AAPDnews Summer 2006 Inside Conversation with Newest EEOC Commissioner Washington News IBM Offers Contest Midterm Elections EEOC Meets to Examine Decline in Federal Employees with Targeted Disabilities On June 28, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) moved to address the decade-long decline in the number of individuals with targeted disabilities employed by the federal government by convening a public meeting designed to examine the barriers facing people with targeted disabilities in obtaining federal employment as well focus on new and existing strategies to eliminate those barriers. The meeting was arranged by newly appointed EEOC Commissioner Christine Griffin (see interview page 3) and featured testimony from disability rights organizations, private employer representatives, people with disabilities and key federal agency personnel. Among those individuals were Joyce Bender, CEO, Bender Consulting Services, Inc. and an AAPD board member and Gwen Gillenwater, AAPD’s Senior Director of Policy, Outreach and Field Activities. EEOC Chair Cari M. Dominguez opened the meeting by stating that within the federal government, the Commission’s roles are to oversee the equal employment programs of all federal agencies and to help agencies advance the shared goal of making the federal government a model workplace, a model for inclusion, for access and opportunity for all. She continued, “While there has been much progress in many areas, there is one area where all would agree that results continue to be less than satisfactory in spite of the best intentions and the best initiatives, beginning with President Bush’s New Freedom Initiative, the Management Agenda, and all things designed to insure full access and inclusion and the full utilization of our human capital. In spite of all these efforts, we still seem to have some barriers and some issues, and so we’re seeing the number of individuals with targeted disabilities continuing to decline for the last decade in the federal employment sector, and of course this trend is of great concern.” In her opening remarks, Commissioner Griffin said, “When considering both the permanent and the temporary workforce, the percentage of people with targeted disabilities in fiscal year 2005, which is the last reporting period we have numbers on, is exactly the same as it was back in 1984. So 22 years later, and we really have not made a lot of progress. This, despite the affirmative action requirement outlined in the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, requiring each Executive Branch agency to develop, commit to and implement plans for hiring, placement and advancement of individuals with disabilities. Twenty-two years, and no progress despite Executive Order 13163 signed in July of 2000 outlining an expectation that the federal government would hire 100,000 people with disabilities over five years following the Executive Order date of issuance.” She added, “It is 2006, and that Order really hasn’t yielded the results we hoped it would, so I began asking myself and others how can this be? Why is this the case? As I’m sure most of you know, the answer is not simple. It’s as diverse and complex as the disability community is itself. It is vital that we get a handle on this problem.” Griffin’s reference to a “problem” fed directly into AAPD board member Joyce Bender’s testimony. She quickly stated in her opening remarks that if she expresses a problem, she will also offer a solution – it is how she has always managed her business. Bender said, “I believe that the federal agencies should take the lead in America addressing this national tragedy of extremely high unemployment for Americans with significant disabilities. First, I believe to create change it must come from the top. Just as in the private sector, I need the commitment from the top – the CEO. You will need commitment from the top, the Cabinet head. If the leader of a federal agency embraces this initiative, it will happen. Second, I believe each agency should target positions for Americans with significant disabilities and maintain the promise of opportunity and freedom offered by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Don’t talk about it – do something. We need specific targeted positions in every federal agency for Americans with disabilities and we need it today. And, this will not occur unless leaders in each federal agency take a stand and demand that competitive positions are targeted for Americans with significant disabilities. This means setting aside positions for Americans with significant disabilities. Third, if only 35% of Americans with significant disabilities who want to work are actually working today, this group has an extremely high unemployment issue. Do not target senior positions. The majority of Americans with significant disabilities that Bender has employed are entry-level professional candidates. They have the academic background and often internship experience, but not hard work experience. If you understand this group of people has the highest unemployment, you must be willing to hire at a professional entry-level. In addition, I believe each federal agency should make the competitive employment of Americans with significant disabilities part of their diversity initiative and educational programs year-round, not just within the month of October. Celebrating for only one month is not breaking down those attitudinal walls. Finally, I believe each agency should put in place a mentoring program for people with significant disabilities employed in each federal agency, to insure success and promotability. People with significant disabilities do not need a job – they need a career. When we see Americans with significant disabilities as hiring managers, we will see true change.” Following Joyce Bender, AAPD’s Gwen Gillenwater opened her testimony by reading a letter written by AAPD President and CEO Andrew Imparato titled A Model Employer?. Gillenwater read from a lengthy list of suggestions representing the thinking of AAPD. Among the more than 50 suggestions were a few for the White House, including: • Agencies need to be held accountable for showing an annual increase of permanent employment of people with targeted disabilities of 1/2 of 1% each year. • A study on why people with targeted disabilities left the government at the rate of three times more than non-disabled employees needs to be outsourced and published within one year. • The Administration needs to discontinue Disability Employment Awareness Month observances because they are a drain on staff time and resources if they do not in fact lead to improvements in hiring, promotion or retention of individuals with disabilities. If these events are not discontinued, then instead develop guidelines and strategies to guide agencies into holding observance events that directly contribute to improvements. • The White House needs to require each agency to have a centralized fund for accommodations that is large enough to cover all requests and a line item in their budget to cover accommodations. • All agencies should be required to have a Disability Program Manager or other individual delegated the authority to oversee the provision of accommodations. Others individuals addressing the group included Carlton M. Hadden, Director of the Office of Federal Operations, EEOC; Dinah Cohen, Director, Computer/Electronic Accommodations Program, U.S. Department of Defense; Heidi Burghardt, Vice Executive Director, Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Government; Judy Caden, Director of Vocational Rehabilitation & Employment, Department of Veterans’ Administration; and representatives from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Social Security Administration. Chair Dominguez ended the event by asking Commissioner Griffin to lead an initiative that will be charged with coming up with a series of recommendations, which will be designed to insure the full and inclusive utilization of people with targeted disabilities in federal employment. For more information and a full copy of the day’s proceedings go to http://www.eeoc.gov/abouteeoc/meetings/6-28-06/transcript.html. College Students with Disabilities Speak Out on Employment Policy By Suzanne Bruyere Director, Employment and Disability Institute – Cornell University On July 28, policymakers, disability advocates and others listened to a panel of four extraordinary young people with disabilities who served as AAPD interns in Washington, D.C., during the 2006 summer. Panelists were Angela Kuhn (Indiana State University), intern with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); Jeffrey McCaffrey (University of Missouri-Kansas City), intern with Senator Michael B. Enzi (R-WY); Ahmed Salem (Cornell University), intern with Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) and Kristen Schiavone ( James Madison University), intern with Congressman Steny Hoyer. The event, “Disability and Employment Policy: Current College Students with Disabilities Offer Suggestions for Improving Outcomes for Young Adults,” was the third of a series of policy forums co-sponsored by Cornell University and AAPD. Panelist Ahmed Salem, an AAPD Congressional intern. The panelists spoke candidly about their internship experiences as well as their disabilities — affording the audience an opportunity to learn first-hand about systems barriers and needed policy improvements to enhance the transition from school to adult living, learning and earning. Recommendations from the panelists included providing incentives and subsidies to individual students to assist in accessing post-secondary education. They also recommended awareness training for colleges on how to facilitate the entrance of students with disabilities. The experiences shared by the four panelists parallel findings from Cornell’s school-to-work transition research. Panelists and research agree that it is critical for both researchers and policy makers to understand the interaction of school and non-school programs on the economic decisions of youth with disabilities. It is also critical to fairly accommodate individuals from different socio-economic backgrounds with certain types of disabilities in the transition planning process and to develop local services and supports that are accessible and customized to meet individual needs. Upcoming Cornell University/AAPD policy forum events scheduled for later 2006 include such topics as health care, workplace flexibility and technology access. These forums are made possible by funding from the U.S. Department of Education National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research. From left to right: Kristin Schiavone, Jeffrey McCaffrey and Angela Kuhn. Disability Mentoring Day (DMD) Disability Mentoring Day (DMD), which began in Washington D.C. in 1999 with less than 100 mentees, has exploded into a major international event with more than 13,000 mentees, 10,000 mentors and 350 local coordinators. For the 2005 program last fall, all 50 states and 20 countries reported participation in either a one-day event or ongoing year-round programs. This year, DMD will be commemorated on October 18. So, it is definitely not too late to get involved and participate, as either a mentee or mentor, and reap the benefits of your participation. AAPD will show you how to participate and will provide you with all of the information you need to be successful. Of course, none of this could be possible without the generous support of AAPD’s 2006 partners and sponsors: Darden Restaurants is the Lead Sponsor; the Social Security Administration is the Lead Public Sponsor; SAP is sponsor of Disability MentorNet; Verizon is Lead National Corporate Sponsor; and there are a host of additional sponsors. For more information, including a complete sponsor list, please visit AAPD’s website at www.aapd.com. Mentee Brandon Quinones spent 2005 DMD job-shadowing employees at a tire store in Hazard, KY. AAPD MEMBERS Achieving Economic Success Dear Members: When the AAPD Board of Directors last year established ten goals to drive AAPD’s growth and direction in its second decade, AAPD committed to working externally with its members, the broader disability community, and diverse partners so that people with disabilities will “achieve economic success.” Under this goal, AAPD committed to “lead an effort to transform public and private disability benefits and health insurance policy so that people with disabilities have real opportunities to earn a living wage and, regardless of employment status, acquire assets, achieve financial security, and obtain quality, affordable health care and long-term services and supports in the community.” When these laudable goals are held up against the reality of poverty, joblessness, underemployment, and shrinking budgets for Medicaid, housing subsidies, and other critical supports, it is clear that we have our work cut out for us. In pursuit of the economic success goal, AAPD staff have positioned themselves strategically to help transform some of our largest federal programs so that they truly facilitate economic well being for people with significant disabilities. AAPD’s Senior Director for Public Policy, Outreach and Field Activities, Gwen Gillenwater, has been using her position as a voting member of the Medicaid Commission appointed by HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt to help reshape the Medicaid program in a manner that gives individuals real choices in where and how they live their lives by eliminating the institutional bias and expanding options for workers with significant disabilities who want to purchase Medicaid as a wraparound to cover things not covered by their private insurance policies. In my role as a Senate appointee to the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Advisory Panel, I am chairing a “Transformation Committee” and working with diverse stakeholders to develop a bipartisan “National Employment Investment Policy to transform approaches to assets, income, health care and supports for people with disabilities that is person-centered, culturally competent, and respectful of each person’s values and experiences.” The Panel’s strategic plan goes on to state that our recommended policies will be “grounded in the belief that all people should be afforded a meaningful opportunity to participate in the economic mainstream and obtain health insurance, with or without ongoing supports and services.” Alongside my role on the Ticket Panel, I served on an expert panel assembled by the Social Security Advisory Board for the past several months that was charged with helping the Advisory Board develop bipartisan policy recommendations that would result in greater employment opportunities and outcomes for people with significant disabilities who would typically qualify for SSI or SSDI. Although the details of AAPD’s new approach to public and private disability benefits and health insurance policy are still being worked out, it is clear to me that there is bipartisan interest in: • Giving people with significant disabilities more choices and where and how they receive the supports and services they need; • Creating new pathways for youth and young adults with disabilities to increase their skills, obtain a quality education, and launch a career that does not require them to swear to the government that they are unable to work in order to get critical healthcare and long-term supports and services; • Easing the way for people with disabilities to experiment with work, save money, and acquire assets like a home without jeopardizing their eligibility for benefits; • Proving greater supports and incentives for newly-disabled adults to maintain an attachment to the workforce and avoid the involuntary early retirement that too often accompanies an adult onset disability; and • Expanding buy-ins and tax credits in a manner that helps to make work pay economically for people who have high support costs and limited earning potential. I encourage AAPD members to share with me your ideas about how best to transform America’s approach to benefits and health care so that people with significant disabilities and their families are able to participate more fully in the economic mainstream and enjoy a higher quality of life. In closing, I want to acknowledge that accomplishing transformational change will not be easy. Some will argue that any transformational change will do harm to the safety net and result in a net loss for our community. Some will argue that we cannot afford to make the up-front investments in new policies and programs that may take decades to realize a return on those investments. Many are profiting from the status quo, and many will fight strongly the kind of transformational change we envision. As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. reminded the African American community in 1967, our “nettlesome task … is to discover how to organize our strength into compelling power so that government cannot elude our demands. We must develop, from strength, a situation in which the government finds it wise and prudent to collaborate with us. It would be the height of naiveté to wait passively until the administration had somehow been infused with such blessings of good will that it implored us for our programs.” Andrew J. Imparato AAPD President and CEO AAPD Accepted into the Largest Workplace-Giving Program in the World You Can Contribute to AAPD Through the CFC Beginning This Fall AAPD has been accepted into the Combined Federal Campaigns (CFC), the largest workplace-giving program in the world. The CFC is a great and highly convenient way for federal employees – federal, postal service and military personnel – to make contributions to the charity of their choice. It is also one of the most cost-efficient fundraising methods available because Federal employees combine their resources into one coordinated appeal. Contributions can be either one-time gifts or fulfilled through a designated payroll deduction. Now that AAPD has been accepted into this workplace-giving program, we hope that many federal employees will designate AAPD as their charity of choice when selecting a recipient of their giving through the CFC this year. As a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, AAPD relies on the generosity of members and other individuals, as well as corporations and foundations, to make its national programs and policy activities possible. So we ask members and friends who work in the federal sector to select AAPD this year when they contribute through the CFC. If you’d like to learn more about how AAPD expends its funds for programming (in 2005, 86% of spending went to programs), please remember that its annual reports are posted on the website at www.aapd.com. Please check with your workplace-giving administrator to ensure accuracy or visit the website at www.opm.gov/cfc/ and remember to write AAPD, CFC code #1091 on your CFC pledge card this fall. Thank you for your support in this way! A Conversation with Christine M. Griffin, Commissioner, U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission (EEOC), About the Employment of People with Disabilities in the Federal Sector Christine M. Griffin is the first person with a disability to be appointed a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commissioner. As one of just five members of the Commission, Griffin participates with other Commissioners on all matters that come before it, including the development and approval of enforcement policies, authorization of litigation, issuance of Commissioners’ charges of discrimination and performance of such other functions as may be authorized by law, regulation or order. Griffin’s work experience in labor and employment law includes positions in both the public and private sectors. Most recently, she served as the Executive Director of the Disability Law Center in Boston, which provides legal advocacy on disability issues that promote the fundamental rights of all people with disabilities to participate fully and equally in the social and economic life of Massachusetts. Prior to that, she served as an Attorney Advisor to the former Vice Chair of the EEOC, Paul M. Igasaki, advising him on legal matters and policy issues. AAPDnews recently had the opportunity to sit down with Commissioner Griffin and pose questions to her regarding the EEOC, her position as Commissioner and the federal government as it relates to the hiring and retaining of people with disabilities. We are pleased to share with readers her responses, as printed below. What role is the EEOC playing today in ensuring the protection of people with disabilities in the workplace and civil rights in the workplace? The EEOC plays a significant role, for example, enforcing the following laws that prohibit discrimination in the workplace: •Title I and Title V of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), which prohibit employment discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities in the private sector, and in state and local governments; • Sections 501 and 505 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which prohibit discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities who work in the federal government; • Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin; • the Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA), which protects men and women who perform substantially equal work in the same establishment from sex-based wage discrimination; • the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA), which protects individuals who are 40 years of age or older and • the Civil Rights Act of 1991, which, among other things, provides monetary damages in cases of intentional employment discrimination. At the EEOC, disability related cases make up approximately 20% of the entire case load. What should the federal and state governments do to set an example of hiring people with disabilities? In the federal sector, there are approximately 2.6 million employees, but only 25,000 are persons with targeted disabilities. Although the federal workforce increased by 78,000 in just the last year, the number of employees with disabilities decreased within that same year. The number of federal employees with disabilities is at its lowest rate ever – less than 1% of all federal employees. The EEOC held a Commission meeting recently to address specifically how the government is failing to set an example in the hiring of people with disabilities. More than 200 people attended this meeting at EEOC headquarters – a clear indication that there is tremendous interest in this critical issue. Cari Dominguez, Chair of the EEOC, asked me to lead an initiative to build upon the information we received at the meeting and come up with a series of recommendations designed to ensure the full and inclusive utilization of people with targeted disabilities in the federal government. We are calling this initiative LEAD – Leadership for the Employment of Americans with Disabilities. Such an EEOC initiative is a natural extension of and would dovetail nicely with the President’s New Freedom Initiative and the President’s Management Agenda, which calls upon all federal agencies to develop human capital strategies of opportunity and inclusion that enable the government to take full advantage of the talents, skills and abilities of people with disabilities. Full inclusion in the federal government for Americans with targeted disabilities makes sense for a number of reasons: 1. The President and Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Springer talk about the impending retirement of federal employees. The predictions are that 40% of the federal workforce will retire between 2006 and 2015. The federal government must tap every resource to ensure that the government’s greatest asset, its employees, are top notch. That includes the untapped resource of people with targeted disabilities. This is a perfect time to start planning outreach efforts that will result in the hiring of people with disabilities. It is also a good time to ensure that current federal employees with targeted disabilities are being promoted by advancing them into those vacant positions. 2. The unemployment rate for people with disabilities is estimated to be 63%. Compare this to the overall unemployment rate of less than 5%. Moving people with targeted disabilities who want to work from public assistance into the workforce impacts the bottom line for all Americans. It has been almost 33 years since President Nixon signed the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. This groundbreaking piece of legislation provided for the protection against disability related discrimination by any federal agency. Seventeen years later, the ADA extended those same protections beyond the federal government to employees and applicants in the private sector. We must come up with ways to get leadership focused on this issue. From the President to Cabinet Secretaries and other heads of agencies – it is leadership that must communicate that this issue is important to them and that measurable goals will be developed and their implementation required. What gets measured gets done. LEAD will be having discussions with a number of focus groups throughout the fall to ensure that we are developing the best recommendations for the agencies. However, an agency that is really interested in hiring people with targeted disabilities should familiarize itself with some hiring authorities like Schedule A that will allow them to hire people with targeted disabilities outside of the competitive process. OPM has just issued new regulations and guidance regarding the use of Schedule A. What should/can we do to erase the attitudinal barriers that keep people with significant disabilities from getting into the competitive employment pool in the U.S.? I think the best way to eliminate the fears, myths and stereotypes that act as barriers to employment of people with disabilities is to just hire people with disabilities. The more people with disabilities that we have in the workforce, the sooner we will see the attitudinal barriers begin to melt and disappear. The federal government is the perfect place to start. There is an affirmative duty to hire people with disabilities and the enforcement of that duty will not only bring many more people with disabilities into the workforce, but the federal government will finally become the model employer that President Theodore Roosevelt envisioned in his State of the Union Address in 1907. In that address he said, “the national government should be a model employer. It should demand the highest quality of service from each of its employees and it should care for all of them properly in return.” AAPD Elects Four New Board Members AAPD is delighted to announce that four outstanding individuals and advocates were recently elected to its Board of Directors. They are: Richard A. Knowles, Senior Vice President, North American Operations and Communications, SAP America, Inc.; Linda Chavez Thompson, AFL-CIO Executive Vice President; Leslie E. Schmid, most recently a marketing executive with PPG Industries, Inc.; and Betty Williams, President, Self-Advocates of Indiana, Inc. and a student at Indiana University. For a complete AAPD Board of Directors list, go to http://www.aapd.com/docs/info. php# board. WASHINGTON NEWS New IDEA Regulations Available on Website U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings recently announced the new regulations for Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The final regulations conclude a process that began in January 2005 with a series of public meetings to receive input on the development of these new rules. The Department of Education held seven meetings around the country to invite comments on the proposed regulations. The Department of Education has prepared a user-friendly package to help guide the public through these changes. Once the final regulations are published in the Federal Register, the Department will also publish and widely disseminate through its website a set of model forms for individualized education programs (IEPs), notices of procedural safeguards and prior written notices as required under IDEA. The final regulations will become effective 60 days after publication in the Federal Register. A fact sheet on the new regulations can be found at www.ed.gov/ admins/lead/speced/ideafactsheet.html. Medicare Denies iBOT® Coverage On July 27, 2006, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a decision that amounts to a denial of coverage for the iBOT® 4000 Mobility System, a mobility device for people with disabilities that climbs stairs and other obstacles. In its decision, CMS declined to create a new benefit category for the technology. Since Medicare only covers the “least costly alternative” device, no Medicare beneficiary will realistically have access to the iBOT. The Independence Through Enhancement of Medicare and Medicaid (ITEM) Coalition, a group of 74 member organizations, including AAPD, issued a press release on July 31 blasting the decision. ITEM stated, “CMS has established unattainable standards of evidence for coverage of new assistive devices and unreasonable clinical efficacy requirements.” ITEM coalition member Lee Page of the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) said, “It is hard to understand why Medicare is denying coverage of a device that other federal health programs, such as the Veteran’s Administration, have chosen to cover for their beneficiaries.” AAPD fears the decision will create a ripple effect that will discourage development and coverage of other new technologies for people with disabilities and believes this is an example of inconsistency in federal government policy. For more information on this decision, go to www.cms.hhs.gov/mcd/ncpc_view_document. asp?id=5#dm. For more information on ITEM, visit www.itemcoalition.org. AAPD’s resolution about technology is on its website at www.aapd.com/policies/so060626tech.htm. Telecommunications Accessibility Currently in Senate and House Bills Telecommunications accessibility for people with disabilities will show significant gains if the Senate version of the “Advanced Telecommunications and Opportunity Reform Act” (S.2686) is passed and later enacted. The Senate bill’s disability provisions include re-instatement of video description regulations by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), with the new regulations issued in the context of the transition from analog to digital TV transmission (the cut-off for analog TV is February 17, 2009). Another provision requires Voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephones and VoIP services providers be subject to three existing laws that wireless and wire line carriers must currently follow.These existing laws are Section 255 of the Telecom Act (accessibility for people with disabilities, such as providing Braille billing); compliance with the Hearing Aid Compatibility Act; and interconnection with telecommunications relay services. Other requirements are a report to Congress and disability representation on the Digital TV Working Group, an advisory council charged with helping the public learn about the digital TV transition. The House measure, H.R. 5252, contains weaker disability accessibility requirements. Both the Senate and House measures are efforts to federalize TV franchising, to allow cable TV and telephone companies to sell TV service without having to make local franchise agreements with the thousands of state and local government entities that currently authorize such service. Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Bill Nelson (D-FL) were instrumental in ensuring that many of the disability provisions were well crafted in the Senate version, and Representative Jay Inslee (D-WA) offered the disability amendment in the House measure. For further information and updates, contact Jenifer Simpson at AAPD by email, aapdjenifer@aol.com. Harkin Introduces Bill to Improve Medical Access for People with Disabilities On July 24, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) introduced legislation to establish accessibility standards for medical diagnostic equipment and create wellness grants to fund health programs that focus on the unique challenges faced by individuals with disabilities. When introducing this bill Harkin said, “We must recognize the unique situation of individuals with disabilities and work to make certain they are not limited in their access to quality medical care, or in their opportunities for health and wellness. We want to set standards, ensure proper funding and make certain that medical professionals receive the appropriate training so that they can provide the best quality care for all.” Harkin’s Promoting Wellness for Individuals with Disabilities Act of 2006 also creates a National Advisory Committee on Wellness for Individuals with Disabilities. This board would set priorities, review grant proposals, make recommendations for funding and evaluate the progress of the program. In addition, the legislation requires medical and dental schools, along with their residency programs, to increase training to improve competency and clinical skills in providing care to people with intellectual disabilities. For more Legislative news issues go to www.aapd.com/News/legislature/indexlegislature.php Social Security Announces Online Employment Related Reference The Social Security Administration has recently published an online resource, The Red Book, detailing the employment related provisions of Social Security Disability Insurance and the Supplemental Security Income Programs. The Red Book was designed as a resource for educators, advocates, rehabilitation professionals and counselors who serve people with disabilities and is available in English and Spanish as well as in large print. The Red Book can be found at www.socialsecurity.gov/disabilityresearch/ redbook.htm. CMS Announces “Money Follows the Person” Grant This past July, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a new $1.75 billion competitive grant program, “Money Follows the Person,” that would award states grants over the next five years to transition people with disabilities and senior citizens from institutionalized care to home or community-based services, giving Medicaid recipients more options. These grants are a part of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. Proposals outlining plans to transition Medicare recipients residing in institutional settings for at least six months into home or community based services are due to CMS November 1, 2006. Grants will be awarded January 1, 2007 through September 30, 2011. CMS will also reward states extra points for including plans to work with housing finance agencies. More grant information can be found at www.grants.gov. State Medicaid Agencies must be the lead applicants. Georgia Settles Civil Rights Suit According to a June 29 article in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the State of Georgia has settled a civil rights lawsuit from seven Georgians with physical disabilities by creating more opportunities and funding for thousands of people with physical disabilities to live in their homes and communities instead of nursing homes. The agreement cites a state program that will spend $4.3 million during the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2006 to offer community services to 1,000 more people, ranging from home-delivered meals and home health aides to physical, speech and occupational therapy. The lawsuit, filed in 2003, alleged that forcing people with physical disabilities to live in nursing homes violated the ADA and other laws. The suit demanded the state provide services so they could move into a community setting if they chose that alternative. NEWSLETTER SPONSOR IBM Equips Computer Science Students with Skills to Make Software More Accessible to Users with Disabilities Launches Contest to Challenge Students to Develop Accessible Software This August, IBM announced a program is open to equip computer science majors at colleges and universities with the technical skills to develop or adapt computer programs for people with disabilities, the maturing population and non-native language speakers, so they can more easily access, navigate and use the web and electronic documents. Just in time for the fall semester, IBM is posting a web-based multimedia lecture that provides programming techniques associated with making computer files and the web more accessible to all users. As part of the program, IBM is also launching a contest , IBM Accessibility ODF Coding Challenge 2006, which challenges students to propose or design software for people with disabilities. IBM Accessibility ODF Challenge 2006 is a chance to showcase one’s unique brand of creative genius. The contest is divided into two phases and will require participants to do a little homework on open standards, open source and accessibility. Prizes are offered in both phases of the competition. The first 200 students in each region who successfully complete Phase 1 and pass the online quiz will receive a t-shirt. Phase two prizes are ten Apple iPod Nanos plus two grand prizes of Lenono ThinkPads and trips to the 22nd annual International Technology and Persons with Disabilities Conference. Phase One, which ends October 31, is open to student developers at all levels of expertise. Phase two will require the students to write some code. Phase two begins September 1 and ends November 15. “These programs are an effort by IBM to foster innovation that really matters,” said Frances West, Director, IBM Human Ability and Accessibility Center, and also a member of AAPD’s board of directors. “We’re distilling our extensive experience and know-how when it comes to accessibility, and bringing it to bear for the generation of computer scientists in training, to offer community services a contest, IBM Accessibility ODF Coding Challenge who can really make a difference in their professional careers. IBM has been involved in accessibility matters to physical, speech and to showcase one’s unique brand of creative genius. since it hired its first employee with a disability in 1914. It has developed many dozens of products, such as screen magnifiers, narrators and stabilizers that make computers more accessible to all. IBM operates several human ability and accessibility centers around the world and has more than 100 researchers, computer scientists and experts that advance the state of the accessibility art. More information on IBM Accessibility ODF Coding Challenge 2006 can be found at www.ibm.com/able/contest/. AAPD Celebrates ADA Anniversary with Event in Washington, D.C. On July 26, AAPD celebrated the 16th anniversary of the ADA at an event on Capitol Hill, and honored five champions of the ADA through the presentation of Justice for All Awards. AAPD, which was founded in 1995 on the fifth anniversary of the ADA, annually sponsors an event to commemorate the ADA anniversary and at which to present Justice for All Awards as a way of recognizing individuals who have proven to be extraordinary champions of political and economic empowerment for people with disabilities. This year’s award recipients were Congressional champions of disability rights, Representatives Danny Davis (D-IL) and Jim Ramstad (R-MN); Pennsylvania SILC Executive Director, Corey Rowley; ADAPT National Organizer, Bob Kafka; and The Honorable Rick Lazio, Executive Vice President of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and a former member of congress. Additionally this year, AAPD presented a Thomas Paine Award to MIT Professor Ted Selker in recognition of his work to help ensure that people with disabilities have the ability to vote privately and independently. The presentation was made on AAPD’s behalf by Representative Jim Langevin (D- RI). In addition to welcoming comments made by Cheryl (Mrs. Jim) Sensenbrenner, a member of the AAPD executive committee, additional speakers conveying the importance of the ADA and the disability rights movement were Senator Tom Harkin, Representative Charles Rangel (D-NY) and Representative Major Owens (D-NY). AAPD presented a Thomas Paine Award to MIT professor Ted Selker (left). Making the presentation was Representative Jim Langevin (D-RI) (right). Andrew Imparato is shown in the center. The Honorable Rick Lazlo, Executive Vice President of JPMOrgan Chase & Co. and a former member of congress, was a Justice for All recipient. Andrew Imparato presented a Justice for All Award to Corey Rowley, Pennsylvania SILC Director. Representative Major Owens (D-NY) spoke at the event to help pay tribute to the honorees and celebrate the ADA anniversary. AAPD executive committee member Cheryl Sensenbrenner helped to introduce Justice for All Award recipient Representative Jim Ramstad (R-MN). Midterm Elections to be held November 7 Information for this article came from Frank G. Bowe’s and Mervin Livingston Schloss’ recent piece on The Importance of Midterm Elections. This November 7 Americans will go to the polls to decide on 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, 33 seats in the U.S. Senate, 38 governorships and a lot of local races. During the past few years we have witnessed issues of importance to people with disabilities “going no where” in Congress. Health care costs continue to soar, an institutional bias remains, more than 70% of people with disabilities remain unemployed and No Child Left Behind is still not fully funded. We are not alone, according to recent polls, 75% of the people living in the United States think the country is on the wrong path. Midterm elections are your chance to make a difference in Congress and your state. We encourage members to identify candidates, from both parties, who endorse and work for our priorities. Additionally, find out how competitive your House and Senate races are. If they are competitive, your vote will count even more. The chart shown here is a state-by-state listing of House, Senate and Gubernatorial races. To keep up with the constantly changing electoral landscape between now and November 7, go to either www.nytimes.com/ref/washington/2006ELECTIONGUIDE.htm or http://projects.washingtonpost.com/elections/keyraces/map/. For the complete article go to http://www.jfanow.org/jfanow/index. php?mode=A&id=2875;&sort=D. GENERAL ELECTION STATE U.S. SENATE U.S. REP GOVERNOR Alabama No 7 Yes Alaska No 1 Yes American Samoa – 1 Delegate No Arizona Yes 8 Yes Arkansas No 4 Yes California Yes 53 Yes Colorado No 7 Yes Connecticut Yes 5 Yes Delaware Yes 1 No District of Columbia – 1 Delegate Mayor Florida Yes 25 Yes Georgia No 13 Yes Guam – 1 Delegate Yes Hawaii Yes 2 Yes Idaho No 2 Yes Illinois No 19 Yes Indiana Yes 9 No Iowa No 5 Yes Kansas No 4 Yes Kentucky No 6 No Louisiana No 7 No Maine Yes 2 Yes Maryland Yes 8 Yes Massachusetts Yes 10 Yes Michigan Yes 15 Yes Minnesota Yes 8 Yes Mississippi Yes 4 No Missouri Yes 9 No Montana Yes 1 No Nebraska Yes 3 Yes Nevada Yes 3 Yes New Hampshire No 2 Yes New Jersey Yes 13 No New Mexico Yes 3 Yes New York Yes 29 Yes North Carolina No 13 No North Dakota Yes 1 No Ohio Yes 18 Yes Oklahoma No 5 Yes Oregon No 5 Yes Pennsylvania Yes 19 Yes Puerto Rico No Rhode Island Yes 2 Yes South Carolina No 6 Yes South Dakota No 1 Yes Tennessee Yes 9 Yes Texas Yes 32 Yes Utah Yes 3 No Vermont Yes 1 Yes Virginia Yes 11 No Virgin Islands - 1 Delegate Yes Washington Yes 9 No West Virginia Yes 3 No Wisconsin Yes 8 Yes Wyoming Yes 1 Yes Maryland Governor Selects Disabilities Secretary as Running Mate Governor Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. has selected Maryland Disabilities Secretary Kristen Cox, a legally blind former Washington lobbyist, as his pick for lieutenant governor. In doing so, he said her interest in empowering underserved communities would be an asset to his administration. Cox is the state’s first disabilities secretary. She has served since 2004, managing a department of 25 people and a budget of $4.9 million. Previously, she worked in the Bush administration as an adviser to the commissioner of the Rehabilitation Services Administration of the Department of Education. “It is such an honor to have this opportunity,” Cox told the audience of supporters at the press announcement. “I feel very humbled, very blessed and a little nervous.” HAVA Compliance Suit Filed in California AAPD Joins Group of Plaintiffs Voters with visual and manual disabilities filed suit August 1 in San Francisco federal court against the California Secretary of State and four California counties, alleging failure to comply with historic federal legislation guaranteeing voters with disabilities the right to have a secret ballot and vote without assistance. The Help America Vote Act (HAVA), 42 U.S.C.15301, requires full accessibility in voting for voters with disabilities in the same manner as for all voters. This did not occur anywhere in the State in the June 2006 primary elections and appears it will not occur in November. The suit seeks a declaratory judgment that California has failed to comply with HAVA. It also seeks an order requiring the California Secretary of State to present to the Court a plan and a timetable for bringing California into compliance with HAVA. The suit alleges that the Secretary of State has not approved any voting systems that ensure accessibility, privacy and independence for all voters with disabilities. It further alleges that the Secretary of State has approved individual voting systems that are not accessible to all voters with disabilities in the same manner as for other voters. The plaintiffs include three national and state disability organizations. Those are AAPD, Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) and the California Council of the Blind (CCB). The individual plaintiffs include Paul Longmore and Ivana Kirola from San Francisco County, Russ Bohlke from Marin County, Stephen Fort from Alameda County and Dan Kysor from Yolo County. For more information on voting accessibility, visit AAPD at www.aapd.com/dvpmain/votemachines/indexmachines.php. Submission Deadlines for 2007 Henry B. Betts Award and 2007 Summer Internship Programs The 2007 Henry B. Betts Award The Henry B. Betts Award program annually honors individuals who have helped to lead the societal transformation that is producing dramatically better outcomes and higher expectations for the disability community. Nomination forms are now available at www.aapd.com. Nominations are due Friday, October 6, 2006. For more information contact: aapdbetts@aol.com or call (800) 840-8844 (V/TTY). 2007 Summer AAPD-MEAF Congressional Internship Program Second-semester college sophomores through first-semester college seniors with disabilities interested in working on Capitol Hill are encouraged to apply. Applications are now available at www.aapd.com. Apply by December 11, 2006 (5 PM, eastern). For more information contact: aapdcongintern@aol.com or call (800) 840-8844 (V/TTY). 2007 Summer AAPD-Microsoft Information Technology (I.T.) Internship Program Undergraduate college students with disabilities interested in pursuing careers in information technology are encouraged to apply. Applications are now available at www.aapd.com. Apply by December 11, 2006 (5 PM, eastern). For more information contact: aapdmsintern@aol.com or call (800) 840-8844 (V/TTY). . 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. AAPD MEMBERSHIP/RENEWAL APPLICATION New AAPD Membership Renew AAPD Membership # Alternate format: Braille Cassette Large Print CD Email Name Street City State Zip Phone Email My membership payment for: 1 year ($15) 2 years ($25) Student ($10) Limited Income ($10) Supporting ($50) (two year renewal plus $25 contribution to support Limited Income memberships) Check enclosed # VISA MasterCard Discover American Express Credit Card # Exp. Date Name As It Appears On Card Signature Please return this completed form and your payment to: AAPD Member Services 18 Harvard Drive • Milford, MA 01757-1208 • (866) 241-3200 (toll-free V/TTY) • www.aapd.com AAPDnews 1629 K Street NW, Suite 503 • Washington, DC 20006 AAPD Website www.aapd.com