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New Partnership with Wealth Engine Can Raise Your Chapter More Money!

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Do you want to get the most from your fundraising and find bigger-dollar donors? Are you striving to be strategic and cost-effective with prospect research, secure higher net worth donors, and grow fundraising results? Then you need a WealthEngine subscription!

WealthEngine is a fundraising tool that has been discounted by nearly 66% because YOU are a chapter of The Arc. This year, we have improved our partnership with WealthEngine, which means you will have more records per subscription, more training, and great customer service at the same low price.

Sign-on before January 30, 2019, and you will be able to use this valuable fundraising tool for only $825! Don’t miss out on this opportunity to grow your fundraising results, save time on donor research, and secure higher net worth donors – all while saving money!

If you are interested in learning about how a WealthEngine subscription can help your Chapter’s fundraising and prospect research in 2019, please e-mail Johanna Wezwick at jwezwick@wealthengine.com before January 30th!

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The Arc Responds to Department of Education Announcement on Restraint and Seclusion

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Today, in response to the U.S. Department of Education’s announcement of an initiative to address the inappropriate use of restraint and seclusion on students with disabilities, Julie Ward, The Arc’s Senior Executive Officer for Public Policy, issued the following statement:

“The Arc appreciates the Department’s new effort to protect students with disabilities from the harmful practices of restraint and seclusion. We believe this is a step in the right direction to move away from outdated and ineffective practices that are all too frequently used on students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). We are hopeful that shining a light on what is happening in our schools, reinforcing the requirements of federal laws, and providing assistance to public schools will benefit all students, including those with I/DD. However, more needs to be done by Congress to strengthen the federal protections and end these harmful practices. The Arc looks forward to working with the Administration and Congress to move aggressively in that direction.”

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Two of The Arc’s Programs to Receive Prestigious Zero Project Awards

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The Arc of the United States is pleased to announce two of its programs, Wings for Autism®/Wings for All® and the National Center on Criminal Justice and Disability (NCCJD)’s Pathways to Justice®, have been named 2019 Zero Project Awardees. The Zero Project is an initiative of the Essl Foundation that recognizes and provides a platform for the world’s most innovative and effective solutions to problems faced by people with disabilities around the world. The Arc’s programs are being recognized this year for outstanding contributions towards promoting independent living and political participation, the 2019 Zero Project Awards’ themes.

“The Arc of the United States has long fought to ensure that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) are included in all aspects of society, and that the civil rights of people with I/DD are respected in every context,” said Peter Berns, CEO of The Arc, “We are proud that Wings for Autism/Wings for All and NCCJD’s Pathways to Justice will be recognized as Zero Project awardees this year.”

Pathways to Justice and Wings for Autism are among 76 policies and practices selected by an international group of 3,000 experts who take part in a multi-round voting and selection process. The Arc’s CEO Peter Berns as well as leadership from the two recognized programs will accept the award in Vienna, Austria in February.

Since 2013, NCCJD has endeavored to improve the criminal justice system’s response to victims, witnesses, suspects, defendants, and prisoners with I/DD. The Center’s signature program, Pathways to Justice, offers specialized training and support to develop local, multidisciplinary Disability Response Teams composed of criminal justice and disability leaders, including self-advocates, to improve local justice systems. NCCJD has trained over 5,000 justice professionals in 12 different states since 2015.

“Societies can’t be inclusive without equal access to justice for ALL, including people with disabilities. Pathways to Justice is revolutionizing the way the criminal justice system sees and interacts with people with developmental disabilities, laying the groundwork for inclusive justice to take root and flourish across the country,” said Leigh Ann Davis, Director of NCCJD.

Originated by the Charles River Center, a local chapter of The Arc in Massachusetts, and the Massachusetts Port Authority, Wings for Autism/Wings for All is an airport “rehearsal” program created to alleviate some of the stress that individuals with I/DD and their families experience when traveling by air. The program also provides vital training and educational resources on disability competency to airport, airline, and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) staff and volunteers.

From 2014 to 2018, Wings for Autism has held over 130 trainings in almost 60 airports throughout the United States and has supported more than 18,000 people with autism and other disabilities, as well as their families. Additionally, the program has trained more than 1,800 aviation professionals in disability competency and inclusion.

“The Wings for Autism/Wings for All program has successfully helped thousands of individuals with disabilities and their families enjoy the basic right to travel and live independently. Simultaneously, we’ve supported aviation professionals across the country to create safe and inclusive spaces in airports to better accommodate travelers with disabilities. We are honored to be in the company of so many other great organizations who are also addressing independent living issues on an individual and systemic level as well,” said Kerry Mauger, Program Manager of Wings for Autism.

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Join the National Siblings Council or National Council of Self-Advocates as an Officer!

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Start your year with exciting new opportunities for involvement in our work! As an officer on the National Siblings Council and the National Council of Self-Advocates for 2019-2020, you will have an invaluable seat at the table helping shape the work of the National Office throughout the year.

National Council of Self-Advocates

The NCSA was developed to foster the active involvement of individuals with I/DD in the work of The Arc. Its primary purpose is to encourage people with I/DD to provide feedback to The Arc on how its advocacy, programs, and services can better empower people with to live the life they want to live in the community. Members of the NCSA provide regular feedback on work that The Arc national office is doing and provide guidance about important issues that matter to people with disabilities in community around the nation. NCSA members also seek to promote education around advocacy issues that are critical to people in the disability movement through our annual convention session, and they seek to be active members and leaders in The Arc’s Disability Advocacy Network and the larger disability movement.

Being an NCSA Officer has several rules and responsibilities, including:

  • Officers must attend the 4 Officer meetings each year. These often happen in March, May, August, and November.
  • Officers must attend the 4 All-Council meetings each year. These often happen in March, June, September, and December.
  • Officers must help plan The Arc’s self-advocate convention session.
  • Officers must be willing to help make big decisions about what the Council should do in the future.
  • Officers must help think of steps to take to achieve the goals that the NCSA wants to achieve.
  • Officers must help take action to carry out these goals.
  • Officers must help encourage people to join the Council and give feedback.
  • Officers must share what the Council is doing with others.
  • Officers must give feedback to The Arc on how to improve its work.

Apply to be an officer of NCSA.

Deadline: February 15

National Siblings Council

Are you a sibling looking to get more involved in disability rights activism but are not sure where to turn? The Arc’s National Sibling Council seeks to foster the active involvement of siblings of individuals with I/DD in The Arc movement in order to strengthen and grow The Arc’s grassroots advocacy efforts nationwide and formally connect siblings—an important and unique segment of the disability rights movement—to help promote and protect the rights of individuals with I/DD throughout the country. The Arc seeks applications from those who are eager to take a leadership role in learning more about how to engage in disability rights activism as a new mode of providing support to their siblings and the broader disability community.

Officers participate in four quarterly conference calls each year, carry out advocacy action steps assigned in each call, and encourage other siblings to join our movement.

Apply to be an officer of the Sibling Council.

Deadline: February 15
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Chapter Benefit Spotlight: Don’t Reinvent the Wheel!

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Are you beginning the new year by creating or updating a policy for your chapter? Looking for examples from other chapters so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel? Why not post a message in your National Council of Executives (NCE) Google Group? State Chapter Executive Directors are invited to use nce-state-executives@groups.thearc.org and Local Chapter Executive Directors are welcome to use nce-local-executives@groups.thearc.org. Join colleagues that have posted questions and received valuable resources. Collegial support is a hallmark of The Arc network.

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Start Your Year with a Renewed Commitment to Criminal Justice Advocacy!

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Does your chapter engage in criminal justice advocacy? Support individuals with I/DD who are justice-involved, whether as victims or suspects/defendants? We want YOU to join the National Center on Criminal Justice and Disability®’s (NCCJD®) new Chapter Community of Practice, a place for Chapters of The Arc doing criminal justice work to interact, support, and learn from one another. NCCJD will also use the Community of Practice to provide updates on events, projects, and funding opportunities. Our goal is to support and build our chapters’ capacity to engage in criminal justice advocacy and ensure justice for all. Join us today! Sign-up by emailing your name, title, and what chapter you are affiliated with to nccjdinfo@thearc.org.

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The Arc Expands “Talk About Sexual Violence” Project to Focus on Men With Disabilities

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The Arc of the United States is pleased to announce the National Center on Criminal Justice and Disability® (NCCJD®) received a grant from the WITH Foundation to expand its successful initiative Talk About Sexual Violence (TASV). TASV was born out of a partnership between The Arc’s NCCJD and the Board Resource Center (BRC) and serves as a platform for educating healthcare professionals on how to talk to their patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) about sexual violence. The WITH Foundation’s grant will expand the program’s current focus on women survivors to include resources about male survivors and the unique barriers they face in disclosing or reporting sexual violence.

Efforts to address sexual violence—even movements like #MeToo—have typically focused on women. However, men also experience sexual violence and have comparatively few resources to support them. Research shows that 14% of men with disabilities will experience violent victimization compared to 4% of men without disabilities. Men are less likely than women to disclose an assault, and men with I/DD may be even less likely due to additional challenges they face if they do speak out about it or report it. Health care providers are generally not asking male patients about sexual assault and may not know how to respond if a patient does disclose. 

NCCJD’s Director, Leigh Ann Davis, who has worked in the field of sexual violence prevention of people with disabilities for over 20 years and is a survivor herself, states: “This is a topic of urgent national importance, and we’ve only begun to scratch the surface when it comes to addressing sexual trauma experienced by men with I/DD. With support from The WITH Foundation, we can expand our current project, reach new audiences, build new partnerships with male-focused sexual assault organizations and plant seeds for prevention, detection, and healing in the future.”

Health care professionals are in a frontline position to educate patients about and potentially prevent sexual violence. The primary challenge facing health care professionals is lack of training and experience in speaking directly to people with disabilities about this critical issue which can have dire consequences in the person’s life when left untreated, both emotionally and physically. TASV will work to reduce this gap in knowledge by creating brief video clips with supporting training materials healthcare professionals can use to educate and prepare themselves for these sensitive discussions.

While this project will focus its efforts in California, the initiative will have national reach and impact. This grant is part of a larger grant program by The WITH Foundation that is dedicated to addressing the issue of sexual violence against people with disabilities. The WITH Foundation has provided close to $258,000 to six organizations to fund a variety of programs that promote comprehensive and accessible healthcare for adults with I/DD.

“It is a privilege to support these efforts as they work to enhance healthcare delivery models, increase the understanding of supported decision-making, and/or address critical issues for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities” said Ryan Easterly, Executive Director of the WITH Foundation.

 

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Welcoming New NCE Chair, Karen Shoemaker

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We’re excited to give a warm welcome to our new NCE Chairperson, Karen Shoemaker! Karen takes her place as NCE Chair with a rich history at The Arc that goes back decades. She shared a bit of her history in the organization with us, as well as what she hopes to accomplish during her term.

How did you come to be involved with The Arc and NCE?

My first interaction with The Arc was in the late 80s when I received Volunteer Surrogate Parent training from The Arc of the District of Columbia to serve as the representative at IEP meetings and monitor special education services for a young man with I/DD. My professional career with The Arc began when I became the Executive Director of The Arc of Lehigh and Northampton Counties in 1999.

I attended my first NCE Summer Leadership Institute in Pittsburgh in 2006, but it wasn’t until spending some social capital time with longtime NCE members at The Arc of the United States convention in Dallas in 2007 that I really became involved with NCE. Gary Horner, Dan Stewart, and Gene Barnes encouraged me to become active with NCE in a more meaningful way. That was a wonderful piece of advice that led to the incredible opportunity for me to serve on the NCE Board and Steering Committee.

What do you hope to achieve by the end of your term as NCE Chair?

In partnership with the Steering Committee and The Arc’s national staff, I would like to see our NCE membership grow, with more people taking advantage of the many professional development opportunities that NCE has to offer. The strength of our NCE network is critical to the success of our advocacy efforts, our furtherance of The Arc’s mission, and our ability to sustain our work on behalf of individuals with I/DD and their families well into the future.

What’s your favorite part of being involved with The Arc?

Without a doubt, my favorite part of being involved with The Arc is the opportunity to do something every day that I am passionate about, while knowing that I am part of a much bigger family. I have had incredible mentors and developed long-lasting and meaningful relationships over the years — I know that if I am having a bad day or need an answer to a question, I can pick up the phone or send an email to someone who shares the same passion and core values.

What’s another passion of yours outside of the disability sector?

I am very involved with my alma mater, Muhlenberg College. I am fortunate to live a few miles from campus which gives me the opportunity to volunteer on their Board of Associates and attend social, arts, and sports events through the year.

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DSP Toolkit Spotlight: Making A Realistic Job Preview (RJP) Work for You!

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An adult man with gray hair sits smiling and laughing as he holds a cup of coffee, next to his support professional - a woman with glasses who looks at him smiling.

One of the biggest challenges that almost all organizations face with DSPs is turnover. There are many reasons why employees leave, but ‘stress’ is one of the key factors stated. Role clarity, role overload, or role conflict are a major part of that stress. How can we ameliorate the issue? By taking a closer look at our hiring process.

Interviews carry a lot of weight for applicants and organizations. Both want to put their best foot forward. However, on the organizations end, this can result in an underrepresentation of what the job entails — especially if they are chatting with a candidate they really like. A situation can (and does) develop where a candidate accepts a job without a clear understanding of what the day-to-day work involves, leading to stress on the job.

This is how a RJP can help. Utilized as part of the hiring process, a RJP can provide clarity and help manage a candidate’s expectations of what the role entails. During the screening process, a RJP can vet potential applicants by letting those who are interested see key aspects of the job. During the interview process, the RJP can give the candidate insight into their potential role and validate for the hiring manager the ability/interest/desire/fit of the candidate for the opportunity.

A personalized RJP for use by chapters of The Arc is available as part of the DSP Toolkit. Check out a sample of the Preview tool here and reinvigorate your hiring process today!

Don’t forget to check out the other great resources in the DSP Toolkit.