Are you a person self-directing your services, a family member or friend assisting someone to self-direct, or a direct care worker in a self-direction program?

If so, we want to hear from you! Please complete our survey by Friday, August 11th. This survey will take you about 10 minutes to complete. 

We are leading a new project sponsored by Elevance Health to improve worker recruitment and retention in self-direction programs.  The survey responses will inform a white paper on the impact of the workforce crisis on self-direction featuring practical insights and advice from those with lived experience.

We are hoping our survey will reach a wide audience. Please share this survey with others who self-direct, family members, and direct care workers in your network.

Thank you for your help!

As the national caregiver crisis continues, people who it affects the most weigh in on what they're facing, why caregivers are quitting, and what could be done to help solve the problem. This article in the Madison Magazine explains the brutal reality for so many families in Wisconsin.

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Need someone to talk to? Call UpliftWI

 New phone service offers peer support statewide

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) announces a new phone line is now available allowing all Wisconsinites to share their successes and challenges with a peer who will listen and offer support. Built by Mental Health America of Wisconsin under a grant from DHS for people experiencing mental health and substance use concerns, UpliftWI can be reached at 534-202-5438 daily from noon to midnight, with 24/7 operation expected by the end of the year. This non-emergency service is free and confidential.

“We’re pleased to partner with Mental Health America of Wisconsin on this expansion of peer services in Wisconsin,” said DHS Deputy Secretary Deb Standridge. “The peer-to-peer support offered by UpliftWI is a proven way to help people get the help they need and stay healthy. This service is going to improve lives by providing preventive care for people experiencing stress or other challenges in their lives.” 

View the entire news release.

Finding your seat on airplane is challenging for anyone, but for people who have visual impairments, it's usually impossible to find their seat independently. United Airlines is working to change that by installing Braille signage to the interior of their planes.

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For many families in Wisconsin, it's nearly impossible to leave the house for an extended length of time because of the lack of accessible adult changing stations in public places. A new program would change that. The plan would install adult changing stations in all public buildings and offer a tax credit to businesses that do the same.

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Ahead of the 33rd anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Acts, the Biden-Harris Administration announced a new proposal that would improve online access to state and local services for people who have various limitations. It will establish accessibility standards for state and local governments webs and mobile apps.

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On July 11, Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg held a roundtable with disability advocates and leaders to celebrate the thirty-third anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The topic of discussion: accessible transportation. Unfortunately, thirty-three years after the ADA was made law, we still do not have fully accessible transportation, limiting the one in four American adults who are disabled from fully moving from place to place.

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Despite 26% of the US population having a disability, less than 5% of housing is accessible and less than 1% is wheelchair accessible. Leaders on both sides of the political aisle agree the shortage of adequate housing is a problem. Several ideas emerged at a recent hearing, but it remains to be seen if any of the proposals will move forward.

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