Lex Frieden, Chairperson
March 2005

The Bulletin, which is free of charge and at NCD’s award-winning Web site (www.ncd.gov), brings you the latest issues and news affecting people with disabilities. Please send your editorial comments to Bulletin editor Mark S. Quigley (mquigley@ncd.gov)

NCD Launches New Disability Listserv

On March 28, NCD launched a new listserv that will provide critical information on issues affecting people with disabilities, including a monthly newsletter known as the NCD Bulletin, news releases, legislative updates, and other newsworthy items.

The NCD listserv will be maintained by the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO), which currently operates 19 government listservs (http://listserv.access.gpo.gov/). Use of GPO as the site administrator will help maintain system integrity.

To subscribe to the NCD’s listserv, send the following command: SUBSCRIBE NCD-NEWS-L (FIRSTNAME LASTNAME) to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.ACCESS.GPO.GOV or go to http://listserv.access.gpo.gov/. Click on Online mailing list archives, then select NCD-NEWS-L and click on Join or leave the list. Then complete the short subscription form.

NCD to Make Emergency Planning Recommendations

NCD will release its report Saving Lives: Including People with Disabilities in Emergency Planning at a news conference at 10:00 a.m. on April 15, 2005, at the National Press Club, 529 14th Street, NW, Washington, DC.

The report provides an overview for the Federal Government to build a solid and resilient infrastructure that should enable the government to include the diverse populations of people with disabilities in emergency preparedness, disaster relief, and homeland security programs. This infrastructure would incorporate technology, physical, program, and communication access. It would also include procurement and emergency programs and services.

NCD Conducting ADA Impact Forums

As a part of a year-long study, NCD is sponsoring five public forums around the country to gather testimony from people with disabilities, their families, and their advocates on the impact the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) has had on their lives.

Fifteen years ago, ADA was hailed as a major civil rights law guaranteeing equal opportunity for Americans with disabilities to participate more fully in their communities, to have greater access to goods and services, and to enjoy more employment opportunities. To what extent ADA has achieved its goals of equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency for people with disabilities remains an open question, one the public forums will address.

Representing a diversity of regions, populations, and ethnicities, the five sites for the public forums (with dates) are: Iowa City, Iowa (March 25), co-sponsored by the Evert Conner Center on Rights and Resources and the University of Iowa’s Law, Health Policy and Disability Center; Los Angeles, California (March 29), co-sponsored by Western Law Center for Disability Rights; Houston, Texas (April 8), co-sponsored by Independent Living Research Utilization Project; Savannah, Georgia (April 13), co-sponsored by Savannah-Chatham Council on Disability Issues, Savannah Association for the Blind, Inc., and Living Independence for Everyone, Inc.; and Washington, DC (May 3), co-sponsored by Mayor’s Committee on Individuals with Disabilities.

Public forum participants may provide written as well as spoken testimony. Reasonable accommodations will be provided on request to ensure full participation by all individuals seeking to testify on the impact of ADA on their lives.

In addition to holding public forums, the NCD’s ADA Study Team is conducting focus groups and interviews with individuals with disabilities, employers, service providers, business and trade association representatives, and other stakeholders who have been directly affected by ADA. Rounding out the research activities, the ADA Study Team is also conducting an environmental scan to collect data on such ADA impact statistics as number of curb cuts, number of telephone relay calls, number of reasonable accommodations provided by employers, and other indicators to determine whether the law has brought about significant change in the past 15 years.

The ADA Study Team is being advised by a blue ribbon panel of nationally and internationally recognized experts on disability policy chaired by Professor Peter D. Blanck, Director of the Law, Health Policy and Disability Center at the University of Iowa.

For more information, contact NCD contractor Fritz Rumpel, Lockheed Martin Services, Inc., at 912-927-1514 (Voice/TTY) or Fritz.Rumpel@lmco.com (e-mail).

Legislative Update
Inclusive Home Design Act of 2005

On March 17, the Inclusive Home Design Act of 2005 (H.R. 1441) was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. This bill requires all newly constructed, federally assisted, single-family houses and town houses to meet minimum standards of visitability for people with disabilities. These standards include at least one level that complies with the following accessibility features: accessible entrance; accessible interior doors; accessible environmental controls; accessible bathroom; and, accessible habitable space. H.R. 1441 was referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.

Money Follows the Person Act of 2005

On March 3, 2005, the Money Follows the Person Act of 2005 (S. 528) was introduced in the U.S. Senate. This bill authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to provide grants to states to conduct demonstration projects that are designed to enable Medicaid-eligible individuals to receive support for appropriate and necessary long-term services in the settings of their choice.

These demonstration projects are designed to (1) increase the use of home- and community-based, rather than institutional, long-term care services under state Medicaid programs; (2) eliminate barriers or mechanisms that prevent or restrict the flexible use of Medicaid funds to enable Medicaid-eligible individuals to receive support for appropriate and necessary long-term care services in the settings of their choice; (3) increase the ability of state Medicaid programs to ensure continued provision of home and community-based long-term care services to eligible individuals who choose to transition from an institutional to a community setting; and (4) ensure that procedures are in place to provide quality assurance for eligible individuals receiving Medicaid home- and community-based long-term care services and to provide for continuous quality improvement in such services. S. 528 was referred to the Senate Committee on Finance.

NCD Quarterly Meeting

NCD will conduct its next quarterly meeting from 10:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. on May 9, 2005, at the Access Board, Conference Room, 1331 F Street, NW, Suite 850, Washington, DC. The agenda will include a discussion on recommendations in NCD’s long-term services and supports report.

Transition Conference Update

The Rehabilitation Services Administration is seeking proposals for presentations at the National Transition Conference, “From Roots to Wings: Guiding Youth with Disabilities to Employment,” slated for June 16–17, 2005 at the Capital Hilton in Washington, DC. NCD is assisting in the planning of this conference. Proposals should address: Bridging Service Gaps, Careers, Life Choices, Leadership, or Federal Funds for Transition. Submission deadline is April 29, 2005. For conference and proposal information, contact Melodie Johnson at 202-245-7392 or Melodie.Johnson@ed.gov.

GAO Issues Report on Ticket to Work Program

On March 2, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) published Social Security Administration: Better Planning Could Make the Ticket Program More Effective, GAO-05-248. The full GAO report can be located at http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d05248.pdf.

SSA has made progress implementing and evaluating the Ticket program, but the agency has had limited success in achieving the program’s goals of expanding beneficiaries’ choice of service providers and increasing beneficiaries’ efforts to work and become self-sufficient.

The Ticket program’s ability to achieve its goals has been hindered by several factors, according to the Advisory Panel, researchers, and service providers. First, service providers believe that the program’s payment system does not provide adequate compensation for the administrative costs of participating. Second, participation of eligible beneficiaries has been limited by the lack of employment networks, the lack of outreach to provide information about the program, and the lack of incentives to encourage beneficiaries to participate. The Advisory Panel and others have suggested numerous changes to improve the Ticket program. The Advisory Panel and others believe that reforming the payment system is critical to expanding participation. In addition, they suggested numerous changes to reduce the administrative burden for service providers, such as having SSA provide additional services, guidance, and information to providers.

SSA faces several challenges as it tries to improve the Ticket program’s ability to achieve its goals. Although SSA has made some administrative changes to the program, the agency recognizes that additional changes are needed. However, SSA has deferred other reforms until it has performed additional assessments on changes that it believes could be costly. GAO believes rigorous planning is needed to provide sufficient and reliable information to adequately assess the numerous proposed reforms put forth by the Advisory Panel and others. Thorough and reliable analysis is particularly important because of the complexity and potential costs of this nationwide program, as well the opportunities that it could provide to beneficiaries who want to become self-sufficient. Without a well-defined plan to assess proposed changes, SSA may not be able to provide stakeholders with cost-effective and timely solutions to increase program participation and the number of beneficiaries who become self-sufficient and move off the disability rolls.