requests this year through a comprehensive approach that will ultimately amend the Communications Act. What can you do? Sign up your organization to participate in this agenda, or send a copy of the COAT agenda to your Senators and Congressional representative and ask them to co-sponsor and support legislation that includes all noted requests. Most of the objectives were recommended in the National Council on Disability report in December 2006, "The Need for Federal Legislation and Regulation Prohibiting Telecommunications and Information Services Discrimination," which is available at www.ncd.gov/newsroom/publications/ 2006/discrimination.htm. The COAT website is www.COATaccess.org and the email address is info@COATaccess.org. The AAPD contact is Jenifer Simpson at aapdjenifer@aol.com. Over 600 Gather to Recognize Disability Rights Leaders and Advocacy At March 7 AAPD Leadership Gala in Washington, DC Attendees at the 2007 AAPD Leadership Gala honored four extraordinary individuals who champion disability rights on a national scale with the organization's Henry B. Betts Award, Paul G. Hearne/AAPD Leadership Award, and the Linda Chavez-Thompson Award. The Henry B. Betts Award was presented to Mark Johnson, a nationally-recognized activist and community organizer, a founder of Americans Disabled for Public Accessible Transportation, (ADAPT) and Advocacy Director of Atlanta's Shepherd Center since 1987. His award was presented by Joanne Smith, M.D., of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, and Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL), whose introductory remarks summed up Johnson's life mission. "For over 30 years, Mark has inspired, educated and united people with disabilities and has helped to pave the way for millions of Americans to find access, acceptance and dignity." Johnson, who truly inspired the diverse audience with his award acceptance remarks, ended his comments by making three advocacy recommendations to the audience: it's important to be fair; always take the high moral ground; and until there is an emotional change, no intellectual persuasion will work. Paul G. Hearne/AAPD Leadership Awards were presented to John Register, a Gulf War veteran and Paralympic silver medalist who created the U.S. Olympic Committee Paralympic Military Program; and TyKiah Wright, who established WrightChoice, Inc. to provide intern and employment opportunities for job seekers with disabilities in Ohio. Upon her acceptance of the award, Wright rallied those in attendance with the comment, "It's everyone's responsibility to drop-kick those barriers and to shut down the stereotypes so that many of us with disabilities can show our amazing talents." AAPD presented the 2007 Linda Chavez-Thompson Award to labor leader Terry Stapleton, Secretary-Treasurer of the American Postal Workers Union (APWU), who has demonstrated exemplary leadership for APWU employees with hearing loss and other disabilities. Continuing the evening's strong advocacy theme, he commented, "The true honorees are people with disabilities who fight every day for equality and fair treatment and against the ignorance and injustices of society." This year's gala was emceed by renowned journalist Judy Woodruff; attendees included leaders of the disability and civil rights communities, senior members of the Administration, Members of Congress, business leaders, and advocates. AAPD again extends its deepest appreciation to event Lead Sponsors SAP and Independence Technology, a Johnson & Johnson company, and Platinum Sponsors AT&T and American Airlines. Please visit the AAPD website at www.aapd.com to see the more than 80 sponsors, as well as a complete event photo gallery. ANNOUNCEMENTS AND SHORT TAKES >> Social Security Update Source: A Monthly Publication of the National Council on Disability (NCD) - March 2007 John R. Vaughn, Chairperson NCD presented written testimony for the record to the Subcommittee on Social Security of the House Committee on Ways and Means regarding Social Security disability backlogs. The testimony contained recommendations on the Social Security Administration's disability backlogs from NCD's report, The Social Security Administration's Efforts to Promote Employment for People with Disabilities: New Solutions for Old Problems. See www.ncd.gov/newsroom/publications/ 2005/ssa-promoteemployment.htm. The entire testimony can be found at www.ncd.gov/newsroom/testimony/ 2007/testimony_02-14-07.htm. Hospital Errors on the Rise HealthGrades Patient-Safety Study Pinpoints Sources of Increases According to a recent HealthGrades study, the incidence of errors at U.S. hospitals rose to three percent between 2003 and 2005. However, the nation's top-performing hospitals had a 40 percent lower rate of medical errors, compared to the poorest-performing hospitals. The study of over 40 million Medicare hospitalization records found that patient-safety incidents continued to rise in American hospitals. The greatest increases in incident rates were seen with post-operative sepsis, post-operative respiratory failure, and selected infections. "The cost of medical errors at American hospitals in both mortality and dollar terms continues to be significant, and the 'chasm in quality' between the nation's top and bottom hospitals, which HealthGrades has documented in this and other studies, remains," said Dr. Samantha Collier, HealthGrades' chief medical officer and the primary author of the study. "But the nation's best-performing hospitals are providing benchmarks for the hospital industry, exercising a vigilance that resulted in far fewer in-hospital incidents among the Medicare patients studied." The fourth annual HealthGrades Patient Safety in American Hospitals Study applies methodology developed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to determine incident rates. Ratings for individual hospitals are posted at www.healthgrades.com. Getting Organized The Disability Vote Project Gathers Strength in Rhode Island As most political veterans know, it takes boots on the ground to get the vote out in local, state and federal elections. To mobilize the voting potential of the disability community, AAPD has been providing counsel and support to Disability Vote Project coalition partners around the country. Recently AAPDnews had an opportunity to speak with Jim DuBois, Project Organizer of the Rhode Island Disability Vote Project (RIDVP). "Our group was formed a little more than a year ago and 2006 was our trial year," remarked DuBois. "Our organization is driven by a steering committee comprised of an extremely active group of volunteers from a variety of disability backgrounds." In the spring of 2006, the RIDVP recruited 26 member organizations to join as dues-paying members. The group then launched a series of training sessions focused on key issues including: • Why voting matters; • How to get people to register to vote; and • How to get people to become more active in the political process. The group also conducted leadership and relationship-building training sessions, as presentations focused on the power of the vote. With the training complete, DuBois and his organizational team reached out to each member organization to help them develop action plans tailored to their needs. "Each member organization developed an action plan, and each had a slightly different plan for action based on its membership," observed DuBois. Within each plan, however, there were a number of key elements, such as: • Formalizing the steps to organize the vote within the member organization, including registration drives, education, etc.; • Appointing a team to take charge of the initiative as point of contact within the organization with specific responsibilities to support the objectives of the plan; • Pinpointing chief obstacles to the voting process, such as transportation, registration, education on issues and candidates, and access to functioning and effective voting equipment; and • Conducting general training on how to build momentum, develop leadership skills and establish and maintain relationships. To determine the effectiveness of their efforts, the RIDVP actively encourages member organizations to participate in list enhancement activities to see how individual efforts actually impacted the vote. "List enhancement is really the best tracking tool," said DuBois. "By comparing local lists with other sources of public information, we can accurately determine how many people are voting, who is registered and who is not, and ultimately, what efforts are truly effective." The RIDVP continues to seek more members, and looks forward to a busy schedule of events built around the 2008 elections. The Holt Bill: A Threat to Accessible Voting Your right to vote privately and independently in next year's Presidential elections could be jeopardized with a new piece of legislation moving through the Congress. Congressman Rush Holt (D-NJ) introduced H.R. 811, the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act on February 7 of this year. Known as the Holt bill, the legislation would amend the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) by requiring that all polling places use equipment in the 2008 presidential race that can produce an accessible, voter-verifiable paper ballot. AAPD opposes passage of H.R. 811 in its current form. At the present time, we are awaiting the development of an accessible voting machine that can meet the Holt bill's paper ballot requirement. Further, it will take years to develop new system standards and test protocols, design and beta test equipment, certify and purchase equipment, and train election officials and poll workers. Reliable estimates to develop and implement this technology range from five to ten years. AAPD supports voting systems that are accessible, secure, accurate, and recountable. HAVA's requirement that all polling places have at least one accessible voting machine by 2006 has resulted in significant improvements in voting access since the 2002 elections. We are working with other disability advocates to convince members of the House and Senate that the 2008 paper ballot deadline in the Holt bill is unrealistic, and will in effect force election officials to either violate the paper ballot requirements of the bill or violate the accessibility requirements of HAVA and the bill. We encourage you to contact your Congressional representatives and urge them to move back the paper ballot deadline in the Holt bill, and take other steps necessary to ensure that voters with disabilities will be able to vote privately and independently in next year's critical presidential elections. Better Care Systems Needed for Disabled Individuals U.S. Needs to Rethink its Approach as Disabled Population Grows A report released by the Institute of Medicine states that a better system is needed to provide care for people with disabilities in the U.S. According to the document, more than 40 million U.S. residents are disabled in some way. A growing elderly population - and particularly aging baby boomers - is likely to increase the country's disabled population in the coming years. The report also predicts that younger generations will contribute to the population of people with disabilities due to declines in physical activity and increases in obesity and diabetes. The report has specific recommendations for Congress and federal agencies: • Increase funding for research into clinical health services and disability problems, including social and behavioral; • Strengthen the Americans with Disabilities Act to ensure accessibility at health care facilities for people with disabilities; • Eliminate the two-year waiting period for Medicare eligibility for Social Security Disability Insurance beneficiaries; • Modify the "in-home-use" requirement for Medicare coverage of durable medical equipment to allow reimbursement for equipment that can be used both inside and outside the home; and • Increase educational programs for health professionals who care for people with disabilities; and develop a system through the National Center for Health Statistics, Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics to monitor the number and types of disabled U.S. residents. According to Alan Jette, chair of the committee that prepared the report and director of the Health and Disability Research Institute at the Boston University School of Public Health, "If one considers people who now are disabled, those likely to develop a future disability, and people who are or will be affected by the disabilities of family members or others close to them, it becomes clear that disability will eventually affect the lives of most (U.S. residents). Over the past two decades, far too little progress has been made in adopting major public policy and practice advances to reduce disability in America." On The Docket A Timeline of Important Events for the 2008 Election Although the 2008 Presidential Election is 18 months away, the field of candidates is taking shape. While there remains significant uncertainty about who will be running and what their issues are, there are several key primary and caucus dates already on the schedule. In coming issues of AAPDnews, we will be updating you on important milestones in the presidential 2008 election process. AAPD's goal is to keep you informed about election activities in your area, and to allow you significant time to plan and execute any events you might wish to conduct or participate in on behalf of candidates of your choice. While AAPD is a non-partisan organization, it can serve as a resource for information on a particular presidential candidate's support of issues impacting the disability community. If you want to know more about where candidates stand on disability issues, keep apprised of our outreach to the candidates by way of the questions being posed to them, please see "AAPD Questions the 2008 Presidential Candidates," page 6, the AAPD website: www.aapd.com, and Justice for All e-mail alerts. For your reference, below is a listing of confirmed caucus and primary dates, scheduled debates, party conventions and election day. Mark these dates on your calendar now and make sure you express your views in your state caucus or primary votes. Democratic Presidential Primary Dates Jan. 14 Iowa (caucus) Jan. 19 Nevada (caucus) Jan. 22 New Hampshire Jan. 29 South Carolina Feb. 5 Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Idaho, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Utah Feb. 9 Nebraska (caucus), Louisiana, Michigan Feb. 10 Maine (caucus) Feb. 12 District of Columbia, Maryland, Tennessee, Virginia Feb. 19 Wisconsin Feb. 26 Hawaii March (date to be determined): American Samoa, Democrats Abroad, Guam, North Dakota, U.S. Virgin Islands, Wyoming Mar. 4 Connecticut, Georgia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont Mar. 8 Kansas Mar. 11 Mississippi Mar. 18 Illinois April (date to be determined): Alaska Apr. 1 Pennsylvania May 6 Indiana, North Carolina May 13 West Virginia May 20 Kentucky, Oregon (primary) May 27 Washington (primary) June 3 Montana, South Dakota Republican Presidential Primary Dates Jan. 14 Iowa Jan. 22 New Hampshire Jan. 29 Florida Feb. 2 Alabama, South Carolina Feb. 5 Arizona, Arkansas, California, Delaware, New York, Missouri, New Mexico, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Utah, West Virginia Feb. 7 Nevada Feb. 9 Louisiana Feb. 10 Maine Feb. 12 Maryland, Tennessee, Virginia Feb. 19 Minnesota, Wisconsin Feb. 26 Michigan Mar. 4 Connecticut, Georgia, Massachusetts, Ohio, Texas, Vermont Mar. 11 Mississippi, Washington Mar. 18 Illinois, Rhode Island Apr. 1 Kansas Apr. 15 Colorado Apr. 22 Pennsylvania May 6 Indiana, North Carolina May 10 Wyoming May 13 Nebraska May 17 Alaska May 20 Kentucky, Oregon May 27 Idaho June 3 South Dakota June 6 Hawaii June 9 Montana Convention Dates May 23-26, 2008 Denver Libertarian Party National Convention August 25-28, 2008 Denver Democratic National Convention September 1-4, 2008 Minneapolis Republican National Convention Debates June 28, 2007 PBS debate featuring 2008 Democratic presidential candidates August 17, 2007 ABC Presidential Candidate Forum, Des Moines, Iowa November 2, 2007 Nevada Democrats host presidential debate at UNLV Election Day November 4, 2008 Dates provided by Wikipedia, and www.boston.com. More information can be found at: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican _Party_(United_States)_presidential_primaries,_2008 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Democratic _Party_(United_States)_ presidential_primaries,_2008 www.boston.com/news/politics/2008/calendar/ Please note that these dates are subject to change. Check the AAPD website for updates as they become available. AAPD Questions the 2008 Presidential Candidates Our mailing to the candidates included the following questions: POLITICAL LEADERSHIP 1. Do you support the creation and appointment of a permanent Assistant to the President for Disability Policy at the White House? 2. How will you make sure qualified people with disabilities will be a part of your political team and, if elected, as part of your administration? EMPLOYMENT 1. What steps would you take to reduce employment barriers and improve employment outcomes for Americans with disabilities? 2. How would you reform the federal income support programs (Supplemental Security Income and Social Security Disability Insurance) so that beneficiaries enjoy a greater standard of living and participate more fully in the labor market? 3. According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, between 1993 and 2004, federal workers with significant disabilities left the federal workforce at rate more than seven times the general reduction in the federal workforce during that period. What actions would you take to ensure that qualified workers with disabilities are given meaningful opportunities to participate in the federal workforce at all levels? HEALTH CARE FOR ALL 1. What steps would you take to ensure that people with disabilities have access to affordable, quality health care that is responsive to their individual needs? 2. How or will you use managed care principles to deliver healthcare services? 3. How would you improve the quality of health and rehabilitation services provided to veterans with disabilities? 4. How would you improve the quality of health and rehabilitation services provided to Native Americans with disabilities? Do you support the reauthorization of the Indian Healthcare Act? 5. How will you assure people with disabilities have access to Medicare Part D prescriptions? 6. How will you address the inequities caused by the Medicare 'homebound' rule? 7. Do you support ongoing Congressional efforts to ensure mental health parity in health insurance (S. 558, H.R. 1367)? LONG TERM SERVICES AND SUPPORTS 1. How would you address America's increasing need for home and community-based long-term services and supports (such as personal assistance services, respite care, and other supports)? i. Do you support the Community Choice Act of 2007 (S. 799, H.R. 1621) and/or the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act of 2007 (CLASS Act of 2007)? ii. What other steps would you take to help states implement the Olmstead v. L.C. Supreme Court decision and help address the institutional bias in the current Medicaid system? 2. Will you propose integrating acute and long term services by using integrated managed care principles? 3. How will you address the shortage of community direct care attendants? 4. How will you address the lack of coordination between Medicare and Medicaid policies? HOUSING 1. What would you do to increase the availability of affordable, accessible, integrated housing opportunities in the community for low and moderate-income people with disabilities and their families? 2. How will you assure the vigorous implementation of all Fair Housing laws? 3. How will you assure that HUD implements programs that will assist states in complying with the Olmstead decision? TRANSPORTATION 1. What would you do to expand access to affordable, accessible transportation for people with disabilities, especially in rural areas? EDUCATION 1. How would you ensure that students with disabilities are included within and accommodated as part of the accountability measures of No Child Left Behind? 2. Do you support full federal funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)? 3. What ideas do you have for strengthening federal enforcement of IDEA? 4. What ideas do you have for increasing the high school graduation rate of students served by IDEA? 5. How would you improve services for students transitioning from school to employment? How would you improve services for students transitioning from high school to higher education? TECHNOLOGY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS 1. Do you support legislative measures to require that Internet technologies be made accessible to and usable by people with disabilities? 2. What measures would you propose to ensure that consumer electronic and telecommunications devices are accessible to and usable by persons with disabilities? 3. How would you ensure enforcement of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act and Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act? 4. Would you support restoration of full funding for the Technology-related Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities Act programs? VOTING 1. What steps would you take as President to ensure that voters with disabilities are able to vote privately and independently, consistent with the requirements of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA)? 2. Would you require the Census Bureau, in its surveys of people with disabilities, to ask questions regarding whether the respondents are registered to vote and whether they voted in the last election? CIVIL RIGHTS 1. Of the existing members of the U.S. Supreme Court, which justices do you consider models for the kinds of federal judges you would appoint if elected president? 2. Do you support an ADA Restoration Act, such as the bill introduced in the last Congress? 3. What steps will you take to protect the diminishment of the civil rights protections under the ADA? INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS 1. Do you support U.S. ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol? If you'd like to contact these candidates' campaigns, and encourage them to respond to these issues, a list of the candidates' official websites' "contact us" pages is included above for your convenience. Most of the sites provide phone numbers, mailing addresses, and online forms on which you can enter questions or concerns. Use one or all of these methods to communicate with each candidate. Feel free to copy/paste the list of questions into the online form or print them off and mail them or fax them. Let's make sure every candidate acknowledges and responds to our concerns. Here is a listing of the candidates who received our questions, and their websites: DEMOCRATS: Joe Biden: www.joebiden.com Hillary Clinton: www.hillaryclinton.com Christopher Dodd: www.chrisdodd.com John Edwards: johnedwards.com Mike Gravel: www.gravel2008.us Dennis Kucinich: kucinich.us Barack Obama: my.barackobama.com Bill Richardson: www.richardsonforpresident.com REPUBLICANS: Sam Brownback: www.brownback.com Jim Gilmore: www.gilmoreforpresident.net Rudolph Giuliani: www.joinrudy2008.com Mike Huckabee: www.explorehuckabee.com Duncan Hunter: www.gohunter08.com John McCain: www.johnmccain.com Ron Paul: www.house.gov/paul/ Mitt Romney: ww.mittromney.com Tom Tancredo: tancredo.house.gov Tommy Thompson: www.tommy2008.com AAPD's Disability Mentoring Day Program Benefits All Participants in Your Community ... Mentees, Mentors and Local Coordinators Disability Mentoring Day (DMD) continues to be one of AAPD's major national stories. A grassroots-driven and organized, results-oriented national program, DMD has deep roots in local communities. It pairs students and job seekers with disabilities with employer mentors in every state in the country. DMD experiences are designed to lead to longer-term mentoring opportunities, internships, and employment for the mentee participants. Following are success stories from two of the newer DMD Local Coordinators: CATHY HOUSER, First-Time DMD Local Coordinator, Nashville, TN In 2005, Cathy Houser was a new account representative for Corporate Connections, a program administered by the University of Tennessee Center on Disability and Employment with funding from the Tennessee Division of Rehabilitation Services. Two of her clients participated in a DMD activity hosted by SunTrust Bank. This was Houser's first exposure to the program. In 2006, she became a Local Coordinator (LC). AAPDnews sat down with Houser recently to get her views on the program and its success and effective outcomes. Q. Why did you decide to become a LC? A. My ultimate goals are to make connections in my community with other service agencies and business groups, provide an outlet to honor employers who hire people with disabilities consistently, and offer mentoring opportunities year-round. DMD is an excellent way to do so . Q. Describe your DMD program - how did you know where to begin? A. My state DMD coordinator, Trish Farmer, provided invaluable guidance and support. She really helped me to move ahead with plans to host a DMD event. As a pilot program, I thought it would be more manageable if I worked with one company or employer who could host a small group of mentees. I approached Devra Courneya, a contact at Bridgestone Americas Holding, Inc., whom I met in January 2006 at a luncheon that focused on Bridgestone Americas' efforts to diversify their career force. Devra thought DMD was a great idea, too. Q. Why did Bridgestone Americas decide to participate? A. To quote Devra directly, "Promoting diversity within the workplace at all levels ensures our global competitiveness. Our teammates come from many different countries, cultures, and ethnicities. By blending the strengths of our diverse workforce, we've created a team that's uniquely qualified to serve the needs of our customers and the communities we call home." Q. How did you reach out to Bridgestone employees? A. Devra Courneya and her colleague, Shawn Bigham, arranged an informational meeting and sent a request to more than 800 Bridgestone employees to garner interest and recruit mentors. The response that Devra and Shawn received was so amazing that each mentee had an opportunity to meet with four mentors who specialized in that mentee's chosen discipline. Q. Tell us about your mentees. A. I worked with my colleagues from Corporate Connections and vocational rehabilitation to recruit mentees for DMD. Together, we were able to recruit ten job seekers to shadow mentors at Bridgestone Americas. Q. How did the day go? A. On DMD, mentees spent half-hour sessions with several mentors from various departments to learn about each individual's responsibilities and career tracks. When all the mentors and mentees convened at lunch to share their experiences, everybody was saying, "Yes, let's do this again next year." At the end of the day, mentors and mentees were exchanging phone numbers and email addresses, which I hope will lead to continued mentoring. Through the job-shadowing experience, Bridgestone employees also were able to identify potential candidates to hire. Employees from their finance department were so impressed with one mentee that they asked him to interview with the company. The outcome? That mentee was recently offered a full-time job and he started in his new position in June. Q. What are your plans for DMD2007? A. I hope to work with colleagues from partner organizations to establish a local organizing committee that will expand DMD. I'd also like to work more closely with student support services staff at the University to make it easier for college students with disabilities to participate in DMD. Shawn and Devra at Bridgestone Americas are already looking forward to hosting more mentees next year so they can engage more employees in the program. DMD was a very, very good experience. Should I ever be on the other side of the aisle, on the side of the employer, the one thing I would ask of the employees is to participate in DMD. BETH KIMMEL, First-Time DMD Local Coordinator, Orion Township, MI A former Executive Director for the Autism Society, Beth Kimmel's can-do attitude and passion for advocacy power everything she does. She has a teenage son with autism and stopped teaching after 10 years to earn a degree in career development facilitation. Now, Kimmel teaches classes about building business portfolios. AAPDnews recently spoke with her about DMD. Q. How did you get involved with DMD, and how does this involvement link with your own job? A. I've wanted to do something like DMD ever since I attended a charity golf outing and learned how committed the business people in my community were to opening the workplace to a more diverse culture. DMD participation was really my first big achievement at my new job at the Judson Center, where I manage the Autism Connections program. As an LC, I was able to map a grant, do press releases, and network within the community. Best of all, everyone was very supportive of why we were doing this. Q. How was your first experience as an LC? A. While I had very little time to prepare, I was able to place 20 students in various jobs across the city. I got mentees into the sheriff's office, the local CVS retail stores, and even a syndicated PBS show. Q. How do you approach the concept of inclusion with mentor organizations? A. Some employers get nervous when you talk about inclusion. But when they can see how real inclusion could look, they begin to see how easy it is to make great contributions. Q. How did you make connections between mentors and mentees? A. In my classes, I stress the importance of helping jobseekers with disabilities find jobs that truly meet their goals and ambitions. When we hear about disability, people usually just place these students in weird jobs that last two weeks, but there's a reason that inclusion is important. You need to offer the same goals - you just alter the supports. What is good practice for everyone is also good practice for people with disabilities. I ask each mentee to fill out a mentee application. For example, one of my students, Ross Brown, put down 'journalist' on his application. When I saw that, I said, "This is great - I'll just call Jerry Wolffe." Jerry is the disability columnist for the Oakland Press, and a friend of mine. Ultimately, this DMD experience helped Ross explore his many job options. He found out that he could be a writer. In 2005, Ross had already won a poster contest for the Michigan Council for Exceptional Children and hopes to one day write a book about his family. Q. What do you get from participating in DMD? A. It makes me happy to meet people through the program who are there to really make things different, to see people who share your own philosophy about the way things should work, and have the vision to see how there are real possibilities. DMD will be held in regions in every state around the U.S., as well as in more than 20 countries, on October 17, 2007. More than 16,000 students and job seekers with disabilities benefited from participation in the 2006 program, thanks to the coordination of more than 300 on-the-ground Local Coordinators like Cathy Houser and Beth Kimmel, and thousands of employers who served as mentors. To find out if there is a DMD program already set up in your community, visit the DMD section of the AAPD website at www.aapd.com. Or you can contact the AAPD national office by email at dmdaapd@aol.com. (Editor's Note: This article was submitted before the tragedy at Virginia Tech. The information contained in this article is more timely than ever.) State of Mine: Raising Mental Health Awareness on Campuses By Anisha Imhoff-Kerr Anisha Imhoff-Kerr is a 2006 Paul G. Hearne/ AAPD Leadership Award recipient who was recognized for her work on raising mental health awareness on college campuses. It is through her own experience as a college student with bipolar disorder, and her teachers' limited experience in dealing with disabled students, that she began advocating for ways to inform educators on how to support students with mental illness. Anisha established State of Mine to facilitate her work . For the past two years, State of Mine, a youth-oriented, non-profit behavioral advocacy organization based in New Mexico, has directed a mental health awareness campaign for institutions of higher education. Faculty forums, created in collaboration with the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department, and Parents for Behaviorally Different Children Advocacy Organization, were designed as a "crash course" in helping educators assist students with mental illnesses - a topic that is rarely discussed at colleges and universities, and for which almost no training or dialogue is offered. The faculty forums, held once every semester, were extremely successful, as demonstrated by the 45 individuals who attended the first one-hour forum. Presenters have included college students living with a mental illness; staff members from the special services department; trainers in psycho-social rehabilitation and recovery principles; and legal counsel on disability-rights law. In addition, awareness workshops were conducted to help individuals understand what it is like to live with a mental illness. "I see two major issues: educating the students about the resources that are available to them, and educating the faculty that mental illness is not a matter of choice or convenience. It is a very real hurdle that we should be helping our students overcome," said Rich Calabro, Associate Dean of the Math, Science and Engineering Division at the Central New Mexico Community College. In addition to the faculty forums, college students participated in the awareness campaign through State of Mine's Behavioral Health Awareness Competition. Through the competition, students produced public service announcements that were shown on campus TV stations and created billboard announcements that were posted across campus. Corporate support enabled State of Mine to award prizes for the competition. As a result of these initiatives, significant changes have taken place at the college. A special services committee was formed to help better address the needs of students with mental illnesses; professors were working harder to assist students; and students were becoming more aware of mental illness on campus and how to help their friends. For more information on the faculty forums, the presentations, or State of Mine, please contact Anisha Imhoff-Kerr, Executive Director of State of Mine, at (301) 828-7750 or by email at stateofmine2007@yahoo.com. In the Marketplace People with Disabilities More Likely to be Looking for Work By Andrew J. Houtenville, Ph.D. We often read about the employment gap between people with disabilities and those without. According to the 2005 Annual Disability Status Report, this employment gap stands at 40.3 percentage points in the United States. However, little information is available about people with disabilities who are not working. Here at the Cornell StatsRRTC, we frequently receive calls from employment service providers - such as state vocational rehabilitation agencies - asking questions such as, "how many people with disabilities who are not working want to go back to work or would go back to work with the right services?" In a new Cornell StatsRRTC Interactive Brief, we are attempting to dig deeper and provide statistics on the employment status of people with disabilities. For instance, in the U.S in 2005, 6.4 percent of the working-age population with disabilities (or 1.4 million individuals) reported that they were not working, but were actively looking for work. Among these people, 49.4 percent reported a physical disability, 62.1 percent had worked in the past 12 months, 71.8 percent had a high school education or more, 24.7 percent were ages 44-54, 7.4 percent reported receiving income from the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program benefits in the past year, and 7.3 percent reported receiving income from the Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) program in the past year. These and other exciting statistics may be found on www.DisabilityStatistics.org. At this website, you will be able to compare statistics for people with and without disabilities. You also may choose to view these statistics for the United States, a single state, the District of Columbia, or Puerto Rico. It is our hope that the information provided here will complement employment service providers' existing knowledge about the population they serve. The StatsRRTC is a collaborative effort of Cornell University, AAPD, and other leading research organizations. It is funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR). A new feature starting in this issue of AAPDnews Ask the Experts: The Place for Answers Stephen F. Gold is an attorney who specializes in civil rights and represents only persons with disabilities. His "Information Bulletins," which have a national circulation of more than 6,000 to advocates and persons with disabilities, have dealt with housing, nursing homes, education, and medical assistance. Q. As a person who has a disability and who does not have much disposable income, I need to find more affordable housing. Where can I look? A. There are a number of sources of affordable housing. However, it's important to understand that the criteria of 'affordable' varies from program to program. It's therefore important to ask the various programs how they define 'affordable.' Here are three places to look for 'affordable' housing. First, if you have access to the Internet, I would Google(c) your state's name and 'Housing Finance Agency' to see if it has a statewide listing of rental units by street address and telephone number. Many state housing finance agencies now list the 'low income housing tax credit units' by street address. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has a historical listing of these locations, too. Go to LIHTC.HUDUSER.ORG (there is no "www" prefix) and scroll down to your state. You can then search by city or county. Second, there is the HOME Investment Partnership program. If you live in a non-rural area, then there probably is a local governmental housing entity that administers HOME funds and will have the street addresses and telephone numbers. In the rural area, there is a state agency that administers the HOME funds. (If you have problems locating the agency, look up the HUD office nearest you and ask them for the telephone number of the agency in your area that administers the HOME program.) HOME units can be rental or home ownership. Third, HOME funds can also be used to provide Tenant Based Rental Assistance - a fancy name for a rent subsidy. If your HOME program provides these subsidies, they will help you afford to rent a unit. Q. I've lived in my house for many years, but I now need to renovate it to meet my accessibility needs - for example, I need a fully accessible bathroom and a ramp at my front door. Where can I find 'home modification' funds to make my house accessible? A. Home modification funds have become much more available in recent years. Many jurisdictions use federal and other funds to assist persons in making their homes accessible so that people with disabilities can continue living in them. Here are some suggestions where you might look for these funds. I'd begin by telephoning the Independent Living Center (and the Area Agency on Aging) that services your geographical area. Very often, they might know a specific fund of money just for home modifications for accessibility. However, if they do not know, here are two other places to look. Next, a number of local governmental and states use their federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds to help persons with disabilities make their houses accessible. Telephone your local and state housing agencies to find out if they use these funds for accessibility. If they do not, you might want to telephone your local elected officials to ask them to change the CDBG in the future. Elected officials are the folks who decide annually how to allocate the CDBG funds. If they do not hear from you, then they'll presume accessibility is not a problem for persons with disabilities. Finally, the HOME Investment Partnership funds can be used for 'rehabilitation,' which obviously includes accessibility. Ask them if they're using HOME funds to increase accessibility. HOME funds are administered both statewide and locally in more populated geographical areas. If you don't know what agency administers HOME funds in your area, telephone your regional HUD office for the information. Don't forget that AAPD members can apply for Access Loans through the Digital Federal Credit Union (DCU), with loans ranging up to $25,000. Visit www.dcu.org/prodserv/loans/ access.html for additional information. Standing Up for Women's Health Care Creating a Framework for Dialog and Policy The Commonwealth Fund and National Women's Law Center (NWLC) recently released a joint report confirming that women are more likely to go without health care due to high costs. The report, entitled Women and Health Coverage: The Affordability Gap also points out several significant points of inequality in the health care delivery system. The reports documents that women have higher out-of-pocket health care costs than men as a share of their income. Women earn less income than men, yet have more health care needs and use more services. Of all insured women, 16 percent have high medical costs and are underinsured. In contrast, nine percent of all insured men are considered "underinsured." The report goes on to note, that women are more likely to avoid accessing needed health care services because of cost. In addition, women are more likely than men to have difficulty obtaining needed health care whether they are insured (43 percent vs. 30 percent) or uninsured (68 percent vs. 49 percent). Women are more likely than men to not see a doctor or specialist, fill a prescription or get a medical test or treatment when needed. When it comes to medical bills and debt problems, women are more likely than men to have significant issues. Among the uninsured, 56 percent of women report difficulty in paying bills, as compared to 48 percent of men. Twenty-six percent of women were not able to pay their medical bills, as opposed to 19 percent of men. In an effort to ensure that these issues become part of the national health care debate, NWLC has released a companion issue brief, Women and Health Coverage: A Framework for Moving Forward, which examines health care reform proposals and their potential to address the particular challenges women face. Because the impact of any proposal on women varies dramatically, the issue brief outlines a list of key questions that can be used to determine which policies would be most beneficial for them. Those questions include: • Do proposed policies enable individuals outside the labor force to obtain coverage? • Are there subsidies to ensure that low-income individuals can afford health care? • Are there policies in place to ensure that health plans provide comprehensive benefits? As health care reform proposals continue to emerge, NWLC will evaluate the plans to ensure that they address the unique issues women face. With the number of uninsured and underinsured people growing annually, now is the time to implement policies that truly meet the needs of both women and men in this country. Monitoring the ADA Establishing Steps to Equal Access In monitoring the ADA's impact, The National Council on Disability (NCD) has determined that Americans with disabilities do not have equal access to quality health care and health promotion services. This results from poor ADA implementation and enforcement in health care facilities, deficiencies in access to health insurance and coverage, and inadequate training of health care professionals. Many Americans with disabilities have little or no access to high quality health care. The lack of access can be particularly problematic for service members and veterans with disabilities, women with disabilities, individuals with communication disabilities, people who are blind, people with speech impairments, or people with intellectual disabilities. Many of these people face unemployment, poverty, homelessness, the development of secondary health conditions, and a shortened life span. NCD seeks to partner with a variety of organizations to conduct a study of the state of health care for Americans with disabilities. Contact the NCD if you wish to include your organization in the study. An NCD report blending a similar mix of perspectives can be viewed in The Current State of Transportation for People with Disabilities in the United States (June 2005) at www.ncd.gov/newsroom/publications/ 2005/current_state.htm. Buck v. Bell 80 Years Later The Effects of the Eugenics Movement Still Echo May 2, 2007, marked the 80th anniversary of the disgraceful Supreme Court decision in which forcible sterilization of people with disabilities was deemed to be in the best interests of society. The same decision also appallingly referred to people with disabilities as "feeble-minded," "mental defectives," "a menace," "defective persons," "those who ... sap the strength of the State," "degenerate," "imbeciles," and "manifestly unfit." The case, Buck v. Bell, challenged the constitutionality of the involuntary sterilization law of the Commonwealth of Virginia. At the time, 35 other states had similar sterilization laws of their own. These laws were enacted under the faulty premise that people with a variety of disabilities - as well as those not proficient in English, racial minorities, and the poor - represented "bad" or "undesirable" genetic traits and should not be allowed to reproduce. To ensure such people did not have children, states passed involuntary sterilization laws and began witch-hunts to locate and round up "undesirables" for sterilization. Many times, the states did not even disclose to the individual what surgical procedure would be carried out on them. Following World War I, many states - including Virginia - began putting anyone deemed socially "unfit" in institutions called homes for the "feeble-minded." Carrie Buck's widowed mother, Emma, was placed in one of these homes because she was destitute and had previously been convicted of prostitution. Carrie, the only child from the marriage, was placed with another family, where she remained for many years and proved herself to be a good student. In 1923, Carrie was raped, allegedly by an extended family member, and became pregnant. Her surrogate family did not believe her account of the rape and instead filed commitment papers that declared Carrie "feeble-minded." In 1924, Virginia enacted sterilization laws targeting the so-called "feeble-minded." With animus mounting for all social "outcasts," doctors were quick to pronounce Carrie's out-of-wedlock daughter, Vivian, "feeble-minded," too, at just three years of age. Presented with the "evidence" of a familial pattern of "feeble-mindedness," the Supreme Court quickly decided that Carrie's sterilization as well as the sterilization of any "feeble-minded" individual - was justifiable, and indeed of benefit to society. Although Oliver Wendell Holmes's entire written opinion is dismaying, his most often-remembered words are, "It is better for all the world, if instead of waiting to execute degenerate offspring for their crime, or to let them starve for their imbecility, society can prevent those who are manifestly unfit from continuing their kind ... three generations of imbeciles is enough. "Once Carrie's sterilization was upheld by the Supreme Court, many states that were previously reluctant to execute their own sterilization laws proceeded to sterilize their "unfit" citizenry at an appalling rate. By 1974, greater than 65,000 reported cases of forcible sterilization had occurred in the United States. In the last decade, several states have taken steps to acknowledge and apologize for their role in the American eugenics movement. Virginia, Oregon, North Carolina, South Carolina, and California have issued apologies. Virginia erected a roadside historical marker to acknowledge the state's role in eugenics. California passed a resolution to never repeat its eugenics history. And now, in 2007, Georgia is considering joining those states that have formally apologized, and North Carolina is considering legislation that would provide reparations to victims of its forcible sterilizations. Georgia, responsible for approximately 3,300 involuntary sterilizations - some of which occurred as recently as 1970 - is currently considering House Resolution 122. In this bill, the Legislature would articulate "profound regret for Georgia's participation in the eugenics movement in the United States." Advocates feel the resolution would, at a minimum, help raise public awareness of American eugenics. The proposed resolution has been referred to Georgia House Health and Human Services Committee and is not expected to be heard during this session. Unfortunately, other states have been slow to repeal laws authorizing involuntary sterilizations. In 2003, North Carolina, a state responsible for approximately 7,600 forcible sterilizations, repealed the law that legalized involuntary sterilizations within the state. Also in 2003, a panel appointed by Governor Mike Easley recommended that the approximately 3,400 victims who are still alive should receive counseling and medical benefits, although no action has been taken on this issue as of yet. Now, Rep. Earl Jones and Rep. Larry Womble are primary cosponsors of a bill (H.B. 296) that would authorize the state to pay $50,000 to surviving victims of the state's sterilization program. The bill has been referred to the House Appropriations Committee where stiff opposition is expected because of budgetary concerns. Carrie Buck died in a nursing home in 1983, nine years before Virginia apologized for her sterilization and those performed on thousands of others. Given the inhumanity of the eugenics movement, the apologies continue to provide much too little, entirely too late. Curious what exactly was said about us in the case? Read the entire Supreme Court decision at supreme.justia.com/us/274/200/case.html Membership in AAPD Why It's Important to Stay Current There are so many important reasons to maintain an individual membership in AAPD. Just ask Brian Alan Peaceman, a member since 1998. Brian became an AAPD member because, "... the organization represents the disability community as a whole, regardless of your personal situation or economic status." In particular, AAPD's membership benefit program, the Digital Credit Union (DCU), helped Brian and his partner to finance the purchase of a new accessible vehicle. Brian's AAPD membership also allowed him to secure life insurance through the Glatfelter Agency of York, Pennsylvania. Brian's AAPD membership also helps him stay current on issues facing the disability community, while keeping him up-to-date on the specific legislative issues that directly impact people with disabilities. After reading an article in AAPDnews concerning Medicare cutbacks and their impact on access to assistive devices, Brian contacted his congressman, Rep. Jim Gerlach (R-PA) to discuss the importance of funding to support the purchase of assistive devices - particularly motorized wheelchairs - for people with disabilities. Over the course of the meeting, Congressman Gerlach promised to lend his support to issues related to people with disabilities. To learn more about AAPD membership, or to renew an existing membership, visit AAPD at www.aapd.com today. We Want To Hear Your Personal Stories AAPDnews is your newsletter. Please take a moment to email or write Diane DeAngelis, Director of Marketing and Member Services, with your comments and stories about what it means to you to be an AAPD member, how AAPD has played a role in your personal experience, and what you derive from your AAPD membership. Also be sure to express any comments you would like to share with this newsletter's readers Comments and stories will be published in future issues of AAPDnews. Diane DeAngelis can be reached at aapdmemberservices@earthlink.net. Are You Receiving JFA Email Alerts? If not, would you like to receive these advocacy alerts distributed by AAPD? Subscribe by sending an email to: majordomo@jfanow.org and type in the words SUBSCRIBE JUSTICE in both the subject and message parts of the email. 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