Advocacy for Change

By Gretchen Block Change…change…more change. Why is it that things always seem to be changing? Who decided that a change was needed again? Can’t we ever slow down? We just get used to something and then there we go, changing things again. So this time, it’s a new employment opportunity for people that choose Bethesda [...]

Educational Accountability: Why Did It Take So Long?

By Cathy Ficker Terrill Each child in America has the right to a Free and Appropriate Education (FAPE).  It is the educational right of children with disabilities in the United States to receive educational services at public expense.  The Individuals with Disability Education Act (IDEA) requires school districts to provide an appropriate education. What is [...]

Family Support for People with Developmental Disabilities

By Cathy Ficker Terrill There are more than 4.7 million citizens with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the United States.  About 75% of these citizens do not have formal disability services.  They rely on their families for different levels of support.  Of the 25% citizens in the US receiving services, over 56% live with their [...]

Is “Self-Advocate” Just Another Label?

By Mark Hagen Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are well aware of the hurt and anguish caused by society’s need to label and categorize. The stigma caused by the term “mental retardation” and its derivatives has spurred the outstanding “Spread The Word To End The Word” campaign started by the Special Olympics and [...]

Dual Diagnosis

By Cathy Ficker Terrill ENHANCING SERVICES TO PEOPLE WITH A DUAL DIAGNOSIS OF DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES AND MENTAL ILLNESS Many individuals who have multiple challenges such as a developmental disability, mental illness, physical challenges, behavioral challenges, substance abuse or other noted problems are not always supported effectively. Misdiagnosing individuals with multiple needs and/or a dual diagnosis [...]

Realities of Employment Regulations

By Mark Hagen The United States Department of Labor (DOL) has proposed new regulations which would require federal contractors and subcontractors to have seven percent of their workforce comprised of people with physical disabilities, intellectual and developmental disabilities or mental illness.  This regulation would add official hiring goals to existing regulations that prohibit discrimination against [...]

Managed Care for Adults with Disabilities

By Cathy Ficker Terrill The states currently looking at managed care for community long term care for the DD population as a pilot are Vermont, Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin. These states do not plan to use commercial health management organizations (HMO’s) to act as the managed care organization (MCO). In Arizona and Vermont a state [...]

Improving the Medicaid System

By Mark Hagen The Kaiser Family Foundation recently released a very sobering report “Medicaid’s Long-Term Care Users:  Spending Patterns Across Institutional and Community-based Settings.”  Among the key findings: 1.        Medicaid long-term support consumers comprised 6 percent of the total Medicaid population but accounted for 48 percent of total Medicaid spending. 2.        The average spending per [...]