CEO Advocacy Update

Over 500 advocates attended The Arc's National Disability Policy Conference last week, including our own self-advocate Mark Marshall, parents Pat Napoliello and Jackie Kenley, and myself. We heard presentations and national budget recommendations on Health Care Reform, Employment, Housing, Education and Legislation in need of reauthorization. We then visited our legislators on Capitol Hill, urging their support. We were able to personally meet with Senator Feinstein, Senator Boxer, and Congresswoman Jackie Speier (who worked with our clients earlier in her career). We were even able to get into the offices of Senator Pelosi and speak with two of her top aides on Education and Health Care.
Our Governor has requested more funding and an extension of the enhanced federal share of MediCaid spending (FMAP) for California, or he will eliminate our In Home Support Services, CalWorks, and Healthy Families. These services severely impact our clients, including current cuts in MediCal. We asked for their support. We advocated for the passage of the Direct Support Professional Training Act, which would offer increased training and salaries to Direct Support Professionals. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) needs adequate funding for programs like the former No Child Left Behind. Over 40,000 uncertified teachers are currently teaching in Special Education throughout the country.
We gave examples of the serious housing needs in the Bay Area, and informed legislators of the new 53,000 Section 8 Housing Vouchers for which our state should be applying! Mark Marshall shared how important his job coach is to him, and that both the Vocational Rehab Act and Work Initiative Act (WIA) should be reauthorized. Finally, the CLASS Act (Community Living Asistance Services and Supports) is currently part of the new Health Care Reform. It creates a new national long-term care insurance program for people to pay into; so that they can remain independent, employed, and engaged in their community if they develop a functional impairment, thus not having to declare bankruptcy, which is the current situation. We asked our representatives not to vote this out of the new Health Care Reform Act.
I will sharing more on the issues that we emphasized, and I hope that you too will take this opportunity to contact our legislators.

Keep advocating!
Tim
Tim Hornbecker, CEO