The Arc logo

Chapter Benefits Spotlight

/in /by The Arc

When chapters mobilize grassroots activists, we show the power of the disability community. These are just some of the tools available to energize and expand your current advocacy work: 

  • Join Our Fight: Encourage activists to sign up so they can be kept up-to-date on when and how to take action  
  • Advocacy Videos: Videos that inspire and are available for you to share.  You can view them all here: youtube.com/user/thearcoftheus 
  • #WeActWednesday: Weekly Facebook and Twitter posts show you ways to get involved.  
  • #HandsOff Blog: Our monthly blog series show the show the power of personal stories.  

 Claire Manning, Director of Advocacy and Mobilization (202-534-3716) is ready to work with you so give her a call today.    

The Arc logo

We’re Going Live! Join us on Facebook for a Discussion with NPR’s Joe Shapiro

/in /by The Arc

March 9, at 3pm Eastern Time @ facebook.com/thearcus

The Arc will be hosting a Facebook Live with Joe Shapiro, the reporter behind NPR’s powerful series on sexual assault and disability. Joe will be joined by Leigh Ann Davis, Director of Criminal Justice Initiatives for The Arc, for a conversation about the epidemic facing individuals with disabilities.   

There will be time for Q/A during this Facebook Live event. Make sure you have already liked us on Facebook so you can get notified when we go live. Tune in and please share with your networks!

The Arc logo

Bye Bye, Brushstroke

/in /by The Arc

The goal of every brand is to always remain relevant. At The Arc, we do this with our tireless policy work, programs, and dedication to be being constant advocates for our cause. We also do this with our brand identity. Striking the right tone, look and feel, we convey to people that we are serious, professional and thoughtful. It is with this in mind that we take the leap to the next level with our brand identity. Over the next few weeks we will be rolling out the 2018 updated Brand Guidelines. Included in these will be a few changes in the evolution of our brand.

The first change will be phasing out the Brush Stroke. We realize that your chapter may have this element on multiple media, and we would like to give you till the end of 2018 to have this phased out on print and web materials. The Brush Stroke served us well, but it is time for this supergraphic with so much spirit to retire. But fear not – other design elements will be distributed to take its place. It is with excitement, that we wish it a fond farewell as we look to the future of The Arc’s brand. If you have any questions, please contact Allen Miller at Miller@TheArc.org or Ashley Dupont at Dupont@TheArc.org. We’re always available to help you put your best brand forward!

The Arc logo

National Survey on Health Reform and Disability

/in /by The Arc

The NIDILRR-funded Collaborative on Health Reform and Independent Living (CHRIL) is looking for adults with disabilities to complete an online survey about getting and using health insurance and health care services.

Whether you have private insurance, insurance from an employer, Medicaid, Medicare or no insurance please complete the survey. We want to know how the Affordable Care Act (ACA) may be affecting your life.  

Adults ages 18 to 62 with any type of disability, chronic health condition or mental illness are encouraged to participate.  

The survey should take about 20 minutes to complete and your responses are anonymous.   

Whether or not you complete the survey, you can choose to enter a drawing to win one of five $100 gift cards. If you prefer to take the survey over the phone or have any questions about participating, please call toll-free 1-855-556-6328 (Voice/TTY) or email healthsurvey@ku.edu. 

The Arc logo

Know a Great Self-Advocate? Encourage Them to Join the National Council of Self-Advocates!

/in /by The Arc

The National Council of Self Advocates is looking for new members to join us in 2018! Our Council is led by people with disabilities, and only self-advocates are members. Our Council gives advice to The Arc on advocacy, programs, and services. It tells The Arc how it can better support people with disabilities and about issues that matter to people with disabilities.  

The Council meets every three months by phone and has an online email group and Facebook group. Our first call for the year is in March, and all self-advocates are welcome. 

Want to Share This Opportunity at Your Chapter? This flyer has information about the Council, how to join, and our calls for the year.

Questions about the Council? Contact Jenny at Sladen@thearc.org.

The Arc logo

The Arc Receives Support From Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation for National Disability Employment Program

/in /by The Arc

Washington, DC – The Arc is pleased to announce that its national employment program, The Arc@Work, has received an additional $122,000 over the next two years from the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation to support its ongoing efforts to expand its partner program with Specialisterne®. The Arc@Work and Specialisterne®’s program consists of a four-week intensive training curriculum and on-the-job training designed to equip people with autism with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in entry-level IT jobs. Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation previously supported this project of The Arc with $105,000 in funding from 2015-2017.

The Arc has a partnership with Specialisterne USA®, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization established by a Danish nonprofit organization, The Specialist People Foundation, that works to create meaningful employment for people with autism and similar challenges in the technology sector. The program engages top companies with IT needs interested in hiring young adults with ASD and pairs them with chapters of The Arc that provide the four-week training course, during which participants learn the basics about programming and data management while also improving soft skills. At the end of training, participants are hired into partner organizations as developers, programmers, analysts, and administrators. Employers also receive training on supporting employees with ASD and The Arc@Work and Specialisterne® work together to provide follow-up support for program participants.

Chapters of The Arc in Philadelphia and New York were among the first to adopt the Specialisterne program in 2014, but the program has since been adopted by chapters in Tampa Bay and Washington, DC as well. The 2018-2019 grant from Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation will allow The Arc to expand this crucial program to new regions throughout the country.

“Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation is committed to empowering young people with disabilities,” said Keijiro Hora, President of the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation and CEO and President, Mitsubishi Electric US, Inc. “By continuing to support The Arc’s expansion of the

Specialisterne employment model, we hope to see increased numbers of young people with autism empowered to enter the competitive workforce and live productive lives,” continued Hora.

The program emphasizes that many young adults with ASD are qualified to work in highly skilled positions and, with employer commitment and support, they can thrive in community-based jobs of their choosing.

“There are many young people with ASD that possess the skills that are in high demand in the tech industry. This program plays matchmaker, and through our chapter network, we can not only connect a population we serve with employment in the community but also raise awareness in a major industry about what people with disabilities can do. It’s an exciting initiative and we are thrilled to have the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation’s ongoing support,” said Peter Berns, CEO of The Arc.

The Arc advocates for and serves people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD), including Down syndrome, autism, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, cerebral palsy and other diagnoses. The Arc has a network of over 650 chapters across the country promoting and protecting the human rights of people with I/DD and actively supporting their full inclusion and participation in the community throughout their lifetimes and without regard to diagnosis.

The Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation, based in the Washington, DC area, was established in 1991 by Mitsubishi Electric Corporation and the Mitsubishi Electric U.S. companies, which produce, sell and distribute a wide range of consumer, industrial, commercial and professional electronics products. The foundation has contributed more than $15 million to organizations that are empowering young people with disabilities to lead more inclusive and productive lives.

The Arc logo

Making The Arc a Name in Giving Back!

/in /by The Arc

Scranton, Pennsylvania already has a claim to fame as the setting for the TV show “The Office.” Now, The Arc of Northeastern Pennsylvania in Scranton is getting its own name out to the public by collaborating in community events honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and creating public service announcements.

The Arc of Northeastern Pennsylvania (NEPA) was awarded a MLK Day of Service* grant for 2017. The city of Scranton has long recognized Dr. King’s commitment to service through the Greater Scranton MLK Commission, which promotes Dr. King’s principles of non-violence, equity and love through education and service.

Every year, The Greater Scranton MLK Commission plans a full schedule of programs and special events that honor Dr. King’s life and legacy during the MLK Jr. holiday weekend. This year, The Arc of NEPA saw a fantastic opportunity to add to Dr. King’s vision for a more inclusive world and reached out to the commission to plan a food drive for families in need.

On January 16, 2017, The Arc of NEPA and the United Neighborhood Centers of Northeastern Pennsylvania co-led a food drive to benefit Angel’s Attic Food Bank. The food drive brought together participants from the United Neighborhood Centers and University of Scranton, volunteers from the Aktion Club, a community service group of adults with I/DD; and The Arc Responds, a group of employees from The Arc NEPA who raise funds to help people in the community.

After the Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend, Aktion club members became part of the regular volunteer corps at Angel’s Attic Food Bank, sorting and delivering food two to three times each week. Their efforts were much appreciated in a community where hunger is a significant problem— nearly 22.1% of Scranton families live in poverty according to 2016 US Census data.

The Aktion Club is truly helping to make The Arc NEPA a name in giving back. To help spread the name further, the chapter has also created public service announcements for its NEPA Gives Back Campaign to show how people with I/DD and The Arc NEPA contributes to their neighborhood. One PSA features the Angel’s Attic volunteers and the good work they do in their community.

In time, we hope that The Arc of NEPA’s name will become as common in Scranton as “Dunder Mifflin.”

For more on inclusive volunteering and how disability organizations can build partnerships that serve community needs and strengthen The Arc’s presence in the community, visit https://www.thearc.org/inclusive-volunteering.

*In 2015, The Arc was selected by the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), the federal agency that leads the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service, to plan and execute volunteer projects that unite Americans in service for the MLK Day of Service and throughout the year. To date, 16 chapters of The Arc around the country have organized inclusive volunteer service projects where people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) volunteer alongside people without disabilities to provide food to people in their communities who are in need. In total, these projects have brought together over 1,000 volunteers to serve more than 14,000 people in need.

The Arc logo

The Arc Responds to President’s Committee for People With Intellectual Disabilities 2017 Report

/in /by The Arc

Washington, DC – Earlier this month, the President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities (PCPID) released the 2017 report “America’s Direct Support Workforce Crisis: Effects on People with Intellectual Disabilities, Families, Communities and the U.S. Economy”. The Arc released the following statement in response to the report:

“Direct support professionals play a vital role in the lives of people with intellectual disability and their families, yet as this report outlines, we are facing a crisis when it comes to recruitment and retention in this essential field. These highly skilled workers allow many individuals with intellectual disability to live, work, and learn in the community and lead self-directed lives. But increasingly, our community is losing these vital workers to higher-paying, less demanding jobs where proper training and competitive benefits are provided.

“Nationally the shortage of direct support professionals is a priority initiative for The Arc and our chapter network. We are grateful that this report not only sheds light on this growing epidemic but also offers tangible solutions to the Trump Administration. As this crisis continues, individuals with intellectual disability and their families face uncertainty and anxiety. The Arc and our chapter network remain a resource as we work to address this crisis nationally, but we encourage prompt and immediate action,” said Peter V. Berns, CEO of The Arc and member of PCPID.

The Arc’s Direct Support Professional (DSP) Toolkit is highlighted in the report. The toolkit was created to support chapters of The Arc with DSP retention and recruitment. This tool was developed and used in pilot demonstrations conducted by the Research and Training Center on Community Living at the University of Minnesota.
The Arc advocates for and serves people wit­­h intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD), including Down syndrome, autism, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, cerebral palsy and other diagnoses. The Arc has a network of over 650 chapters across the country promoting and protecting the human rights of people with I/DD and actively supporting their full inclusion and participation in the community throughout their lifetimes and without regard to diagnosis.

The Arc logo

A Legal Victory for Students with Disabilities

/in /by The Arc

In 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District RE-1 that the “IDEA demands more” and requires providing a level of instruction reasonably calculated to permit advancement through the general curriculum. Where that is not a reasonable expectation, the IEP must be “appropriately ambitious” and provide the child the “chance to meet challenging objectives.” The Court remanded the question of whether the school district in the case had met this newly articulated standard. Last week, in a victory for students with disabilities nationwide, the U.S. District Court in Colorado issued a decision finding that the school district did not provide an adequate education to Endrew and must reimburse the family for his private school tuition. The court noted that the IEP provided by the District “was not appropriately ambitious” under the new standard articulated by the U.S. Supreme Court because it did not provide Endrew with the chance “to meet challenging objectives under his particular circumstances.” The Arc filed amicus briefs in support of the plaintiff at both the Supreme Court and District Court levels. Read more about the recent decision here.

The Arc logo

Marking the FMLA Anniversary with a Call for Paid Leave

/in /by The Arc

February 5th marked the 25th anniversary of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The Arc has been excited to take this opportunity to celebrate what the FMLA means to people with disabilities and their families, and to highlight the need for the next step: a comprehensive, inclusive national program of paid family and medical leave. Join us in marking this important month! Invite your members to share their paid leave stories with The Arc; share Debbi and Josh’s FMLA story on social media, and check out our recent op ed in The Hill.