Important information on Developmental Disabilities Month and The Arc’s Toolkit and many other items of great interest.
Tony
Letter from the CEO
Peter V. Berns
CEO of The Arc
Let’s Not Forget Veterans with Disabilities
Last month, Bill Simon, president and CEO of Walmart U.S., announced Walmart’s commitment to help veterans find jobs, including hiring 100,000 vets over the next five years. Simon explained: “Beginning Memorial Day, Walmart will offer a job to any honorably discharged veteran within his or her first 12 months off active duty.” That includes veterans with disabilities.
Service members who acquired their disability before the age of 22, such as through a traumatic brain injury, may also meet the definition for having a “developmental disability.” If your chapter of The Arc is serving vets with a developmental disability, keep Walmart in mind as a potential source for employment later this year. In the meantime, please, share with me if your chapter’s experiences, if any, working with veterans. As always you can reach me at berns@thearc.org.
Resources & Opportunities
Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month Toolkit Available
As a Chapter of The Arc, you can empower people with I/DD to become their own best advocates. No matter how effective our organization’s advocacy efforts may be, no one is as powerful an advocate for people with I/DD as a person with I/DD. During Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month this March, The Arc’s national organization will launch an awareness campaign called “Empower Yourself, Empower Someone Else.” Spread the word in your community with these tools designed to help you communicate with your supporters, the media and the general public.
Advocacy Training Available Ahead of Policy Seminar
Want to improve your skills as a grassroots advocacy leader? Join The Arc for an adapted version of the Midwest Academy’s “Organizing for Social Change” training session in Washington, D.C. April 12-13, just prior to the 2013 Disability Policy Seminar. There are 20 seats available for this unique training, and only $50 covers your materials and food during the sessions. This is not intended for beginning level advocates, so applicants should have a past involvement in an advocacy campaign and be willing to commit to working on a coordinated campaign at the state and/or local level. Apply today!
Still Time to Register for the NCE Leadership Institute in Orlando
Chapter leaders are invited to attend the NCE Leadership Institute February 25-26 in Orlando, Florida for training from Disney Institute as well as a session with Joe Plummer of the Columbia Business School. But time is running out – the early-bird discount ends February 8 and special rates on rooms at the Walt Disney World® Hilton end this Wednesday, February 6. Take advantage of special savings with Mears Transportation to get you to and from the airport with this coupon. Take away tools that have helped build the Disney organization into a worldwide powerhouse and learn from a marketing guru who built his career working with such notable companies and Young & Rubicam and Paine Webber. And, connect other with executive leaders of The Arc! Register today!
Take the 2013 Executive Compensation Survey
As promised, the NCE Executive Compensation Survey has returned. The intent of the salary survey is to provide professional staff, not volunteers, with an annual analysis of peer compensation around several variables including annual revenue; total number of employees; executive experience; and geographic location. The survey should take about fifteen minutes. Be sure to have the number of full and part time employees at your chapter, your annual budget, annual salaries and experience/education levels of senior staff along with benefits provided to senior staff using information from your current fiscal year to complete this survey. The results will be aggregated and chapter specific information will be removed after the survey closes. The resulting anonymous data will be shared with all NCE members. If you encounter any difficulties during the survey, contact smcdonell@achieva.info.
Aging and Disability Information Sought
Increasingly it seems that aging and disability services are being grouped together in service systems. The Aging and Disability Resource Centers are one example of this trend. A local chapter executive recently asked, are there chapters of The Arc that are serving people who are aging, while also serving people with I/DD. If your chapter of The Arc serves both aging and people with I/DD, please let us know by sending an email to berns@thearc.org.
ESPN Wants Victim’s Stories
ESPN, the sports network, is working on a story about a coach accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old athlete with a disability. As the story’s producer began to do research on this topic, she was alarmed by the number of people with disabilities who are sexually assaulted. ESPN is now looking for personal stories of athletes with I/DD who have been victimized by coaches, volunteers or other authority figures connected to the sports programs they participate in. If you know of an individual connected to your chapter who was a victim of sexual assault in this context and who might be willing to share their story with ESPN, please contact The Arc’s Communications Director, Kristen McKiernan.
Share What Your Chapter Is Doing to Prevent Abuse
The Arc is assisting Vera Institute of Justice in a project to look for collaborative examples, tools and resources for ensuring that disability organizations are working to stop perpetrators of violence. Vera will be offering a webinar on this topic in March to make disability providers more aware of their opportunity and responsibility to ensure their staff, contractors and others are not perpetrating abuse against the individuals they serve. How does your chapter ensure safety and what protocols, ideas or tips can you share to help other organizations create safer lives for people with I/DD? Your chapter may be selected to be featured on Vera’s webinar “Beyond Background Checks – Safety for Everyone.” Contact Leigh Ann Davis to learn more about this exciting opportunity and share what your chapter is doing to ensure the safety of those you serve.
Does What Happens in D.C. Really Matter to You?
You bet! Every day millions of Americans with I/DD are impacted by the public policy decisions – big and small — made by their representatives in Congress. And April 15-17 hundreds of advocates will attend the Disability Policy Seminar in Washington, D.C. to learn more about and discuss the hottest topics in disability public policy. Register now for two full days of in-depth sessions and kick of the third day with a Capitol Hill breakfast before taking your message to your elected federal officials. Special early registration and room rates are available until March 12 at www.disabilitypolicyseminar.org.
The Arc’s CEO Speaks Out against Chained CPI
Many programs vital to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) have been at risk over the last few rounds of budget negotiations. Right now, Social Security is in danger of cuts because of talk to change the benefit calculation referred to as “chained CPI.” The Arc’s CEO Peter Berns spoke at a press conference in the U.S. Capitol last week, organized by Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and joined by representatives from AARP, NOW, the AFL-CIO, and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. Read more on The Arc’s blog.
Find Out More About FASD This video of a news story from Ohio provides a simple explanation about how alcohol affects the brain and how this brain damage impacts daily living. It features Sarah, a founding member of the Self Advocates with FASD in Action (SAFA) Network, and her mother Cheryl Kyser. Find out more about Sarah and other members of the SAFA Network and their advocacy work.
Apostrophe Magazine Now in Barnes & Noble
Beginning with their Winter Issue this month, Apostrophe Magazine will now be sold in Barnes & Noble Booksellers. Apostrophe, a magazine created for, about and featuring people with I/DD, and is owned and operated by The Arc’s Montana chapter, AWARE, Inc. In addition to single issue distribution at Barnes & Noble, the quarterly magazine is available by subscription at www.apostrophemagazine.com. Special bulk rates are offered to chapters of The Arc, contact editor Jim Tracy at jtracy@aware-inc.org.
Online Education Opportunities
NCE Exclusive! NTEN Introductory Webinar
The Nonprofit Technology Network is excited to partner with The Arc and NCE to provide free introductory NTEN memberships to NCE members, discounted membership renewals, and special programming. Join us for a webinar this Thursday, February 7, at 2:00 p.m. EST to ask questions about NTEN’s resources, community, and programming. It’s a great opportunity to get connected to a community of nonprofit professionals putting technology to use for their missions!
Upcoming HealthMeet Webinars Answer Your Questions Wednesday, February 6 at 2:00 p.m. EST Integration of Individuals with Disabilities into Local Public Health Programs
Explore NACCHO’s programs designed to help promote the integration of individuals with disabilities into local public health programs and activities through lessons learned from health departments that have implemented these programs in their own communities. And find out more about NACCHO’s extensive tools pertaining to health and disability. Wednesday, February 20 at 2:00 p.m. EST Fragile X Associated Disorders: More than a Syndrome
This webinar will discuss the spectrum of disorders associated with the FMR1 gene mutation: Fragile X Syndrome (FXS), Fragile X Primary Ovarian Insufficiency (FXPOI), and Fragile X Tremor Ataxia Syndrome (FXTAS). FXS is the leading known cause of autism and the most prevalent inheritable cause of intellectual disabilities. A discussion of the varied clinical presentations, associated health conditions and the most recent research on treatments will be included. Monday, March 4 at 2:00 p.m. EST Oral Health, Disease and Prevention
Dennis McTigue DDS, MS, a professor of Pediatric Dentistry at Ohio State University, will be speaking about the causes of dental diseases and the preventative methods/techniques to take that will help to reduce this epidemic. Dennis will focus on the more common oral health issues facing people with disabilities and routine tricks about how to motivate individuals to maintain good oral health as well as provide resources and supports for seeking out necessary treatments in your community.
Chapter Focus
Virginia Advocates Rally in Richmond
Hundreds of advocates gathered last week at the Virginia State Capitol to rally for lawmakers to put more money into community-based services that protect the civil rights of people with disabilities. The annual rally was organized by The Coalition for Virginians with Mental Disabilities and was covered by CBS 6 WTVR and The Virginia Gazette. Connect with The Arc of Virginia on Facebook and check out the photo gallery at Rally & Advocacy Day 2013.
All About Branding Q: I’m working with a vendor to create a sign (or t-shirt or business card…) but they said my logo isn’t high-quality enough. Can you give me a high quality logo file? A: High-resolution logos are provided to all chapters licensed to use The Arc’s brand. If you don’t have those files, email romo@thearc.org. Find out what other files are included in the logo set.
February 24-26: NCE Leadership Institute, Orlando, FL
March 2-5: The Arc California, Disability Policy Conference, Sacramento, CA
March 11-13: NISH Board of Directors Meeting, Washington, DC
Find us on:
:
Tony Paulauski Executive Director
The Arc of Illinois
20901 S. LaGrange Rd. Suite 209
Frankfort, IL 60423
815-464-1832 (OFFICE)
815-464-1832 (CELL)
Tony@www.thearcofil.org
