ADAPT speaks for disability rights

Affordable Care Act Anniversary (Photo credit: SEIU International)

I decided to re-circulate this information to both of my devoted readers.

 

Disability Activists Storm U.S. Supreme Court Demanding Support For The Affordable Care Act

 

Washington, D.C.— Hundreds of disability rights activists with the national group ADAPT have swarmed onto the plaza before the United States Supreme Court to demonstrate their support for the Affordable Care Act.  The Supreme Court is currently deliberating whether to strike the Act down.  ADAPT maintains that not only has the Act provided key protections against discrimination on the basis of disability in health care, but it provides for the Community First Choice Option, a federal Medicaid matching program whose rules were completed just yesterday.

 

ADAPT’s demonstration follows on the heels of two days of action on Capitol Hill.  On Monday around 100 people were arrested at the Cannon House Office Building, protesting cuts to the House’s proposed Medicaid budget. Among the arrestees was film and tv actor Noah Wyle, formerly of ER and currently the star of Falling Skies.  On Tuesday, ADAPT blitzed the US Department of Health and Human Services, winning a significant victory in the form of the issuance of the rules for the Community First Choice Option. ADAPT also confronted hotel industry lobbyists at a hearing on Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regulations on swimming pools.  The opposition of rules governing swimming pools is more widely seen as a potential avenue for weakening the interpretation of the ADA.

 

“The Affordable Care Act has done many good things for people with disabilities,” said Tim Sullivan of Chicago ADAPT.  ”People with pre-existing conditions will have health insurance.  It directs the government to address health care disparities including for people with disabilities.  And of course we believe the Community First Choice Option is critical.  My right to live in the community should not be destroyed by political warfare over whether this law is unconstitutional.”

 

“We have to take a stand for the programs that improve the lives of people with disabilities and others who need Medicaid services to live in the community,” said Dawn Russell of Denver ADAPT.  ”We need the Supreme Court to recognize the decades of work that we have put into giving people with disabilities the legal tools to live in our communities with our families and friends, and not be forced into nursing homes.”

ADAPT was formed in 1984 around transit access, and began its focus on Medicaid community based services in 1992 after passage of the ADA, which legally affirmed that access to public transit is a civil right. The ADA, and a U.S. Supreme Court decision known as the Olmstead decision have both also affirmed that the right to live in the community is a civil right.

 

ADAPT will employ street theater and a mock “court” presentation of disability issues within the Affordable Care Act.

 

For more information about the Community First Choice Option and ADAPT, see www.adapt.org and http://www.twitter.com/nationaladapt

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ADAPT Applauds Issuance Of Key Affordable Care Act Regulations

Washington, D.C.— On Tuesday, after months of pressure on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Medicaid division to release federal regulations for the Community First Choice (CFC) Option, the national grassroots disability rights group ADAPT stormed the HHS headquarters once again by surrounding its doors. This time, the protests yielded the long-awaited result: Cindy Mann, Director of the Center for Medicaid and State Operations announced at 6 pm that she had just that very afternoon submitted the CFC Option regulations in final form to the Federal Register for publishing. The issuance of the regulations brings the possibility of much-needed Federal assistance to states struggling with massive Medicaid cuts.

“After almost two years of working to get the CFC Option in the Affordable Care Act and then waiting for the regulations, ADAPT truly is celebrating this moment,” said Bruce Darling of Rochester ADAPT. “We thank Ms. Mann and Henry Claypool, Principal Deputy Administrator of the Administration on Community Living, for working with us to see the regulations come out.” The CFC Option is a provision of the Affordable Care Act that would provide Federal matching dollars, plus an extra six percent, to states that amend their Medicaid state plans to provide home and community based services for people with disabilities who meet a certain level of need, determined by each state.

The completion of the regulations marks a high point in a saga of front line battles between advocates in the states and their respective Medicaid administrators. Most states, faced with the prospect of budget cuts in a time of austerity, have not committed to taking advantage of the CFC Option. Some, like Illinois and Montana, have held off on final decisions pending release of the CFC regulations. Others, like New York and California, have moved forward with planning for the CFC Option implementation. In states that have not made such a commitment, Medicaid administrators have met with ferocious grassroots pressure from ADAPT.

HHS itself became the main focus of ADAPT efforts once it was clear that the agency was working on the regulations. The Affordable Care Act provided the deadline of October 1, 2011 for the publication of the CFC rules. Once that date passed, tensions in the disability community ratcheted up as anxiety grew about whether the Administration would hold firm to its commitment to community living and Olmstead implementation for people with disabilities. The release of the regulations and the very recent formation of the Administration on Community Living are both viewed by ADAPT as positive developments.

“We still have a lot of work to do,” said Darling. “The release of the regulations means we will now have to work state by state to ensure that every person with a disability has the same access to community living as everyone else. We are not done, but for today this is a major policy and advocacy victory for disability rights.”

For more information, see www.adapt.org and http://www.twitter.com/nationaladapt

Related articles

• ADAPT Spring Action: Tuesday Report back (examiner.com)
• Noah Wylie Arrested For Protesting Cuts to Medicaid Benefits for the Elderly and Disabled (shoppingblog.com)
• ADAPT Spring Action: Sunday Report back (examiner.com)

Brothers and sisters, please rise up

African Peoples Socialist Party office, Oakland, California (Photo credit: Curtis Cronn)

Malcolm X (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Official photographic portrait of US President Barack Obama (born 4 August 1961; assumed office 20 January 2009) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Today I saw the inevitable. In a world filled with hateful people one hand rose out of the sewer to proclaim “niggers please die.” This was in response to a post regarding the murder of Trayvon Martin. But black people, African-Americans and Africans mixed or unmixed are not signing our lives away. In fact even as the hatred seeps across the internet it is clear more than ever that our survival depends upon one another.

It depends on the bus drivers, teachers, sanitation workers, electricians, peer specialists and others at work every day making a difference. It depends on our brothers  and sisters caring for their children. It depends on my nephews caring for their children and wives. It depends on President Obama becoming the President we voted for and not falling victim to war and fear. It depends on bloggers spreading the news and speaking truth to power. It depends on everyone of us writing and reading to be positive and and respond not by yelling back but calmly going about our daily tasks. Like so many leaders have encouraged us in word, deed and song that we must do.

No, dear hateful one, we are not going to kill ourselves for your benefit. In fact we grow stronger in courage and wisdom every day. Peace out.

 

Related articles

• poetry for justice: In Recognition of #TrayvonMartin Blog-In Day (lifestyle30.wordpress.com)
• Op-Ed: Stop Using Trayvon Martin’s Murder to Discuss Black-on-Black Crime (clutchmagonline.com)

Respect Yourself

Trayvon Martin Protest - Sanford (Photo credit: werthmedia)

Malcolm X (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I ride the bus as my main means of getting around Milwaukee and all too often I heard through the earphones of young black passengers I hear people talking about “nigger this” and “nigger that” and then I hear on the other side of town about deaths. We have been focused in these last few weeks on 2 situations: that Trayvon Morris in Florida and Bo Morrison in Slinger, Wisconsin.

But what about the ordinary killers of African-Americans? Who is hunting them? Who is looking for the guy who killed his baby mama at 20th and Walnut after beating her with his bare fists? Will anyone find the foster children of Sara Ann, a young mother whose other children are in the foster care system? Will Sara Ann be reunited with her her children one more time? Will we learn about changes in the system after she is dead?

Who will indict and convict the sellers of candy band other killers of black people? Will we round up the grocery stores, gas stations, and crack heads who sell shit that winds up being sold for death in our communities? Will we wind up with over crowding the already full jails with even even more prisoners?

I blogged without end about George Zimmerman who should be facing life ion prison for murdering Trayvon Martin.  But the sad truth is that African-Americans, often friends or domestic partners of African-Americans are the ones who kill our brothers and sisters.

\The stories about murders by racists grab our attention because we have been so innoculated by the ordinary murders that take place around us that we have no idea that the guy upstairs putting his hands on that attractive young woman may end up killing her tonight. We need to stop murdering one another and start loving one another.

It begins with the Staples Singers and their song but it needs you to sing along. Pledge tonight that you will not kill anyone tonight.

African American members of ILGWU Local 222 picket outside. (Photo credit: Kheel Center, Cornell University)

Related articles

• President Barack Obama Calls Trayvon Martin Death “Tragedy” Geraldo Rivera Blames Trayvon Martin Murder on a “Hoodie” (binsidetv.net)
• Justice for Trayvon Martin (redantliberationarmy.wordpress.com)

One of the 44%

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has published a front page story about the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Center for Development about the disappearance from the job market of African American men. Over the past 40 years employment levels for men 16 to 64, a group which includes me, have fallen from 73% to just barely 44%.  At the same time, incarceration rates have risen dramatically. Even for men not incarcerated, it’s not uncommon to find they are paying off tickets for disorderly conduct or other offenses.  At the same time, they we are leaving the job scene, we are actually becoming less employable.

According to the UWM study, the bottom 5 cities for black male employment were

1. Chicago 48.3%
2. Cleveland 47.7%
3. Milwaukee44.7%
4. Buffalo 43.9%
5. Detroit43.0%

The top 5 were

1. Washington 66.6%
2. Dallas 61.%
3. Boston 59.7%
4. Minneapolis 59.3%
5. Atlanta 59.0%

You will notice that those top levels of employment are nowhere near the peak level from 40 years ago.  Further, the declines in employment levels covered white, Hispanic and black men. It is a trend that mirrored the de-industrialization of northern cities.  As our jobs fled south and later to China (that giant sucking sound Ross Perot  warned  us about) we have been left with lower paid positions in the service industry.

The factory jobs that remain are largely performed by robots that do all the manual labor that our parents used to do. It’s called getting more out of workers or some fancy term like “productivity.”

As an African-American male I find this situation troubling. When I left Buffalo in 1980 it was already in decline. Although things looked better in my new home of Milwaukee, it, too was on the way down. Despite two college degrees I found it difficult to develop and sustain a satisfactory career.  In recent years I have created a new career, as a peer specialist and for the first time my income and hours worked began to rise. I guess I should feel grateful but I worry about the long term implications of the UWM study.

My nephew John has started a family in Buffalo. Will he fall victim, too? Is America prepared to ignore the skills of millions men who play by the rules and strive for a piece of the dream? Are we going to recapture those jobs that fled our shores? Can a man who creates jobs in the Cayman Islands and Switzerland understand the plight of American workers? I don’t think so, Mitt! Can a man who labelled Barack Obama “the food stamp president” identify with the issues facing low income workers? No way, Newt. Will the former publisher of racist newsletters give a damn whether black men and women drown in this economy?

Barack Obama’s future is tied to our success. We may not return to the employment levels of the 1970s overnight but that’s the only way we can create an America that is born to succeed.

Related articles

• A Shortage of Eligible Black Men (theroot.com)
• State of the Union: Proposals may do little to reduce black unemployment (thegrio.com)

Occupy Australia

If President Obama was playing basketball with the American people, the play by play might go something like this. “The President fakes left, ending Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.” Next he goes far right, ignoring the execution of Troy Davis. He dribbles between his legs, passes the ball to Leon Panetta who explains we could go back to Iraq if their leaders requested it.  Then as the Republican candidates makes assess of themselves,  the President dunks as he announces America is going to occupy Australia. http://www.network54.com/Forum/211833/thread/1321502826/last-1321579706/US+permanently+stationed+2500+troop+in+Australia+to+watch+Chinese+movement

Yes 2500 troops will go to the land down under on a mission to supposedly watch Chinese naval movements. The President taps into that vast reservoir of funds and goodwill regained as the rich started paying their fair share of taxes to pay for another military occupation. Instead of taking my advice and realizing this is a hell of a long time to be occupying Asia,  the Big O goes deep and rushes to the aid of Australia, a small struggling third world country.

Actually, they’re a rather powerful and well developed nation.

The economy of Australia is a developed, modern market economy with a GDP of approximately US$1.23 trillion.^[10] In 2011, it was the 13th largest national economy by nominal GDP^[11] and the 17th largest measured by PPP adjusted GDP, representing about 1.7% of the World economy. Australia was also ranked the 19th largest importer and 19th largest exporter.

Australia is a member of the APEC, G20, OECD and WTO organisations. Australia has also entered into free trade agreements with ASEAN, Chile, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, and the United States.^[12] The ANZCERTA agreement with New Zealand has greatly increased integration with the New Zealand economy and there are now plans to form an Australasian Single Economic Market by 2015.^[13]

Sounds like a country that could afford to take care of itself. Ya think? Meanwhile, yes, I was kidding about that money from the rich, they’re placing bets on who to elect next November.

You might have noticed that at the same time President Obama declare that defending Australia was key to our national security, he re-assured China that we were not somehow tracking their naval expansion.  Our stores are filled with goods from China. The biggest beneficiary of the American “Black Friday” will undoubtedly be China as the consumer orgy floods our homes with more Chinese goods and services.

The Grand Game is on as bets are placed regarding the future of Social Security, Medicare and the  Health Care Law. Will the bloated US military escape the so-called draconian cuts scheduled to go  into effect if the Super Committee cannot find compromise?

Those of us on the left with our Occupy signs probably did not see President O’s latest right wing move coming. But we should have known that the moment the people start talking about occupy, the mis-leaders will  turn that into an opportunity to occupy another large landmass. Let’s Occupy the White  House.

Related articles

• Australia is really good. The only people who don’t believe it are… (petermartin.com.au)
• Moody’s reaffirms Australia’s AAA rating (news.theage.com.au)

They’ve Given You a Number and Taken Away Your Name

Image via Wikipedia

In the Johnny Rivers song Secret Agent Man http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0CQ8iaK5s8, there’s a line “they’ve given you a number and taken away your name.” Last weekend I heard about a similar kind of number. It’s the Global Assessment of Functioning http://depts.washington.edu/washinst/Resources/CGAS/GAF%20Index.htm. This scale of 1 to 100 is included in the DSM IV used by clinicians. The people scoring the lowest are increasingly delusional and at extreme risk of  harming  themselves or others.

This tool is increasingly popular in use. For instance the US military is testing soldiers to help weed out soldiers who may be unfit for duty. http://www.forthoodsentinel.com/story.php?id=5781. I have suggested that the the military stop conducting unnecessary and illegal wars which stress out soldiers and civilians. These demands were summarized in our slogan from the 1960′s “Make Love Not War.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmkAuTQ8Sc4

There are some other interesting numbers that may relate to global functioning. What is the black unemployment rate by year in America? According to CNN,  it was the highest in 27 years. http://money.cnn.com/2011/09/02/news/economy/black_unemployment_rate/index.htm What if we had taken a fraction of that money we gave  to  carry out these wars and spent it helping people re-enter  the job market? Isn’t it possible that some of those people who scored in  the 40′s and 50′s would have improved their functioning?

Another number we should know is the black graduation rate from high school. http://www.thegrio.com/specials/making-the-grade/grim-graduate-rates-for-black-males-highlight-racial-gap-in-schools.php. I have encouraged black peers to return to school and get jobs  and a few of them have taken my advice. They paid attention to the scores on the GED tests and they reflected their pride in their smiles.

I believe that our global functioning changes daily. I’ve never seen the number that was assigned to me and I  don’t think it would offer much insight. These numbers can be affected  by government use or misuse of resources. If you have grown up in an area with wealthy schools, you will be at the top of that scale and any other scale we have in this society.

We must understand that these scales are merely snapshots of how you were at any given day but they are not predictors. You might encounter a peer specialist who helps you to change. You  might see a friend who has seized an opportunity and gone far beyond the barriers that were erected. We must work globally to assess the functioning of our government to reduce the amount of money wasted until we get the kind of government that we deserve. When we get there, I’d like to play in that number.

Related articles

• Unemployment Fell in 43 States in Nov. (time.com)

Compassion

Reblogged from Beyond Meds:

Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It’s a relationship between equals. Only when we know our own darkness well can we be present with the darkness of others.

Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity.

― Pema Chödrön

These are my two favorite books by Pema, though I think everything I’ve read speaks to me:

Read more… 45 more words

A thought about something ordinary

Image via Wikipedia

Recently I saw something ordinary in an area where bad things happen. I live in a rough neighborhood. It’s right around the corner from a fancy steak house. There are several schools in the community filled with students and staff collaborating for learning. And there’s at least one young man who is proud of himself and his daughter.

One day I had walked down to catch the bus and noticed a lot of police cars were circling the blocks searching for troublesome children. And observing this scene was a tall black man with a little gray at his temples wearing work boots and a warm outfit. And there beside him and sometimes on his back or shoulders was his daughter. That is, she felt comfortable with her father enough to be openly affectionate with him. He was warning her not to do things that might cause the police to be swarming the streets looking for her and her friends.

But he also spoke of his job. He had begun working a few days ago and you could see his pride as he talked about showing her pictures from the job. “This is what your daddy does at work.” They were both excited. The job was still brand new and he had not yet been paid. But in a neighborhood that is in a city where so many black fathers are out of work, I chose to focus on a small positive moment.

A few weeks later I saw the father and daughter at the same spot where I had originally seen them. I imagine by now he has bought groceries and shared a dream with her. There are these moments where I can see hope that I would like to multiply by the millions. Fathers, don’t go off to war. Stay home and raise these children.

Related articles

• What do you teach your son about how to be with the police? (bluemilk.wordpress.com)
• Striving for Ordinary (sonjawilliams.wordpress.com)
• No Ordinary Day (learning2hear.com)

Who’s Ponzi? We’re talking about our lives.

Apparently, Texas Governor Rick Perry has never met a retired person or a person living with disabilities.  I have. If Perry had ventured out beyond the class of rich white men promoting his candidacy he would never have spoken out so ignorantly about Social Security. He called the program that is probably the most successful in American history “a Ponzi scheme.” Yet for millions of disabled people it is their sole source of cash income. Ending the program would cause many of them to  lose their housing because they would have no means to pay their bills.

Where would they go? To the streets, to the libraries, the underpasses or perhaps even to your door step. I doubt that the poor and homeless would be able to make it  to the well-guarded gated communities of those who might approve Perry’s foolish schemes. There the wealthy would be insulated from the disastrous effects of reckless social engineering.

Social security helped reduce poverty among the elderly. Should they move out and join the disabled? And for the elderly and disabled, well, it just gets even better. My older sister worked for many years before being forced to go on disability. My mother has social security and retirement income which she earned. She worked well into her 70s. I know neither of them will vote for Perry. And I hope that when the disabled people I work with learn about Perry’s plans, they will register and vote in large numbers against him. We’ve had 2 Texas governors go to Washington and that was far too many. Perry needs to go to Paris. Paris, Texas, that is.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Hates Poor People

Logo of the . (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has been crusading against fraud and abuse in the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps, FoodShare or Wisconsin Quest. Today the  front page of the newspaper included an article by the investigative reporters which began this way

A review by the Journal Sentinel – part of a larger investigation into FoodShare fraud – found nine Facebook users in Milwaukee and about 70 altogether nationwide who posted to Facebook seeking to either buy or sell food assistance benefits illegally or help others do so. Many more friends responded, and in some cases, later posts indicated that the sales were made.

The Journal Sentinel’s review exposes another example of how easy it is to illegally sell the state-issued cards and their benefits – and how little concern those who do it have about getting caught. In April, the newspaper reported that nearly 2,000 FoodShare recipients claimed they lost their card six or more times in 2010 and requested replacements – a sign that the program is being cheated, and one that state officials say they are examining more closely.

Think of this for a second. Their investigative team found nine people in the Milwaukee area, including one who had been a child care provider until her license was revoked.

How many people are on FoodShare? The Janesville Gazette explains.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says food stamp use nationwide increased 11 percent from March of 2010 to March of this year. Wisconsin’s increase was also 11 percent with more than 800,000 people receiving assistance through the state’s FoodShare program.

According to the US Census there are 959,000 people in Milwaukee County. We can safely say that there are  more people on FoodShare in Wisconsin than the total population of the state’s largest city. Of that number, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel found nine using Facebook to sell their benefits. These people were so desperate they were selling their  benefits for fifty cents on the dollar.

Among my Facebook friends the only time FoodShare has been mentioned was in response to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s early article. Hunger Task Force director Sherrie Tussler in Milwaukee wrote a scathing rebuttal to their article.says the economy may be improving, but not for everyone. Tussler explains that “many people remain unemployed and need help with food.”

Tussler said she believes the vast majority of recipients are honest and that fraud is the exception. She said state officials should focus on the few violators and avoid actions to fight fraud that would end up hurting the majority of recipients who truly qualify for the program and need it to feed their families.

“It doesn’t make sense to hurt the program because of a few people,” she said.

Tussler said that some poor recipients make the bad bargain of selling their benefits for less than they’re worth because they have to scrape together cash to pay rent or fix a car to get to work.

Individuals or families who use FoodShare in Wisconsin include people of all ages who are employed but have low incomes, are living on small or fixed incomes, have lost their jobs, or have disabilities and can’t work.

Isn’t that the real scandal? Wisconsin Public Radio News says more than 13 percent of Wisconsin residents currently receive food assistance. At a time when politicians put forward plans to create jobs, more than 1 in 10 people in our entire state need this benefit. Even that does not tell the true story of deprivation because thousands who would qualify may be denied, unaware that they qualify or feel stigmatized at the idea of asking for help.

If you doubt that FoodShare contains a stigma just do a search in Facebook using the term FoodShare or EBT card. Among other things I found a group with a stereotyped picture of a black man asking why he could not use FoodShare to buy malt liquor. Why is the newspaper with the resources to investigate real crime like corporate welfare beating the drums to tack down nine Milwaukee area people on Facebook?