The Arc released the following statement after news that the Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018, also known as the “Farm Bill”, failed to pass the United States House of Representatives. The Farm Bill reauthorizes farm programs and policy as well as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

“The current version of the Farm Bill was just the latest attack on programs that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities rely on. If enacted as is, the Farm Bill voted down by the House today would have cut basic food assistance for children, adults, and seniors who are struggling to put food on the table. We are grateful to Members of Congress who recognized what this legislation would have meant for their constituents and voted no.

“We fundamentally disagree with the notion embedded throughout the proposed bill that some people are more “deserving” of basic food assistance than others. Approximately 11 million people with disabilities across the United States rely on SNAP to help them eat. Cutting off SNAP – including through new and harsher work and reporting requirements – would only make it harder for people with disabilities and their families to access the food they need to work and to survive. If policymakers want to increase employment, Congress needs to make major new investments in job training and supports and services for job-seekers with disabilities and their families – not cut off their basic food assistance.

“We are relieved that the current version of this legislation was not passed, but recognize there is still work to do. The Farm Bill has a long history of bipartisan collaboration and support. Our hope is that Congressional leaders will work together to develop a bipartisan proposal for reauthorizing the Farm Bill that strengthens and protects SNAP,” said Marty Ford, Senior Executive Officer of Public Policy, The Arc.

On net, the bill voted on by the House today proposes deep cuts to food assistance under SNAP. As taken up by the full House, an estimated 2 million people would lose their SNAP food assistance or see their benefits reduced under the bill.

• The bill would significantly expand SNAP’s existing work requirements, forcing SNAP beneficiaries age 18 to 59 to engage in work or job training activities for at least 20 hours per week. The bill’s exceptions for people raising very young children or supporting a family member who is “incapacitated” (as stated in the bill) are likely to prove woefully inadequate and extremely difficult for people with disabilities to navigate. Ultimately, these new requirements would cause many people to lose their food assistance, making it harder for them to work, based on experience with existing work requirements in SNAP and other programs.
• While the bill calls for greater access to job training programs, new federal investments would be funded largely by cuts to SNAP food benefits, and analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities indicates that funding levels for job training would be highly insufficient.
• The bill also includes extensive new reporting requirements with harsh consequences if a person misses a deadline.

For The Arc, the quote from Martin Luther King, Jr. – “Everybody can be great because everyone can serve” – has a special meaning. Many perceive people with disabilities as the ones in need of service – but in reality, they are an important part of civic engagement at the state, local, and national levels. That’s why we’re grateful to have been selected for a third year by the Corporation for National and Community Service to execute volunteer projects for the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service.

We issued grants to 12 of our chapters across the country to engage in events that addressed the problem of food insecurity in communities across the country. Events included sandwich-making competitions, donation cook-offs, food drives and delivery, and food bank volunteer events. Each chapter’s creative and engaging projects helped further our mission of community inclusion and participation for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

 “I think it is very important as citizens and self-advocates that we show we care about the needs of people around us by getting outside our own routines and giving our time and energy to the Martin Luther King projects… I was very happy to serve in whatever way I was able to such a good cause and project.” – Sean Lewis, President of Tulsa People First in Oklahoma

Our 2018 grantees included The Arc of the Glades (FL), The Arc of Nature Coast (FL), The Arc of South Carolina, The Arc of Northeastern Pennsylvania (PA), The Arc Rockland (NY), The Arc of Kent County (MI), The Arc of the Quad Cities Area (IL), The Arc of North Texas (TX), TARC (OK), The Arc of Davidson County and Greater Nashville (TN), The Arc of Lane County (OR), and Choices for Community Living – Delaware (a subsidiary of Liberty Arc (NY).

Inclusive volunteering gives people with and without I/DD the opportunity to meet new people in the community while helping those in need. These new connections can lead to long-lasting friendships that impact not only community members being served by the volunteers but the volunteers themselves. The projects also have led to building job skills and new community partnerships. Volunteering truly is a win-win for everyone involved! To date, chapters have collectively done 4,285 hours of service with 762 volunteers and helped 10,609 people. Congratulations to each chapter on their 2018 events so far – and stay tuned on each chapter’s social media as they continue to host events in their communities.

Martin Luther King, Jr. also said: “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: what are you doing for others?” In our chapters, people with and without disabilities continue to answer this call to service year after year.

Learn more about The Arc’s volunteering efforts at thearc.org/inclusive-volunteering.

By: Nicole Jorwic, Director of Rights Policy, The Arc of the United States

During the recent fights to save the Medicaid program from devastating cuts and fundamental restructuring, the home and community based services (HCBS) that individuals with disabilities and their families rely on were in greatest jeopardy.

These services include everything from residential supports, day supports, and employment services, to personal attendant care. This is because under federal Medicaid law, HCBS are OPTIONAL while other services such as institutional services are MANDATORY. So if the cuts included in the recent health care bills would have made it down to the state level, HCBS would have been the first thing on the chopping block. This new reality would have been devastating to individuals and families.

Those HCBS dollars are the ones that, over the last several decades, have funded the desperately needed shift from institutional placements and segregated services for individuals with disabilities to a full life in their communities.

What is important to YOU about community living?

Share your story!

I have been lucky in my life to be a part of a community that involved all individuals in every aspect of the community, including my brother Chris who has autism. Chris is 28, lives in Illinois and receives Home and Community Based Services through the Medicaid program to remain in the same community where he has lived his whole life.

Not only do HCBS benefit the individuals with disabilities who receive them to stay in their community, it benefits every community member. Because of the services that Chris receives he is able to live in his home, do things that he chooses during the day out in the community, interacting with people who do not have disabilities, and gets the support that he needs to communicate through typing. Chris has a full life, and Medicaid HCBS have made that possible. However, it is never lost on me that if Chris had been born 20 or 30 years earlier, his life would most likely look very different because of his significant level of needs. Chris would have languished in an institution, away from his family, friends and his COMMUNITY never learning to express his wants, insights and amazing sense of humor. This knowledge is why I feel so passionately about making life in the community a reality for all individuals with disabilities, no matter their level of need.

The disability community showed our strength during the fights to protect Medicaid, and now we must rise up again to show the importance of ensuring that HCBS dollars are spent in the community and not in settings that isolate individuals from interacting with all parts of their communities. We need to show that life in the community is possible for ALL! The best way to send that message is to share stories about why community matters in YOUR life, and what your life looks like in the community.

Chris has already written his own story and submitted it, please take a moment to do the same. You can enter your information here. We will use these stories to show the need to increase the investment in HCBS dollars and to ensure that capacity is built to support every individual in their communities.

Hurricanes Harvey and Irma left a staggering path of destruction. Throughout Texas and Florida and neighboring states, people will start rebuilding their homes and their lives, and they will need all our support to recover from the storms.

Here are some ways that you and people with disabilities in your life can work together to help our neighbors in Texas and Florida begin the slow process of recovery.

Volunteer

Many websites list volunteer opportunities to serve the community, including the chance to serve people impacted by the hurricanes. While some of these may be in Florida and Texas specifically, other opportunities to help may be in your hometown!

Check out these searchable databases for your chance to serve those in need: All for Good, Create the Good, Do Something, Eventbrite, HandsOn Network, Idealist, MeetUp, and Volunteer Match.

Give

One way to support people affected by the hurricanes is through giving.

People with intellectual and developmental disabilities served by chapters of The Arc, the chapters themselves, their employees, board members and volunteers have been impacted and are starting the long process of recovery. If you want to give, consider making a donation to The Arc of the United States Disaster Relief Fund. The Arc Texas also has a page available to donate specifically to disaster relief from Hurricane Harvey. You may also want to consider donating directly to state and local chapters in Florida and Texas to support their relief efforts.

To give more broadly, both The American Red Cross and Salvation Army have pages available for you to donate to people in need.

Keep Focused

The effects of these hurricanes will be felt over the next days, months, and years. As you seek to help, look for opportunities to stay engaged and to give to meet not only the need today, but future needs as well.

Washington, DC –Today, The Arc and the Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality are releasing a first of its kind paper outlining why paid family and medical leave is a necessity for the economic security and stability of people with disabilities and their families.

The need for paid family and medical leave is universal. Nearly all of us will need paid leave at some point – to care for a family member’s or our own serious medical condition, or to welcome a new child into a family. Missing from the national conversation is the disability angle. One in five Americans live with a disability. Yet the reality is, in the U.S. workforce, only 1 in 7 workers has access to paid family leave to care for a family member with a serious health condition. Roughly 2 in 5 workers report they lack access to any paid leave.

“Millions of workers in our economy either have a disability, or have a family member with a disability. Yet largely under the radar has been the disability community – too many people are being forced to choose between a paycheck and their own health or a family member’s health. This paper aims to elevate the disability angle on paid leave, a national issue with growing momentum,” said co-author TJ Sutcliffe, Director, Income and Housing Policy, The Arc.

“If policymakers are serious about improving employment outcomes of people with disabilities, they should work to establish a comprehensive and inclusive paid family and medical leave program,” said co-author Kali Grant of the Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality. “We know paid leave has wide-reaching benefits, and that’s particularly true for people with disabilities and their families.”

Many people in the U.S. struggle to get by and pay for basics. That’s particularly true for people with disabilities and their families, who are more likely to live in poverty, have limited savings to fall back on, and face added disability-related expenses and barriers to work.

The paper found that households with one or more members with a disability have an average household income that is only about two-thirds that of households where no one has a disability. As highlighted in the paper, according to the National Disability Institute, 31% of people with disabilities say it is “very difficult” to cover their monthly expenses, compared to 15% of people without disabilities. And 4 in 5 people with disabilities lack any sort of rainy day fund.

Workers with disabilities are particularly likely to be in part-time, low-wage jobs that often don’t offer even basic benefits – much less paid family and medical leave. Over 2 in 3 part-time workers don’t have even one sick day. Workers with disabilities are twice as likely as workers without disabilities to be part-time.

“By offering job-protection, continuing health coverage, and temporary replacement income, comprehensive paid leave has the potential to ensure financial stability for the millions of working families with a member with a disability,” said Grant.

To fully address the needs of all Americans, including people with disabilities and their families, the paper recommends that a national paid leave approach should, among other things, be accessible to all working people and reflect a modern definition of family, cover all the major reasons that people need to take leave (one’s own health, a family member’s health, a new child), replace sufficient wages so that people can make ends meet, be for long enough to promote positive outcomes, ensure that people can keep their jobs and health insurance, and include education and outreach that is fully accessible to people with disabilities.

“Knowing that your job will be there for you if you take paid leave is a must for nearly all of us. And disability knows no geographical, socio-economic, or political boundaries. Other countries have done better, and American workers, including people with disabilities and their families, desperately need better,” said Sutcliffe.

Hear one family’s story about paid leave, and meet others who have personal experience with paid leave.
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.

Editor’s Note: The Arc is not an acronym; always refer to us as The Arc, not The ARC and never ARC. The Arc should be considered as a title or a phrase.

The Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality (GCPI) works with policymakers, researchers, practitioners, and advocates to develop effective policies and practices that alleviate poverty and inequality in the United States. Further information about GCPI and their Economic Security and Opportunity Initiative (ESOI) is available at www.georgetownpoverty.org.