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News from the Sonoran UCEDD &

Disability Community

December 2011 Issue sonoranucedd.fcm.arizona.edu/newsletter

Message from the Director

Dear friends and colleagues, I hope this holiday season finds you and your family in happiness and good health. As 2011 comes to a close, we want to thank all of you for your friendship and partnership in working with people with developmental disabilities and their families in our State. We hope you enjoy reading what we’ve been up to and look forward to working with you to increase opportunities for people with developmental disabilities in 2012! All the best,

Leslie J. Cohen Director Sonoran UCEDD Family and Community Medicine University of Arizona

Thanks to your generous support, we continue to ensure that equal opportunities and a quality of life are accessible to all persons with developmental disabilities.

If you would like to learn more about making a tax-deductible gift to one of these vital programs, please contact Thom Melendez, Director of Development, at 520-626-4961 or by email at tmelende@email.arizona.edu.

You may also make a gift on-line through the University of Arizona Foundation Sonoran UCEDD designation.

Sonoran UCEDD Updates

Congratulations to the Sonoran UCEDD Disability & Border Communities Workgroup, AUCD Multicultural Council Award Recipient!

The Sonoran UCEDD Disability and Border Communities Workgroup received the 2011 Multicultural Council Award for Leadership in Diversity at the 2011 AUCD (Association of University Centers on Disabilities) Annual Conference and Meeting. This Award is presented by the Multicultural Council to an Association member or group in recognition of exhibited leadership and commitment to advancing programs and practices aimed toward increasing the diversity, cultural, and/or linguistic competencies within a Center and the Network as a whole, and for significant contributions to further the cause of understanding the diverse needs of families seeking disability services.

The Sonoran UCEDD Disability and Border Communities Workgroup is led by UCEDD Faculty, Duke Duncan, MD, with participation by UCEDD staff; Community Advisory Council Members; UCEDD trainees and other public health graduate students; DD Network Members; as well as community organization and agency personnel from Nogales, Arizona (AZ DES/DDD, SEAHEC) and Nogales, Sonora (DIF). The Workgroup was honored for the following accomplishments during the last four years: Assessed community needs and strengths along the Arizona-Sonora border including interviews and

surveys with educators, DD service providers, and families and individuals with DD in these communities and incorporated the findings from that need assessment into a series of education and training events over the course of the next three years.

Held the first ever bi-lingual Border Conference on Disability in Nogales, Sonora in 2008, bringing together over 150 individuals, families and professionals over two days to learn new skills and strategies(workshops included micro-enterprise development, positive behavioral supports, nutrition, and advocacy); gain information on services and supports; and make lasting connections with other families and individuals living in the region.

Served as an incubator for several projects and groups spun off from the conference, including a group of families in Northern Mexico who explored micro loans for self-employment; a family group that met several times after the conference; and creation of a small non-profit to manufacture low cost wheelchairs.

Targeted community trainings over the next two years in small rural communities along the Arizona border on a variety of topics identified through the needs assessment and first conference, including early intervention, person-centered planning and positive behavioral supports.

Engaged students, including UCEDD trainees in the planning and implementation of the conferences and projects. Several bi-lingual public health graduate students assisted in translation, gathering data for needs assessment, and even developing a business plan for the wheelchair project.

(Clockwise from top left) AUCD President-Elect Tony Antosh, Sonoran UCEDD and AZ LEND trainee Jody Pirtle, Duke Duncan, AUCD President Dan Crimmins,

Jacy Farkas, and Sonoran UCEDD Director Leslie Cohen)

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Convened the second Border Conference on Disability in 2011, bringing together individuals with DD, their families and service providers for a daylong conference bi-lingual conference which was held by video conferencing from four sites to allow participation from Yuma, Douglas, Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Sonora. Conference sessions on positive behavioral supports, assistive technology and aging, and individual and family support issues were attended by over 200 individuals. Conference participants heard from a lunch panel of individuals with DD and their family members discussing the strengths and challenges faced in their communities.

The Sonoran UCEDD Disability and Border Community Workgroup’s efforts have been successful in reaching out to families and individuals with DD in these predominantly Hispanic communities and providing valuable information, strategies, and connections. The Workgroup has also allowed the UCEDD opportunities to forge strong and lasting relationships for ongoing work with agencies and groups in the border communities as well as opportunities for university students to learn about the strengths and challenges in these communities. AUCD Award Announcement: http://www.aucd.org/template/news.cfm?news_id=7376&id=17

Sonoran UCEDD at 2011 AUCD Annual Conference & Meeting

The Sonoran UCEDD had a great showing at the 2011 Annual AUCD Conference & Meeting held November 5 – 9, 2011 in Washington, DC; several UCEDD faculty and staff attended – Duke Duncan, MD, Jacy Farkas, MA, Yumi Shirai, PhD, and UCEDD Director and AUCD Board Member, Leslie Cohen, JD – as well as former Sonoran UCEDD trainee and current AUCD Virtual Trainee, Jody Pirtle, MA. In addition to the Sonoran UCEDD Disability and Border Communities Workgroup receiving the Multicultural Council Award for Leadership in Diversity, faculty and staff presented a total of four posters, a poster roundtable session, and a concurrent session at the conference. Our presenters: Posters (please view PDF versions of the poster at http://sonoranucedd.fcm.arizona.edu/whats_new)

Flying Together Beyond Loss: Grieving Support for Adults with Developmental Disabilities via Aerial Movement Art - Yumi Shirai, PhD, Lynne Tomasa, PhD, Sonoran UCEDD; Susan Silverberg Koerner, PhD, Div. of Family Studies and Human Development, University of Arizona

Taking Away Fear of the Unknown: Learning Experience in Disability for Health Sciences Students - Leslie J. Cohen, JD and Lynne Tomasa, PhD

Youth in Transition: The impact of Person-Centered Planning for young adults, their families and support coordinators - Jacy Farkas, MA, Lynne Tomasa, PhD, Leslie Cohen, JD

Going Home: A Familial, Medical, and Educational Exploratory Investigation - Jody Pirtle, M.A., Ph.D. Student, Sonoran UCEDD/AZ LEND Trainee

Presentation Sessions Family Support, Supporting Families with Family Members in Transition Poster Roundtable – Jacy

Farkas, MA along with 5 other posters. Civic Engagement, UCEDDs and Opportunity for People with ALL Abilities - Ten years and the

Journey Continues... – Leslie Cohen, JD along with 6 other presenters from across the network. 2011 Conference in Review http://www.aucd.org/conference/ The Journey Continues: 40 Years Promoting Equity and Excellencethrough Research, Education, and Service was another amazing gathering of self-advocates, family members, students, researchers, faculty, directors, and the DD Community. Visit the conference website to read a letter by AUCD President and Program Chair Tony Antosh, watch videos of the plenary sessions, presentation materials, and view photos of the plenaries, meetings, trainees, awards, gala, and more.

Arizona News

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AHCCCS Cuts for Childless Adults Upheld by Arizona Court of Appeals

On December 6, 2011, the Arizona Court of Appeals (Division One) ruled that the State’s decision to reduce Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (“AHCCCS”) funding and close new enrollment for all childless adults living at or below the federal poverty level was allowable. The court determined that whether the Legislature, as required by Proposition 204, had appropriated supplemental funding from “any other available sources” was a political question not appropriate for judicial review. Proposition 204, enacted in 2000, extended health care coverage to all eligible individuals, including childless adults. Proposition 204 funded benefits for the expanded population from the Tobacco Litigation Settlement Fund and additionally stated that the Settlement Fund “shall be supplemented, as necessary by any other available sources including legislative appropriations and federal monies.” Because the Settlement Fund has historically failed to provide sufficient funding for the expanded coverage, the Legislature has made up the shortfall with appropriations from the State’s general fund. But, faced with the State’s budget difficulties, in early 2011 the Legislature reduced AHCCCS funding by nearly $1.6 billion, after finding the amount it had appropriated for Proposition 204 services included “all available sources of funding.” AHCCCS subsequently closed new childless adult enrollment as of July 8, 2011, although it has continued to provide benefits to childless adults enrolled before that date. In their lawsuit against the State and AHCCCS, Petitioners alleged the Legislature had failed to provide sufficient funding for all eligible childless adults from “other available sources.” They also argued the July 8 enrollment freeze violated another provision of Proposition 204 that prohibited the State from establishing a “cap on the number of eligible persons who may enroll in the system.” Petitioners further argued the enrollment freeze violated the Voter Protection Act, a provision in the Arizona Constitution restricting the Governor and Legislature from repealing or amending voter approved initiatives. The superior court rejected those arguments. Petitioners then requested the Court of Appeals accept the case for accelerated disposition, which it did. The Court of Appeals affirmed the superior court’s dismissal of Petitioners’ claims, but did not adopt its reasoning. In its decision, the Court of Appeals agreed with Petitioners that Proposition 204 required the Legislature to appropriate supplemental funding from “any other available sources.” The Court held, however, that whether the Legislature had actually appropriated all available sources of funding (as it said it had done) and whether the resulting enrollment freeze violated Proposition 204 and the Voter Protection Act was a controversy that presented a “nonjusticiable political question,” that is, a political question not subject to judicial resolution. About 230,000 people were covered under Prop. 204 when the cuts took effect and AHCCCS estimated that roughly 100,000 would lose coverage in the first year of the enrollment freezing, for savings of $190 million. About 40,000 childless adults have fallen off the AHCCCS rolls since July. Petitioners have indicated that the case will be appealed to the Arizona Supreme Court. Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/12/06/20111206arizona-appeals-court-wont-block-medicaid-freeze.html#ixzz1fnhzIKiZ Full opinion can be found on the web at http://azcourts.gov/Portals/89/opinionfiles/SA/SA110204.pdf AZ DDPC FactSheet - AHCCCS Reform: What People with Developmental Disabilities and Their Families Need to Know

National News

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The CLASS Act

The CLASS Act (Community Living Assistance Services and Support Act) is a voluntary, federally administered, consumer-financed insurance plan which became law as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. The Class Act was designed provide a cash daily payment for disabled workers participating in the program. The program was voluntary for both employers and employees. It provided a way for interested workers to pay premiums to ensure cash benefit should they become disabled at a later time. On October 14, 2011 HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced in a letter tocongressional leaders that the Administration “does not see a viable path forward to CLASS implementation at this time.” Congressional hearings have been scheduled on repeal of the CLASS Act. According to the HHS report, only 2.8 percent of Americans have private long-term care insurance, although about 70 percent of people age 65 and older will need such care. The current market does not offer viable options for those unable to access private long-term care insurance. The CLASS program, developed by the late Senator Ted Kennedy, was intended to address this problem by creating a new national insurance program financed by voluntary payroll deductions to provide benefits to adults who become severely functionally impaired. The intent was to help to preserve the Medicaid program, which currently bears the brunt of covering long-term supports and services and cannot sustain an aging baby boomer generation. For more information: www.Advanceclass.org www.aucd.org

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