Meet InControl Wisconsin board member Laura Hanson.  A friendship that began years ago has led her to a career and passion in self-determination and disability advocacy.  When she’s not exploring the great outdoors with her family, she is very involved in supporting and advocating for Self-Directed Supports (SDS) and Integrated Employment.  She has a wealth of knowledge in both of these areas. In fact, she recently started a group on the Network for people who are involved in SDS to share their experiences and ideas with others. We encourage you to contact Laura for more information about the group.  She’s a great addition to the SD Network!

· How are you involved with self-determination? Why did you join the SD Network?

I’ve been an advocate for self-determination since the beginning of my career.  My journey started while learning from a friend who had been institutionalized in a nursing home for 35 years.  When he was 55 he was finally able to move into the community residing in a group home.  (This was before the Home and Community Based Waivers were an option.)  He was a voracious self-advocate and impressed on me the values of self-determination.  I carried this experience with me throughout my career, advocating within the Long-Term Care (LTC) system to support self-determination through person-centered planning, development and implementation of personal experience outcomes in the CIP/COP Waivers and Family Care Programs, and promoting/supporting Self-Directed Supports and Integrated Employment in both Family Care and IRIS Programs.  Currently, I am working at Disability Rights Wisconsin and serve as a board ember for InControl Wisconsin; both organizations are actively engaged in supporting self-determination.

I have joined the SD Network to connect with others around critical issues that impact people’s options and ability to self-direct within Family Care and IRIS in the near future.  It is more important than ever to keep people informed and engaged so we can ensure that Family Care/IRIS 2.0 is going to give people real options for self-direction.

· Tell us some good news - what's the most exciting thing happening for you (or in Wisconsin) in terms self-determination?

I am very excited to help support a new group, SDS Forward, to get off the ground.  This is an effort supported by InControl, and involves leaders for Self-Directed Supports (SDS) within the legacy Waiver program, Family Care Managed Care Organizations, IRIS Consulting Agencies, Fiscal Employer Agents, and program participants.  The purpose of this group is to learn from one another and share our experiences about what has been successful or best practice in these programs as well as challenges.  It is our hope that together we can give voice to the Wisconsin SDS experience from a programmatic perspective and provide a level of expertise to inform development of SDS within Family Care 2.0.  

· What tip or resource would you like to share with people who want to be more self-determined?

The National Resource Center for Participant Directed Services (NRCPDS) is an excellent resource providing technical assistance, training, and publications around implementing SDS at the State level.   Many of our Wisconsin Fiscal Employer Agents participate in a national network supported by NRCPDS to learn best practices and stay on top of changes in policy and law that impact implementation from the fiscal and labor side. 

Most importantly for this network is the opportunity to connect with peers at the national level.  NRCPDS launched the national SDS network for self-advocates and families, called the National Participant Network.  This group works to strengthen SDS at the local, state, and national levels and provides input on national policy efforts related to self-direction.  I highly encourage members of the SD Network to explore this opportunity!!!

Information on NRCPDS can be found at: http://www.bc.edu/schools/gssw/nrcpds/

• What message would you like to share with the members of the SD Network?

Stay informed, involved, and positive during these challenging times of change.  While there are many concerns and uncertainty of what the future holds for our LTC system in the near future, it is important to stay engaged and pro-active. Consider what opportunities these changes may bring that could potentially enhance or expand SDS.

· What are some of your hobbies?

I love being outdoors and exploring in nature.  My favorite activities are camping, hiking, and canoeing around Wisconsin.  Fortunately, my husband and two children share this love, so this makes for great family time. I also love to travel and take road trips to explore new sites, take in museums, check out art/music, and meet new people. Curling up with a good book is great when I have time, especially science fiction or nature oriented topics.

***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.

On April 11th, 2016, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services has released a summary of the changes made to the Family Care/IRIS 2.0 Concept Paper based on feedback received from public hearings, testimony, and stakeholder meetings regarding the draft of the Concept Paper.

Many times, family members take off work to care for loved ones with disabilities.  Congress is proposing a bill that would ensure that they won't lose out on Social Security retirement benefits for doing so.  Under the bill, family members who leave their jobs or limit their hours to care for a relative for at least 80 unpaid hours per month would continue to receive credits with Social Security for up to five years.

Read full article here.

We thank the Great Lakes ADA Center for providing us with the following information about how the Federal Communications Commision (FCC) is proposing changes to expand the availability of  video described programming for people who have visual impairments.

On April 1, 2016, the FCC released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) proposing to expand the availability of video described programming.  Video description makes video programming accessible to individuals who are blind or visually impaired by enabling audio-narration to describe key visual elements of a television program during pauses in the dialogue.   

The FCC proposes the following key rule changes:

• Increase the amount of described programming on each included network carried by a covered broadcast station or multichannel video programming distributor, from 50 hours per calendar quarter to 87.5 (a 75% increase);
• Increase the number of networks required to provide video description from four broadcast and five non-broadcast networks to five broadcast and ten non-broadcast networks;
• Create a “no-backsliding” rule, so a network would remain subject to the rules even if it is no longer one of the top five or top ten ranking networks; and
• Require video programming distributors to provide proper customer support contacts in order to improve consumer access to video description. 

The NPRM also seeks comment on other matters, such as a potential requirement for described video-on-demand programming, a dedicated audio stream for video description, and a change of terminology from “video described” to “audio described.” 

Comment and reply comment due dates will be announced once the Notice is published in the Federal Register. 

Links to the News Release:

Web:     https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-proposed-expand-video-description-rules

Word:    https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-338677A1.docx

PDF:       https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-338677A1.pdf

Text:      https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-338677A1.txt

Links to the NPRM:

Web:     https://www.fcc.gov/document/video-description-expansion-nprm

Word:    https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-16-37A1.docx

PDF:       https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-16-37A1.pdf

Text:      https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-16-37A1.txt

For more information about the NPRM, contact Lyle Elder at lyle.elder@fcc.gov  and 202-418-2365, or Maria Mullarkey at Maria.Mullarkey@fcc.gov and 202-418-1067. 

Disability providers are warning the federal government that a proposed rule that would require overtime pay for people that support those with disabilities in the community would likely force cuts in services. Providers say this would drastically impact services as major staff adjustments would need to be made.  

The Department of Labor is considering the feedback as it works on developing a final rule which is expected by July. Learn more about it here.

Due to a new report that shows that adults with disabilities who receive benefits often need help managing their money aren't receiving  proper assistance, Social Security is being urged to redo the representative payee approach.   The report found that too few people who need assistance managing their finances have a representative payee. It suggests that Social Security develop new policies to help solve this issue.

Read full article

Lawmakers continue to tweak ABLE Accounts (accounts  that will allow people with disabilities to save up to $100,000 without jepordizing their Social Security and other government benefits).   The changes would allow more flexibility to those using the accounts. Some of the proposed changes include:

• Allowing  people with disabilities who are employed to allocate extra money to their ABLE accounts
• Expanding eligibility to include people with disabilities that onset by the age of 46 (current requirement is that conditions must exist before the age of 26)
• Allowing families to rollover money they've saved for a person with a disability in a 529 college savings plan to an ABLE account

Read full article here