Here is some of the information I’ve picked up from various
organizations working to support people with disabilities at this time. Let me know if you’d like more information:
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The D.C. Developmental Disabilities Council (https://ddc.dc.gov/) has assembled a resource
list (see https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DBEvPnvjTcKpnTwg8_7hI98yl0bls5N_/view)
to help people, along with their families, direct support professionals, and other
supporters to stay connected. This will
continue being updated, so please contact DDC executive director Alison Whyte (alison.whyte@dc.gov) with your ideas for
additions to the list. Also, yesterday the
DDC shared this statement https://drive.google.com/file/d/1S_8SQJBa4QJtqkLfxNQYZDCyHEZBjpfK/view?usp=sharing
with DC government agencies and the DC
council, to ensure that evolving plans take full account of people with
developmental and other disabilities in our community. The DD Council also is
sharing plain-language information about covid19 with organizations and
individuals.
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There has been considerable dialogue at both the
national and local levels about the impact of distance learning on students
with disabilities. This fact sheet https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/frontpage/faq/rr/policyguidance/Supple%20Fact%20Sheet%203.21.20%20FINAL.pdf
is the most recent national guidance. The
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is not waived. Locally, there are initiatives by the DC
government and community groups to ensure that students have access to devices
needed for remote learning, although training students not already familiar
with the technology is among the challenges.
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At this moment, the D.C. Summer Youth Employment
Program (https://does.dc.gov/service/marion-s-barry-summer-youth-employment-program-participant-information)
is scheduled to go forward, with flexibilities in place for online applications.
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For adults receiving residential supports from
the Department on Disability Services, advocacy efforts are under way, led by
the DC Coalition (http://dc-coalition.org/)
to get the D.C. government to anticipate staffing shortages for in-home direct
support professionals (DSPs) by: 1) boosting
remote/technology based supports for people who may not need as much hands-on
care; 2) designating DSPs as essential employees so that, in the case of a more
stringent lockdown, they can get to their jobs; and 3) enabling hazard pay for DSPs
– who are currently doing without any protective gear - in case they need to support
someone who has tested positive (which has not yet occurred). Monitoring of
homes continues, though remotely, by Quality Trust (https://www.dcqualitytrust.org/) staff.
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Advocacy also is under way to try to ensure that
therapists providing mental-health supports through the Department on
Behavioral Health (DBH) can get paid for doing so remotely, and to get the
home-delivered meals that the Department on Aging and Community Living (DACL)
is providing seniors also to go to people with disabilities that DACL
supports. These are works in progress.
In this time of likely staff shortages and other dislocations,
it is even more important for the D.C. government - Melissa Bird (melissa.bird@dc.gov) and Andy Reese (andrew.reese@dc.gov), please take note –
to ensure that people with disabilities are not missed in the DC census. Government guidance was not issued before the
covid19 crisis, and still has not been.
For the moment it appears census responses are being handled residence
by residence, which depends on overburdened individual staffers to get the
cards filled out. In current
circumstances, more centralized methods of ensuring an accurate count are going
to be needed if we want to ensure everyone is counted
Supporting, and heeding the voice of, people with
disabilities must be an intentional and integral part of all planning by the DC
government at this time. Hoping for the
best is not an option. Write to coronavirus@dc.gov to share your concerns
about inclusion of people with disabilities in the planning!
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