News
TheWisconsin Senate Health Committeevoted 5-0 to passSenate Bill (SB) 380. The bill lifts the caps on Family Care, IRIS, Partnership, and PACE and rolls out the programs statewide. Many phone calls, e-mails, and visits to Committee members and other Senators helped make this vote happen. This is a major step towards ending waiting lists for long-term supports in Wisconsin.
But more work is needed. SB 380 still needs to pass the full Senate. Also, the Assembly Aging and Long-Term Care Committee has not scheduled a hearing on the Assembly version of the bill,Assembly Bill (AB) 477.
If these bills dont pass, the caps will stay in place and people with disabilities wont have access to the services they need.Here are some actions you can take to lift the caps, expand the programs statewide, and end waiting lists:
- Contactyour own Representativeand ask him or her to contact Rep. Dan Knodl, chair of the Aging and Long-Term Care Committee, and request a hearing on AB 477. A hearing is needed as soon as possible.
- ContactRep. Knodland the other members of theAssembly Aging and Long-Term Care Committee. Tell their staff why you want a hearing on AB 477 to lift the caps and end wait lists.
Time is running out. These bills both die if they are not voted on by March 15. Thank you for your advocacy!
Thank you toDAWN (Disability Advocates: Wisconsin Network), an initiative of the Wisconsin Board for People with Developmental Disabilities (BPDD), for this information.
Family Care Hearing Thursday!
People with disabilities in Wisconsin need your help to lift the caps on Family Care and IRIS! On Thursday, Feb. 9, the Senate Committee on Health will hold a hearing on the Lift the Caps Bill, Senate Bill (SB) 380, at 11 a.m. in Room 201 SE of the Capitol. SB 380 will lift the caps on enrollment in Wisconsins Family Care, IRIS, and Wisconsin Partnership programs and expand them statewide.
Please attend this critical hearing. The hearing will provide disability advocates with the opportunity to tell their story about why long-term care programs are important to them. If you would like support developing your testimony before the hearing, the Wisconsin Board for People with Developmental Disabilities (BPDD) can help. Just go to BPDDs office at 9 a.m. on Thursday to prepare testimony and then walk together as a group to the hearing.
Other Ways to HelpIf you cant attend the hearing, there are other ways for you to help lift the caps:
- Contact members of the Senate Committee on Health and Assembly Long-Term Care Committee directly and tell them why lifting the caps is important to you.
- Participate in Lift the Caps Call-In Days by calling 1-800-844-2847 on Feb. 7 through Feb. 9 and ask your legislators to lift the caps. (see the previous announcement about the call-infor more details)
Thanks to DAWN (Disability Advocates: Wisconsin Network), an initiative of the Wisconsin Board for People with Developmental Disabilities for this information.
LIFT THE CAPS CALL-IN DAYS! FEB 7, 8, 9
Help us create a Disability Drumbeat!
The Bills to Lift the Caps on Long-Term Care programs are in DANGER.
Wouldnt it be great if we blasted the Capitol in Madison with calls from people with disabilities, families and disability advocates all at the same time asking them to provide the supports people need in Wisconsin??? Then no one could ignore our call to lift the caps on Family Care, IRIS, PACE and Partnership and expand these important long-term supports to EVERYONE in Wisconsin who needs them!
If you have called before, call again! If you havent called, NOW IS THE TIME! It is easy!!!Lets Create a Drumbeat for People with Disabilities in Wisconsin!
Our friends at AARP are letting us use their simple legislative hotline. When you call this number, you will be greeted by AARP and then asked to type in your zip code. (The call is not recorded or used in any other manner.) The phone service will then dial your representative or senator and connect you directly with that office!
Call the AARP Legislative Hotline ANYTIME FROM FEB. 7,8,9: 1-800-844-2847
(You do not have to use this hotline, you can always call your rep directly on your own)
Why is this important?
The bills in the Capitol right now to lift the caps on Family Care/IRIS and expand the programs statewide are STALLED and may DIE in committee if legislators do not take action in the next couple weeks. The caps will not be lifted unless these bills pass! These bills need to move now! More than 8000 people statewide are waiting for critical daily supports!
What you can say:
People with disabilities and seniors in Wisconsin need long-term supports to live their lives! Family Care and IRIS are important programs! It is time to lift the caps and let people who live in counties without these programs have access to these supports ! Move these bills (Assembly Bill 477 and Senate Bill 380) now!
Need more information?: http://www.dawninfo.org/news4/post.cfm/take-action-to-end-the-waiting-lists
Thanks to our friends at BPDD and DRW for sharing this information with us.
The two lift the caps bills have now been formally introduced. We expect a hearing date to be announced soon and will need people who use IRIS/Family Care and want it to be available to others to come to Madison and testify. We'll send out that date as soon as we know what it is.
The biggest thing you can do now is document your stories so that legislators can hear from you.Please complete this survey to share your story:http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SurveytoendtheRwordandliftthecaps
Here is the bill information:
http://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2011/proposals/SB380" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">SB-380.Family Care(Moulton) Removes the cap on enrollment of Family Care and other long-term care programs.To Public Health, Human Services, and Revenue.
http://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2011/proposals/AB477" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">AB-477.Family Care(Kaufert) Removes the cap on enrollment of Family Care and other long-term care programs.To Aging and Long-Term Care.
The Call to Action is:Call your legislator today!Tell them please Vote for Senate Bill 380 and Assembly Bill 477 which will lift the caps on long-term care programs like Family Care and IRIS in Wisconsin. People with disabilities require these supports to have good lives!
Find your legislator here:http://legis.wisconsin.gov/w3asp/waml/waml.aspx
Thanks to Lisa Pugh, Public Policy Coordinator for Disability Rights Wisconsin, for sharing this information with us.
Once more we say good-bye to an amazing advocate, parent and friend. On Jan. 22, the disability community in Wisconsin lost Lisa Young, following her long battle with cancer. Although she fought this battle longer than most people can imagine, Lisa never let it define her life or the lives of her children. Together with her husband, Brian, they provided a loving home for three wonderful children even while she struggled.
Lisa never sought the spotlight. Rather she led quietly, encouraging and supporting people with disabilities and other parents to be become leaders - through her work with Parents in Partnership, with WSPEI, with her everyday work. With her support, her son Patrick has also become a leader in the disability community, serving on the Wisconsin Board for People with Developmental Disabilities.
We will miss Lisa... Her grace, her laugh, her willingness to be there for others. May she rest in peace. We send our love and support to Brian, Patrick, Stephen,andRachel at this sad time.
Hello Everyone,
I have been a member of the WI Community of Practice on Transition's "Wisconsin Youth First" Practice Group for some time now and we are excited to announce that we were awarded one of the WI Board for People with Developmental Disabilities SPARKS grants to develop and market a "Going to Work" Video Series!
These videos will feature 5 youth from Wisconsin with disabilities who have obtained employment sharing their experiences with finding employment.
In our recruiting efforts I thought about how our SDS Network group members might be able to refer some students that we have worked with to be featured in these videos. We also want to include interviewing their employers for the videos.
Ideally, we're looking for a diverse mix of disabilities and youth who have transitioned to competitive employment, but we would consider good candidates who are in college or high school and also working. Participants of the videos will be provided a gift card to thank them for their participation.
The series will consist of 5 videos: Meet the Characters, Understanding your Disability and Self Advocacy, Disclosing your Disability, Job Interviewing Skills and Asking for Accommodations on the Job.
Would you be able to assist us in this effort either through referring students, and/or working with us on the project, and/or connecting us with others who may also have referrals?
I will be happy to provide you with additional information to answer any questions you may have. You can reach me at schiltz.cheryl@gmail.com.
Thank you for your time and we look forward to hearing from you.
Have a glorious day!
Cheryl
Amanda Bell is one of three nominees for National Organizer of the Year!
Please go tohttp://www.facebook.com/grassrootssolutions and cast your vote for Amanda right now.
Really, this vote is for Living Our Visions and the families and people with disabilities who built LOV from the ground up and continue to build it every day. It's also a deserving high-five to asset-based, relational community organizing. A positive approach in some darker times.
Anyone, anywhere, can vote. Really? Yup. Borders don't exist in Facebook.
If your friends want to know why they should vote for her, read the below nomination note.
Don't have Facebook? It's super simple and will take two-minutes to set up. Just go to Facebook.com, set up an account and then go to http://www.facebook.com/grassrootssolutions and cast your vote!
And please encourage your friends or family members that care about community, inclusion, and the power of assets, to do the same.
Amanda Bell picked up the phone and developed a taste for coffee. She spent two years in coffee shops listening deeply to those that didn't hang up on her. She empowered those families to "use what they have to get what they don't have", mobilizing their gifts and relationships and those of the greater community to create meaningful lives brimming with friends, contributions and choices. Knowing the service system and government funding are forever stressed, Amanda asked families, "What would the good life look like for your child? We'll go from there." Families who know isolation answered a "community-centered life." For them that included creating a community building non-profit they named Living Our Visions-Dane (LOV). These families have created a web of relational support and family-designed projects they pool their own money to fund, to meet needs.
Knowing that people with disabilities have limited access to genuine relationships in community groups, Amanda and LOV imagined and created a Citizen Connector group to act as a bridge. Citizen Connectors are well connected, community folk who open their rolodexes to support LOV's vision and meet regularly for coffee. Need a horse, astrologist, free baked goods and a meeting with a government official in two days? Citizen Connectors will likely make that happen in 10 minutes or less. And they'll be smiling. That's organizing done right.
LOV members are also spearheading a "Get Your Vote On" project that includes leaders with cognitive disabilities reaching out to their peers around Wisconsin's new Voter ID law.
Amanda listens deeply and focuses on assets versus deficits at both a global and individual level. The eight families that started LOV-Dane in a living room, have built themselves into a 30-family strong organization. It's not easy or clean, but it is the roots of grass and sustainable if I've ever smelled it.
On Monday, December 19, 2011, Wisconsin's disability community lost one of our dearest friends. Jayn Wittemyer, of Mt. Horeb, passed away at the age of 74. We are all saddened by this great loss.
Everyone who met Jayn soon knew what a dynamo she was - a straight-talking, energetic advocate for people with disabilities. Her belief in every human being was unshakeable and her passion for the rights and inclusion of people with disabilities was boundless.
Jayn worked as the executive director of the Wisconsin Council on Developmental Disabilities (now the Board for People with Developmental Disabilities) for 21 years. She could (and would!) talk with anyone in her efforts to promote her message - state and federal legislators of both parties, heads of state agencies, families, university students - while still making time for her family, including her beloved Amy.
We are a better state because of Jayn Wittenmyer. And I am a better person for having known her.
To find out more about Jayn, go toKnow Your MadisonianorJayn Wittenmyer. Feel free to share your thoughts about Jayn below.
LOV-Dane (Living Our Visions) is hiring for a part-time Community Connector!
By Stefanie Primm, 2011-12-07
LOV-Dane Bridge Builder Position
Do you have a passion for building a strong and inclusive community? Do you enjoy bringing people together?
LOV-Dane (Living Our Visions, Inc.) is a grassroots group of community members including individuals with disabilities and their families who are working together to find the good life. We are looking for an energetic, creative person to increase the civic engagement of a group of individuals with disabilities by assisting them to join community groups and associations. The right candidate will be active in the Dane County community, be a deep listener, and be comfortable talking to just about anyone!
Check out our website for more information: www.lovdane.org