What The Shutdown Means For Disability Services

As the first U.S. government shutdown in more than 17 years takes hold, some programs benefiting people with disabilities will continue with business as usual while others grind to a halt.

The shutdown, which began Tuesday, comes after Congress failed to reach a deal to fund the federal government for the new fiscal year starting in October. Under a shutdown, some services considered “essential” will continue operating while many other government activities will come to a standstill as 800,000 federal workers are sent home until a new budget takes effect.

Here’s a look at how the shutdown will impact programs that people with developmental disabilities rely on:

SOCIAL SECURITY Benefit payments will continue to be distributed on schedule to individuals receiving Social Security and Supplemental Security Income. Local offices will be open, but only to perform select services.

MEDICAID Services provided by Medicaid will largely proceed as usual since an advance appropriation ensured that states receive funding for the program on Oct. 1. However, disability advocates say they are worried that the shutdown could exacerbate payment delays that providers of long-term services and supports are already facing. “The long delays have put many of our affiliates in almost untenable cash flow positions and further delays may cause some to cease Medicaid services,” said Katy Neas, senior vice president of government relations at Easter Seals.

HOUSING The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development says it will not be able to provide further funding to local housing agencies during the shutdown. However, most local agencies already have enough money to fund rental assistance vouchers for the month of October, more than half of which help the elderly and people with disabilities.

SPECIAL EDUCATION Schools won’t see much impact immediately, with states receiving $22 billion in special education funds on schedule this month from the federal government, the U.S. Department of Education said.

DISABILITY RIGHTS ENFORCEMENT The U.S. Department of Justice says that civil litigation, which includes the enforcement of disability rights laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act, will be “curtailed or postponed” to the extent possible.

RESEARCH Developmental disability surveillance programs — which track the prevalence of such conditions — will come to a halt during the shutdown, said Barbara Reynolds of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Meanwhile, the National Institutes of Health will not make any new grant awards for research.

(Author credit and story link HERE)

Emergency Plans Lacking For Most With Disabilities

When disaster strikes, most people with disabilities are unprepared, leaving them vulnerable to injury and even death, a first-of-its-kind survey finds.

Just 20 percent of the world’s people with disabilities could evacuate immediately without difficulty in the event of a disaster, according to the global survey conducted by the United Nations.

Some 6 percent said they would not be able to escape at all while the remainder indicated they could evacuate with varying degrees of difficulty.

For the survey, 5,450 people with disabilities from 126 countries answered 22 questions about their plans in case of a disaster. Preliminary findings were released this week ahead of the International Day for Disaster Reduction on Sunday.

About 7 in 10 individuals polled said they have no personal preparedness plan and only a third said they always have someone available to help them evacuate. Meanwhile, just 17 percent of respondents were aware of the disaster management plan for their city and few had been consulted on their community’s plan.

“The results of this survey are shocking,” said Margareta Wahlström, head of the U.N. Office for Disaster Risk Reduction. “It clearly reveals that the key reason why a disproportionate number of disabled persons suffer and die in disasters is because their needs are ignored and neglected by the official planning process in the majority of situations. They are often left totally reliant on the kindness of family, friends and neighbors for their survival and safety.”

Survey respondents described taking special precautions when concerned about bad weather, with one sleeping in a wheelchair in order to be able to take cover quickly and another who’s unable to hear sirens staying up to watch storm coverage.

Suggestions from those polled included everything from making sure that wheelchair access is considered in emergency evacuation plans to a recommendation that color-coded systems are avoided since they may be unhelpful for color-blind individuals.

Wahlström said the concerns raised in the survey responses will better inform U.N. member states when they convene for the 2015 World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Japan to adopt a new global framework for disaster risk reduction.

(Author credits and story link HERE)

States Divided On ABA Coverage In New Health Exchanges

With state health insurance exchanges now open for business, advocates say they expect plans available in only about half of states to cover autism therapy.

An analysis from Autism Speaks suggests that 26 states and Washington, D.C. will include coverage of applied behavior analysis, or ABA, therapy in insurance plans offered through their exchanges for individuals and small businesses.

Under the Affordable Care Act, insurers are required to provide 10 types of care — including behavioral health treatment — in all plans offered to individuals and small groups starting in 2014. However, determining what exactly falls within each of the required categories was largely left to the states.

As a result, whether or not insurance plans cover autism therapy will continue to depend on which state a family resides in, experts say.

“The devil is in the details,” said Katie Keith, a former research professor at Georgetown University who’s now consulting with Autism Speaks through her role as director of research at the Washington lobbying firm Trimpa Group. “Every plan will say it covers behavioral health treatment but I would encourage families to make sure they know what that means because every state will be different.”

What’s more, Keith warns that even in states where insurance plans cover ABA, there will likely be limitations. Under the Affordable Care Act, insurers cannot impose dollar limits, but will likely cap the number of hours or visits that will be covered, she said.

At present, the Autism Speaks analysis indicates that coverage of ABA will be included in health insurance plans offered through exchanges in Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Washington, D.C.

Most of the states identified by the advocacy group are ones that already required autism therapy to be covered by at least some insurance plans within their borders.

Health insurance exchanges across the country opened earlier this month, allowing individuals to purchase coverage that will be available starting Jan. 1, 2014.

By MICHELLE DIAMENT

October 15, 2013

(story provided HERE)

More People With Disabilities Unemployed

Even as the economy added 162,000 jobs last month, the U.S. Department of Labor said Friday that Americans with disabilities continued to struggle in the job market.

The unemployment rate for those with disabilities edged upward in July to 14.7 percent, rising from 14.2 percent the month prior.

This comes as the jobless rate for the general population ticked down to 7.4 percent, the Labor Department said.

Federal officials began tracking employment among people with disabilities in October 2008. There is not yet enough data compiled to establish seasonal trends among this population, so statistics for this group are not seasonally adjusted.

Data on people with disabilities covers those over the age of 16 who do not live in institutions. The first employment report specific to this population was made available in February 2009. Now, reports are released monthly.

Portland, Ore. a hate group threatening People with Disabilities

In what officials are calling the work of a hate group, fliers have appeared in several Portland, Ore. neighborhoods threatening to out people with disabilities who receive government aid.

Portland officials are asking for help from the public after learning of the leaflets found in at least five neighborhoods.

“There are sixteen people in this neighborhood who vote and receive cash disability payments,” reads one of the typed notes signed by “Artemis of the wildland.”

“The names of these people are being posted where they can be seen by taxpayers and the neighborhood can decide who is truly disabled,” the note continues. “Some of us in the neighborhood wish to save this democracy and to stand in the way of those who would destroy it.”

City officials said the fliers were the work of a “hate group” and contained an “underlying tone of violence.”

A spokesman for the Portland Office of Equity and Human Rights told The Oregonian that they have not received any reports of names actually being posted, but are asking anyone who receives or sees the flier to report it.

(see story here)

Family Told To ‘Euthanize’ Boy With Autism

Police are investigating after an anonymous letter suggesting that a teen with autism should be euthanized stunned his family and led to widespread outrage and media attention.

The typed, one-page letter was reportedly sent to Brenda Millson last week in reference to her grandson Maxwell Begley, 13, who has autism and often spends time at her house in Newcastle, Ontario. It has since spread like wildfire through social media.

“He is a hinderance to everyone,” reads the message signed by “One pissed off mother!!!!!”

“Take whatever non retarded body parts he possesses and donate it to science,” says the letter, which claims to be from a neighbor. “Do the right thing and move or euthanize him.”

The note left Begley’s family shaking.

“It made me sick to my stomach to think that somebody hated my son that much and they didn’t even know him,” Maxwell’s mom, Karla Begley, told the Toronto Star. “But they just hated him because he was different. That’s the only reason they had to hate him.”

Since the story went viral, however, the family has been touched by the outpouring of support they’ve received from their local community and around the world, telling Clarington This Weekthat their phone has been ringing off the hook with interview requests.

Local community members have come together to organize events supporting the family and a Facebook group started Tuesday already has more than 2,300 members.

“It restores my faith in humanity that this has really rallied people,” Karla Begley told Clarington This Week.

Local police are conducting a criminal investigation into the matter but have already ruled out the possibility of pursuing hate crimes charges in the case.

“Despite the hateful language used, the Crown Attorney’s office has advised that the content of the letter falls below the threshold for a hate crime. However, there are other Criminal Code issues that are being considered,” the Durham Regional Police said in a statement.

(full story here)

Children with disabilities are being unnecessarily segregated in nursing homes

Federal officials are suing alleging that hundreds of children with disabilities are being unnecessarily segregated in nursing homes in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The U.S. Department of Justice filed suit Monday accusing the state of Florida of relegating nearly 200 children with significant disabilities to nursing homes who could be served at home or in other community-based settings.

Last September, the Justice Department warned Florida officials of ADA violations after an investigation found that state policies and practices limited access to in-home care for kids with significant medical needs leaving many families with little choice but to send their children to nursing homes. What’s more, the probe identified children who spent years at the facilities before receiving federally-mandated screening to assess whether or not the environment was the most appropriate for them.

Though the state made some changes since being notified of the investigation’s findings, federal officials said that after several months of negotiating, violations remain making legal action necessary.

“Children have a right to grow up with their families, among their friends and in their own communities,” said Eve Hill, deputy assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The violations the department has identified are serious, systemic and ongoing and require comprehensive relief for these children and their families.”

Kids living in nursing homes have limited interaction with individuals without disabilities and are often located hundreds of miles away from their families, according to the federal complaint.

In addition, the suit alleges that the state’s policies and practices put other children with significant medical needs who are currently living in the community at risk of similar institutionalization.

For their part, Florida officials said they have taken steps in the last year to improve an “already strong program” providing services for children with complex medical needs, indicating that more than 1,000 children are now receiving enhanced care services to help them return to or remain in the community.

“Today’s Obama administration action shows that Washington is not interested in helping families improve but instead is determined to file disruptive lawsuits with the goal of taking over control and operation of Florida’s Medicaid and disability programs,” said Elizabeth Dudek, secretary of Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration, in a statement.

(see story here)