Re: FW: March Update on President's Actions For People With Disabilities

[Guest guest]

Thank you for this information. How would one access the Lifespan Respite Care

Act funds?

Regards,

Aliza

....the test of a civilization is in the way that it cares for its helpless

members.

-Pearl S. Buck

March Update on President's Actions For People With Disabilities

March Update on President's Actions For People With Disabilities

At the White House, the Associate Director for Domestic Policy,

Olegario D. Cantos VII, Esq, routinely sends out an updated

listing of the recent steps undertaken by the President and

Administration for people with disabilities. The most recent

update follows below.

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PRESIDENT'S SIGNING OF NEW LEGISLATION

* July 2006 -- The Braille Literacy Commemorative Coin Act, which

instructs the U.S. Mint to produce a limited edition coin

commemorating the 200th Anniversary of the birth of Louis Braille

in 2009 with proceeds going toward programs promoting Braille

literacy for blind children and adults.

* July 2006 -- The Exemption of Persons with Disabilities from

Section 8 Rental Assistance Prohibition Act, which amends P.L.

109-115 (the Transportation- Treasury- HUD appropriations bill for

FY 2006) to exempt certain persons with disabilities from the

provision that excludes most college students from receiving

Section 8 vouchers.

* December 2006 -- The Lifespan Respite Care Act, which authorizes

$191 million over the next five years to provide respite care to

assist those tending to the needs of people with disabilities.

* December 2006 -- The Combating Autism Act, which dedicates $1

billion over the next five years toward early intervention,

research, and approaches for maximizing opportunities for men,

women, and children with autism.

PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES MENTIONED IN THE STATE OF THE UNION

ADDRESS

For the first time in the history of this Administration, as many

of you have witnessed, the President made direct mention of people

with disabilities in his State of the Union Address earlier this

year. This was done within the context of healthcare and will have

significant policy implications both for the remainder of this

Administration and for many years to come.

NEW FREEDOM INITIATIVEreport pending.

President Bush's New Freedom Initiative 2007 Progress Report will

include areas such as access to information and assistive

technology, education, employment, and community life. This is

expected to be released soon.

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS

* The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), through its

Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, is continuing to

advance the work of Executive Order 13347, signed by the President

in July 2004. DHS is integrating the needs of people with

disabilities into every facet of emergency mitigation,

preparedness, response, and recovery. This includes review of the

National Incident Management System (NIMS) and the National

Response Plan (NRP).

* For the first time in history, DHS's Federal Emergency

Management Agency (FEMA) is to house a National Disability

Coordinator position to help ensure that the needs of people with

disabilities are met during times of emergency. In addition, at

present, DHS is in the process of establishing a national advisory

council of disability rights leaders to provide ongoing advice and

direction on emergency preparedness issues.

* The White House Domestic Policy Council played an active role in

supporting the Federal Communications Commission in its efforts to

improve E9-1-1 services to be made more accessible to people with

disabilities, including those who are deaf or hard-of-hearing.

Additional developments are pending.

* In June 2006, the President signed Executive Order 13407

( " Public Alert and Warning System " ), which calls for an effective,

reliable, integrated, flexible, and comprehensive system to alert

and warn the American People in situations of war, terrorist

attack, or natural disaster, or other hazards, and to ensure that

under all conditions the President can communicate with the

American People. Among other things, the President sets forth the

policy for the public alert and warning system to possess the

capability to alert and warn all Americans, including those with

disabilities.

* The Federal Communications Commission clarified rules concerning

closed captioning by television stations providing emergency

information.

MEETING THE NEEDS OF AIR TRAVELERS WITH DISABILITIES

The Office for Passengers with Disabilities in the Transportation

Security Administration of DHS has been reorganized and has now

been placed under the Office for Civil Rights, along with having

been given new financial resources to meet the needs of air

travelers with disabilities. New technical assistance materials

have been developed in light of new terrorist threats such that

people with disabilities are accommodated appropriately. The White

House played the leading role in staying in close contact with

community leaders within hours of the attempted terrorist attack

on British planes bound for the United States, and DHS's Office

for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties acted quickly to respond to

the crisis.

TRANSPORTATION

The U.S. Department of Transportation, through the Federal Transit

Administration, has continued to build human service

transportation coordination under the banner of United We Ride,

created under Executive Order 13330. Several weeks ago, FTA just

announced a brand new effort to support eight states in a new " One

Call, One Ride " program to create a one-stop location for people

to call who are low-income, senior citizens, and people with

disabilities.

EMPLOYMENT

*The Office of Personnel Management made landmark changes to its

Schedule A Hiring Authority in July 2006 to increase opportunities

for people with disabilities to work in federal employment. Though

the original rules permitted Schedule A only to apply to

clients/customers/ consumers of vocational rehabilitation agencies

or the Department of Veterans Affairs, new rules now allow any

individual with a targeted disability to be hired under Schedule

A, if they may certify disability. Options include being certified

as job ready or being hired under a trial period to prove

readiness. OPM in March is set to announce the launch of its brand

new Community of Practice which will allow designated

representatives of federal agencies to exchange and distribute

information and ideas about best practices in recruitment, hiring,

retention, and advancement.

* The White House Domestic Policy Council played an important role

in supporting work of the Committee for Purchase from People Who

Are Blind or Severely Disabled by strengthening partnerships with

the Committee's leadership and supporting reform efforts,

including examination of executive compensation and addressing the

need to strive for at least a minimum wage to be paid by all those

working under the direction of the Committee's Central Non-profit

Agencies (CNA's) -- NISH and National Industries for the Blind.

* The White House Domestic Policy Council played a visible role in

supporting DisabilityInfo. gov, the White House initiative that

centralizes federal disability-related information and resources

into one online location. When the Office of Disability Employment

Policy of the U.S. Department of Labor (which leads in running the

site) sent out its inaugural e-newsletter, that publication

included a White House letter from the Associate Director for

Domestic Policy.

* The White House Domestic Policy Council strengthened disability-

related collaboration with the Equal Employment Opportunity

Commission (EEOC), including efforts to support EEOC's Leading in

the Employment of Americans with Disabilities (LEAD) Initiative.

* The White House Domestic Policy Council is supporting the work

of the Federal Disability Workforce Consortium, a federal

organization of disability program managers, selective placement

coordinators, and other officials interested in bringing more

people with disabilities into the federal government. Before March

draws to a close, the Council will be hosting a meeting to support

the group's ongoing efforts and to discuss next action steps for

making marked, concrete, and significant progress.

* The White House Domestic Policy Council, in support of the White

House Internship Program, played the central role in distributing

information about the program to community-based leaders across

the country, particularly to those within the disability

community.

COMMUNITY LIVING

* The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS),

launched its " Money Follows the Person " Rebalancing Initiative in

July 2006, which dedicates $1.75 billion over the next five years

to move more than 100,000 people with disabilities out of nursing

homes and other institutional

settings and into the community to live near family and friends.

* In July 2006, HHS's Office on Disability worked in joint

collaboration with the Surgeon General to release " The People's

Piece, " a companion document to the Surgeon General's Call To

Action to Improve the Health and Wellness o Persons with

Disabilities, " released in 2005.

HOUSING

* To promote the " Money Follows The Person " Rebalancing

Initiative, the White House Domestic Policy Council supported

efforts by Alfonso , Secretary of the U.S. Department of

Housing and Urban Development (HUD), to issue a letter to all its

Public Housing Authorities strongly to encourage them to set local

preferences; use Public Housing units, Housing Choice Vouchers,

and Mainstream Vouchers; and to join with such Medicaid offices

and aging and disability agencies administering Medicaid programs.

* To assist people with disabilities in finding accessible and

affordable housing, the White House Domestic Policy Council

reached out to HUD to obtain information about efforts taking

place nationwide to centralize information of available and

accessible housing units with such efforts being led by the

National Association of State Public Housing Agencies. The

resulting information is forthcoming.

SPECIAL EDUCATION

On August 3, 2006, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings

announced the new regulations for Part B of the Individuals with

Disabilities Education Act. The final regulations further the

President's goal that no child-including each and every one of

America's many students with disabilities- is left behind. By

aligning the regulations with the No Child Left Behind Act, there

is a new focus on ensuring that students with disabilities are

held to high expectations.

NEW OUTREACH TO FAITH-BASED AND COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS

The White House Domestic Policy Council worked in partnership with

colleagues from the Office of Faith-Based and Community

Initiatives to share information about upcoming workshops held

around the country with information distributed to thousands of

disability organization leaders and others nationwide, thereby

having paved the way for greater participation by disability

organizations in these free seminars. Notably, language of the

invitation letter included an offer to provide reasonable

accommodations upon request.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

Efforts have taken place at unprecedented levels to devote

enhanced attention to the needs of crime victims with

disabilities. This includes the following:

* The President's Committee for People with Intellectual

Disabilities, for the first time ever, has dedicated time to

addressing crime victim issues, specifically within the context of

meeting the needs of people with intellectual disabilities.

* The National Council on Disability (NCD) has begun

groundbreaking and historic collaboration with the Office for

Victims of Crime (OVC) of the Office of Justice Programs of the

U.S. Department of Justice and the National Center for Victims of

Crime (NCVC) to increase visibility of people with disabilities in

upcoming efforts surrounding National Crime Victims Rights Week. A

poster has already been developed to dedicate greater attention of

the broader victim/witness field about the needs of crime

victims with disabilities, and NCD and OCVC are set to make

another major announcement soon.

* OVC hosted its first-ever web forum, dedicated exclusively to

discussing issues, needs, concerns, and solutions surrounding

crime victimization.

* For the first time ever, NCVC will be devoting an entire track

of its upcoming national conference to crime victimization of

people with disabilities.

* The Association of University Centers on Excellence in

Disability (AUCD) convened a working group to discuss

implementation of the Crime Victims with Disabilities Awareness

Act, conducted in joint collaboration with the White House and a

host of organizations including but not limited to the National

Disability Rights Network, the National Council on Independent

Living, the National Association of Councils on Developmental

Disabilities, and the National Clearinghouse for Crime Victims

with Disabilities of the University of Wyoming.

* OVC is soon to announce distribution of a video, dedicated to

educating first responders on forensic interviewing of people with

developmental disabilities. This announcement will be made by OVC

Director Gillis.

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For more news issues, see:

http://www.aapd. com/docs/ news.php

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