Print Friendly VersionFebruary 2007, Issue 110
ADVOCACY ACTION NEWS
Monthly News Bulletin Published by IndependenceFirst
FEDERAL/NATIONAL
WISCONSIN
LOCAL
ADA/FAIR HOUSING
ANNOUNCEMENTS
ON THE WEB
Frank McColm, 1921-2007
Self-advocate & ADAPT "Old-timer"
By Alie Kriofske
ADAPT and the disability rights community had to say goodbye to a great advocate —Frank McColm. He passed away in his own home where he had been living independently for more than two decades after being inappropriately institutionalized as a youth.
Frank McColm’s father placed him in a nursing home when he was just fourteen years old, after he was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. He had no formal education and lived in that institution with his life limited by the rules and routine there. He knew that punishments were harsh after breaking the rules and though he was afraid to live in the world that excluded him, Frank wanted out. After forty years, his social workers encouraged him to leave. At the age of fiffty-seven, Frank got out of the institution, began living on his own and became a strong self-advocate and original member of ADAPT.
In spring of last year, Frank sent a video testimony to a Tennessee public hearing he was unable to attend. When asked what he would say to other Tennessee folk living in nursing homes, he responded, "Move out." Frank said, "I went to the nursing home when I was fourteen years old. I remained there for forty-three years…I have [now] lived in my own apartment with attendants helping me for over twenty years. I would rather be dead than back in a nursing home."
Frank, an easily recognizable old-time freedom fighter with long lanky limbs and a cigarette perpetually dangling from his lips, lived the rest of his life independently, attending ADAPT advocacy and civil disobedience events, cracking jokes along the way. Even with a strong dislike of being helped, his caretakers knew that if he needed it, ‘he’d give them a holler’. He had a great sense of humor, a strong will for life, and will be remembered fondly by those who knew him. For Frank McColm’s entire testimony, visit http://www.adapt.org/freeourpeople/aar/nash06/transcript.htm#frankmccolm01
FEDERAL/NATIONAL
Internet-Captioned Telephone For People With Hearing Loss
In October 2005 the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) petitioned the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to include Internet-enabled captioned telephone for reimbursement from the telecommunications relay fund. This petition was supported by more than 30 other organizations who support full telecommunications access for people with hearing loss. In December, that petition was approved, bringing captioned telephone into the broadband world.
Internet captioned telephone will benefit consumers by giving them the flexibility of using a computer, PDA, or wireless device to make a call, without having to purchase special telephone equipment. It will be particularly helpful in the workplace.
In addition, captions provided on a computer screen can accommodate a much wider group of individuals, including persons with low vision, because they can take advantage of the large text, variable fonts, and variable colors that are available.
For more information go to www.fcc.gov or email media contact Rosemary Kimball at rosemary.Kimball@fcc.gov
Source: HLAA Press Release (edited)
Reform Commission Issues Final Report; Dissenter Sees Bias Toward Institutions
The Medicaid Commission issued its final report and recommendations Dec. 29, 2006, calling for "fundamental reform" of the government entitlement program to ensure its long-term fiscal sustainability.
The report calls for greater efficiency in the Medicaid system and an emphasis on preventive care and achieving high quality health care outcomes. The commission said it also recommends providing long-term care in the least restrictive setting, adopting interoperable health information technology, and coordinating care across providers and health care centers.
The key principles embodied in the report are recognizing the long-term value of investments in quality, supporting state flexibility, and encouraging personal responsibility/rewarding healthy behaviors among beneficiaries. In the report, the commission calls on federal agencies and Congress to develop a fiscally sustainable plan for meeting U.S. future long-term care needs.
The report denounces a "one-size-fits-all" approach to Medicaid, and recommends that states be given greater flexibility to design benefit packages, including establishing separate eligibility criteria for acute and preventive medical care services and for long-term care. The report also recommends allowing states to replicate demonstrations that have operated successfully for two years in other states, using an abbreviated waiver application.
Two Members Dissent From Report
Two commission members dissented from the report, including Gwen Gillenwater, who represents the American Association of People with Disabilities. She said the report fails to address the Medicaid program's "institutional bias," such as the fact that only 37 percent of Medicaid expenditures for long-term care are for home or community-based services (HCBS). One state, Tennessee, spent only 0.6 percent of its long-term services budget on HCBS in 2005.
She said that, while beneficiaries who meet a state's criteria are eligible for nursing home care, those who want home or community- based care often are subject to long waits, as much as two years.
When it comes to correcting the institutional bias, the report's recommendations simply restate the obvious, and "do nothing to address the myriad of state policies and programs that determine who can and cannot qualify for HCBS," Gillenwater said.
They "may make some people feel good, but they will do absolutely nothing to ensure that all low-income Americans at risk of institutional care have the option of receiving HCBS services, regardless of the state in which they live," she said of the recommendations.
Gillenwater also takes issue with the commission's recommendations to allow states to enroll beneficiaries dually eligible for Medicaid and Medicare into managed care plans, some of which may restrict medical tests or use of prescription drugs and have an incentive to withhold services to boost profits. "I cannot in good conscience support a recommendation that allows automatic enrollment of dual eligibles into 'other mechanisms' without minimum protections to ensure the individual's right to appropriate, functionally necessary services and equipment," she said.
The other dissenter, Robert B. Helms, resident scholar with the American Enterprise Institute, said that the recommendations fail to adequately address the "out-dated and ill-conceived" method for determining the level of federal financial support to the states.
The current financing system, determined by the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) formula, has failed to allocate subsidies to the poorest populations, he said. For example, Helms stated that the poorer the state, the less federal funds per low- income person the state receives.
The Medicaid Commission was established by charter to develop recommendations to improve the program and achieve $10 billion in Medicaid savings over five years. The commission was required to submit by Dec. 31, 2006, to the health and human services secretary a report making recommendations to ensure the long-term sustainability of Medicaid.
The report can be found online at: (http://www.aspe.hhs.gov/medicaid/122906rpt.pdf)
Source: The Justice For All Listserv
WISCONSIN
Money Follows the Person Funding
More than 23 thousand people with disabilities will now be able to live in their own homes rather than in institutions. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the first recipients of Money Follows the Person (MFP) Rebalancing Demonstration Grants to transition people from nursing facilities and into the community.
38 states, including Wisconsin, submitted MFP proposals to CMS, 17 of which were accepted. CMS awarded Wisconsin $56 million in federal matching funds over the next five years. The grant will help provide services for 250 additional people every year to move from institutions into the community.
Source: Press Release
LOCAL
Health Chief To Fill Top Fiscal Post
Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker is tapping the county's top human services official to take over the key fiscal management post Linda Seemeyer is vacating.
Rob Henken, 43, director of the county's Health and Human Services Department, is Walker's pick to run the county's Department of Administrative Services, which has broad authority over budgeting and fiscal issues.
Henken said he would remain active in efforts to relocate the county's mental health programs from the County Grounds, expand the county's care for persons with disabilities and keep alive the county's medical insurance program for the indigent.
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
ADA/FAIR HOUSING
Do Web Sites Need to Be Accessible to the Blind?
An advocacy group sued Target Corp., claiming that Target's Web site is incompatible with software used by the blind and that such incompatibility is a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
In 1990, Congress enacted the ADA to establish a comprehensive prohibition of discrimination on the basis of disability and, in certain circumstances, to require affirmative efforts to accommodate individuals with disabilities. Title III of the ADA provides for accessibility of places of public accommodation.
The ADA defines a "place of public accommodation" as a facility, operated by a private entity, whose operations affect commerce and fall within at least one of 12 specified categories.
The statute and implementing regulations were enacted before the Internet became an everyday tool and do not expressly state whether the Internet is a place of public accommodation. The Department of Justice has consistently taken the position that it is -- for example, through the filing of amicus briefs.
Courts have split on the issue. The U.S. Courts of Appeals for the 6th and 9th Circuits and a district court in Florida have held that a public place of accommodation must be a physical location. In contrast, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has stated that Title III of the ADA is not limited to purely physical structures, although that court did not address the Internet specifically.
The plaintiffs in Target argued that Target's Web site allows customers to purchase many of the items available in Target's "brick and mortar" stores and to perform other functions related to those physical stores, such as accessing information on store locations and hours, refilling a prescription, ordering photo prints for pick-up at a store or printing coupons to redeem at a store. Therefore, due to the nexus between the Web site and the physical stores, the plaintiffs argued that the court need not decide whether the Internet, as a stand-alone entity, constituted a "public place of accommodation."
Target sought to dismiss the complaint, maintaining that Title III of the ADA applied only to a physical place. Target disagreed that there was a strong nexus between the services provided by the Web site and Target's brick-and-mortar stores. Target also argued that its toll-free phone system, which was available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, was a sufficient alternative to Target's Web site.
While the court denied Target's motion to dismiss the complaint, the court also refused to grant plaintiffs motion for a preliminary injunction, finding that there were substantial questions of fact. Such questions included the extent that Target's Web site was inaccessible to the blind as a general matter and whether there were reasonable alternatives in light of the ability to call a toll-free number that required discovery and further proceedings.
Whether other courts will agree with the decision in Target remains to be seen. Private entities that host Web sites need to closely monitor developments in this area of the law. In the meantime, these entities should consider the compatibility of their Web sites with the software used by the blind.
Source: Edited article located at: http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1168336938732&rss=newswire
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
"You can’t ask for what you want unless you know what it is. A lot of people don’t know what they want or they want much less than they deserve. First you have to figure out what you want. Second, you have to decide that you deserve it. Third, you have to believe you can get it. And, fourth, you have to have the guts to ask for it"
~ Barbara De Angelis ~
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Volunteer Income Tax Assistance
The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program is a cooperative effort by the Internal Revenue Service and many individual states, including Wisconsin, to provide income tax assistance to low-income individuals. Volunteers trained by the Internal Revenue Service and the Wisconsin Department of Revenue prepare basic income tax returns free of charge at VITA sites. Some VITA sites offer free IRS electronic filing of tax returns.
Income tax assistance is available for low-income individuals, individuals with disabilities, non-English speaking taxpayers, and the elderly. In addition, the program assists individuals who qualify for homestead credit or the earned income credit. The VITA program is aimed at those for whom paid assistance may be out of reach.
A VITA site will prepare the following:
· 1040EZ
· 1040A with Schedules 1, 2, 3, EIC
· 1040 with Schedules A, B, EIC, R
· Form 1040V (Payment Voucher)
· Form 1040ES (Individual Estimated Tax Payment)
· Form 2441 (Child and Dependent Care Credit)
· Form 8863 (Educational Credits)
· Form 8812 (Additional Child Tax Credit)
A VITA site will not prepare the following:
· Schedule C (Profit or Loss From a Business)
· Schedule D (Complicated and Advanced D's)
· Schedule E (Rental Income)
· Form SS-5 (Request for a Social Security Number)
· Form 2106 (Unreimbursed Employee Business Expenses)
· Form 3903 (Moving Expenses)
· Form 8606 (Nondeductible IRA)
· Form 8615 (Tax for Children Under 14 with Investment Income)
Note: VITA will also not prepare returns for married filing separate individuals.
VITA sites can be found in some community centers, libraries, churches, shopping malls, and retirement homes. Most VITA sites are open from February 1 through April 16.
FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE
Customer Service and Education Bureau, P.O. Box 8949
Madison, WI 53708-8949
Phone: (608) 266-2772 (V/Relay)
Fax: (608) 267-1030
Source: WI Dept. of Revenue
Different Directions -
A support group for People with Disabilities
4th Tuesday of the Month
10:00 to 11:00 AM
IndependenceFirst
Room 202
600 W Virginia Street,
Milwaukee, WI
TO REGISTER: Call Leah Simmons at
Relay 711, then (414) 226-8374 TTY
or contact by e-mail: lsimmons@independencefirst.org
Wanted: Young Leaders with Disabilities
Young leaders with disabilities are invited to the 2007 National Youth Transit Talk to discuss ways to improve access to public transit. The Talk will be held July 27-28, 2007 in Washington, DC. Young leaders with disabilities will have a chance to network with national leaders and public officials, and other active young leaders from across the country.
Who Can Attend? Forty young leaders with disabilities, (ages 16 to 28) with an interest in improving access to public transit. Covered costs will be airfare, hotel lodgings and meals!
Requests must be received by March 1st Young Leaders will be chosen and notified by April 15, 2007. For more information, go to:http://www.cilberkeley.org/youthtalk/index.html
ON THE WEB
The Wisconsin Legislative Notification System allows anyone the opportunity to follow legislation by receiving daily or weekly emails for specific legislative activities. You can choose items by Proposal, Committee, Author or Subject and can select the activities for which you would like to receive notifications. http://Notify.legis.state.wi.us
By using E-Notify you can find out when important things happen in the City of Milwaukee. You can receive several different types of notices from the City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee Public Schools, including news releases, meeting notices and agendas, job announcements, new property sale listings, bid notices, online auction items, and many others. Once you choose your topics, just sit back and wait for the pertinent information to come directly to you.
http://www.city.milwaukee.gov/router.asp?docid=745
Advocacy Action News is published by IndependenceFirst on or about the 1st of each month. Submissions of articles are due by the 15th of each month prior to publication. For consideration, send your articles or announcements to the Editor, Karen Avery, via e-mail to kavery@independencefirst.org.
Advocacy Action News is available by request in alternative formats such as Braille, large print, on disk or audiotape. It is also made available via our website.
You may also receive Advocacy Action News via email instead of print copy. Contact Karen at 414-291-7520 (V/TTY) or kavery@independencefirst.org.
If you do not have access to the internet, and would like assistance in obtaining any of the internet-based items described in this news bulletin, please contact Karen at 414-291-7520 (V/TTY).
IndependenceFirst
The Resource for People with Disabilities…
600 W. Virginia Street, 4th Floor
Milwaukee, WI 53204
414-291-7520 (V/TTY)
414-291-7525 (FAX)
www.independencefirst.org