A Note from the Editor:
Dear NCIL Members,
As you are probably aware, the nation will inaugurate President-elect Barack Obama next Tuesday, January 20th. The NCIL offices will be closed in recognition of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and Inauguration Day, which are both Federal Holidays. The next edition of the Weekly Advocacy Monitor will be released Monday, January 26th, and will feature updates about inaugural events, transition news, and how the National Council on Independent Living and its staff is contributing to the process.
Eleanor Canter
1) What’s Happening in the Nation’s Capital?
COUNTDOWN: Eight Days
Get There, by the Washington Post Transition Team: Caution for Elderly, People with Disabilities on Inauguration Day Travel
2) National News
Coming Soon: The NCIL 2009 Bi-Annual Survey of the Membership – What to Expect This Year
Update: Host a Disability Pride Inaugural Event in Your Area!
PROTEST: Jerry Lewis' "Humanitarian" Oscar
3) State News
Disabled Protected by Law – Again, Op-Ed by Liberty Resources CIL and Steve Gold
Micah Fialka-Feldman’s Fight for Inclusion in Oakland University Dorms Heads to Court Tuesday
4) Announcements and Additional Resources
New OVC Training Self Assessment Tool Available Online
NCD Disability Healthcare Policy Forum to Be Held in Scottsdale, Arizona
COUNTDOWN: Eight Days
Source: Politico [excerpts]
This is the final week of the Bush era, and the Democratic Congress is completely consumed with getting ready for President Obama, marking up his economic package in committees, plowing through confirmation hearings on his cabinet nominees and getting a children's health insurance bill ready for his signature.
Testimonial dramatics are more the province of Supreme Court nomination hearings – and five of the 15 Obama appointees are Senate alums, which means they’re likely to get even more deferential treatment than your average Cabinet nominee.
Hillary Clinton, ever the preparation junkie, is cramming for Tuesday’s confirmation hearing — intent on downplaying old disagreements with Barack Obama and parrying questions about her husband’s overseas entanglements, aides say.
Barring a bombshell revelation, all sides expect Clinton to be speedily confirmed as secretary of state. But her rendezvous with the Foreign Relations Committee at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday still offers its share of potential land mines.
President-elect Barack Obama has teamed up with President George W. Bush for what could be the last major action of this presidency. At Obama's request, Bush has agreed to ask Congress for the second $350 billion of the $700 billion financial bailout.
The move came shortly after Bush told reporters at this final scheduled news conference Monday morning that he would request the funds only if Obama asked — and that Obama hadn’t yet asked.
Obama has said he plans to seek substantial changes in the program to provide more transparency — information on how the money is spent — and to make more of it available for consumers, homeowners and small businesses.
President George W. Bush had some advice for his successor Monday, warning Barack Obama against feeling any self pity about the “burdens of the office.”
“The phrase ‘burdens of the office’ is overstated,” Bush said during the last scheduled news conference of his presidency. “Oh, the burdens, you know. Why did the financial collapse have to happen on my watch? It's just pathetic, isn't it, self-pity? And I don't believe President-elect Obama will be full of self-pity.”
Get There, by the Washington Post Transition Team: Caution for Elderly, People with Disabilities on Inauguration Day Travel
Source: Washington Post
When I urge you to think of Inauguration Day travel as you would a day when a blizzard is forecast, one of the things I have in mind is this: The events are not very welcoming for older, frailer or disabled people.
The transportation systems have their setups to assist the elderly and disabled, but they won't be enhancing them for Jan. 20. Every transportation agency expects its roads, sidewalks, buses and rails in the Washington area to be heavily stressed by the inauguration crowds. They are urging people to think seriously about whether they also are up for the stress of getting to and from these events.
Metro officials said today they are cautioning seniors and people with disabilities about what they are likely to face when using Metrorail, Metrobus and MetroAccess on Inauguration Day and the weekend days leading up to it.
"Although Metrobus and Metrorail are fully accessible, and Metro is making every effort to ensure that this historic event is accessible to as many people as possible, security and environmental restrictions will make travel especially challenging for people with disabilities and senior citizens," Christian T. Kent, Metro's assistant general manager for access services, said in a statement. Read More.
Coming Soon: The NCIL 2009 Bi-Annual Survey of the Membership – What to Expect This Year
The National Council on Independent Living will be releasing its 2009 Bi-Annual Survey later this month to the membership for input on policy priorities. This year the survey will look a little different than it has previously. Our goal is to focus NCIL's energy on a few key priorities in order to be more effective in our advocacy efforts. As always, when the national agenda shifts and legislative or regulatory measures advance, NCIL will respond according to your priorities to ensure that policy makers in Washington, DC hear your voice.
It is important to note that regardless of the survey results, NCIL will continue to work on many priorities that are (thankfully) funded by outside grants that complement our legislative and advocacy agenda. Therefore, the following issues will not be among those listed on the survey:
- Healthcare: The HealthSouth Corporation funds a one-year fellowship that dedicates one full time policy position to healthcare policy issues.
- Aging and Disability Resource Centers (ADRCs): NCIL has a grant with the Administration on Aging to help bridge the gap between aging and disability advocates. Therefore, Aging Disability Resource Centers will be monitored through the AoA grant.
- Violence and Abuse: NCIL has subcontracted with the Joint Center on Violence and Victim Studies (JCVVS) at Washburn University as part of a US Department of Justice Office of Victims of Crime project to plan a national conference to educate and improve coordination among people with disabilities who have been victims of crime, abuse, or neglect and other advocates and stakeholders.
In order to better promote your efforts with policy makers on Capitol Hill and the Administration, NCIL will play a supportive role on issues that indirectly affect Independent Living. Several organizations have dedicated resources and staff to take the lead on certain policy priorities. For example:
- The Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities is a coalition of approximately 100 national disability organizations working together to advocate for national public policy that ensures the self determination, independence, empowerment, integration and inclusion of children and adults with disabilities in all aspects of society.
- ADA / Civil Rights: The NCIL ADA/Civil Rights Subcommittee works actively on civil rights issues, often taking a leadership role and working in coalition with other groups. NCIL worked with a coalition of over two hundred organizations to enact the ADA Amendments Act of 2008.
- Hate Crimes: The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights lead a hate crimes coalition to enact legislation that will expand existing hate crimes law to include disability.
- Housing: NCIL works with the National Low-Income Housing Coalition, the National Training and Information Center, the Public Housing Tenants Association, and the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities Housing Task Force to garner passage of the National Housing Trust Fund, and with ADAPT on increased funding for Section Eight vouchers. The Subcommittee reinforced the Sierra Club’s efforts on formaldehyde in FEMA trailers, and continues to work on accommodating people with Multiple Chemical/Electrical Sensitivity (MC/ES) in housing.
- Mental Health: Mental Health America, the Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, and other groups focus primarily on mental health policy issues. NCIL works with these groups to reduce stigma of people with mental health disabilities, increase accessibility and availability of services, and enact Mental Health Parity.
- Voting: The American Association of People with Disabilities heads up the Disability Vote Project (DVP). NCIL staff and members of the NCIL Voting Rights Task Force work in coalition on voting issues, such as the implementation and enforcement of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), among other issues.
- Assistive Technology: NCIL supports the Coalition of Organizations for Assistive Technology (COAT), which advocates for legislative and regulatory safeguards that will ensure full access by people with disabilities to evolving high speed broadband, wireless and other Internet Protocol (IP) technologies.
If you have questions or concerns, please contact Deb Cotter or Elizabeth Leef at the NCIL Office. 202-207-0334 or e-mail deb@ncil.org and Elizabeth@ncil.org.
Update: Host a Disability Pride Inaugural Event in Your Area!
Last week we reported on the opportunity to bring together people with all types of disabilities in your community by hosting a local inaugural event. During the week of January 19-25, while Barack Obama is inaugurated as President in Washington, DC, disability organizations will be holding local events in communities around the country. Set up an event in your community! Town hall meetings, potlucks, rallies, community service projects, whatever event suits your area.
Obama’s disability team will invite people from their extensive list of contacts in your area – to connect new people with disabilities to your organization! Don’t miss this opportunity to build a nationwide disability rights movement!
To let us know what event you’re planning and get assistance with contacts, press release, flyers, and other materials, please contact disabilitymovement@gmail.com or call Jessica Lehman at (510) 427-7535 or Rebecca (Hare) Cokley at (202) 420-1847
Events planned so far:
- Portland, Oregon: "People First: A Disability Networking and Resource Event," Thursday, January 22, 5-7 pm
- Marin County, California
- Oakland, California: Disability Inaugural Event, Wednesday, January 21, 4-7 pm
- Columbia, Missouri: "Speak Up, Speak Out!" Legislative Training, Friday, January 30
- Washington, DC: Potluck Dinner, Roundtable to discuss issues and concerns of the disability community
- Raleigh, North Carolina: Fundraiser and Inaugural Celebration, Saturday, January 17
- Possible Events in: Chicago, Illinois, Macomb County, Michigan
Next Steps:
- Some of you may be hosting small inauguration parties at your homes, inviting other people with disabilities to watch with you - please let Jessica Lehman know she we can include these on the list of nationwide events!
- The disability policy paper will be turned into a letter that every gathering around the country can have attendees sign and send in - potentially to the Pres & VP, plus House & Senate leadership. Let them know if you want to help with this. A sample press release will go out by Wednesday or Thursday.
- Through this project we hope to use the excitement around Obama's inauguration to bring out more of our community and prepare for strong and effective action over the next four years and beyond.
PROTEST: Jerry Lewis' "Humanitarian" Oscar
This petition (sign here) has been launched to object to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' announcement that it will give Jerry Lewis its Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the Oscar Awards ceremony on February 22, 2009.
During his decades of hosting the Labor Day Telethon, Jerry Lewis has helped to perpetuate negative, stereotypical attitudes toward people with muscular dystrophy and other disabilities. Jerry Lewis and the Telethon actively promote pity as a fundraising strategy. Disabled people want RESPECT and RIGHTS, not pity and charity.
In 1990, Lewis wrote that if he had muscular dystrophy and had to use a wheelchair, he would "just have to learn to try to be good at being a half a person." During the 1992 Telethon, he said that people with MD, whom he always insists on calling "my kids," "cannot go into the workplace. There's nothing they can do." Comments like these have led disability activists and
our allies to protest against Jerry Lewis. We've argued that he uses the Telethon to promote pity, a counterproductive emotion which undermines our social equality. Here's how Lewis responded to the Telethon protesters during a 2001 television interview: "Pity? You don't want to be pitied
because you're a cripple in a wheelchair? Stay in your house!"
Jerry Lewis has also made derogatory comments about women and gay men. His outdated attitudes and crude remarks are dehumanizing, not humanitarian.
Therefore, we the undersigned support the actions and arguments of the coalition group The Trouble with Jerry. We protest the Academy's characterization of Jerry Lewis as a "humanitarian." And we ask that the Academy cancel its plans to give Lewis the Hersholt Humanitarian Award.
Sincerely,
Sign here: http://www.petitiononline.com/jlno2009/petition.html
Posted by Lawrence Carter-Long, http://dnnyc.net
Disabled Protected by Law – Again, Op-Ed by Liberty Resources CIL and Steve Gold
Philadelphia Inquirer, Op-Ed, by Thomas Earle and Steve Gold
The Americans with Disabilities Act had been undercut by U.S. courts. A new law restores it.
The Americans with Disabilities Act, the fundamental civil-rights protection for people with disabilities, was restored to its original purpose as of Jan. 1. It's important to understand why that restoration was necessary, and what it means for both disabled and non-disabled people.
When Congress enacted the original ADA in 1990, it was said to be as significant for people with disabilities as the civil-rights laws of the 1960s were for people of color - affording equal status, equal opportunity, dignity, and an end to discrimination. Unfortunately, it was not long before businesses and other institutions became a major counterweight.
While most Americans believe and hope that the courts are protectors of civil rights, a number of court decisions, urged by businesses and other powerful institutions, significantly undercut ADA rights. The courts went out of their way to undermine the civil rights of a minority, directly contradicting Congress' intent in adopting the law.
Employment: This was particularly true in employment cases, which contributed to the extraordinarily high unemployment rate of people with disabilities: 67 percent. These are people who want to work and could work if the ADA had been fully implemented.
The courts severely restricted the definition of disabled and therefore the number of people protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act. In one case, the Supreme Court ruled that people who took medication or had corrective devices - so-called "mitigating measures" - were not disabled. The court also made it nearly impossible to prove that a person was fired because of a disability.
Many lower courts, following the Supreme Court's lead, held that people with mental illnesses, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and even mental retardation were not disabled and therefore had no rights under the act.
In 2008, disability advocates organized and demanded redress from our elected officials. They responded quite positively, including Pennsylvania Sens. Arlen Specter and Robert Casey, who led the fight to ensure the original intent of the law was restored.
Restoration: Congress in effect told the courts that the 1990 scope, meaning and breadth of the ADA is what elected officials and the disability community wanted restored and enforced in the future. The ADA Restoration Act of 2008 emphasized that the focus of disability litigation should be whether or not discrimination has occurred.
The struggle to end discrimination against people with disabilities is not new. Losing some of our progress over the past 18 years hurt a lot, but we're optimistic. We're looking forward to a future when people with disabilities are not unnecessarily institutionalized and discriminated against, and when disabled people work and live side by side with other people.
Thomas Earle is president of Philadelphia-based Liberty Resources. Steve Gold is a disability-rights lawyer. Liberty Resources is a nonprofit organization that promotes independent living for people with disabilities.
Micah Fialka-Feldman’s Fight for Inclusion in Oakland University Dorms Heads to Court Tuesday
On January 13, 2009 at 2:00 pm, Micah Fialka-Feldman's first Federal Court hearing is scheduled. The complaint is filed under the Fair Housing Act (FHA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. You are invited to support Micah Fialka-Feldman's dream and right to live in the dormitory at Oakland University.
When: Tuesday, January 13, 2009; 2:15pm - 4:00pm.
Where: Judge Duggan, RM 861, United States Courthouse: 231 West Lafayette Boulevard, Detroit, MI.
Micah’s team encourages you to attend this hearing because this is an opportunity to deepen and expand the "purpose of education" and the definition of the word "student". Micah's dream is based upon the belief that every human being has the right to reach his or her potential. Micah's cognitive impairment does not limit his desire or his ability to contribute as a full citizen in our community.
Micah believes Oakland University has been a pioneer for inclusive education, but that there is no reason to deny him the full college experience, which includes dormitory living. During the holiday, Micah, along and more than twenty friends and OU students, celebrated their 2008 OU work to create a truly inclusive university. In early January, more than 300 letters will be delivered to President Russi and to Governor Granholm's Lansing office.
Why is the university spending thousands upon thousands of tax payer dollars to hire Butzel and Long attorneys to keep Micah and other future Option students from living in the university housing? What is their fear? We urge the university to reverse its previous decisions, stop the need for the lawsuit and create a pilot program that can be evaluated in 1 year. It will save Michigan tax payers money, and the university bad press. A Pilot Program will continue to establish Oakland University as an education leader in the area of post secondary inclusive education. Embracing Micah's journey supports Governor Granholm's words commitment that every Michigan citizen deserves a full education in the 21 century.
Contact information: Check out updates on Micah's dream and right to live in the dormitory, You Tube videos and current articles, you can go to: www.throughthesamedoor.com. Or write to let Micah know that you support his goal: Micah Fialka-Feldman.
New OVC Training Self Assessment Tool Available Online
The Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) announces a new online Training Self Assessment Tool to assist you and your organization in identifying and assessing your training/technical assistance needs. 1. Access the Training Self Assessment Tool. 2. Complete the areas of interest at your leisure. 3. Receive a printable summary of your responses and a list of available resources. Available 24/7 from any Internet-accessible location. Save and return later to complete at your leisure.
NCD Disability Healthcare Policy Forum to Be Held in Scottsdale, Arizona
Disability healthcare reform will be the subject of a policy forum sponsored by the National Council on Disability (NCD) on Tuesday, January 13, 2009, from 3:00 p.m. until 4:30 p.m. MST. The forum will be held at the Chaparral Suites Resort, 5001 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale, Arizona. This meeting is open to the public.
The forum will explore the relationship between health insurance coverage and access to appropriate health care and long-term services for people with disabilities, included people with chronic health conditions. It will also identify opportunities to maintain and improve health outcomes for this growing population.
Disability healthcare speakers include: Leonard Kirschner, M.D., M.P.H. (State President, AARP Arizona), Merrill Friedman (Assistant Vice President, Advocacy and National Partnerships, AMERIGROUP Corporation), Anthony D. Rogers (Director, Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System), Judie Walker (Division Chief, Member and Provider Services, Education and Advocacy, Office for Children with Special Health Care Needs, Arizona Department of Health Services), and Jill Jamison Rissi, Ph.D.(Associate Director for Research and Policy, St. Luke’s Health Initiative).
A special public comment session dedicated to disability healthcare will take place after the forum from 4:30 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. MST. The toll-free call-in number is (888) 790–6568, and the pass code is “NCD Meeting.” NCD will host a reception at the hotel from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. immediately following the forum and public comment session. Meeting participants, audience members, and disability community stakeholders are invited to attend.
The disability healthcare policy forum is part of NCD’s quarterly meeting, which is also being held at the hotel, beginning at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, January 12, 2009, and ending at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, January 14, 2009. For more information, please contact NCD’s Director of External Affairs, Mark S. Quigley, at mquigley@ncd.gov or by telephone at 202-272-2008. |
January 12 , 2009