The Arc Update – Action Alert and State and Federal Updates

Tell Congress to Keep Its Hands Off SNAP
Access to nutritious food for millions of people in the U.S. is at risk

Last week the U.S. House of Representatives defeated H.R. 2 (the Agriculture & Nutrition Act of 2018, or “Farm Bill”) that would have cut off or reduced basic food assistance under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for roughly 2 million people across the nation. This includes many people with disabilities and their families.

Despite this initial defeat, the Speaker of the House filed a “motion to reconsider” — which means the House has until Tuesday, May 22, to vote a second time on this bill.

We must make certain it is defeated once again!

SNAP is vitally important for people with disabilities and their families — and it is a highly cost-effective program to ensure basic nutrition for recipients. All too often food insecurity and disability go together. Families that include people with disabilities are two to three times more likely to experience food insecurity than families that have no members with disabilities.

But the current version of the Farm Bill would subject millions of people who rely on SNAP to sweeping, harsh new work and reporting requirements. These changes create new hurdles to benefits and would punish people who lose their jobs and can’t find a new one, can’t meet the potential new strict work or training requirements, or can’t get an exemption.
Many people with disabilities or chronic illness, and their families, would be hurt.
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Contact Congress now to say #HandsoffSNAP!

Click here to email or call your representative.  Below in blue are the legislators who voted for the bill.

TALKING POINTS

• I am a supporter of The Arc.
• SNAP is vitally important for people with disabilities and their families.
• H.R. 2 will cut SNAP in ways that punish individuals with disabilities who rely on the program, as well as their families.
• Reject changes to SNAP in H.R. 2 and work together to strengthen and protect SNAP in the Farm Bill.
• Please keep your #HandsOffSNAP.

Major Events Ahead

Education – House Committee to Hold Hearing on “Examining the Policies and Priorities of the U.S. Department of Education”

On May 22, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce will hold a hearing on “Examining the Policies and Priorities of the U.S. Department of Education”. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos will be the only witness. Visit the Committee web site for more information or to access live video on the day of the hearing.

Announcements

Medicaid/Rights – CMS Issues Guidance on Electronic Visit Verification

On May 16, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued guidance on implementation of electronic visit verification (EVV) required in the 21^st Century Cures Act. Congress directed CMS to issue this guidance at least one year before the implementation deadline of January 19, 2019. The statute requires EVV for personal care services and home health services. However, the guidance provides a very expansive interpretation that includes any service where assistance with activities of daily living or instrumental activities of daily living is provided in part in the home. Furthermore, it leaves many decisions with privacy implications up to states. The Arc believes the short time frame is insufficient for states to engage with stakeholders to implement these requirements in a way that does not put an undue burden on providers and does not violates the privacy of beneficiaries.

Education – LCEF to Hold Call on Discipline Guidance

On May 23 at 3:00 p.m. EDT, the Leadership Conference Education Fund (LCEF) will hold a conference call for advocates regarding the proposed rescission of the Education and Justice Departments’ nondiscriminatory school discipline guidance. This guidance outlines the obligation of schools to ensure that students are not disproportionately punished based on race, color, national origin, sex, or disability. Speakers will be Liz King, Director of Education Policy, Leadership Conference Education Fund; Elizabeth Olsson, Senior Policy Associate, NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc.; Diane Smith Howard, Senior Staff Attorney, National Disability Rights Network; Adaku Onyeka-Crawford, Senior Counsel, National Women’s Law Center; and Paul-Winston Cange, Field Associate, LCEF. Register here.

Education – Study Shows Students with Intellectual Disability Have Low Rates of Inclusion

A study soon to be published in the American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities shows that students with intellectual disability are still rarely educated with students without disabilities. The study examined placement trends for students with intellectual disability between ages 6 and 21 between 1976 and 2014. Over this time period, between 55 and 73 percent of students with intellectual disability were in segregated settings for all or most of the day. In 2014, only 17 percent of students with intellectual disability spent 80 percent or more of the school day in the general education classroom. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act requires students with disabilities be educated alongside students without disabilities to the “maximum extent appropriate.” Placement in a less inclusive setting should occur only when “the nature or severity of the disability of a child is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily.”

Meg Cooch
Executive Director
The Arc of Illinois
20901 S. LaGrange Rd. Suite 209
Frankfort, IL 60423
815-464-1832 (OFFICE)
Meg@thearcofil.org