News
It's widely known that where you live can have a significant impact on your quantity of life. For family caregivers who provide unpaid to older adults and family members with disabilities, the state you live in can be a big factor in your ability to be a family caregiver. States were recently ranked on the availability of supports and services for family caregivers. Wisconsin came in at #7. Senior care options aren't cheap, but we have many programs and policies that make it a great place for caregivers of senior citizens.
Target is the latest retail chain to introduce a clothing line for adults with disabilities. They will roll out a women's clothing line called "Universal Thread" which will also be sensory friendly. In addition to things such as high-rise backs and longer inseams and wider leg openings, the line will also have features such as tagless clothes and extra soft material.
How are you involved with self-determination? Why did you join the SD Network?
Lynn has been involved in the disability field since the late 70s. He became aware early on that government, provider agencies, and (sometimes) families were exerting too much control over people with disabilities. He could see that this was making it hard (or sometimes impossible) for people to grow, learn, become real citizens, and pursue a life of their own choosing. “As an advocate, I knew I had to push back against that hyper-control of people. Back then, we didn’t call it self-determination, but later when the self-determination movement began to take shape in North America and other parts of the world, I got excited about that and wanted to be part of it,” he explains. Joining the SD Network was an obvious choice for him--it was a way for me to connect with other self-determination believers in Wisconsin.
Tell us some good news - what's the most exciting thing happening for you (or in Wisconsin) in terms self-determination?
Lynn is excited about IRIS starting up in Dane County. He says that it looks like it might be the first county in the state where more than half of the adults with developmental disabilities choose self-direction, either in IRIS or in Family Care. “Since Dane County is the place in Wisconsin where self-determination first took hold in a sizable way in our state, there are many people and organizations here who have innovative ideas about how to support people to self-direct their services and their lives,” he explains. He believes that innovative spirit can energize the IRIS program in ways that we haven’t seen yet. In particular, he thinks it will be interesting to see how IRIS participants self-direct their supported employment and supported living services in Dane County.
What tip or resource would you like to share with people who want to be more self-determined?
Lynn would like to see IRIS plans include a combination of independent workers and service provider agencies working together. He explains that a lot of people in IRIS have chosen to hire their own workers, which is great; however, there are some progressive provider agencies in the state who have respect for people’s right to make decisions about how their services will be provided. He thinks there is potential for more people to develop IRIS plans which include a combination of direct hiring of independent workers and contracting for services with provider agencies that believe in self-direction.
What message would you like to share with the members of the SD Network?
Lynn wants to encourage people to keep exploring self-direction. Even though the IRIS program and the self-direction option within Family Care have been around for several years, he still feels like we’re in the early stages of understanding how to apply self-direction principles to the long-term care system. “I hope that people will keep trying out new ideas and pushing the envelope on this. I think we are just barely beginning to discover the full potential of what self-determination ideas could mean for our long-term care system,” he says.
What are some of your hobbies?
Lynn and his wife love to travel to new places and discover vistas, food, people, and culture that is different from their own. They are both semi-retired now, so they have been able to have some great adventures in recent years. One that stands out to him was backpacking the Camino de Santiago, the 600 mile 1000 year old pilgrimage in northern Spain, that was once hiked by Charlemagne. “It was an amazing experience on many levels,” he says.
***We love hearing the views and opinions of Network members. We need to mention that the views and opinions expressed on this site are those of the person who is sharing them. They do not necessarily reflect InControl Wisconsin or any of our supporters and funders.
CONSORTIUM FOR CITIZENS WITH DISABILITIES: PRESERVE SUPPLEMENTAL SECURITY INCOME: A VITAL PART OF OUR SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEM
By SD Network, 2018-01-31
The Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities recently released an updated fact sheet about Supplemental Security Income for people with disabilities. The sheet covered a variety of topics and has some very interested statistics.
People with disabilities have been a demographic that experiences poverty at a rate disproportionate to their peers without disabilities. Recent population surveys have shown that nearly one third of people with disabilities live below the poverty line and they’re more than twice as likely to live in poverty when compared to their non-disabled peers. Poverty can obviously cause food and health care insecurities. There are initiatives that can create partnerships with disability organizations to increase focus on things such as housing, employment, nutrition and health promotion, and health care for those in poverty.
DISABLED WORLD: Delta Introduces Enhanced Requirements for Customers Traveling with Service or Support Animals
By SD Network, 2018-01-22
Airline accessibility has taken center stage recently. Delta AirLines is taking steps to further protect its customers, employees and service animals and support animals by implementing advance documentation requirements for those animals. This comes as a result of a lack of regulation that has led to serious safety risks involving untrained animals in flight. The new requirements support Delta's top priority of ensuring safety for its customers, employees and trained service and support animals, while supporting the rights of customers with legitimate needs, such as veterans, to travel with trained animals.
The CMS Medicare-Medicaid Coordination Office (MMCO) has three new resource guides intended to support providers and health plans serving older adults and caregivers. An estimated four to five million older adults live with dementia in the United States. Caring for these individuals can present unique challenges to both caregivers and healthcare professionals. These two resource guides, one created for caregivers and the other for healthcare professionals, include training and toolkits, fact sheets, publications, and information resources from various organizations and health plans.
Additionally, family caregivers are an integral part of the care planning process and experience for older adults. This guide includes resources that providers can use to support family caregivers, including information about mental health and respite care, care transitions, and evidence-based dementia care training.
ADMINISTRATION FOR COMMUNITY LIVING: Joint Report: Health and Safety in Group Homes
By SD Network, 2018-01-18
At the request of Congress, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) examined states' monitoring and reporting of injuries and other critical incidents of people with developmental disabilities living in group homes. They found that up to 99% of these critical incidents were not reported to the appropriate law enforcement or state agencies as required. To assist states in making improvements, the Administration for Community Living (ACL) joined OIG and the HHS Office of Civil Rights, along with the U.S. Department of Justice, to develop Model Practices to help address gaps in reporting and monitoring efforts.