Take five minutes to check out what's happening on the Self-Determination Network:

• Virtual Resource Binder Carl created an amazing virtual resource binder with information about all kinds of services for people with disabilities in all 72 counties in Wisconsin. He's looking for feedback on this great tool. Check it out and let him know what you think.
• Home and Community Based Services Statistics: A new study found that nearly a third of low-income older adults use Medicaid home and community services for at least five years, while those who stop usually pass away, move to a nursing home, or transition to independent community living. Learn what more the study reveals.
  
  
  
• Progress Report: An independent federal agency released its annual report highlighting record employment gains for people with disabilities while warning against policy threats to Medicaid, accessibility rules, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Find out some of the details included in this report.
• Smart Glasses Controversy: Smart glasses give life-changing independence to blind and deaf individuals, but public concerns over privacy and filming have led to calls for bans that advocates fear could restrict access to these essential disability aids. Read about this controversy.
• Concerns over Work Requirements: Many people with long-term disabilities risk losing their health insurance during the two-year wait for Medicare because new Medicaid work requirements starting in January 2027 could cut off their coverage unless they navigate complicated paperwork to prove they are medically unable to work. Learn more about why advocates are concerned.
• Worries over Changes to Health Survey: Budget cuts and fewer staff are forcing federal officials to cut the National Health Interview Survey nearly in half, sparking fears among advocates that the shorter questionnaire will undercount disabled Americans and mask their health needs. Read about why this is so concerning.
• Social Security Causing Stress: An individual with a disability faced immense financial stress when the government accidentally overpaid their benefits despite income being reported correctly, illustrating how outdated systems and strict asset rules penalize disabled people who try to work. Read his story.
• Administration Cracks Down on Homelessness: An administration policy memo making it easier to institutionalize unhoused individuals with mental health issues, combined with fewer federal civil rights protections, has sparked fears of a nationwide rollback of disability rights and a rise in forced institutionalization. Find out why advocates are concerned.
• Worries over Trump Accounts: New government savings accounts for babies include a one-thousand-dollar contribution that could accidentally disqualify disabled youth from future disability and healthcare benefits due to outdated program asset limits unless the money is moved to a special account by age seventeen. Find out more about these accounts.
• Self-Direction Brief: A health plan association released a new guide offering actionable steps to improve and sustain programs that let people manage their own long-term healthcare services and supports. Take a look at it.
• Preventing Fraud: A 2026 survey found that nearly all states use multiple strategies, including checking visits electronically and increasingly using artificial intelligence, to prevent fraud and abuse in their Medicaid home care programs. Learn what else the study found.
• Legislative Priorities: The Wisconsin Board for People with Developmental Disabilities shared its goals for lawmakers, focusing on protecting the rights of people with disabilities to go to school, get care at home, and live and work in their own communities. Read through these and share them with your legislators.
• New Movie: A writer reflecting on a new movie about a historic disability rights protest contrasts the film's success with ongoing real-world barriers like airline travel struggles and recent legal threats to community living protections, urging the next generation to defend these vital rights. Learn about this film.
• Voting Challenges Persist: Despite having strong laws for accessible polling places and curbside voting, Wisconsin still faces a large voter turnout gap among people with disabilities due to low awareness and poor implementation, meaning the state needs better outreach and education to help disabled residents vote. Read about what needs to be done.
• Judge Blocks Rule: A federal judge partially blocked a strict rule that forced chronically ill individuals to prove their conditions significantly impair them to get a work exemption, ruling that the change would harm states by forcing them to alter their Medicaid systems. Find out what this means.
• Long-Term Care Reform: A new policy proposal aims to improve long-term care by creating a universal home-care system and increasing caregiver support, but critics worry it favors home care too much and underestimates the financial and structural challenges of the reform. Read what this would do.
• SSI Increase Causes Concerns: Although monthly benefits are set to rise past one thousand dollars next year, outdated program rules still prevent disabled and older adults from having more than two thousand dollars in savings, leaving them at risk of losing their vital assistance if they try to save for emergencies. Learn what is being done to solve this.