The Arc logo

The Arc Celebrates 28th Anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities Act

/in /by The Arc

ADA Bday Graphic

Today, marks the 28th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA affirms the rights of citizens with disabilities by prohibiting discrimination in employment, public services, public accommodations and services operated by private entities, and telecommunications. It is a wide-ranging law intended to make our society accessible to people with disabilities.

“Today we celebrate one of the greatest victories for people with disabilities in America. Our nation leads the world in respecting and valuing the lives of people with disabilities, fighting tirelessly to promote their rights through landmark legislation like the ADA. The passage of this transformative legislation would not have been possible without the hard work of Congressional leaders and disability advocates. While today we celebrate, we must also recognize recent threats to the ADA and the need for unity in our community. The Arc played a leadership role in the passage of the ADA nearly three decades ago and we remain committed to everything this landmark law stands for. We will actively oppose any attempts to weaken or dismantle the ADA,” said Mary Ford, Senior Executive Officer of Public Policy, The Arc.

The Arc logo

The Direct Support Workforce is Focus of New Resource from the Institute on Community Integration

/in /by The Arc

The direct support workforce is crucial in providing daily supports to people with intellectual, developmental, and other disabilities in the U.S. as they live and participate in their communities. While demand for these supports has never been higher and will continue to grow, significant challenges exist in finding, keeping, and training Direct Support Professionals.

The new Impact: Feature Issue on the Direct Support Workforce and People with Intellectual, Developmental, and Other Disabilities examines the workforce challenges in our long-term care system and their consequences. It presents data on the direct support workforce; shares personal stories of what is and isn’t working for those delivering and receiving supports; looks at creative, bold actions being taken around the country to address workforce issues; and explores ways to ensure that quality supports are there for people with disabilities and their families in all our communities.

Impact is published by the Institute on Community Integration, and the Research and Training Center on Community Living, at the University of Minnesota. This issue is available online, and also in print from icipub@umn.eduor 612-624-6347.

Chapter shoutout: The Arc of Ulster-Greene, in Kingston, NY, contributed two photos for the issue! See them in the article “Proof of Professionalism: NADSP Certification Programs“. 

The Arc logo

GRANT OPPORTUNITY: 2019 MLK Day of Service

/in /by The Arc

For the fourth year in a row, The Arc will be offering $10,000 and $5,000 grants to nonprofit community organizations to develop service projects that commemorate Dr. King. During the projects, people with I/DD will volunteer alongside people without disabilities to provide food assistance to people in need in their community.
The Arc will work with community organizations to:

  • Partner with a service club to recruit volunteers with and without disabilities from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds to participate in the project
  • Work with hunger-focused groups (e.g., community food banks, food pantries, soup kitchens) to deliver emergency food aid to people in need
  • Provide food aid on the MLK Day of Service and continue through the end of the grant (June 14, 2019)
  • Raise $31,000 ($10,00 grant) or $15,500 ($5,000 grant) in in-kind or cash matching funds to support the project

Apply to receive a grant for your volunteer program! Limited spots available.

Deadline: August 31, 2018

Request for Proposal (PDF)
Questions? Contact Jennifer Sladen.

The Arc logo

REV UP for National Disability Voter Registration Week, July 16-20

/in /by The Arc

July 16-20, 2018 is National Disability Voter Registration Week (NDVRW)! The REV UP Campaign, organized by the American Association of People with Disabilities, coordinates NDVRW each year to get people with disabilities registered to vote, educated about the upcoming election, and ready to cast their ballots. REV UP stands for Register! Educate! Vote! Use Your Power! The campaign aims to increase the engagement of the disability community around voting. Across the country, many chapters of The Arc are coordinating events in their communities for NDVRW in partnership with REV UP.

NDVRW is especially important this year because 2018 is big election year, with elections on the federal, state and local levels. People with disabilities have powerful potential to make their perspectives heard by voting. According to a research report from Rutgers University, there were 35.4 million eligible voters with disabilities in 2016. When we include family members of people with disabilities, the disability community makes up 25% of the total electorate. Yet, people with disabilities often face barriers to voting which often leads to the registering and voting in lower numbers than people without disabilities. Let’s change that!

Ready to celebrate NDVRW and make your voice heard? Here’s how you can get involved:

Image says "Register to vote today: National Disability Voter Registration Week July 16-20" and shows a pen filling in a voting ballot.

  • Register to Vote – Make sure you are registered to vote and your registration is up to date.
  • Register your Friends – Spread the word! Make sure your family and friends are registered to vote, too.
  • Find Out More – Registering is just the first step! To learn more about state laws, where to vote, specific elections, and more, visit The Arc’s Know Your Right to Vote webpage and Self Advocates Becoming Empowered GoVoter site.
The Arc logo

The Arc Partners With Vera Institute of Justice on National Initiative to Improve Police Responses to Persons With Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities

/in , /by The Arc

People living with mental health disabilities and/or intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) are disproportionately represented in contacts with law enforcement and other first responders, as well as in every part of the criminal justice system, including jails and prisons. While people with I/DD comprise 2 to 3 percent of the general population, they represent 4 to 10 percent of the prison population.

Interactions with law enforcement can be extremely harmful to community members with disabilities. These interactions are also challenging for responding officers, who do not always have the tools or resources to understand disability. Conservative estimates show that at least 10 percent of calls to police involve people who have mental health disabilities and that 50 to 80 percent of police encounters involve persons with some type of disability. In response to this critical need, the Vera Institute of Justice—in cooperation with the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) and in partnership with a consortium of organizations, including The Arc—is launching Serving Safely: The National Initiative to Enhance Policing for Persons with Mental Illnesses and Developmental Disabilities. This new initiative is designed to promote collaborative responses for people with mental health disabilities and I/DD who come into contact with the police to improve outcomes and the safety of all parties.

Through Serving Safely, The Arc, Vera, BJA, and other partners will work together to minimize unnecessary detention and incarceration of persons with mental health and developmental disabilities, strengthen connections to community-based supports and services, and grow meaningful partnerships between law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve.

The Arc has a long history of work in the criminal justice field and is thrilled to be partnering with Vera on this project. In 2013, The Arc created the National Center on Criminal Justice and Disability® (NCCJD®). This is the first national center of its kind serving as a bridge between the I/DD community and criminal justice community that focuses on both victim and suspect/defendant/incarcerated person issues. The Center provides training and technical assistance; resources for professionals, people with disabilities, and their supporters; and educates the public about the intersection of criminal justice reform and the advancement of disability rights. Pathways to Justice®, NCCJD’s signature training curriculum, is a comprehensive, community-based training program that helps criminal justice professionals—including law enforcement—understand disability, disability culture, and professionals’ legal obligations toward the disability community.

NCCJD is building the capacity of the criminal justice system to respond appropriately to gaps in existing services for people with disabilities, focusing on people with I/DD, who often remain a hidden population within the criminal justice system, with little or no access to advocacy supports or services. Vera will be partnering directly with the experts and staff that run NCCJD on Serving Safely.

Other key partners on the project include:

  • American College of Emergency Physicians
  • CIT International
  • National Alliance on Mental Illness
  • National Disability Rights Network
  • Prosecutors’ Center for Excellence
  • Dr. Amy Watson, University of Illinois, Chicago
  • Dr. Michael Compton

Serving Safely has already started to accept requests from law enforcement agencies for training and technical assistance at www.vera.org/projects/serving-safely/training-and-technical-assistance. If you are interested in learning more about The Arc’s role in the Serving Safely initiative, please email NCCJDinfo@thearc.org.

About The Arc
The Arc advocates for and serves people wit­­h intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD), including Down syndrome, autism, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, and cerebral palsy. The Arc has a network of nearly 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.

About the Vera Institute of Justice
The Vera Institute of Justice is an independent nonprofit national research and policy organization working with governments to build and improve justice systems that ensure fairness, promote safety, and strengthen communities. For more information about Serving Safely and the Vera Institute of Justice, see www.vera.org/projects/serving-safely.

The Arc logo

The Arc Responds to Department of Education’s Rescinding of Affirmative Action Guidance

/in , /by The Arc

Last month, the Trump administration rescinded guidance the Department of Education provides to colleges, universities and K-12 schools on how they can use race and ethnic background in admissions decisions to promote diversity. The Arc has released the following statement in response to the Trump Administration’s actions:

“This is the latest of a series of moves that shows this Administration’s intentions to chip away at the instruments that have been put in place to increase equity and access to quality education for our country’s most vulnerable populations.

“Two weeks ago, The Department of Education and the Department of Justice delayed by two years a regulation intended to prevent race-based imbalances in pre-school and K-12 education for students with disabilities, a regulation whose delay was opposed by the vast majority of parents, students and administrators who submitted public comments.

“Earlier this year, the Administration also indicated its intent to rescind a guidance package to prevent racial disproportionality in public school discipline. While guidance documents are non-binding practical tools that help school systems follow the law, the Trump Administration’s collective actions make clear that it is scaling back efforts made by previous administrations to encourage diversity in our schools. This is a troubling trend in policymaking that may lead to poorer education outcomes for many Americans with and without disabilities,” said Marty Ford, Senior Executive Officer of Public Policy, The Arc.

The Arc logo

Supreme Court Roundup

/in /by The Arc
Supreme Court Roundup 

Recently, The U.S. Supreme Court declined to grant review in the case of Brendan Dassey, an individual with learning and developmental disabilities sentenced to life in prison for murder based solely on a confession without any physical evidence linking him to the crime. Read The Arc’s statement here.

And, in case you missed it, you can read The Arc’s take on three decisions from the 2017 Supreme Court term resulting in victories for people with disabilities below:

 

    •  Moore v. Texas: rejecting Texas’s use of stereotypical and outdated factors—rather than well-established clinical standards—to determine intellectual disability in death penalty cases on the grounds that they “create an unacceptable risk that persons with intellectual disability will be executed.” See The Arc’s recent statement on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals decision on remand.

 

  •  Fry v. Napoleon Community Schools: unanimously holding that independent disability discrimination claims may proceed against school districts, removing important barriers for students with disabilities seeking redress under the ADA and Section 504.

Upon his nomination to the Court in 2017, The Arc also published a review of Justice Neil Gorsuch’s disability rights record. A similar review of recent Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s disability rights record is forthcoming

The Arc logo

Amicus (Friend of the Court) Briefs

/in /by The Arc
Amicus (Friend of the Court) Briefs

The Arc is also active in filing and joining amicus briefs to ensure that we can expand our reach to a wide array of cases nationwide. Recent examples include:

    • Ball v. Kasich: in support of a class of individuals with disabilities alleging that Ohio’s service system for people with I/DD violates the ADA’s integration mandate.

 

 

    •  In Re Elijah C.: in support of a mother with intellectual disability whose parental rights were terminated, arguing that such proceedings must comply with the ADA.

 

More information on our amicus work can be found here.

 

The Arc logo

What’s On the Docket?

/in /by The Arc
What’s On the Docket?

Recent examples of our litigation work include:

    • Ongoing class action lawsuit against the State of Georgia for unlawfully discriminating against thousands of students with disabilities by providing them with a separate and unequal education via a statewide system of segregated and inferior schools in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Rehabilitation Act, and the U.S. Constitution.

 

    • Ongoing representation of a client with intellectual disability found incompetent to stand trial following criminal charges, but left to languish in federal prison indefinitely due to the state’s failure to take responsibility for his custody and provide the client services and treatment in the most integrated setting appropriate as required by the ADA.

 

  • A favorable settlement with a property owners’ association (POA) in Delaware following the state’s finding of discrimination. The complaint alleged that the POA violated the Fair Housing Act when it refused to approve The Arc Delaware’s acquisition of property intended to serve individuals with I/DD in the community.
The Arc logo

The Arc Responds to Trump Administration’s Latest Assault on the Affordable Care Act

/in /by The Arc

Yesterday, the Trump Administration announced funding cuts to programs that assist people enrolling in health insurance. It would result in severe cuts to the Navigator program totaling more than $25 million. Specifically, the funding cuts would decrease the program budget from $36.8 million this year to $10 million in 2019.

Health Care Navigators provide in person assistance to individuals as they enroll in health insurance plans. Programs like this provide essential support to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) and others who are seeking support as they enroll in health insurance plans.

“The Navigator program provides important support to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities who are dealing with the complexities of finding the right health insurance program to fit their unique needs. Slashing the program creates additional barriers to enrollment in health insurance. This funding cut highlights intent of the Administration to undermine access to health insurance for millions of people with disabilities.

“We remain steadfast in our commitment to protect the Affordable Care Act and the benefits it provides for people with disabilities. Our hope is that Members of Congress will realize the dire impact that funding cuts to this program will have in their states and remedy the situation,” said Marty Ford, Senior Executive Officer of Public Policy, The Arc.