And Another Illinois Budget Casualty Of A Mental Health Social Service Agency - SHAME ON ILLINOIS LEGISLATORS!

Unfortunately, many Social Services throughout Illinois are not able to continue providing services due to Illinois Budget Impasse, those that serve the disability community are being forced to reduce services, or no longer able to exist. 
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Mental health agency plans shutdown, looks to other providers

article by Paul Swiech, for The Pantagraph | June 21, 2016

CLINTON, IL. — The primary provider of outpatient mental health services in DeWitt County will begin shutting down July 1, a casualty of the state budget impasse, the agency executive director said Monday.

The board of the DeWitt County Human Resource Center (HRC) voted to cease providing services after June 30, Executive Director Lynn Scoville said.

But HRC is working with other Central Illinois health providers to determine whether they can assume responsibility for HRC programs.

"Our goal right now is to make sure our clients are taken care of," Scoville said. Then she paused to cry. "And to make sure they are taken care of in our community. That's our goal."

She declined to name the other agencies because negotiations are ongoing.

"It truly is heartbreaking the way the State of Illinois has set its priorities," Scoville said. "I don't care what side of the aisle you're on."

"The mental health board is saddened by the news of HRC discontinuing client services as of June 30," said Sharon Mills, administrator of the DeWitt County 708 Community Mental Health Board. "There is no other agency in DeWitt County providing the array of services they do."

"We are working with HRC to see what we can do to help reach out to other providers," Mills said.

HRC serves about 500 people in DeWitt County. Services include outpatient mental health therapy and counseling, case management to assist clients to live independently, 24/7 crisis intervention for people experiencing a psychiatric emergency, psychiatric services, mental health and substance abuse early intervention and developmental training/day programming for people with developmental disabilities.

Some people with developmental disabilities work in HRC's Encore Thrift Store. HRC also owns and provides staff for Kleemann Village — apartments for low-income adults with mental illnesses — but the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development provides funding.

About 65 percent of HRC money comes from the state and federal governments, 20 percent from local property tax money and the remaining 15 percent from thrift shop operations and other HRC income.

But, since June 30, 2015, because there is no state budget, HRC has received no state grant money.

HRC has gotten through the year by moving money from programs that made money to programs that don't make money, by getting money in advance from the Mental Health Board, by reducing numbers of employees from 30 to 18, and by getting a line of credit from a bank.

But the line of credit is not being extended and "there is no (state) budget, no plan and no stopgap in place," Scoville said. Gov. Bruce Rauner has declined to sign the stopgap approved by the General Assembly.

"We are out of money," Scoville said, estimating that HRC is owed $150,000 by the state.

The thrift shop will remain open until all merchandise is sold. Kleemann will remain open because it's HUD-funded, but "the question is, who will provide support to clients?"

http://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/mental_health/dewitt-county-mental-health-agency-plans-shutdown-looks-to-other/article_6bd1208c-da60-5d3c-b3df-596ea796c8cc.html

Another Illinois Budget Casualty Of A Disability Social Service Agency, 'Centerstone' - SHAME ON ILLINOIS LEGISLATORS!

Centerstone describes itself as “one of the nation’s largest not-for-profit providers of community-based behavioral health care, offering a full range of mental health services, substance abuse treatment and intellectual and developmental disabilities services in Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee.”

From Centerstone CEO John Markley on June 21, 2016…
For the last 11 months, Centerstone has, in good faith, offered services we were contracted to provide by the state of Illinois, but because our state officials have not passed a budget, we have not been paid for these services. Today, our state owes Centerstone more than $6 million.

We, along with other organizations, have warned public officials for months that we could not sustain the losses the state of Illinois was imposing on us, but our concerns have been ignored.

With no end to this state contract crisis in sight, the viability of our entire organization is being threatened. So, after careful review of the situation, we are enacting difficult measures to protect Centerstone, our 600 employees across the state and the 16,000 people of all ages who depend on us.

In the coming fiscal year, we will eliminate several state contracts because of the risk involved. These contracts represent vital services in our communities, but we cannot sustain them in such uncertain times. This means, as of June 30, 2016, the following services will close:

• · Comprehensive Community Based Youth services (CCBYS) in Franklin, Jackson, Perry and Williamson Counties;
• · Crisis Stabilization services at the Centerstone Crisis Center in Williamson County, a service which has saved our state more than $4 million in healthcare costs;
• · DMH Juvenile Justice services in Franklin, Jackson, Jefferson and Williamson Counties;
• · Homeless Youth services in Franklin, Jackson, Perry and Williamson Counties;
• · Psychiatric Medication funds used in Calhoun, Franklin, Jackson, Jersey, Madison, and Williamson Counties;
• · Supported Residential services (one group home) in Alton; and
• · Teen Pregnancy Prevention services in Franklin County.

Additionally, Halfway House beds in Marion will be reduced.

A total of 700 clients and 39 staff members will be affected by these changes. The loss of our colleagues and services is painful, but our state has offered us little choice.

It is our sincere hope that our Governor and legislature finally do the right thing and act in the best interests of all of their constituents by ending this state budget crisis.

For Centerstone, visit: https://www.centerstone.org/

Itzhak Perlman: Donald Trump Mimicking Disabled Reporter Is 'TERRIBLE'

Violinist Itzhak Perlman talks during an Interview with The Associated Press in Jerusalem, Tuesday, June 21, 2016. Perlman, a longtime advocate for the disabled, said he is still seething about Donald Trump's mockery of a handicapped reporter last year and is supporting Hillary Clinton in the November election.

By Josef Federman, The Associated Press | June 21, 2016
JERUSALEM (AP) " Violinist Itzhak Perlman, a longtime advocate for the disabled, is still upset over Donald Trump's derisive behavior toward a disabled reporter last fall and says he will be supporting Hillary Clinton in November's election.

The mild-mannered musician, who contracted polio as a child and uses an electric scooter to move around, said he tries to avoid politics but the current campaign is different.

Last November, Trump flailed his arms in what critics immediately said was an attempt to mock a New York Times reporter who suffers from a congenital condition that restricts joint movement. Trump has denied that, arguing he was actually mimicking a "flustered reporter trying to get out of a statement he made long ago."

photo: reporter Serge Kovaleski (L) / Donald Trump mocks Serge Kovaleski

"Horrible, horrible, horrible ... That was a mindless kind of decision," Perlman said in an interview with The Associated Press. "It was terrible. You don't do that ... it's so outrageous."

Asked whether he would be endorsing a candidate, he said: "I'm just hoping that Hillary will do it," adding that the situation will be "impossible" if Trump is elected.

It is not the first time Perlman has been drawn into a politically sensitive issue. Last month, he canceled a performance with the North Carolina Symphony to protest the state's new law limiting antidiscrimination policies for LGBT people. He has said he will perform when the law is repealed.
The Israeli-American Perlman, one of the world's most recognized classical musicians, is in the country of his birth to accept the $1 million Genesis Prize , known unofficially as the "Jewish Nobel Prize." He was selected for the honor for his "exceptional contributions" as a musician, teacher, advocate for the disabled and dedication to Jewish values and Israel.

Perlman, 70, has won 16 Grammys, including a lifetime achievement award in 2008, and played the violin solo in John Williams' Oscar-winning soundtrack for the 1993 film "Schindler's List." He has performed with or conducted the world's top symphony orchestras, and has been a regular guest at White House events. Last year, he received the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.

Perlman is also one of the few classical musicians to enjoy broad crossover appeal. He has appeared on late-night comedy programs, Sesame Street and American public television programs. With his wife Toby, he helps run the Perlman Music Program for talented young musicians.
Perlman said the prize money will go to the two causes that are most important to him: music and empowering people with disabilities. He also said he has his eyes set on promoting music education in Israel. "We have got to make kids excited about classical music," he said.

He said he would also promote the idea that "every person with a disability is an individual," with their own sets of needs. He said society must do more to enable people with disabilities to utilize their strengths and realize their potential.

Perlman said he wants to be recognized as a great violinist " not as a musician with a disability.

"I don't play the violin with my legs. I play it with my hands," he said. "I'm supposed to be looked at according to my talent ... I'm sure that many people with disabilities who have certain talents would like to be looked at that way, not any other way."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to present the award to Perlman at a ceremony in Jerusalem Thursday night that will be hosted by actress Helen Mirren.

The prize was inaugurated in 2014 and is run in a partnership between the Israeli prime minister's office, the private Genesis Prize Foundation and the Jewish Agency, a nonprofit group with ties to the Israeli government. It is funded by a $100 million endowment set up by the foundation. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg was the recipient of the first prize, and actor Michael Douglas was last year's winner.

Illinois Budget Impasse Casualties Another Disability Social Service Agency - SHAME ON ILLINOIS LEGISLATORS!

STERLING, Ill. - KWQC TV6 News – report by Bethany Dykes | June 21, 2016

The Northwestern Illinois Center for Independent Living or NICIL, continues to lay-off employees and cut programs while they hope for the state of Illinois to pass a budget.

NICIL is an organization helping people with disabilities in five counties in northwestern Illinois.

Executive Director, Michelle Miller, said they began laying off employees last July the first time the state didn’t pass a budget and now a year later she will have to do it again.

“It’s incredibly difficult as a team member here to watch your team members leave without their choice in it because the state can’t do their part that they are empowered to do and we are empowered to deliver these services,” said Miller.

Jessica Craft, Center Coordinator, says her job is on the chopping block leaving her future uncertain.

“I’m very overwhelmed, it’s very emotional. You know I’ve got a little baby at home that I am trying to provide for and I don’t want it all to be on my husband,” said Craft.

This is the first time Craft has faced unemployment. Last year she was laid off until October when NICIL brought her back to the team.

“Its hard to keep going each day, you know come into work and I’m distracted. All day I’m just always thinking about what I am going to do,”said Craft.

Miller said when the agency is fully staffed they have nine employees but right now they have five, meaning each person has to play multiple roles to fill in.

After two employees are laid off, Miller said it will only be a matter of time before she has to lay-off the rest of the employees leaving her to run the place alone.

“I will do my very best but the reality is there is one of me and five counties with over 300 people and we will continue to do everything we can until our last dollar is used and then after that it is in the legislators hands,” said Miller.

Staff said the agency has stayed open through the last year by using their reserve funds, but now they are saying those funds are gone.

Miller said she doesn’t think the center will stay open for more then 90 days after July 1st, if a budget is not passed.

She is hoping the state will pass a budget and save agencies like NICIL, from these tough decisions.

http://kwqc.com/2016/06/21/sterling-social-service-agency-making-program-cuts-and-layoffs-due-to-budget-impasse/
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As the State of Illinois continues for a second year without a budget its the citizens that are effected. With another Center for Independent Living instability due to funding, is the State of Illinois and it's elected officials goal to chase people with disabilities out of Illinois, or to fill up State Institutions, or overfill nursing homes? SHAME ON ILLINOIS LEGISLATORS!

UGH... Jim at Ability Chicago Info

Justice Dept. finds Nevada discriminates against inmates with HIV and other disabilities

 Press Release from the U.S. Department of Justice | June 20, 2016

The Justice Department issued a letter of findings today concluding that the Nevada Department of Corrections’ (NDOC) policies and practices for housing and employing inmates with disabilities violate the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Following a comprehensive ADA compliance review, the department found that NDOC’s discriminatory practices have resulted in the illegal segregation and stigmatization of inmates with HIV and the incarceration of inmates with disabilities for longer periods, in more restrictive settings, than inmates without disabilities.

The department’s letter makes three principal findings. First, NDOC segregates inmates with HIV through a policy prohibiting the housing of inmates with HIV in the same cells as inmates who do not have HIV. Second, NDOC denies inmates with HIV equal employment opportunities. Third, NDOC denies inmates with various disabilities, including those with mobility disabilities, HIV or certain other medical or mental health conditions, equal opportunities to benefit from the programs offered at two of NDOC’s lowest-custody facilities –its conservation camps and transitional-housing facilities.

The department found that these discriminatory practices have the following effects:

• NDOC’s segregation of inmates with HIV stigmatizes them while indiscriminately disclosing their confidential HIV status to NDOC employees and inmates.  This segregation policy is without any legitimate health justification, as leading public health and correctional authorities, including the National Commission on Correctional Health Care,oppose the routine segregation of inmates with HIV as medically unnecessary[external link]. 
• Inmates who work in NDOC prisons, and those who are housed in conservation camps or transitional-housing facilities, can earn “work credits” to reduce the lengths of their sentences.  By denying inmates with HIV equal employment opportunities, and by denying inmates with disabilities equal opportunities to benefit from the services, programs and activities available to inmates at conservation camps and transitional-housing facilities, NDOC deprives inmates with disabilities of equal opportunities to engage in productive activities and to accelerate their NDOC release dates. 
• By denying inmates with disabilities equal opportunities to obtain placement at its lower-custody and lower-security facilities, NDOC confines them in more restrictive settings than they otherwise would be housed. 

“The ADA’s promises of non-discriminatory treatment and equal opportunity apply to all people with disabilities, including inmates at correctional facilities,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “No inmate should have to stay in segregated housing because of a HIV diagnosis or serve a longer sentence because of a disability. Real and lasting reform in Nevada will require not only systemic changes to its policies, practices and procedures, but also a commitment to address unfounded stereotypes, fears and assumptions about individuals with disabilities.”

The department commends Nevada for its cooperation with this ADA compliance review and will continue to work closely with NDOC and Nevada’s Office of the Attorney General to resolve the department’s findings expeditiously and under mutually-agreeable terms.

To read the full findings letter, please visit www.ada.gov. For more information about the ADA, call the department’s toll-free ADA Information Line at 800-514-0301 (TDD 800-514-0383) or visit www.ada.gov.

Nevada Department of Corrections

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-finds-nevada-discriminates-against-inmates-hiv-and-inmates-other

2016 KIDS COUNT Data Book - Hows Your State Rate?

The Annie E. Casey Foundation's 2016 KIDS COUNT Data Book finds today's youth — Generation Z — are healthier and completing high school on time despite mounting economic inequality and increasingly unaffordable college tuition. Aided by smart policies and investments in prevention, a record number of teens are making positive choices. This year, the annual report focuses on key trends in child well-being in the post-recession years and offers recommendations for how policymakers can ensure all children are prepared for the future, based on the country’s shared values of opportunity, responsibility and security.
 

• ORDER YOUR COPY
• VIEW HOW ALL STATES RANK ON THE KIDS COUNT INDEX
• SEE YOUR STATE’S DATA PROFILE
• ACCESS NATIONAL AND STATE NEWS RELEASES

Webinar on Employment Support for Young Adults with Disabilities — June 22

A webinar, “Employment Support for Young Adults with a Disability,” will be held this Wednesday, June 22, 2016, from 3 – 4:30 p.m.Eastern Time. 

If you receive Social Security disability benefits (SSI or SSDI) and are thinking about returning to work, the Ticket to Work can help you with your employment goals. The webinar will also discuss making the move from school to work, the Youth Transitions Collaborative and Social Security work incentives. 

Register online or by calling 1-866-968-7842 (TTY: 1-866-833-2967).

Conference on Disability To Take Place in Vatican in June

Pope Francis with disabled persons in the Vatican. - ANSA

(Vatican Radio -- June 16, 2016) Two events will take place in Rome next week looking at the value of disabled people in culture and in the study of theology.

The Vatican's Pontifical Council for Culture along with the Kairos Forum will be sponsoring an academic symposium and a conference entitled, Living Fully 2016.

The aim of both these gatherings is to celebrate the lives and stories of disabled people within culture and faith and introduces the study of disabilitytheology from within a cultural perspective.

This celebration of disability follows a highly successful Jubilee for the Sick and the Disabled that also took place in Rome recently, in which Pope Francis championed the importance of diversity and inclusion.

Cristina Gangemi, is a disability advisor to the Bishops Conference of England and Wales and the Director of the Kairos Forum which seeks to highlight and respond to the spiritual and religious needs of people with disabilities.

She will be participating in both events and spoke to Lydia O’Kane about why it was important to have the symposium and conference at this time in Rome.

“It just seemed that it was time here in Rome to put some sort of event on that gathered the stories and noted the stories and experiences of other people all over the world that have been doing very similar activities and similar things in their own countries”, she said.

She added, “it really is time, I think, for the Catholic Church to put its teaching on the human person on the stage and celebrate it, but do that through the lens of the life and the personhood of disabled people.”

Cristina also underlined that for those working in the field of disability theology including herself, this has been a time of rediscovering just how amazing Jesus was. “When we look at how Jesus approached disability, he excluded nobody, he treated them no differently to anybody else and his whole ministry every single day, instead of leaving disabled people on the side of the road…he embraced them, met them, talked with them, asked them what they wanted and transformed their lives in exactly the same way he did everybody else”.

During these Rome events a charter for change will be given to each delegate, who will in turn take it’s inspiring message of belonging, value and welcome, back to their own country.

Living Fully 2016; Embracing the gifts of all people, especially people who live with Disability runs from the 23rd to the 26th June.

Listen to the interview
http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2016/06/16/conference_on_disability_to_take_place_in_vatican/1237638

Celebrating Illinois Equip For Equality - Accessible Transportation In Chicago: Video with Susan Nussbaum

June 2016 -- Equip for Equality is celebrating 30 years of advancing the rights of people with disabilities in Illinois. In 1985, five years before the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law, Equip for Equality was founded to address the glaring discrimination and unequal treatment of Illinoisans with developmental, mental and physical disabilities. Among its many accomplishments, Equip for Equality has made Chicago public transportation more accessible, helped thousands of people with disabilities move from institutions into the community, increased inclusive education for students with disabilities, enhanced safety and quality of care by improving state investigative and oversight systems, and influenced significant positive changes in Illinois law.

One of the many advocacy efforts that Equip For Equality has been a leader in is Public Transportation. Susan Nussbaum is a playwright, novelist and longtime disability rights activist, and in her journey has been with advocacy for accessible public transportation in the Chicago area.

Equip For Equality has produced a series of videos in Celebration of  30 years of advocacy in Illinois, Ms. Nussbaum as one of many activist for Accessible Public Transportation in the Chicago area, helps to tell her journey as a activist for people with disabilities.

YouTube produced by Equip for Equality

For Equip for Equality, visit: www.equipforequality.org/

National Council on Disability Issues Brochure on Prescription Drug Labeling

The National Council on Disability (NCD) has issued a brochure on best practices for making prescription drug container labels accessible to people with vision impairments or who are elderly. The new brochure, which is based on recommendations from a U.S. Access Board stakeholder panel, outlines voluntary methods that pharmacists can use to provide access to drug label information for their customers. These include braille and large print, as well as newer technologies such as digital voice or text-to-speech recorders, radio frequency identification tags, and smart devices and computers. The brochure also provides best practices to follow with these formats, such as maintaining patient privacy in preparing labels and selecting containers that best support the type of accessible label provided. This guidance is advisory only and is not mandatory.

Implementing these practices will provide those unable to read print or small type access to the important information contained on labels for prescription medications, including dosage and other instructions, side effects, and expiration dates. NCD, which advises the President, Congress, and federal agencies on policies, programs, and practices affecting people with disabilities, is making this information available to pharmacies and industry associations for dissemination to affiliates and members. Members of the public are also welcome to download the brochure and share it with their local pharmacy.

The guidance is based on recommendations developed by a stakeholder working group organized by the Access Board. The Working Group on Accessible Prescription Drug Container Labels, which included representatives from advocacy organizations and industry, assessed various methods for making drug labels accessible and issued its findings in a report to the Board in July 2013. Since release of the report, various national pharmacy chains have adopted methods for providing drug label information in accessible formats. This work was authorized by the "Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act of 2012" which directed the Board to develop the best practice recommendations through a working group and tasked NCD with undertaking an awareness campaign to inform pharmacies and the public of this voluntary guidance. The law also calls upon the Comptroller General to conduct a review to assess the extent to which pharmacies are implementing the best practices and to determine whether barriers to prescription drug labels remain.

Further information is available on NCD's website and the Board's website.