A monthly e-newsletter for the DD Council Network
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DD Network News
This week NACDD, along with our ACL network partners met with ACL Acting Assistant Secretary Edwin Walker and other key ACL/AIDD staff to share information about the current transition and our agenda moving forward. Edwin Walker reported that at this time ACL has not been visited by the transition team members and that they are carrying on with business as usual.
We are all keeping our eyes on the actions of Congress and heard this week that the President-elect's budget, which typically is sent to the Hill the first Monday in February, will not be released until some point in April.
Commissioner Aaron Bishop's last day is January 20 and we will be taking the time to thank him for his service next week. At this time there is no word on a new Assistant Secretary or new AIDD Commissioner. Jennifer Johnson, Deputy Commissioner will remain in place along with the other AIDD staff to support our programs.
NACDD will be reaching out to DD Councils in the next few weeks to gather information about your Council priorities and highlights as we begin visiting with Members of the 115th Congress to secure FY 2018 funding and fight to keep priority programs like the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Medicaid, and Home and Community Based waivers intact for all. We look forward to your partnership in all of these endeavors.
It will be a busy year! We look forward to working with you all.
Best,
Donna
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POLICY NEWS & INFORMATION
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C
ontinuing Resolution and NEW Policy Resources
The current Continuing Resolution (CR) which provides funding to the DD Councils expires April 28th. At this time it is unknown how the new Congress and Administration will approach finalizing funding for FY 2017. NACDD remains in contact with appropriators to discuss completion of FY '17, and has started working on funding for FY '18.
Shortly, we will be reaching out to you for information from your Council that we can share with Congress to make a strong case for our funding.
A number of new resources have been issued by administrative agencies that DD Councils will find helpful as you work on state implementation of recently passed federal legislation including:
1) Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Unified or Combined State Plans
The U.S. Departments of Labor and Education announced the availability of the approved Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Unified or Combined State Plans. As required by WIOA, the Governor of each state and territory must submit a Unified or Combined State Plan to the U.S. Department of Labor that outlines a four-year strategy for the workforce development system. The U.S. Departments of Labor, Education, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, and Agriculture, whose programs are addressed, provided review and approval for each State Plan for the WIOA State Plans are approved from period July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2018. View the WIOA State Plans
3) U.S. Department of Education Releases Guidance on Restraint and Seclusion, Section 504 and Charter Schools
The Parent and Educator Resource Guide to Section 504 in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools, issued by the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), provides a broad overview of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504). The guidance describes school districts' nondiscrimination responsibilities, including obligations to provide educational services to students with disabilities, and outlines the steps parents can take to ensure that their children secure all of the services they are entitled to receive.
The second guidance package addresses the circumstances under which use of restraint or seclusion can result in discrimination against students with disabilities, in violation of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Department's May 15, 2012, Restraint and Seclusion: Resource Document suggested best practices to prevent the use of restraint or seclusion. The
DCL and
question & answer document offer additional information about the legal limitations on use of restraint or seclusion to assist school districts in meeting their obligations to students with disabilities.
The third guidance package released was developed by OCR and the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS). The jointly-issued Dear Colleague Letter and question and answer documents will help update educators, parents, students, and other stakeholders to better understand the rights of students with disabilities in public charter schools under Section 504 and IDEA.
4) Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Release Guidance on the Implementation of the Community First Choice State Plan Option
CMS issued guidance to states on the implementation of the Community First Choice State Plan Option, a home and community-based benefit package available to states to promote community living. The purpose of the CFC option is to provide individuals meeting an institutional level of care the opportunity to receive necessary personal attendant services (PAS) and supports in a home and community-based setting. The letter is available online at
Medicaid.gov
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ITACC WEBSITE ~ UPDATES & INFORMATION
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COUNCIL HIGHLIGHT
New Youtube Video Resource by Washington State Advocates:
Dating and having a social life
Informing Families is a project of the Washington State DD Council in collaboration with the Washington State DD Administration and partner organizations throughout
the state.
Conversations with your family about dating or having a social life can be hard to bring up. Informing Families, together with Allies in Advocacy, created this video to offer tips for how to get started. Featuring Ivanova Smith, George Adams and Alexa Atkins.
Check it out at
Youtube.com
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DIVERSITY, INCLUSION and CULTURAL & LINGUISTIC COMPETENCE (DICLC)
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DICLC
Resources & Opportunities to support DICLC in all aspects
of DD Council Work
(1) Disparities Leadership Academy
AIDD is providing a unique opportunity to DD Network partners to participate in a leadership academy. Up to eight States/Territories will be selected to send three-person teams to participate in this leadership academy. Materials and travel-related expenses will be covered. Letters of intent must be received by Friday, February 3, 2017.
Please contact
Allison Cruz
with questions.
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(2) Web-Based Learning & Reflection Forums
Mark your calendars for these dynamic forums and register below.
Confronting and Addressing Conscious and Unconscious Bias and the "ISMs"
Leading in Communities with Deep Historical Wounds
Getting Buy In and Implementing Cultural and Linguistic Competence Organizational Assessment
Developing Organizational Policies that Reflect the Values of Cultural & Linguistic Competence
Forums conducted previously (2015 & 2016) are archived, visit the NCLC website.
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PPR, State Plan Webinars and
List-serves
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Congratulations! 96% of Councils successfully submitted their FY 2016 Program Performance Report to AIDD.
ITACC will be announcing several webinars before the end of this month to address the following topics related to Council feedback on their 5 year State Plan. The topics will be: Annual Work Plan, Evaluation Plan, Targeted Disparity, and Self-Advocacy. As always, if you would like individual assistance, please contact Angela or Sheryl.
NACDD List-serves --
All NACDD list-serves are available to DD Councils. Below is a description of each list, how to access archives and list-serve etiquette. Happy Emailing!
1)
Start an email by selecting one of the list serves below. (Note: you must be a member of the list in order to submit and receive messages)
2) Click on send and your message will be posted to the selected list.
Civic Engagement, [email protected] - Members are actively engaged as a Community of Practice working on civic engagement initiatives.
Public Policy,
- Designed to share public policy related information.
Execs, [email protected] - Designed to facilitate communication and networking between Executive Directors. Execs is restricted to DD Council personnel occupying the position of Executive Director.
List-serve Archives --
Here's how to check the list serve archives for information before you post a new request for information. List serve posts are captured by year, beginning with 2014.
Click on the link to the archive list you want to view. There is a search feature for the archives, simply type in the topic (you may want to perform multiple searches).
Helpful hints and etiquette --
Be sure to include a descriptive subject line. E-mails received with no subject line may likely be perceived as spam by an email filter and be deleted before reaching the recipient's inbox.
Responses to many list serve list questions and discussion topics are of interest to the entire list. In these cases, it is appropriate to reply to the list serve list address.
Personal replies should be directed to specific individuals rather than to the entire list. Remember to cut and paste the sender's e-mail address when replying rather than simply hitting the "Reply" button which sends the response to the entire list.
Below are some examples of replies sent to an entire list in the past,
- 'Thanks.'
- 'Thanks. Hope you are well. All the best.'
- 'Yes.' or 'No, unfortunately.' (Both were sent in response to a reply also sent to the list as to whether an individual had specific information)
- 'I would also.' (Sent as response to whether additional info was desired)
- 'I would like more information. Could you e-mail me directly?'
- 'Thanks, this will be very helpful.'
- 'Welcome!' (Response to someone introducing themselves as a new subscriber)
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UPCOMING EVENTS & OPPORTUNITIES
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NACDD 2017 Annual Conference Call for Proposals is now Open!!
Visit the
NACDD website to submit by
January 31st
NACDD 2017 Annual Conference
A Quality Life: Count Me In!
July 11-14
Hotel reservation portal is now open and there are a couple of ways to make your reservation, visit the
NACDD website for mor e information.
Technical Assistance Institute (TAI) Salt Lake
City, Utah,
July 11-12
more information to come!
2017 Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month
Campaign
: Life Side-by-Side
SAVE-the-DATE for informational webinar opportunities to learn how you can participate.
Links for the webinars and further information will provided in the upcoming weeks.
Tuesday, January 31st at 10:00 AM Eastern Time
Thursday, February 2nd at 3:00 PM Eastern Time
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2017 Disability Policy Seminar
Registration is now open!
The Disability Policy Seminar (DPS) will be held
March 20-22
at The Renaissance Washington, DC Downtown Hotel.
Register today
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This publication is supported through AIDD's contract (#HHSP233201600068C) with NACDD to provide technical assistance to the national network of DD Councils.
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