Nearly 1 in 4 voters have disabilities. The Disability Vote Coalition is working hard to help help them vote no matter what the problem is. Everything from transportation to the polls, to absentee ballots not being accessible, not knowing what resources are available... The list goes on. The Coalition provides multiple resources for people with disabilities. 

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Coming Soon! Apply to a New Challenge Competition Starting November 20 for Improving the Direct Support Professional Workforce.

ACL is looking for inventive solutions to strengthen the direct support professional (DSP) workforce and to improve the overall quality of home- and community-based services (HCBS) for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (ID/DD). Our goal is to encourage the development of innovative business models that will help to stabilize the DSP labor market.

The Problem

The DSP workforce provides vital services that ensure Americans with ID/DD have the support they need to live independently in the community. Demand for these essential professionals is at an all-time high and growing. With an average turnover rate of 45% and significant challenges to recruiting and retaining DSPs, the demand far exceeds supply. The University of Minnesota’s Institute for Community Integration estimates there are 1.3 million DSPs supporting individuals with ID/DD. To sustain this level of service at the current turnover rates, 574,200 new DSPs need to be hired into the workforce every year. In addition, at least another 167,000 would be needed to serve individuals who are on waiting lists for HCBS[1].

Due to the lack of stability of the workforce, many people are unable to obtain all of the services they need, which limits full participation and true inclusion in society. It also significantly impacts the quality of HCBS people with ID/DD living in the community[2]. There are multiple reasons for difficulties in attracting and retaining DSPs, including; the rising need for services creating competition for workers, shifts in the types of services needed, low wages, lack of benefits, and lack of training and promotion opportunities.

The Prize Competition 

ACL is seeking innovative business models to overcome these challenges to improve the stability and increase the size and capability of the DSP workforce.

“Every day, Americans with disabilities live, work, learn, grow, and enjoy life in their communities. For many of us, direct support professionals are critical to our ability to do those things safely and freely,” said Julie Hocker, Commissioner of ACL’s Administration on Disabilities. “With this prize competition, ACL is challenging the industry to re-imagine how we recruit, develop, and grow DSPs to ensure that all Americans with disabilities have access to the services they need.”

The competition will include three phases, with cash prizes awarded to winners in each phase. All winners will receive mentorship from experts in the field and winners’ business models will be featured in Challenge materials.   

Phase 1 Submission Timeline

Submissions can be entered starting November 20, 2020, and must be received by 5:00 PM ET on February 12, 2021.

Watch the ACL webpage for more information for additional details – judging criteria and descriptions of the competition phases will be added soon.

Every November, National Family Caregivers Month (NFCM) recognizes and honors family caregivers across the country. Led by Caregiver Action Network, it is also an opportunity to raise awareness of caregiving issues, educate communities, and increase support for caregivers.

ACL is a proud observer of NFCM, but works year-round through programs and councils to engage, support, and empower caregivers. For NFCM 2020, ACL created a special materials page to help you join us as we #RAISEcaregiving next month.

The election is less than a week away. Many people with disabilities face additional challenges when voting. From absentee ballots not being accessible, to polling places not being accommodating, to issues filling out the ballot... The list goes on and on. There is hope from disability organizations that the Wisconsin Legislature will soon improve voting accessibility! 

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HHS's Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) has a new online training on older adults and disasters that is designed to improve public health and emergency medical responders’ capability to address the access and functional needs of community-dwelling older adults in disasters.

This new training complements ASPR's previously-released Access and Functional Needs (AFN) web-based training defines the concept and requirements for addressing the AFN of at-risk individuals, and provides tools and resources to help you address the AFN of at-risk individuals in your community during disaster preparedness, response, and recovery activities.

The trainings are at-your-own-pace and free, although participants will need to create an account in the TRAIN system to access training. 

We want to congratulate this year's Diehard Award winners who were recognized at the Self-Determination Conference. These individuals received a Diehard Award for going above and beyond in supporting the lives of people with disabilities. Please help us congratulate and thank these people for their outstanding advocacy efforts:

• Pam Runge Malin
• Erica Andres
• Pam Jenson
• Monica and Francisco Javier Lopez Sr,
• Ashley Mathy
• Philip Temme
• Cindy Bentley
  

Parents of children with disabilities are facing difficult decisions about how to keep their children safe and learning. To help, Stanford University has developed a Back-to-Safe Communities of Learning (SCOL) Decision Guide in English and Spanish. The tool was designed with and for parents of children with special healthcare needs based on input from public-health experts, parents, and health providers. It is meant to serve as a conversation starter and to guide discussion between a parent and a trusted advisor, such as a pediatric health provider.

The Social Security Administration recently announced that there will be a 1.3% increase in Supplement Social Security Income and other Social Security benefits in 2021. The increase is a result of the annual cost-of-living adjustment due to inflation. It's slightly lower than last year's increase.  

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Wisconsin Assistive Technology Council launches new YouTube channel

The channel will offer videos of past WisTech trainings.

Wisconsin’s Assistive Technology Advisory Council (AT Council) has launched a YouTube channel in order to share videos of WisTech assistive technology trainings. All of our past trainings, dating back to 2017, are available to watch, and new videos will be added as trainings occur.

We encourage you to use these trainings as on-demand learning opportunities. Please feel free to share and subscribe to the AT Council YouTube Channel to learn about various topics and to be notified when new content is added.

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) has developed several dashboards to provide information regarding how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting members and participants in the following adult long-term care programs: Family Care, Family Care Partnership, IRIS (Include, Respect, I Self-Direct), and PACE (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly). DHS is collecting the information from managed care organizations and IRIS consultant agencies and will be updating the dashboards each Wednesday by 2 p.m.

View dashboards