DC Disability-related Events and Notable Developments

I didn't post to this site for most of the summer, and I know you don't care about my excuses so I'll dive right in!

When I last blogged in June, I mentioned the Medicaid buy-in bill named for Judy Heumann.  At the DDS forum on August 28, DDS director Andy Reese announced that that bill had passed but still has to undergo its Congressional review, and is expected to take effect in the spring.  But again, for some reason the bill was never revised to allow a person to buy into Medicaid waiver supports - only state waiver - so there's definitely advocacy work to be done to fix this strange oversight - especially given the bill's name!

Several important events are coming up:

-    The Latine conference will take place this Friday, September 12, 12-4, at 899 North Capitol St NE, and you can register for the conference here.

-    The next open meeting of the DC Developmental Disabilities Council will be September 17, 3-5 p.m., held at One Judiciary Square.  Register here.

-    The fifth annual Employment First summit happens on Wednesday, October 7, 9:30-3 at the MLK library.  Register (free entry) here.

Tiffani Johnson, Rights and Advocacy specialist at DDS, is asking for volunteers to participate on two important committees: the Human Rights Advisory Committee (HRAC), which meets from noon to 2 p.m. on the third Wednesday of each month; and the Restrictive Controls Review Committee (RCRC), which meets from 9:30 to noon every Friday to review individuals' behavior support plans (BSPs).  For more information or to volunteer on one of these committees, you can contact Tiffani at tiffani.johnson@dc.gov or on 202-730-1802.

DDS is also inviting comments, by September 21, on three documents outlining policies and procedures that undergird the development of BSPs and the work of the RCRC: these three documents can be found here, here and here, and additional questions can be addressed to Martina Kraemer at martina.kraemer@dc.gov.

That's all for now -