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The Indiana Protection and Advocacy Services 2011 Critical Barriers Survey Final Report is available. Click here to access the report.
The Indiana Protection and Advocacy Services 2011 Annual Reports are available and can be accessed at http://www.in.gov/ipas/2348.htm
Public Policy Advocacy Opportunity Available - Indiana Protection and Advocacy Services Commission (IPAS) is always looking for new Commission and Mental Illness Advisory Council (MIAC) members. Members must have a commitment to promoting the legal and civil rights of people with developmental disabilities, mental illness or other disabilities, and to the cause of protecting and promoting those individuals’ rights to make their own choices. Persons interested in applying for consideration should contact Karen Pedevilla, Education and Training Director, at 1-800-622-4845, ext. 232, or by emailing kpedevilla@ipas.in.gov. Click here to view a brochure that gives more information on both the Indiana Protection and Advocacy Services Commission and Mental Illness Advisory Council.
New ADA Checklist for readily Achievable Barrier Removal: The New England ADA Center has updated the ADA checklist for Readily Achievable Barrier Removal for the 2010 ADA standards for Accessible Design. Also available is a support website (http://www.adachecklist.org/) which provides direction on how to use the checklist an includes information on what is readily achievable barrier removal, what are public accommodations under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA, and the 2010 ADA Standards. For questions about the Checklist or the Americans with Disabilities with Disabilities Act call 1-800-949-4232.
The Equal Right Center’s (ERC) report: Less than 25 percent of medical service providers were compliant with accessibility standards outlined in the Americans with Disabilities Act. You can download the full report at www.equalrightscenter.org/illprepared. An accessible version is also available at www.equalrightscenter.org/illpreparedaccess.
Read the Blue Print for Change Report: A Transformational Plan to Reform, Improve and Change Indiana’s Programs, Services & Natural Systems of Support for People with I/DD and Their Families. Go to http://www.arcind.org/ and click on the Blueprint for Change button on our home page.
The Arc of Indiana Master Trust Winter Heating Assistance Program Open for Applications. The Arc of Indiana's Board of Directors has approved $30,000 for The Arc of Indiana Master Trust 2012 Winter Heating Assistance Program. This will allow the trust to assist 300 low-income individuals with disabilities with $100 toward their winter heating bills.
To apply for assistance, individuals should contact the local chapter of The Arc in their county, or a local agency providing services to people with disabilities. This may include community mental health centers, Independent Living Centers, Area Agencies on Aging, or a district office of the Bureau of Developmental Disabilities Services. Application needs to be made through an agency so that the agency can certify that the individual is eligible for SSI or Medicaid Disability. Click here to download the certification form.
Disability Rights Online News, the bi-monthly update about the Civil Rights Division's activities in the area of disability rights, is available online at: http://www.ada.gov/disabilitynews.htm.
The Arc of Indiana has a new resource guide, “An Introduction to Indiana’s Medicaid Waiver Program for Home and Community Based Services.” The guide includes information not only on Indiana’s Medicaid waiver program, but also provides information on other state and federal resources, disability and advocacy organizations, and a special section on building natural supports and community connections.
An Introduction to Indiana’s Medicaid Waiver Program for Home and Community Based Services .
The Disability Rights Section within the Civil Rights Division of the US Department of Justice has issued a new technical assistance document reflecting the recent changes to the ADA Regulations regarding Service Animals. This document can be found on-line at:
http://www.ada.gov/service_animals_2010.htm (HTML Version)
http://www.ada.gov/service_animals_2010.pdf (PDF Version)
Notice. The recently released regulations for the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendment Act (ADAAA) become effective, May 24, 2011. More information/fact sheets on the ADAAA can be found on the EEOC Website at http://www.eeoc.gov/.
Supreme Court Decision a Win for People with Disabilities in Indiana
Ruling in favor of Indiana Protection and Advocacy Services allows access to peer review. Indiana Protection and Advocacy Services (IPAS) retained the right to obtain peer review records and to sue a state agency in federal court to enforce its right to get records in a U.S. Supreme Court decision issued on April 25. In the decision, the Supreme Court declined to review a Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in the case of Indiana Family and Social Services Administration v. Indiana Protection and Advocacy Service (No. 10-131).
Revised regulations implementing the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) took effect on March 15, 2011. The regulations apply to the activities of more than 80,000 units of state and local government and more than seven million places of public accommodation, including stores, restaurants, museums, sporting arenas, movie theaters, doctors’ and dentists’ offices, hotels, jails and prisons, polling places and emergency preparedness shelters. For more information visit https://www.disability.gov/civil_rights/laws_%26_regulations/americans_with_disabilities_act. Link to Title II regulations: http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-21821.pdf. Link to Title III regulations: http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-21824.pdf.
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