Posts

The Arc logo

The Arc Responds to Senate Passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act – Services and Supports for People With Disabilities at Risk

Washington, DC – The Arc released the following statement in response to Senate passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act:

“Today the Senate took a big and dangerous step closer to cutting the services and supports that people with disabilities rely on to be a part of their community.

“The Arc’s longstanding position on tax policy is that it should raise sufficient revenues to finance essential programs that help people with disabilities to live and work in the community. The Arc also supports tax policy that is fair and reduces income inequality; people with disabilities are twice as likely to experience poverty.

“Both the House and Senate versions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act fail to meet either standard. By reducing federal revenue by at least $1.5 trillion, the Senate bill turns up the pressure on Congress to cut Medicaid and other programs that are critical to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

“Additionally, the repeal of the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate will have a dire impact on nearly 13 million Americans, including those with disabilities, and will increase premiums for people buying insurance on the health insurance exchange.

“The disability community has fought against threats to vital programs and won several times this year, and we are prepared to do it again. As the House and Senate finalize the bill, we encourage our advocates across the country to act now. We’ve shown again and again this year our strength, and now we have to do it again, or we will be right back where we started in the coming new year,” said Peter Berns, CEO, The Arc.

About The Arc

The Arc advocates for and serves people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), including Down syndrome, autism, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, cerebral palsy and other diagnoses. The Arc has a network of more than 665 chapters across the country promoting and protecting the human rights of people with IDD and actively supporting their full inclusion and participation in the community throughout their lifetimes and without regard to diagnosis.

The Arc logo

The Arc Condemns Federal Immigration Detainment of Rosamaria Hernandez

Washington, DC – The Arc released the following statement in response to the detainment of Rosamaria Hernandez, a ten-year-old child with cerebral palsy, who was stopped by federal immigration officials on her way to the hospital for emergency surgery, and detained upon her release from the hospital.

“The images of uniformed agents trying to stop a child from getting to the hospital and then standing outside her room while a child with a disability is having a medical crisis are just appalling and outrageous.

“Yet that’s what happened after Rosamaria Hernandez underwent emergency surgery. And now, she has been ripped away from her family, nearly ten years after she came to the United States when she was just three months old.

“We are better than this. Prioritizing the swift detention of a ten-year-old girl with cerebral palsy who is recovering from significant surgery is a grossly misplaced priority by our government.

“While Rosamaria is in this unjust situation, she must be provided with legal representation, due process protections, and reasonable accommodations that meet her needs as a person with a disability on U.S. soil,” said Peter Berns, CEO, The Arc.

###

The Arc advocates for and serves people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), including Down syndrome, autism, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, cerebral palsy and other diagnoses. The Arc has a network of over 650 chapters across the country promoting and protecting the human rights of people with IDD and actively supporting their full inclusion and participation in the community throughout their lifetimes and without regard to diagnosis.

The Arc logo

The Arc’s Statement on the Tax Reform Outline

The outline for tax reform released by the White House and leaders from two Congressional committees this week is long on promises and short on details. What is clear, however, is that this plan will rapidly deplete our federal revenues, the very resources that pay for programs that people with disabilities rely on to live in their communities. The fiscally conservative Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates that the new plan could cost the country $2.2 trillion in lost revenue over a decade. This will leave states with far fewer federal dollars to help cover the costs for services for people with disabilities. The Administration and Congressional leaders have not indicated how they intend to pay for this tax proposal, aside from eliminating some expenditures.

We cannot morally or financially afford this tax plan that overwhelmingly benefits the wealthiest of our citizens and ramps up the pressure to cut federal spending down the road. The nation will likely pay for this unfair tax plan through massive budget cuts to programs that people with disabilities and others need for survival and basic necessities.

The President and Members of Congress should now understand the backlash that follows direct attempts to cut essential programs for people with disabilities and other large constituencies. Just this week, massive grassroots opposition to cuts to the Medicaid program stopped the latest attempt to overhaul our health care system.

And now, just days later, a new assault is likely hatching on Medicaid and other vital programs that ensure the health and wellbeing of people with disabilities. This time, however, the attack is indirect and seeks to lure with false promises. But people with disabilities and their families will be paying close attention to make sure that tax cuts are not paid for by in the long run by cuts to critical programs.

The Arc logo

Attack on SSI: House Approves Cutting Off Basic Income for Adults With Disabilities and Seniors

Washington, DC – Today, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 244 to 171 to revive a failed former policy that cuts off Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for certain people with disabilities and seniors. The legislation targets SSI recipients with outstanding arrest warrants for alleged felonies or alleged violations of probation or parole. Federal law already prohibits payment of SSI benefits to people fleeing from law enforcement to avoid prosecution or imprisonment, and the Social Security Administration has a process in place to notify law enforcement of the whereabouts of such individuals. The original policy ended due to class action litigation.

“This bill is unjust, cruel, and unnecessary, and shows total disregard for the day to day economic struggles of most SSI beneficiaries. SSI benefits average $18 per day and are the only personal income for nearly three in five beneficiaries. Cutting off these modest SSI benefits will cause significant hardship and will only make it more difficult for people to resolve old, outstanding arrest warrants. The Senate should reject this tried and failed approach,” said T.J. Sutcliffe, Director, Income and Housing Policy.

Based on experience with the former policy, H.R. 2792 would not help law enforcement to secure arrests, but instead would target people whose cases are inactive and whom law enforcement is not pursuing. Most of the warrants in question are decades old and include warrants routinely issued when a person was unable to pay a fine or court fee, or a probation supervision fee. Many people are not even aware that a warrant was issued for them, as warrants are often not served on the individual. Some people will be swept up because of mistaken identity, or paperwork errors, which can take months or even years to resolve. Many people will face barriers to clearing their records based on the nature of their disabilities or their current circumstances, for example, an individual with Alzheimer’s in a nursing home.

Resolving an old arrest warrant can often involve significant time and expense, such as when a person has moved and lives far from the jurisdiction that issued, but never pursued, a decades-old warrant. Anecdotally, a very high percentage of people affected by the former policy were people with mental impairments, including people with intellectual disability.

The proposal uses savings from cuts to SSI under H.R. 2792 to pay for legislation to reauthorize the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program.

“Home visiting helps to improve maternal and child health and increases access to screening and early intervention for children with disabilities. Reauthorization of this valuable program should not be paid for by cutting off SSI for people with disabilities, seniors, and their families,” said Sutcliffe.

As highlighted in a fact sheet by the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities, here are two stories of people harmed by Social Security’s former failed policy: Rosa Martinez, the lead plaintiff in one of several class action law suits brought against the policy, and a juvenile survivor of childhood abuse:

  • Mistaken Identity: Rosa Martinez, the lead plaintiff in Martinez v. Astruewas, in 2008, a 52-year old woman who received notice from SSA that she was losing her disability benefits because of a 1980 arrest warrant for a drug offense in Miami, FL. Ms. Martinez had never been to Miami, never been arrested, never used illegal drugs, and is eight inches shorter than the person identified in the warrant. Despite an obvious case of mistaken identity, Ms. Martinez was left without her sole source of income while she cleared up the error on her own, without any help from SSA. It was only after filing a lawsuit that Ms. Martinez was able to receive her benefits.
  • Juvenile Survivor of Childhood Abuse: A young man in California with intellectual disability and other mental impairments had his SSI benefits stopped because of an Ohio warrant issued when he was 12 years old and running away to escape an abusive stepfather. The 4’7” tall, 85-pound boy was charged with assault for kicking a staff member at the detention center where he was being held until his mother could pick him up. Many years later, he had no recollection of the incident.

More stories of people harmed by SSA’s former failed policy are available from Justice in Aging.

The Arc advocates for and serves people wit­­h intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), including Down syndrome, autism, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, cerebral palsy and other diagnoses. The Arc has a network of over 650 chapters across the country promoting and protecting the human rights of people with IDD and actively supporting their full inclusion and participation in the community throughout their lifetimes and without regard to diagnosis.

The Arc logo

Disability Rights Protected Again: The Arc on Senate Not Voting on Graham-Cassidy This Week

Washington, DC – The Arc released the following statement following news that the United States Senate would not hold a vote this week on the Graham-Cassidy-Heller-Johnson proposal. This was the sixth attempt this year by Congress to repeal the Affordable Care Act and cut Medicaid.

“The Graham-Cassidy-Heller-Johnson proposal recycled the same threats to Medicaid we fought back on time and time again this year. It was an unacceptable approach for those who rely on Medicaid for a life in the community. While there won’t be a vote this week, it doesn’t change the fact that the architects of this bill showed a disturbing disregard for the important role Medicaid plays in meeting the needs of their constituents with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

“The victors in this battle are the advocates across the country who made clear that the disability community staunchly opposes legislation that includes per capita caps or block granting of Medicaid. We thank all the advocates who rallied together and would not be ignored when the civil rights of people with disabilities were at stake. We also thank the Members of Congress who joined us in opposing this bill.

“This year, we’ve fought multiple health care proposals that threatened the health and well-being of people with disabilities. While we celebrate this victory, we remain vigilant and ready to oppose future threats to Medicaid put forward by Congress,” said Peter Berns, CEO of The Arc.

The Arc advocates for and serves people wit­­h intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), including Down syndrome, autism, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, cerebral palsy and other diagnoses. The Arc has a network of over 650 chapters across the country promoting and protecting the human rights of people with IDD and actively supporting their full inclusion and participation in the community throughout their lifetimes and without regard to diagnosis.

The Arc logo

URGENT: Three-Day Medicaid STILL Matters Campaign; Get Your Story on the Record

The Senate is set to vote next week on the Graham-Cassidy bill, this is the most dangerous of the health care proposals that have been before Congress and it is on the fast track. Like previous proposals, this bill includes the per capita caps on the Medicaid program that would end Medicaid as we know it with a trillion dollar cut over two decades, and allows states to weaken consumer insurance protections such as the ban on pre-existing condition exclusion and the essential health benefit requirement.

The latest revisions to the bill INCLUDES the devastating cuts to the Medicaid programs that over 10 million people with disabilities rely on to live and work in their communities. The process that the Senate has been using since January to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act has been out of regular order, with no committee meetings, public input or hearings. In a pathetic attempt to make an effort, the Senate Finance Committee has scheduled ONE hearing on Monday, September 25, 2017, details are here.

HERE IS WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Because not everyone will be able to attend the hearing to make their voices heard, The Arc of the United States will be collecting your stories to submit on Monday. The time is now to take action and tell your Senators what these devastating cuts will mean to you and your family and why MEDICAID MATTERS. Take a few moments before 9 AM SUNDAY EST to tell your Medicaid story HERE. We will hand deliver all the printed messages to the Senate Finance Committee on Monday, and send them directly to your Senators. So please act NOW, e-mails must be received by 9 AM EST on Sunday to be printed.

We want to show strong support for Medicaid from all over the nation, and get your story on the record. After you submit your story be sure to take action and contact your Senators to tell them to vote no on the Graham-Cassidy bill. If you have any questions please contact Nicole Jorwic at The Arc of United States: jorwic@thearc.org.

The Arc logo

The Arc Responds to Graham-Cassidy-Heller-Johnson Health Care Proposal

Architects of this bill are still ignoring the pleas of their constituents with disabilities

Today, U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Dean Heller (R-NV), Ron Johnson (R-WI) and former US Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) unveiled the latest attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act. The Arc released the following statement in response:

“While this piece of legislation has a new title and makes new promises, it is more of the same threats to Medicaid and those who rely on it for a life in the community. The Graham-Cassidy-Heller-Johnson proposal cuts and caps the Medicaid program. The loss of federal funding is a serious threat to people with disabilities and their families who rely on Medicaid for community based supports.

“Many of the provisions in this legislation are the same or worse than what we encountered earlier this year, which shows that the architects of this bill are still ignoring the pleas of their constituents with disabilities. The talking points sugar coat it, but the reality is simple – under this proposal less money would be available despite the fact the needs of people who rely on Medicaid have not decreased. The Arc remains staunchly opposed to legislation that includes per capita caps or block granting of Medicaid. We need Members of Congress to find a solution that actually takes into consideration the needs of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities,” said Peter Berns, CEO of the The Arc.

The Arc logo

The Arc Responds to the Violence in Charlottesville

Washington DC – The Arc released the following statement in response to the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia:

“Our collective hearts break after witnessing the hatred, violence, and innocent death that rocked Charlottesville, Virginia this past weekend. This hatred does not represent our America; it is a shocking betrayal of the values of our nation. We are sickened by the neo-Nazis and white supremacists who brought hate and violence into the streets, and appalled that President Trump chose to place blame not only on them, but on those who were protesting against this resurgence of evil in our society. The counter protesters who stood up for the inclusion that America was founded upon are not responsible for what happened – it was those resorting to violence while spewing racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic, and islamophobic vitriol who were at fault.

“People with intellectual and developmental disabilities have faced decades of abuse, discrimination, and institutionalization. We must not forget that the genocide perpetrated by the Nazis in Germany included among its targets those with disabilities, and that eugenic sterilization was practiced here in the United States. The occurrences of this weekend remind us of dark times in our history, and of the hate and ignorance that fueled these deplorable actions. That hate was alive this weekend.

“Disability does not discriminate and people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are represented in all minority groups: people of color, immigrants, refugees, members of every religious group, and members of the LGBTQ community. We remain on the side of inclusion, on the side of our brothers and sisters in civil rights who were brutally attacked in Charlottesville,” said Peter V. Berns, Chief Executive Officer of The Arc.

The Arc logo

Learning From Our Peers: Advice on Organizational Transformation From Those Who Have Done It

RRTC BriefAs more community-based providers of supports and services to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) strive to reinvent themselves to offer inclusive opportunities and keep up with Employment First, WIOA, CMS Final Settings Rule, DOJ’s application of Olmstead to employment, and expectations of the ADA generation, organizational leadership may find themselves wondering how to accomplish such a feat. Where’s the finish line? Where’s the starting block?

The Arc believes that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities belong in the community and have fundamental moral, civil and constitutional rights to be fully included and actively participate in all aspects of society. The Arc is pleased to be working toward finding and sharing information to support its chapters on their journeys toward community employment with leading employment researchers as a sub-grantee of the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) on Advancing Employment for Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, a project of ThinkWork! at the Institute for Community Inclusion at University of Massachusetts – Boston on a five-year National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) grant aimed at employment of people with IDD. As part of this collaboration, staff from The Arc co-conducted interviews with leadership from eight organizations which have transformed their employment service delivery from sheltered work to competitive community employment. A brief sharing advice from those interviews was recently released telling us to Commit. Plan. Engage. Implement.

The next step in this collaboration is an intervention aimed at service providers to aide them in transforming their sheltered workshop models to community-based employment programs. This intervention will provide best practice information and other resources to service providers via a comprehensive toolkit.

We are currently looking for chapters to participate in our intervention pilot this summer. The pilot will be six weeks in duration and will consist of reviewing the toolkit, preliminary planning and implementation of pertinent best practices, and providing feedback to The Arc national staff to ensure that the final version of the toolkit is useful and will best support organizations with implementing the conversion process. If you are interested in learning more or participating in the pilot process, please contact Jonathan Lucus, Director of The Arc@Work at: lucus@thearc.org or at 202.534.3706.

The Arc logo

The Timeline Has Changed, But Threats to People With Disabilities in Senate Health Care Reform Efforts Remain

Washington, DC – The Arc released the following statement as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell pulls the Better Care Reconciliation Act, and announces an upcoming vote on a repeal of the Affordable Care Act without an immediate replacement:

“Make no mistake – the Medicaid program and the home and community based supports that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities rely on to live independent lives were on the brink of destruction. As the disability community battled against this effort over the last several months, we have shown our strength, our power, and I thank each and every advocate who has stepped up in this fight.

“This is not over. As Senate Majority Leader McConnell considers his next steps regarding repeal of the Affordable Care Act, we are reminded of the 2015 plan to repeal and not replace the Affordable Care Act. The Congressional Budget Office analysis showed that under that proposal, by 2026, 32 million people would lose health insurance and premiums would double.

“We know there will be further threats in the future, which is why we remain vigilant in our advocacy efforts. Congress is already doubling down on slashing the Medicaid program – today, the House unveiled its budget resolution that includes sweeping changes to Medicaid, Social Security, and Medicare.

“This is going to be a long road, but one that people with disabilities, their family members, support staff, and friends will navigate together. We must unite and reject cuts that will take away the dignity and independence of people with disabilities. This is the civil rights fight of our time, and we will remain vigilant to protect all that has been built to ensure the inclusion and equality of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in our society,” said Peter Berns, CEO, The Arc.