• • • • • Letter from Systems Change Manager Philip Woodward
          
          
        • Public Policy (as of July 6, 2022)
          
          
        • Celebrate the ADA’s 32nd Anniversary 
          
          
        • NCCDD Announces New Roommate-Matching Service Request for Applications
          
          
        • Increase in the Availability of Benefits Counseling Services for Individuals with I/DD
          
          
        • En Español - Julio 2022
          
          
        • Audio - Highlights and Hot Topics

Letter from Systems Change Manager Philip Woodward

July has been such a full month! The days have been long and warm, and many of you have likely taken advantage of the weather to indulge in vacation. Events such as the Fourth of July and the Major League Baseball All-Star Game might have been on your radar, too. July 26th marks the Americans with Disabilities Act’s (ADA) 32nd anniversary.

Upon signing the ADA Act into law,  President George H.W. Bush proclaimed, “Let the shameful wall of exclusion finally come tumbling down.” For many years, people with disabilities were excluded from mainstream society. They could not access courthouses or public transportation or restaurants or movie theaters or even important parts of the U.S. Capitol.

Decades later, we have seen great progress:  Buildings have level entrances or ramps or elevators or all of the above. Cities provide ADA paratransit services to people with disabilities who cannot drive. Employers are hiring and accommodating people with disabilities in a wide variety of jobs. Websites have alternative text for people with vision loss. Even a hard-of-hearing  person like me has noticed the difference in television captioning from way back in 1990 compared to today.

But … our work is not done. Take a moment to think about this: We all know someone with a disability experiencing some barrier to be able to participate fully and equally in our society. Nevertheless, take a moment to celebrate what we have achieved so far.

You can find a celebration to participate in on NCCDD’s

ADA 32nd Anniversary webpage. Find time to consider what you can do and what we can all do “to assure equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency” for people with I/DD and other disabilities.

Public Policy (as of July 6, 2022)

STATE

The legislature recently passed a budget adjustment act during the short session. The short session is designed to make adjustments to the previous long session budget.  The July 2021-July 2023 two-year budget that passed during the long session included the additional waiver slots, increased wages for direct support professionals, and some adjustments to the funding for special education. The budget adjustment was not expected to include any significant new funding specifically for people with intellectual and other developmental disabilities (I/DD). 

Some items related to I/DD Included in the budget adjustment act were:

• Some changes to the Medicaid program that are designed to improve access to services as we move toward implementation of the Tailored Plan. Many people with I/DD will have their care managed under the Tailored Plan. 
• Children in the NC Health Choice program will move to regular Medicaid. This will give these children access to more Medicaid state plan services. This includes services that are covered under Early Periodic Screening Diagnosis and Treatment (EPSDT) and Research Based Behavioral Health Treatments (RBBHT) for those on the autism spectrum.
• Adjustments to teacher salaries and a new teacher bonus program. 

From a broader perspective, $1.84 billion has been earmarked for health and human services priorities for this fiscal year. That is an increase of less than $42 million from what was originally set aside for health and human services priorities in the two-year budget that was approved last year. While this sounds like a large amount, it is only a 2.3 percent increase from the initial number. Many advocates are pointing out that this is much less than the national inflation rate of approximately eight percent.   

There was hope that Medicaid expansion would be included in the budget adjustment. During the short session, the Senate passed Expanding Access to Healthcare and the House passed the Rural Health Care and Savings Act. While both propose to give healthcare coverage to more people in North Carolina who do not qualify for coverage on the healthcare marketplace, there were other differences that could not be resolved between the Senate and House.

The budget process moves to the Governor after approval from the legislature. The Governor will either sign the budget (within 10 days), veto the budget or let it become law without his signature. Lawmakers will likely stay in session to address any possible veto overrides and then return to handling interim committee meetings and any special sessions later in the year.  

Plain Language: Legislators met for a short session. They made some small changes to the budget. We were hoping that they would increase the number of people in North Carolina who can get healthcare through Medicaid. This could help people with disabilities. They were not able to agree on how to do this. 

FEDERAL

SSI Asset Increase Legislation

Current Supplemental Security Income (SSI) rules require that someone receiving SSI can only have $2,000 in countable assets. Married couples can only have $3,000. The SSI Savings Penalty Elimination Act [S.4102] raises the SSI asset limit to $10,000 for individuals and $20,000 for couples. The legislation also increases those numbers every year based on inflation. In June, Senators Wyden (D-OR), Cassidy (R-LA), Casey (D-PA), Scott (R-SC), Hassan (D-NH), and Collins (R-ME) joined the legislation.

Plain Language: Some Senators are working to make it easier for people with disabilities to save money without losing their benefits. In June, more Senators joined to help with this. 

ABLE Age Adjustment Act

On Wednesday June 22, 2022, the Senate Finance Committee met to mark up the Enhancing American Retirement Now Act (EARN Act), which is a part of the larger retirement reform bill (SECURE 2.0). The ABLE Age Adjustment Act was included in the EARN Act as part of the mark-up. The ABLE Age Adjustment Act will increase the age eligibility for ABLE accounts from 26 to 46, giving millions of people with disabilities the chance to save money without losing eligibility for federal benefits. ABLE accounts are tax-free savings accounts for people with disabilities to save money, while not disqualifying them from federal benefits like Supplemental Security Income or Medicaid. The Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD) signed on to this Statement for the Record from the Consortium for Constituents with Disabilities.

Plain Language: ABLE accounts are savings accounts for people who develop their disability before the age of 26, and they allow people to save money without risking losing federal benefits such as Supplemental Security Income or Medicaid. The Able Age Adjustment Act would increase the age of eligibility to 46, giving more people access to these accounts. The Senate Finance Committee is working on this. 

Senate HELP Committee Passes Bill Banning the Use of Electrical Stimulation Devices

On June 14, 2022, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee passed the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Landmark Advancements Act of 2022 (FDASLA Act) (S. 4348). The bill was passed with the inclusion of an amendment from Senator Murphy (D-CT) that would prohibit the use of electrical stimulation devices that are used to limit a person’s aggressive or self-injurious behavior at one school in Massachusetts.

Plain Language

The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee passed a bill that bans the use of shock devices that are used to control behavior in people with disabilities. Congress is one step closer to banning the use of electrical stimulation devices used to control behavior. They are currently used at one school in Massachusetts.

Celebrate the ADA’s 32nd Anniversary

The 32nd anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is July 26. To celebrate, events are taking place throughout the state of North Carolina and include a virtual ADA Anniversary led by the North Carolina Council on Developmental Disabilities' (NCCDD) Chris Hendricks, Policy Education Coordinator and Philip Woodward, Systems Change Manager, on July 26  from 6-7 PM.

Registration and more information can be found on NCCDD’s ADA anniversary web page. 

Other North Carolina ADA anniversary events happening soon, also found on the ADA anniversary web page, include: 

• Disability:IN NC Virtual ADA 32nd Anniversary Celebration – Everybody Works in North Carolina "From Murphy to Manteo!" July 26, at Regal Birkdale 16 Cinema in Huntersville.
• Solutions for Independence 32nd ADA Celebration Through the Arts on July 29, 4-8  PM, 750 Marguerite Dr, Winston-Salem. 

NCCDD Announces New Roommate-Matching Service Request for Applications

The North Carolina Council on Developmental Disabilities (NCCDD) is seeking proposals for an initiative that will establish a roommate-matching service, platform or portal that will help individuals with intellectual and other developmental disabilities (I/DD) and their families find suitable and sustainable living arrangements, specifically a compatible roommate or a live-in caregiver in North Carolina.

The deadline to apply for this Request for Application (RFA) is August 31, 2022, at 5:00 p.m. Information on steps to apply can be found here.

North Carolina has experienced a caregiver/Direct Support Professionals (DSP) crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic where DSPs could not work for health and safety reasons or took higher-paying jobs.This initiative will help by establishing a roommate matching service, providing information on tax and other benefits, and helping the state stabilize the DSP crisis. 

Increase in the Availability of Benefits Counseling Services for Individuals with I/DD

The Benefits Counseling Expansion (BCE) program is a project funded by the North Carolina Council on Developmental Disabilities (NCCDD) to provide information and resources to members of the intellectual and other developmental disabilities (I/DD) community about federal, state, and local benefits. Grant work is being done by ServiceSource, a nonprofit organization with a mission to facilitate services, resources and partnerships to support people with disabilities and others served, along with their families, their caregivers and community members, in order to build more inclusive communities.

The BCE program has two main levels of services:

• Staff Training: After building a partnership with the BCE program, ServiceSource staff will train partners’ staff on how to provide benefits counseling services. This initiative seeks to increase the benefits counseling capacity across the state.

• Seminars: BCE staff is available to provide general benefits information and resources to the I/DD community, particularly working individuals, transition youth and families.

Since its launch in 2020, BCE has connected with 200+ agencies that provide some level of services to individuals with I/DD and partnered with 20 organizations including businesses, employers, training programs and service providers. 

ServiceSource staff have trained approximately 75 staff members from partner agencies. Those trained staff have provided benefits information and essential benefits counseling services to almost 20 program participants. The BCE program, throughout its seminars, has provided general benefits information to 50 families.

Agencies interested in learning more about the BCE program and other benefits counseling programs available through ServiceSource can call  919-785-6635 or visit their website at North Carolina Benefits Counseling Services - ServiceSource.

 Audio - Highlights and Hot Topics