September 2016: Highlights and Hot Topics
- NCCDD Seeks Nominations for Advocacy and Leadership Awards
-
NCCDD Requests Applications for Supported Living: Making The Difference Initiative
- First In Families Brings Together Adult Siblings of People with Disabilities
Download a pdf of the September newsletter here.
A Message from Our Executive Director
September has presented many ways our community can get involved in pushing NCCDD’s mission forward to make North Carolina a more inclusive and integrated state for people with intellectual and other developmental disabilities (I/DD).
Self-advocates, advocates and professionals who work and advocate on behalf of the disability community here in North Carolina are integral to the progress we have made and continue to make. And it is important for us to recognize the hard work and passion of these individuals who continue to speak up and speak out for the I/DD community. The deadline to nominate these individuals for the Jack B. Hefner Memorial Award and Helen C. "Holly" Riddle Distinguished Service Award is fast approaching on Monday, Sept. 26, so get your nominations in!
As I mentioned, our work isn’t complete without the professionals and advocates who have made this their life’s work. To support its new Five Year Plan, NCCDD is seeking a Systems Change Manager who will lead and manage initiatives that will make our goals a success in North Carolina. Additionally, the Council has opened an RFA for programs that support its Community Living goal under the new plan.
October will celebrate National Disability Employment Awareness Month, and what better way to start the month than with The Sixth Annual WNC Regional Transition into Adulthood Fair, A Journey Toward Independence: Positive Outcomes for Youth with Disabilities in Asheville, NC. There will be great resources for families to learn about early transition planning so all students with disabilities can have a successful adulthood.
There are a lot of activities and ways to get involved to support the I/DD community and we hope you join us as we pave the way to make NC a more inclusive and integrated state.
Chris Egan
Executive Director
NCCDD’s public policy team continues to deliver local, state and federal updates on public policy that affects people with I/DD. Highlights of these updates include:
Federal Policy:
The Advisory Committee on Increasing Competitive Integrated Employment for Individuals with Disabilities delivered their final report to US Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez on September 15, 2016. Created by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) of 2014, this committee was charged with developing recommendations to improve the employment participation rate of individuals with disabilities across the nation. The recommendations are intended to increase opportunities for competitive integrated employment for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) and other disabilities. Ensuring that employment is the first option for people with I/DD or other significant disabilities will increase their employment participation rate and lead to a significant reduction in segregated work and non-work programs and in the use of Section 14(c) certificates for paying subminimum wages. With a work force participation rate of less than a third that of the general population, people with disabilities must be included in efforts to develop the skills and experiences necessary to successfully enter the workforce.
State policy:
Voting: Information you can use!
Many people have questions about voting requirements. Disability Rights North Carolina has created a great resource - www.accessthevotenc.org. Learn more about voter registration and voting, candidate information, reporting a violation, and an email listserv to be kept up-to-date on any further changes. Remember: Voter ID is not required.
Important dates:
10/11/16: Last day to register to vote from home
10/20 -11/5/16: Early voting period – contact your local County Board of Elections for times and locations. Same day voter registration is allowed during early voting.
11/8/16: Election day
They are among 70 who are interning at nine sites, primarily hospitals, throughout North Carolina through Project SEARCH, a model launched in 1996 in Cincinnati.
Funding several of the North Carolina programs has been the North Carolina Council on Developmental Disabilities. The council, a stand-alone state agency mandated and funded by the federal government, works to give people with disabilities and their families access to – and a voice in shaping – services and support they need. - See more at: http://nccdd.org/news-media/in-the-news/335-triangle-business-journal-hospital-partnership-aids-individuals-with-disabilities.html#sthash.40OFSeU0.dpuf
NCCDD Seeks Nominations for Advocacy and Leadership Awards
The deadline to submit nominations for NCCDD’s Advocacy and Leadership Awards is Monday, Sept. 26. Please nominate and share in your network to recognize those individuals for the Jack B. Hefner Memorial Award and Helen C. "Holly" Riddle Distinguished Service Award.
The Advocacy and Leadership Awards highlight two of the most important qualities that the namesakes - former NCCDD Council member Jack B. Hefner and former NCCDD Executive Director Holly Riddle - presented and continue to present in their work for people with intellectual and other developmental disabilities (I/DD).
Read more about the awards and the applications are available here: http://bit.ly/AdvocacyLeadershipAwards
Family Support Network Hosts Transition Fair in Asheville
The Sixth Annual WNC Regional Transition into Adulthood Fair, A Journey toward Independence: Positive Outcomes for Youth with Disabilities will be held on Saturday, October 1, 2016 from 11:00am to 5:00pm at Mission Health/A-B Tech Conference Center, 340 Victoria Rd. Asheville, NC 28801. 
This year, there will be four educational sessions provided for attendees. Participants will have the chance to meet with exhibitors/agencies that provide services related to housing options, employment, post-secondary education and community engagement programs. Chris Egan, NCCDD’s executive director, will also be the event’s keynote speaker. He will highlight high expectations and that a person’s disability is not a limiting factor to building and leading a successful, meaningful life.
The nature of this event appeals to parents of children with special needs as well as developmental disability specialists, special educators, service/care coordinators, mental health professionals, allied health professionals, teachers, school nurses/counselor and other interested health and human services professionals. It offers a great opportunity to meet and network with other providers.
Please contact Kerri Eaker, Family Support Outreach Coordinator, for the Family Support Network ™ of WNC at 828-213-0047, or by email at [email protected] for more information. Download the flyer and program here.
NCCDD Seeks Systems Change Manager to Join Team
NCCDD is hiring a systems change manager to join its team! The Systems Change Manager will coordinate, plan and guide the Council's investment in initiatives to accomplish goals set forth in the Council's Five Year Plan. This includes research, analysis, administration and management, budget and finance, relationship building with other state, federal, and local agencies in the promotion of independence, productivity, integration and inclusion of people with intellectual and other developmental disabilities (I/DD) into the community
For more details and how to apply: http://bit.ly/SystemsChangeManager
NCCDD Requests Applications for Supported Living: Making The Difference Initiative
In its State plan, NCCDD set out the goal that the Council will increase community living for individuals with intellectual and other developmental disabilities ( I/DD). To reach this goal, NCCDD has committed its funds to expand and strengthen North Carolina’s capacity to support people with I/DD, who may have traditionally been excluded from living according to supported living principles. Deadline to apply is October 10, 2016.
For more details and how to apply, visit http://nccdd.org/news-media/blog/54-initiatives/428-nccdd-announces-rfa-for-support-living-initiative.html.
Taking Initiative: First In Families Brings Together Adult Siblings of People with Disabilities
Mellage familyOn her birthday, when her cake with flaming candles was placed in front of her, Kelly Mellage would close her eyes and wish for the same thing year after year – that her big sister Angela would talk. Kelly didn’t care what Angela would say, she just wanted to hear her sister’s voice. Then she would blow out the candles.
That wish hasn’t come true, yet. Forty-seven years ago, Kelly’s older sister Angela was born with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) that impacted her independence profoundly. She is non-speaking, lives with seizures and requires constant supervision. Although Angela walked as a child, she now uses a wheelchair and requires the support of multiple caregivers to help meet many needs such as personal care and learning new skills.
Angela, Kelly and their younger brother, Brian, grew up in New Jersey, where friends and family took Angela’s physical and mental challenges in stride. But a move to Raleigh, North Carolina when Kelly was high school age meant she had to start all over ‘explaining’ to her peers about Angela. Growing up, Kelly never knew a single person who was a sibling of a person with I/DD like she was.
Enter the North Carolina Council on Developmental Disabilities (NCCDD) Sibling Support Initiative, managed by First In Families of NC (FIFNC), which address the various needs and barriers that adult siblings of a person with an intellectual or other developmental disabilities face. But the initiative also lets us all hear the dreams and interests held by these adult siblings. Read more
Chris Egan Receives Honor from The Arc of North Carolina
Chris Egan, executive director of the North Carolina Council on Developmental Disabilities, received the 2016 Deborah Greenblatt Distinguished Service Award from The Arc of North Carolina. The award was presented at the organization's statewide conference held from Sept. 8-9, 2016 in Charlotte, NC.
The award honors an individual or organization that has contributed in a distinguished manner to the promotion of rights and/or services to North Carolina citizens with developmental disabilities.
It is named for Deborah Greenblatt, a North Carolina attorney, who was a passionate advocate for children and adults with mental disabilities and the executive director of Carolina Legal Assistance for 23 years. She was primarily responsible for bringing together the diverse coalition of disability advocates and education stakeholders who drafted the current bill promoting the safe use of seclusion and restraint in public schools, now known as the Greenblatt Act.
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