2012 Consensus Agenda On Disability Policy
Developed by Participants in the 2012 Disability Policy Summit
November 29, 2011
Ratifying Organizations Listed Below
Introduction
The Disability Consensus Agenda reflects the agreement of multiple organizations on key public policy goals that affect West Virginians with disabilities. The development of the Agenda began with the Disability Policy Summit hosted by the Statewide Independent Living Council and State Rehabilitation Council in November 2011 and was ratified by participating organizations in January 2012 (see list on last page).
The Agenda features:
- Five interrelated priority areas: Home and Community-Based Services and Supports; Community Infrastructure, Education, Employment, and Civil Rights;
- A guiding statement for each priority area that reflects the shared values and principles of the supporting organizations;
- A strategic focus on policy goals that multiple organizations are actively pursuing;
- Identification of policy goals in each priority area that have statewide impact (such as state legislation and appropriations, policy-making by state agencies and boards, and local policies that have the potential of becoming statewide); and
- A list of organizations that have ratified the Agenda.
It’s important to note that the Disability Consensus Agenda is not a comprehensive listing of policy goals and that individual organizations are working on many additional issues. Also, the Agenda is continually evolving and responsive to changing circumstances and opportunities as they arise.
Although not specifically addressed in this document, it is equally important that our state maximize the policies and funding that we already have. We encourage state leaders to assure that laws and policies are consistently applied and enforced. We urge state agencies to tap the federal resources available to our state for programs that will improve the quality of life of all our citizens.
Home & Community-Based Services & Supports
People with disabilities have the right to live healthy lives and be productive citizens in their communities with access to the community-based services and supports needed to do so.
- Oppose all legislation that would arbitrarily cut Medicaid funding or allow federal block grants.
- Preserve and expand funding for Medicaid Waiver programs, including Aged and Disabled, Intellectual Developmental Disability, and Traumatic Brain Injury.
- Restore state funding for the Ron Yost Personal Assistance Services program and Independent Living Services.
- Change state code to permit self-direction of medication administration, assistance with self-administration of medications, and increased flexibility in health maintenance tasks and location of medication administration.
- Expand Medicaid coverage to include adult dental services, hearing aids, assistive technology, and ventilator services.
Community Infrastructure
People with disabilities have the right to participate fully in their communities therefore, community infrastructure and capacity must be expanded to ensure availability of integrated, accessible and affordable housing, transportation and other resources.
- Support a joint legislative resolution to study code enforcement and the impact of a statewide building code.
- Address prison overcrowding, without building new/ more prisons by diverting low-risk to moderate-risk offenders into community corrections, increasing the number of parole officers, the availability of mental health and drug courts and providing community-based treatment for mental illness, addiction, and other behavioral health disabilities.
- Provide state designation of federal HOME funds for tenant-based rental assistance.
Education
Children and young people with disabilities must have access to quality education that includes services and programs which allow full participation in an integrated and inclusive educational system.
- Full implementation and enforcement of IDEA and Policy 2419, with real consequences for failure to comply, e.g. increased fines, job loss, other sanctions.
- Improve school safety through training, policies, programs, and plans, e.g. prohibiting restraints and seclusion, passing the Jason Flatt Act, enforcing bullying policies, emergency planning.
- Amend school personnel policies to increase training requirements and reclassify personnel as appropriate, including reclassification of interpreters as “other professional” and specific training for teachers and aides.
Employment
People with disabilities have the right and the responsibility to be productive citizens engaged in competitive, integrated employment with the services and supports needed to do so.
- Increase funding for Extended Supported Employment Services to allow more individuals with disabilities to benefit from services each year.
- Increase focus on competitive, community-based employment by creating a standing line-item appropriation for this purpose.
Civil Rights
People with disabilities have the right to determine and control their own destiny with protection from discrimination and segregation; all laws to protect their rights and freedoms should be implemented and enforced in a timely and effective manner.
- Full implementation of the Olmstead Plan and rebalancing strategies to ensure compliance with Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
- Protect existing legal rights of individuals with disabilities, assure all due process rules are enforced, and assure effective and timely representation is available for due process proceedings and for any and all appeals.
- Support a study resolution to study the capacity of State Human Rights Commission to address discrimination and design and construction complaints.
- Full implementation of West Virginia state code §5A-1-11, State Americans with Disabilities Coordinator, through appointment of a full-time WV ADA Coordinator with the responsibilities, powers, and authority therein.
This 2012 Consensus Agenda has been Endorsed By:
- WV Statewide Independent Living Council
- WV State Rehabilitation Council
- National Association of Social Workers, WV Chapter
- West Virginia Advocates
- The Arc of West Virginia
- Fair Shake Network
- Mountain State Centers for Independent Living
- WV Mental Health Planning Council
- WV Mental Health Consumers Association
- Northern WV Center for Independent Living
- WV Parent Training and Information
- West Virginians for Affordable Health Care
- West Virginia Nurses Association
- ADAPT WV
- Job Squad, Inc.
- WV Developmental Disabilities Council
- Appalachian Center for Independent Living
- WV Olmstead Council
- People First of West Virginia
- ACLU – WV
- Jackson County Development Center
- WV Autism Training Center
For more information on the Agenda, please contact:
Ann McDaniel, Executive Director
West Virginia Statewide Independent Living Council
PO Box 625, Institute, WV 25112-0625
304-766-4624 (Office) * 304-543-9331 (Cell)
ann.meadows@wvsilc.org
