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The Arc of the United States Announces 45 Sub‐Grant Awards for Transitioning Youth From School to Adult Life, Funded by the Walmart Foundation

/in /by The Arc

Washington, D.C. – Thanks to a $3 million grant from the Walmart Foundation, The Arc of the United States (The Arc) is awarding grants to 45 local chapters of The Arc across the U.S. in support of a new initiative designed to help youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

These sub‐grants are being awarded as part of the Walmart Foundation School‐to‐Community Transition Project. The project aims to increase transition outcomes and to build inclusion and involvement of youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities in independent living, employment, post‐secondary education or vocational training, and community, social, and civic affairs.

“The sub‐grants for the Walmart Foundation School‐to‐Community Transition represent dynamic, new, and innovative projects of chapters of The Arc. They will set a high standard in best practices for youth to adult transition initiatives for years to come,” said Peter V. Berns, Chief Executive Officer of The Arc.

“The Walmart Foundation is committed to improving the lives of people with disabilities and ensuring they have opportunities to live better,” said Margaret McKenna, president of the Walmart Foundation. “Our recent grant to The Arc reinforces our commitment by supporting programs of The Arc across America.”

The following chapters of The Arc are recipients of these sub‐grants:

Arc Chapter/Affiliate State Executive Director / CEO
The Arc of Shelby Co. AL Karen H. Stokes
The Arc of Southeast Los Angeles Co. CA Kevin P. MacDonald
The Arc of San Francisco CA Timothy Hornbecker
The Arc of Ventura Co. CA Fred Robinson
The Arc of Colorado CO Marijo Rymer
WeCAHR CT Shirley Ricart
STAR, Inc. CT Katie Banzhaf
The Arc of the District of Columbia DC Mary Lou Meccariello
The Arc of Jacksonville FL Jim Whittaker
The Arc in Hawaii HI Michael Tamanha
The Arc of Rock Island County IL Kyle Rick
Community Support Services IL Gaye Preston
Seguin Services IL John Voit
Achieva Resources IN Dan Stewart
Evansville Arc IN Deidra R. Conner
The Arc of Kentucky KY Patty Dempsey
The Arc of Greater New Orleans LA Cliff Doescher
The Arc of Baton Rouge LA Barry Meyer
The Arc of Massachusetts MA Leo V. Sarkissian
Northeast Arc MA Gerard L. McCarthy
The Arc of Frederick Co. MD Joanna Pierson
The Arc of Prince George’s Co. MD Jack Ramsey
The Arc Downriver MI Kevin P. McGuckin
The Arc of Kent Co. MI Tammy Finn
The Arc of Northwest Wayne Co. MI Christine A. Lerchen
The Arc of the Greater Twin Cities MN Kim Keprios
The Arc of St. Louis MO Kathy Meath
The Arc of Mississippi MS Matt Nalker
The Arc of Haywood County NC Holly Lemieux
The Arc of Wake Co. NC Steven R. Strom
The Arc of Nebraska NE Marla Fischer‐Lempke
The Arc of Gloucester NJ Ana Rivera
The Arc of Monmouth NJ Mary Scott
The Arc of New Mexico NM Randy Costales
AHRC – New York City NY Michael Goldfarb
NYSARC ‐ Rensselaer NY Hanns Meissner
NYSARC – The Arc of Oneida‐Lewis NY Angela Z. VanDerhoof
The Arc of Oregon OR Marcie Ingledue
The Arc of Philadelphia PA Bruce Hulick
The Arc of York Co. PA Gregory D. Knox
The Arc of Tennessee TN Carries Hobbs Guiden
The Arc of Davidson Co. TN Norman Tenenbaum
The Arc of Northern Virginia VA Nancy Mercer
The Arc of Washington State WA Sue Elliott
The Arc of Clark Co. WA Jesse L. Dunn
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The Arc Applauds House Passage of Health Care Reform Legislation

/in /by The Arc

The Arc of the United States applauds the House of Representative’s passage of the historic health care reform legislation that is certain to rank among the top domestic legislative achievements of this generation. “This legislation will bring about comprehensive health care reform that will benefit nearly all Americans while reducing the federal deficit. We are extremely pleased that the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act, passed by the House and Senate, contains numerous provisions of importance to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities,” said Peter V. Berns, CEO of The Arc.

Provisions include:

Coverage

  • Prohibiting private health insurance exclusions for pre-existing conditions.
  • Eliminating annual and lifetime caps in private insurance policies.
  • Restricting the consideration of health status in setting premiums.
  • Expanding Medicaid to cover individuals with incomes up to 133 percent of the federal poverty line (approximately $29,000 per year for a family of four).

Benefits

  • Ensuring that minimum covered benefits include products and services that enable people with disabilities to maintain and improve function, such as rehabilitation and habilitation services and devices.

Access to Quality Care

  • Improving training of physicians, dentists and allied health professionals on how to treat persons with disabilities.
  • Requiring the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to collect data on beneficiaries with disabilities, access to primary care services and the level to which primary care service providers have been trained on disability issues.
  • Ensuring prevention programs include a focus on individuals with disabilities.

Long-Term Services and Supports

  • Increasing the federal share of Medicaid, known as the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (or FMAP), for home and community-based services (HCBS) and during periods of economic downturn.
  • Allowing states to offer additional services under the 1915(i) Medicaid HCBS Waivers State Plan Option.
  • Providing spousal impoverishment protections for HCBS beneficiaries.
  • Strengthening long-term services and supports through a two-pronged approach:
    • Taking pressure off of the Medicaid program: The Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Act would create a national long-term services insurance program, which assists eligible individuals and their families to meet long-term needs with a cash benefit and without forcing them into poverty to receive Medicaid benefits.
    • Improving the Medicaid program: The Community First Choice Option would help to eliminate the institutional bias by encouraging states to cover personal attendant services under the state’s optional service plan instead of through the waiver system by offering a 6% increase in the federal share of Medicaid for these services.

Cindy Johnson, Chair of the Public Policy Committee of The Arc and a member of its national board said, “People with disabilities—especially young people—can look to a future free from the discrimination of being denied coverage due to preexisting conditions.” Johnson, who is a parent and a sibling to individuals with disabilities, added “this legislation is a relief for families and represents the hope we have that our needs will be met. We are grateful to the advocates and the legislators who fought to have these provisions included.”

The Arc greatly looks forward to President Obama’s expected signing of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R.3590) into law early this week. Enactment of this landmark law will result in the attainment of several of The Arc’s priority public policy goals. “We are hopeful that the subsequent consideration by the Senate this week of the Reconciliation Act of 2010 (H.R. 48772) will also be successful, resulting in fundamental and lasting improvements to the Nation’s health care system,” Berns said.

The Arc urges families with individuals with disabilities to call their congressional representatives who supported this legislation and thank them. To learn more about the impact of health care reform and other legislative priorities impacting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, register for the Disability Policy Seminar (www.disabilitypolicyseminar.org) from April 12-14, 2010, in Washington, D.C.

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Letter From The Arc to Rush Limbaugh: Meet With Us

/in /by The Arc

February 5, 2010

Mr. Rush Limbaugh
1270 Avenue of the Americas, 9th Fl.
New York, NY 10020

Dear Mr. Limbaugh:

I am writing on behalf of The Arc of the United States (The Arc), the oldest and largest national nonprofit organization that advocates on behalf of and serves people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. With over 730 chapters nationwide, The Arc is committed to the full inclusion and participation of people with disabilities in all aspects of community life.

Earlier this week, on behalf of The Arc, I participated in a frank discussion with White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, regarding comments he made that offended our constituency. On the same day, you engaged in extensive commentary about that meeting, as well as the events surrounding it, using the same offensive language.

I am inviting you to meet personally with a group of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, their parents, and siblings to engage in an open and honest dialogue regarding the language you used in your recent commentary. We would like to provide you the opportunity to hear, first hand, why people with intellectual and developmental disabilities believe the words “retard” and “retarded” and similar phrases need to be removed from common use.

Self-advocates, parents, disability rights activists, and others are rightly concerned that your comments simply serve to further degrade and denigrate the 7 million individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities who struggle on a daily basis to be included in society. We believe that a face to face meeting to discuss these concerns and share the personal impact on these individuals would go far in informing you and your listeners.

I cannot understate the effect of a word many consider an epithet – it is deeply offensive to people that are living with intellectual disabilities, and the tens of millions of their parents, siblings, family members, and friends. It is a harsh reminder of the institutionalization, sterilization, abuse, discrimination, violence, and exclusion they have faced, and continue to face, as they merely seek to live typical lives.

I invite you to meet with a group of people with intellectual disabilities and their families in a city of your choosing – New York, Washington, DC, or another location. I look forward to a favorable reply.

Sincerely,

Peter V. Berns
Chief Executive Officer

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Joint Statement of Disability Leaders

/in /by The Arc

Julie Petty, Ricardo Thornton, Hannah Jacobs, Andy Imparato, Peter Berns, and Tim Shriver

We came here today to meet with Rahm Emanuel and share with him our views on the importance and impact of language. We wanted to invite Mr. Emanuel and all of America to understand the collective efforts of our community to remove the words “retard” and “retarded” from every day speech.

The “R-word” is polluting our language. Every day our community hears this word – in schools and workplaces, in print and movies, and on radio and television. And every day they suffer its dehumanizing effects: mockery, stigma, and ridicule. This is a word that is incredibly damaging, not only to the seven million people with intellectual disabilities, but also to their friends, family, and to all of us.

We are thankful to Mr. Emanuel for meeting with us today and hearing our concerns. He sincerely apologized for his mistake and the pain it caused in our community.

We are happy that he will join more than 54,000 other Americans in pledging to end the use of the “R-word” at www.r-word.org and that he committed that the administration would continue to look for ways to partner with us, including examining pending legislation in Congress to remove the “R-word” from federal law.

Our community has earned the right to be respected instead of ridiculed. We have suffered injustice for generations and we are demanding that it end.

This is another small step on the road to a country that accepts the gifts of all.

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The Arc Invited to White House Meeting on the “R-word”

/in /by The Arc

Washington, D.C. – The Arc of the United States (The Arc) has been invited to join a meeting at the White House today with other disabilities rights advocates to discuss the controversy around White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel’s use of the “R-word.”

Peter V. Berns, Chief Executive Officer of The Arc, wrote a letter to Rahm Emanuel pressing for White House support of Rosa’s Law. This legislation would change the term “mental retardation” or “mentally retarded” to “intellectual disabilities” in several federal statutes such as education and employment laws.

Who: Peter V. Berns, Chief Executive Officer of The Arc; Andy Imparato, American Association of People with Disabilities; Hannah Jacobs, parent; Julie Petty, self-advocate; Tim Shriver, Special Olympics; and Ricardo Thornton, self-advocate.

What: Meeting with disabilities advocates to discuss Chief of Staff’s use of the “R-word.”

When: Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 2:00 p.m.

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The Arc Condemns White House Aide’s Use of “R-Word”

/in /by The Arc

Washington, DC–Reports that White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel used an epithet relating to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities is both shocking and disappointing.

According to a Wall Street Journal story on an embattled White House, “Some attendees said they were planning to air ads attacking conservative Democrats who were balking at Mr. Obama’s health care overhaul. “F—ing retarded,” Mr. Emanuel scolded the group, according to several participants. We hope that the Members of Congress in that meeting were equally offended.

This is the second serious verbal miscue by the Administration about people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. President Obama’s unfortunate statement last year on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, equating his poor bowling performance with that of people with intellectual disabilities, sparked justifiable outrage from people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families. The President subsequently apologized for his remarks and disability advocates saw it as a teachable moment. Mr. Emanuel’s use of hateful language would suggest that it is the White House staff that needs to be taught a lesson in respect for people with disabilities.

Statements such as these—particularly when used by someone at a high level—amplify pervasive societal attitudes that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities somehow don’t measure up or that their lives are worth less. “Using a slur about people with intellectual disabilities to criticize other people just isn’t right,” said Peter V. Berns, Chief Executive Officer of The Arc of the United States. “For people with disabilities, it is disrespectful and demeaning and only serves to marginalize a constituency that already struggles for empowerment on every front,” Berns added.

Disability rights advocates had high hopes for this Administration when the President appointed a Special Assistant to the President for Disability Policy. This was a move that the Administration called, “Our first step to ensure that we have a strong advocate for people with disabilities at the highest levels of our Administration.”

The more than seven million individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families demand an apology for Mr. Emanuel’s use of language that denigrates our constituency. The White House needs to lead by example and demonstrate through words and actions that it is not acceptable to use people with disabilities as a source for ridicule. To condone this language is to deny opportunities for people with disabilities in the workplace, in the community, in school, and in every other quarter of society.

The Arc of the United States strongly supports legislation (S.2781) introduced by Sen. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland that would change the term “mental retardation” or “mentally retarded” to “intellectual disabilities.” Given the two White House incidents of inappropriate use of the term regarding these constituencies, The Arc hopes that the Obama Administration will put its full force behind the enactment of this legislation.