Friday Fax #128
FEBRUARY 12, 1999 .............................................................................ISSUE 128

TOPICS IN THIS WEEK'S ISSUE INCLUDE:

OLMSTEAD AMICUS BRIEF UPDATE

AIR CARRIER ACCESS ACT AMENDMENT

CONFERENCE CALLS ON CHIP IMPLEMENTATION

NATIONAL DOWN SYNDROME SOCIETY’S 1999 ADVOCACY CONFERENCE

NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR THE ARC

KEEPING KIDS HEALTHY AND SAFE NATIONAL VIDEO TELECONFERENCE

GAO STUDY ON DISCIPLINE POLICIES

OLMSTEAD AMICUS BRIEF UPDATE

In the January 15, 1999 (No. 124) issue of the Friday Fax, NPND reported on the Olmstead vs. L.C. & E.W. case. The case is about L.C. and E.W. two people with mental disabilities from the state of Georgia who had to live in a state hospital in order to receive the support services they need. These two individuals sued the state under the ADA Title II, saying that this arrangement violated their right to services in the most integrated setting, and they won.

At the writing of the January 15th Friday Fax, 22 Governors from the following states, along with Georgia, (AL, CA, CO, DE, FL, HI, LA, MD, MI, MS, MT, NE, NV, NH, PA, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, WV, WY) had signed on to a brief filed asking the Supreme Court to hear the case and overturn the lower courts decision.

The Supreme Court will hear the Olmstead vs. L.C. & E.W. case some time this spring. If it overturns the lower courts which have ruled in support of integrated services, people with disabilities will lose a big chunk of their legal right to be integrated into their communities.

Update of States Signed On to Olmstead Amicus Brief

Of the original 22 states the following remain on:

In addition, these 4 states joined the brief:

NOTE: Florida, the organizer of the campaign, has dropped off, and Nevada has taken on the coordinator role.

ACTION NEEDED

The Olmstead case is a direct attack on the Americans with Disabilities Act. Less than a month ago, it was reported that 22 states, plus Georgia, had signed onto the Olmstead Amicus Brief. At this writing, 12 of the original states dropped off.

AIR CARRIER ACCESS ACT AMENDMENT

Senator Snowe (R-ME) introduced an amendment to the Air Transportation Improvement Act, S.82, that will significantly strengthen the Air Carrier Access Act. Please access THOMAS type in S. 82 and it will take you to the full bill.

CONFERENCE CALLS ON CHIP IMPLEMENTATION

Following are the next three conference calls in the series of calls focusing on implementation, outreach and enrollment in Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Programs in the states. All conference calls are scheduled on Fridays at 2:00 PM, EST. To participate in any the calls, dial (800) 598-2084 on the date of the call and ask for the Children’s Health Campaign.

NATIONAL DOWN SYNDROME SOCIETY’S
1999 ADVOCACY CONFERENCE

The NDSS will hold its 1999 Advocacy Program, “Voices for Change: Advocacy Training for the 21st Century,” in Washington, DC, March 7-9. It will be an intensive 3 day meeting, providing public policy advocacy training for parents, professionals and young adults with Down syndrome. For more information, you may contact NDSS at (800) 221-4602 or E-mail at info@ndss.org.

NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR THE ARC

NPND’s friend, Steve Eidelman, has been selected to be the new executive director for The Arc of the United States, the nation’s largest volunteer-based organization dealing solely with life-long issues of mental retardation. Eidelman’s 27 year career has been centered in human services, advocacy and health care.

“We are extremely pleased that Steve Eidelman has agreed to join us to head The Arc’s National Headquarters staff,” President Brenda Doss said. “He brings a tremendous background and experience from many solid years of serving people, systems and research interests in the disability field.”

Founded in 1950, The Arc of the US is the nation’s largest volunteer-based organization dedicated solely to issues of mental retardation, including the improvement of lives and prevention of the condition in infants and young children. Eidelman’s appointment will be effective July 1st.

KEEPING KIDS HEALTHY AND SAFE
NATIONAL VIDEO TELECONFERENCE

On March 24th from 2-3:30 PM, E.S.T., NPND is presenting the second in a series of national satellite video teleconferences focused on what families can do to keep their children healthy and safe. For more information on how you can participate/host a downlink site, contact Tom O’Rourke at (202) 546-4464, or E-mail npcmch@cs.net.

GAO STUDY ON DISCIPLINE POLICIES

In the October 23, 1998 issue of the Friday Fax, NPND reported that the Livingston amendment on discipline was dropped from IDEA in exchange for a nine month study of federal special education discipline policies by the General Accounting Office (GAO), the part of Congress which is in charge of investigative studies.

After the IDEA Conference last month, NPND leaders met with two of the lead staff involved in the GAO study to plan a strategy to seek grassroots information to go to the GAO regarding discipline. After discussions with the GAO leaders regarding our concern of public policy being influenced by anecdotal reports, they stated that it was their intention to use only factual information in their study. In this vein, we are asking you to help NPND get information to the GAO. We are collecting reports of how the law has been applied since JUNE 4, 1997 (the date the President signed into law the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997, P.L. 105-17). It is important to include both positive and negative reports describing the disciplining of students with disabilities.

Please fill out the following information and return it to NPND as soon as possible. Feel free to make copies of this form and share it with others. We want to provide the GAO with as many reports as we can on the use/misuse of the federal special education discipline policies.

Name of Individual making the report: _________________________________
Occupation:________________________________________ Age of Student_______
City: ____________________________________ State: ________

Check one of the following
________ YES, the law was applied properly in this instance (please explain below).
________ NO, the law was not applied properly in this instance (please explain below).

DISCIPLINARY INCIDENT
Please write at least a paragraph describing the disciplinary incident which occurred around disciplining a student with disabilities. Please be as detailed as possible. Use the back of this sheet if needed.







HOW WAS THE INCIDENT HANDLED (include both negative and positive instances) Please describe what action was taken for the disciplinary incident described above. Please be as detailed as possible. Use the back of this sheet if needed.










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