2019 May News

teddi3Newsletter

Policy News

Trump’s Budget Is Full of Cuts Aimed at People With Disabilities
Source: https://www.nytimes.com


The Trump administration’s fiscal year 2020 budget would be making cuts across many agencies and offices servings Americans with disabilities, which would strip them of many essential resources. Among the programs and services that are to be affected are independent living centers, assistive-technology programs, supports for individuals living with brain injuries and family caregiver support services. Work is one of the most important issues affecting the 50 million Americans with disabilities. As reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2018 roughly 30 percent of Americans ages 16 to 64 with a disability were employed, compared to nearly 75 percent of those without a disability. When looking at the total, there are cuts for tens of millions of dollars.

Wide Disparities Found In Special Ed Enrollment
Source: https://www.disabilityscoop.com

Nationwide, about 13 percent of students qualify for services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. However, this number varies significantly by each state. Findings from a Government Accountability Office reported that at the low end, 6.4 percent of school children ages 6 to 21 in one state were served under the IDEA in the fall of 2016 compared to 15.1 percent in another state. Under IDEA’s “child find” mandate, states must have practices in place in order to ensure that they identify, locate, and evaluate all children with disabilities. Several issues that could be contributing to discrepancies between states include difficulty in getting referrals from parents or physicians, limited availability of staff qualified to conduct evaluations, and confusion among educators about when special education services are needed.

What’s Up at CIDA

Catching Up with VAP (Volunteer Advocacy Project)

On March 20th, CIDA began the Volunteer Advocacy Project (VAP). With considerable enthusiasm and great excitement, our VAP participants have made it through half-way into the 12-week course. Every week, our participants are one step closer to being special education advocates as they learn about various topics in this field. Topics so far include disabilities under the IDEA, important laws (ESSA, IDEA, Section 504), Evaluation and Eligibility, and IEPs. In order to get this information to our participants, we have been utilizing an online program called GoToMeeting where participants can study from the comfort of their own homes, cafes, libraries, etc. We hope to see even more success as we move forward with this project!

Sibling Net hosts – Community Legislative Dinner on May 31st.
CIDA will hold a Community Forum and Legislative Dinner on Friday, May 31 at 6 pm at Adria Hotel, Bayside. This event is a collective effort launched by CIDA and collaborating disability advocates to redirect the current priorities in New York’s legislative activities to more effective implementation and outcome-based practices. During the event, the participants will discuss and generate a policy recommendation on seven key areas that are important for inclusion of people with disabilities. This is an invitation-only event and we expect about 100 stakeholders and representatives from across the NYC and NYS. If you are interested in participating in the event, please contact Dr. Young Seh Bae, Executive Director by email (youngsehbae@cidainfo.com).

Events

  • May 21 – Family Issues, Sibling Issues Workshop
  • May 31 – Community Legislative Dinner
  • June & July – Self-determination Academy (6/27, 6/28, 7/1, 7/2, 7/3)

Check our events in May: https://cidainfo.com/events/