Number 58......................................September 5, 1997

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Congress will begin the debate on H.R. 2264, the appropriations bill for the Department of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Services today in the U.S. House of Representatives. Friday Fax has learned that Congressman Frank Riggs has sent a letter to all his colleagues in the House of Representatives on September 4th to garner support for his amendment to this legislation that would threaten a portion of the carefully crafted agreement on the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

This proposed amendment would deny special education services to adult inmates between the ages of 18-21 and will threaten the carefully crafted compromise reached in the IDEA Amendments of 1997.

Your action (call, fax or e-mail) is needed now. This amendment MUST NOT be allowed to become part of the appropriations bill. Tell your representatives to vote no on this amendment, if proposed, - and continue to support an intact IDEA. Let them know the integrity of IDEA should be preserved.

ACTION ALERT

It is now the critical time to encourage the House of Representatives to expand the appropriations for IDEA and for you to contact your Senators on supporting the $834 million increase in Part B, and the $3 million increase for Parent Training and Information Centers.

The National Parent Network on Disabilities (NPND) has forwarded their review and recommendations from parent leaders nationwide on the new IDEA '97 federal regulations on to the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs. Over sixty parents participated in six separate nationwide conference calls sponsored by NPND. Heather Hebdon, Chair of the NPND Sub-committee on Legislation, facilitated the calls and organized the response and accompanying recommendations. The complete document is available for review on the NPND Web Site at NPND RecommendationsGreat Job, Heather and to all who participated!!

An amendment to restore FY 98 funds for "Community Based Family Resource and Support Programs"(CBFRS) is being planned today by Congressmen DeFazio (D-OR) and Fox (R-PA). This program consolidates the former "Temporary Child Care for Children with Disabilities and Crisis Nurseries" program and includes important funds for respite services, including TCCA continuation grants and funds for the ARCH National Resource Center.

The House FY 1998 funding bill will come to the House floor today or Monday, but no funds for CBFRS.

The Senate bill funds the program at $32 million but has not been voted on yet.

Call, fax or e-mail your Congressman NOW to support the DeFazio/Fox amendment to fund CBFRS at $32 million in the FY 1998 House Labor /HHS/ Education Appropriations Bill. Do it now- tomorrow may be too late.

The National Parent Network on Disabilities (NPND) and Toys "R" Us are continuing their partnership in the production and distribution of the fifth in a series of Toy Guides for Differently-Abled Kids.

Toys "R" Us now has an even wider selection of toys, coded with ability symbols for easy identification. Improvements have been made with this guide in response to suggestions voiced by consumers for differently-abled children.

Once again, Toys "R" Us has worked with children with disabilities in testing centers to evaluate the toys in the belief that ALL children should have the opportunity to select toys that will be fun, meet their needs and be useful for developmental growth.

Toys "R" Us is very supportive of NPND's efforts and will continuing to work with parent leaders to provide all families and children with the best current and supportive information available.

The guides are now available to organizations for distribution. There is no cost for the Toy Guide or limit to how many copies your organization may receive. If you would like to receive the Toy Guide, please contact Laura Farah at NPND as soon as possible. She can be reached at (202) 434-8686 (voice), (202) 638-0509 (facsimile), e-maillfarah@npnd.org or mail to NPND.

Do you have a funny story, antidote, tip or success story as how you as a parent dealt with the health care system for your child and got what your child needed.

The National Parent Consortium on MCH would like to use your story (with credit) in Bright Futures for Families. Send your tip, idea or suggestion to NPND as noted below. Thanks! NATIONAL PARENT NETWORK ON DISABILITIES(NPND)

NPND

1200 G Street NW, Suite 800

Washington, DC 20005

(202) 434-8686 (V/TDD) * (202) 638-0509 (fax)

e-mail:npnd@cs.com; Website: http://www.npnd.org