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The goal of The John A. Hartford Foundation Business Innovation Award is to highlight the successes of community-based organizations (CBOs) that are partnering with health care entities, such as health systems and health plans, and spur the replication of these partnerships nationwide.

The annual award recognizes one or more CBOs that have made significant strides in partnering with health care entities to improve the quality of life for older adults and/or persons with disabilities. Awardees demonstrate the pursuit of bold, transformative initiatives designed to integrate health care and long-term services and supports.

Eligibility: Nominations from an array of community-based aging and disability organizations are encouraged. Eligible recipients include, but are not limited to, Area Agencies on Aging, Centers for Independent Living, faith-based organizations, and other community-based service providers. Organizations may self-nominate.

Nomination Process: For consideration for the 2019 Business Innovation Awards, please complete the nomination form in its entirety by June 14, 2019. Incomplete forms will not be considered. If you have questions, email businessinstitute@n4a.org.

Selection Process: Awardees are chosen by a review committee of representatives from foundations, health care entities, and CBOs. The review committee will select one winner and up to two runners-up. Awardees will be announced at n4a’s 44^th Annual Conference in New Orleans, July 27-31, 2019. All awardees will receive a plaque and first place winner will receive a monetary award of up to $5,000.

Nominations due Friday, June 14, 2019

Visit the nomination webpage

The Department of Labor, Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) is inviting stakeholders to participate in their Section 14(c) National Online Dialogue to gather and consider perspectives on the present and future of disability employment, including the roles of subminimum wages and competitive integrated employment. ODEP asks you to share your ideas, individual stories, and personal experiences illustrating the impact of Section 14(c) on the employment of people with disabilities.

Since 1938, Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act has authorized employers to pay wages that are less than the Federal minimum wage to workers who have disabilities for the work being performed, after receiving a special wage certificate from Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division.

The purpose of this National Online Dialogue is to capture perspectives about Section 14(c) based on individual input from those "on the ground," including a wide range of stakeholders. The information gathered during this important online dialogue will provide the U.S. Department of Labor with an opportunity to better understand the current landscape, as well as the potential future of Section 14(c).

Three main topics within the dialogue are: 

• Use of Section 14(c) and observed trends
• Experiences transitioning from the use of Section 14(c) certificates
• Vision for the future of work and workplaces; the landscape over the next five to ten years

This online event is open to the general public. ODEP strongly encourages people with disabilities, their families, providers, disability organizations, employers, researchers, and other stakeholders who have experience with, or opinions about, Section 14(c) to share their perspectives and ideas for the future. INPUT IS DUE BY JUNE 14, 2019.

A week before the official start of the 2019 hurricane season, the National Council on Disability (NCD)—an independent federal agency—released its latest report, titled, Preserving Our Freedom: Ending Institutionalization of People with Disabilities During and After Disasters.  The NCD examined available data from several major storms and disasters and found that people with disabilities are frequently institutionalized during and after disasters due to conflicting federal guidance; a lack of equal access to emergency and disaster-related programs and services; and a lack of compliance with federal law..

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The new "conscience rule" which allows health care providers more leverage to decline care that they disagree with has disability advocates worried.  The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services finalized an updated “conscience rule” that protects medical staff and health care entities from having to provide, refer to, or pay for services such as abortion, sterilization or assisted suicide.  Advocates feel that the implications are much more extensive because the rule says that an individual can’t be required to “perform or assist” in any part of a “health service program” if contrary to the person’s religious beliefs or moral convictions. 

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Federal officials are looking closer at how money is being spent in ABLE accounts.  The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development recently issued guidance to public housing officials across the country clarifying how they should treat funds accrued in ABLE accounts.

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A new grant opportunity from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) at ACL has been announced.

Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Technology for People who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing: NIDILRR seeks to fund research and development that leads to innovative technological solutions and strategies to improve the accessibility, usability, and performance of technologies designed to benefit people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

The purpose of the RERC program is to improve the effectiveness of services authorized under the Rehabilitation Act by conducting advanced engineering research on and development of innovative technologies that are designed to solve particular rehabilitation problems or to remove environmental barriers. RERCs also demonstrate and evaluate such technologies, facilitate service delivery system changes, stimulate the production and distribution of new technologies and equipment in the private sector, and provide training opportunities.

Please visit the link above for more details about the grant opportunity and application process. This grant opportunity closes on July 19, 2019.

Great entertainment requires authentic stories and genuine representation of all people. This includes diverse people with physical, cognitive, sensory, mental health and other disabilities.  RespectAbility, the nonprofit which created The Hollywood Disability Inclusion Toolkit, is now offering a lab  series for emerging entertainment professionals.  

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Voice activated digital assistants have become more and more popular in households around the world.  Simple voice commands can literally do thousands  of tasks.  However, for some people with disabilities, these amazing tools are inaccessible without some sort of augmented feedback.  An engineer at Google went on a mission to change that for a very special reason--his brother has  disabilities and is unable to speak.  He developed a device that triggers commands to the device without having to verbalize them.  It involves a button that plugs into a phone, laptop, or tablet using a wired headphone jack that can be connected via Bluetooth to access the assistant.

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• Is at least 18 years old
• Has a neurological diagnosis (such as but not limited to post-polio syndrome, spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis) for at least 6 months.
• Use a wheelchair (manual or power) at least 75% of your mobility time inside your home and 100% of the time outside your home.
• Has a computer with internet access.
• Is able to read and understand English.

A new grant opportunity from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) at ACL has been announced.

Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Technologies to Enhance Independence and Community Living for People with Cognitive Impairments:NIDILRR seeks to fund research and development toward technologies that contribute to improved abilities of adults with cognitive impairment to perform daily activities of their choice in the home, community, or workplace.

The purpose of the RERC program is to improve the effectiveness of services authorized under the Rehabilitation Act by conducting advanced engineering research on and development of innovative technologies that are designed to solve particular rehabilitation problems or to remove environmental barriers. RERCs also demonstrate and evaluate such technologies, facilitate service delivery system changes, stimulate the production and distribution of new technologies and equipment in the private sector, and provide training opportunities.

Please visit the link above for more details about the grant opportunity and application process. This grant opportunity closes on July 15, 2019.