Things may seem
quiet, but important D.C. advocacy work and activities continue on virtual
platforms:
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Rights of people during the pandemic. Over the last two months I’ve been part of a team
helping DDS develop training guidance on protecting people’s rights during the
pandemic. Beginning next week DDS will
be rolling out this training, entitled “Assuring Rights During Covid 19.” Most DDS service coordinators have already
received the training. I’ve written
frequently over the summer about the fact that some DDS provider agencies have
been imposing their own restrictions on people’s movements and outside contacts
during the District’s reopening, but this training should address that concern. For more information contact Emily Ornstein at
emily.ornstein@dc.gov.
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Getting some day services under way. As of today,
nine DDS day-services providers have submitted their reopening plans to DDS,
and the first DDS responses will go out next week. Individuals’ CPAQ (Community Participation
Assessment and Questionnaire) meetings, to discuss people’s interest in, and
specific support needs, to enable re-engagement in day services, are also
starting up. For people needing
employment readiness services, DDS is indicating that there will be close
coordination between the DDA and RSA sides of the house, with RSA counselors
set to attend team meetings and a focus on moving people toward paid employment
on an accelerated timetable. Contact Kirk
Dobson at kirk.dobson@dc.gov for more
information.
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DDS Friday calls. Each Friday at noon, Andy Reese continues to host calls to update the
D.C. community on how the covid crisis, and the city’s response to it, is
affecting the people it supports. Archived
recordings of those calls as well as other key covid-related information can be
found on the DDS website at https://dds.dc.gov/node/1467506.
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Memorial service being planned. As of Friday, August 28, 33 people
receiving DDS supports have died due to covid-related causes. A group is meeting periodically to plan an
in-person memorial gathering in the fall.
If you’re interested in being part of the planning, contact Rebecca
Salon at rebecca.salon@dc.gov.
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Police interactions with the disabled community. A group continues to meet on Mondays under the umbrella of
the DD Council to consider recommendations we want to make about improving MPD
interactions with disabled people. Ron
Hampton, former MPD officer and current president of the D.C. Autism Society
chapter, is leading this group. If you’d
like to join the dialogue, please be in touch with Alison Whyte at alison.whyte@dc.gov.
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New school year. The new school year is upon us, and although it will start virtually,
parents are scrambling to make preparations.
(See https://dcpsreopenstrong.com/.)
Laura Lorenzen, the new DC liaison for MANSEF (see https://dcase.org/),
joined a regular call of disability advocates on September 26 to talk about challenges
parents are facing in obtaining necessary immunizations for their children, and
the need to extend the waiver of telehealth licensing requirements, which is
set to end on October 9.
I’ve spoken
personally with any number of you over recent weeks, and I know we’re all
managing as best we can. Fortunately, our
region is doing better at weathering this period of crisis than many other
parts of the country, but we all need to be alert, careful, and mutually
supportive. Keep track of the latest
D.C.-wide information at https://coronavirus.dc.gov/phasetwo.