On Target

 Informing Indiana About Disability Issues

On Target is a monthly publication of the Indiana Governor's Council for People with Disabilities.

We welcome your suggestions for newsletter content and ideas concerning the actions of the Council. On Target is made available in accessible formats upon request.

Suellen Jackson-Boner
Executive Director

Christine Dahlberg
Associate Director

Paul Shankland
Grants Manager

Disability Awareness Month message widespread

The theme for the statewide campaign was “I can picture the real you: Friends focus on the person, not the disability.” More than 900 people ordered bookmarks, buttons, T-shirts and other materials, along with information packets to assist advocates in planning activities.

About 18,868 people were reached through grassroots efforts by educators and advocates. As usual, schools played a critical role, participating in awareness fairs and obstacle courses, classroom activities, convocations, poster and essay contests and more. Advocates organized voter registration drives, fairs and open houses, speakers, workshops and other activities.

Carla Ault, a member of the Seymour Special Education Parent Advisory Council, helped organize many activities during March, including “Disability Awareness Day” for Seymour-area sixth graders at their schools. The council prepared special stations in the school gymnasium, including a wheelchair obstacle course. “The kids love that; that’s their favorite,” Ault said.

Ault said these activities open up a dialogue for students when they return to their classrooms. “We’re able to touch each of the sixth graders for an hour to make some sort of impact as to what disability is,” Ault said. Along with fairs and awareness days, convocations are a key element of Disability Awareness Month. Joyce Lee, a supervisor at the NCI Special Education Cooperative, helped coordinate a presentation for Brett Eastburn, a man born without arms or legs. He spoke to Warsaw-area elementary school students.

“He captivated 2,000 kids,” Lee said. “He’s just amazing. He has this humor and very quick wit, so that just pulls you in.” She said Eastburn sent the message to students that they could overcome any obstacle, and raised students’ awareness about the abilities of people with disabilities.

Newspapers covered such events and were receptive to covering Disability Awareness Month in general. Reporters wrote profiles about successful and productive people with disabilities and analyzed issues of concern to people with disabilities.

The annual Disability Awareness Month reaches everyone in Indiana – young and old, male and female, with and without disabilities. The themes of inclusion and acceptance over the years have broken down barriers and increased acceptance for people with disabilities in every aspect of life. These campaigns help people to look past others’ disabilities, and to see them as the unique people they are.

Statistics on community-based employment

Employment is a key goal of conversion. The benefits of supported employment are far-reaching. In the past decade, nearly 200,000 people previously considered unemployable are now working in supported employment.

A national conversion study performed by Rogan, Held and Rinne (1999) identified that people in individual jobs earned the highest wages of any type of employment or day program with an average of $5.44 per hour, followed by transitional employment ($4.28 per hour) and enclaves ($4.16 per hour). In comparison, individuals in sheltered work and day activity programs earned an average of $1.83 and $0.22 per hour, respectively.

The national study reports, “Choice has been stated as a justification for segregated facilities. However, few individuals have had the choice of whether to stay in a facility or leave, what activities they perform, the people they are with, their schedules, or other aspects of their days.”

Hoosiers who have moved from segregated employment to community-based employment typically increase their wages an estimated 300 percent.

Community employment on the rise

“This is a phenomenal thing,” said Pat Rogan, Ph.D., Indiana School of Education at IUPUI and Indiana Institute of Disability and Community (Institute). “Agencies are aligning to promote organizational change in the state.”

Rogan made a presentation to the Council during its June meeting to emphatically promote the progress being made by the Indiana Conversion Task Force (CTF). As explained by Rogan, numerous Indiana organizations are working to convert their facility-based, sheltered programs into integrated, supported employment opportunities. With the aid of the CTF, which is addressing funding and policy barriers that hinder supported employment, Hoosiers with developmental disabilities will be able to enjoy more supported employment opportunities throughout the state.

Indiana’s conversion initiative began in 1993 with a federal statewide systems change grant for supported employment. The CTF was born with a responsibility to address funding and policy barriers that impede supported employment and related community supports. (See the accomplishments outlined below.)

The CTF is comprised of representatives from state agencies, advocacy organizations, independent living centers, community rehabilitation programs, and the Institute. Among such organizations are Four Rivers, Noble of Indiana, the Cardinal Center, Southern Indiana Rehabilitation Services, Association for the Disabled of Elkhart County, Disability Services, Inc. and Gateway Services in Franklin.

Noble of Indiana received a grant from Lilly Endowment to establish Communitas, a project that offers comprehensive guidance and support to people with varying levels of disabilities so they can live, work, play and participate fully in community life. Communitas will serve 36 people this year, and plans to integrate nearly 450 people from sheltered employment and day services within five years. At the end of five years, all services will be delivered in a community-based setting, thereby replacing all center-based services.

“There is only one way to tackle person- centered planning,” said Cecelia Cloverdale, Noble Community Connections, “and that’s one person at a time.”

For more information about the CTF, contact Pat Rogan at (317) 274-6806 (voice).

Indiana’s accomplishments

Fiscal comparison study: This study, being conducted by the Indiana Association of Rehabilitation Facilities (INARF), will determine if Indiana service providers have a fiscal incentive or disincentive to provide community-based services.

Service definitions and rates: Work is underway to change service definitions and rates to allow more community-based services.

Medicaid Buy-In: Legislation was passed in the last session allowing adults to work and maintain their medical benefits.

Person-centered planning guidelines: The Bureau of Developmental Disability Services has drafted guidelines for providers to use for person-centered planning.

Statewide data collection system: The Institute has designed a data collection system that should be operational by January. The purpose is to collect outcome data from all state providers.

Source: Rogan, Held and Rinne (1999)

ADA: Indiana grades itself

The information was released on June 20, one month prior to the 11th anniversary of the ADA. Former President George Bush signed the bill into law on July 26, 1990.

The report card is based on the responses of 430 people who were asked to “grade” their communities.

“We’re very pleased that so many people from so many counties responded to the survey,” said Vickie Pappas of the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community, which assisted in the research. “We felt that this was a good way to hear the voice of the people, and hear what they say about how ADA implementation is progressing in their communities.”

The state’s GPA was a 1.65, with grades as follows:
A – 2% B – 16% C – 39% D – 30% F – 13%

Janet Phillips, who is involved with the Disability Rights Commission in Mishawaka, said she sees the C- grade as “poor.”

“I think every city should be doing everything it can. Some are more willing to do things that need to be done, and others are kind of slow,” she said.

But not all members of the disability community see the grade as negative.

“We started with virtually nothing, and we worked up to a C-. So I see it as a positive thing,” said Frank Epperson, chairman of the ADA Steering Committee. “It could be better: I’m not denying that. But it could also be a whole lot worse,” he added.

The state now should work toward a higher grade on its next ADA Report Card, and opportunities exist to do so. People with disabilities, their families, advocates, legislators can use the Report Card as a valuable tool to pinpoint specific areas of concern.

“Become more involved in your community, and become more involved in the policy- making process as a whole,” Epperson suggested. “Utilize the resources that are within the state. We have people within the state that are very knowledgeable about the ADA and about implementation of the ADA.”

For more information, visit ADA-Indiana’s Web site at www.iidc.indiana.edu/~ada/ or call (812) 855-6508 (voice) or (812) 855-9396 (TT).

Advocates push for homebound clarification

To meet Medicare “homebound” status, trips outside the home must require the aid of another individual or device, require considerable and taxing effort, and be infrequent and short. The current controversy exists because service eligibility is being measured after services are provided, not before. This assessment does not reflect the person’s physical abilities without these services.

The Homebound Clarification Act of 2001 would amend this homebound restriction, much like Olmstead is pushing for long-term care in the least restrictive environment. To keep their home care benefits, some people with disabilities have been told to lead an unnatural, sedentary and isolated lifestyle when they prefer to be active and independent.

With home health care costing up to hundreds of dollars per day, an individual could exhaust personal resources very quickly and risk being ineligible for services from another resource. For more information and to track the progress of this Act, visit www.amendhomeboundpolicy.homestead.com.

How to improve the ADA grade

• employment of people with disabilities
• work accommodations for people with disabilities
• transportation
• access to public buildings
• access to programs and services

Other areas that needed attention included attitudinal barriers and stigma, use of accessible parking places, access to housing and home modification, access to recreation and leisure activities, helping professionals be more sensitive and more accommodating, and understanding the use of service dogs.

Take action on homebound restrictions

1. Consider signing David Jayne’s Petition at www.petitiononline.com/abolish1/petition.
2. Forward e-mail requests for others to sign the petition.
3. Join our e-mail list at www.amendhomeboundpolicy.homestead.com.
4. Send letters, e-mails, or make calls to President Bush and Congress. Sample letters are available at the same Web site (see #3).

of note

Conference update
The 2001 Indiana Conference for People with Disabilities will be held November 27–28. Keynote speakers will include Bob Kafka, a national ADAPT activist, and Bobby Silverstein, Director of the Center for the Study and Advancement of Disability Policy. Helen Thomas, a retired White House correspondent, will speak at the awards luncheon, and Rae Lewis-Thorton will speak about HIV/Aids. Watch your mailbox for the conference registration form.

Nominations being accepted
The Council is accepting nominations for the 2001 Profit From Our Ability Awards. The awards recognize Indiana’s outstanding employers of people with disabilities. Let us know about employers that demonstrate leadership in their efforts to include people with disabilities in the workplace. Winners will receive their awards during the Council’s annual conference. The nomination deadline is Wednesday, Aug. 15. For more information contact the Council at (317) 232-7770 (voice), (317) 232-7771 (TT), (317) 233-3712 (fax) or GPCPD@gpcpd.org (e-mail).

Medicaid Buy-In celebration
On Monday, July 30, a celebration and educational meeting will be held commemorating the passage of the new Medicaid Buy-In law. Special invited guests include Gov. O’Bannon, Rep. Peggy Welch and Sen. Connie Lawson. The event will take place between 1-4 p.m. at the ISTA Building (150 West Market Street, Indianapolis) in the 2nd Floor Conference Rooms. Stipend funds provided by the Council are available for transportation and accommodations for individuals with disabilities to attend this educational/celebration event. For information, contact Jerri Britt, Indiana Association for Persons in Supported Employment, at jerribritt@aol.com (e-mail) or call (317) 738-5500 (voice).