Family Voices Indiana

When we talk about the transition from childhood to adulthood, the word “plan” comes up a lot. There’s an education plan, a medical plan, planning your child’s income and signing up for services, planning for housing, planning to make sure your child is legally protected, planning for a career, planning a social life, and more. It’s a lot to wrap our arms (and heads) around! Especially when we have our own emotions, dreams, and ideas about our children growing up. But making sure that we have certain i’s dotted and t’s crossed helps to ease the stress of transition, helps our children handle the responsibility of adulthood, and helps them get set up in a safe place. And that’s why working with your child to create a good plan can be a real relief. What Goes Into Transition Planning? A transition plan isn’t a single plan. It’s a set of plans that cover all the areas of transition we’ve listed above. To help you and your child keep track of each area, Texas Parent to Parent has this tr…

from National Family Voices:

New Federal Policy on Restraint and Seclusion in Schools On January 17, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced a new department initiative to address the problem of restraint and seclusion of school children with disabilities. See U.S. Department of Education Announces Initiative to Address the Inappropriate Use of Restraint and Seclusion to Protect Children with Disabilities, Ensure Compliance with Federal Laws (Department of Education press release, 1/17/19). The Department's Office for Civil Rights (OCR), in partnership with the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), will oversee the initiative, which will include compliance reviews; civil rights data collection; and technical assistance for schools and education agencies on the legal requirements of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act relating to the use of restraint and seclusion on children with disabilities. See DeVos to Examine the Use of Restraint and Seclusion …

Newest eMedicare Tool Provides Valuable Information to Mobile Users Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) launched a new app that gives consumers a modernized Medicare experience with direct access on a mobile device to some of the most-used content on Medicare.gov. The new “What’s Covered” app lets people with Original Medicare, caregivers and others quickly see whether Medicare covers a specific medical item or service. Consumers can now use their mobile device to more easily get accurate, consistent Original Medicare coverage information in the doctor’s office, the hospital, or anywhere else they use their mobile device. In addition to the “What’s Covered” app, through Blue Button 2.0 the agency is enabling beneficiaries to connect their claims data to applications and tools developed by innovative private-sector companies to help them understand, use, and share their health data. “eMedicare is one of several initiatives focused on modernizing Medicare and e…

from The Arc of Indiana:
Contact Your State Representative
Support HB 1488
HB 1488, the vehicle bill for the 1102 Task Force recommendations to improve programs and services for people with I/DD, will be heard in the House Public Health Committee, 3:30 p.m on Wednesday, January 30. Contacting your State Representative is critical and particularly critical if your representative is a member of the committee.

Key issues in HB 1488 include:Increase Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) wages to create a sustainable system that attracts and maintains the DSP workforce.Support efforts to create a crisis management system for people with disabilities.Revise the priority categories for our Medicaid waivers nd allows for some expansion for people with I/DD to transition out of their family home.*  Increases funding for Vocational Rehabilitation Services to ensure appropriate staffing needs to address resource and program shortfalls and assist those who need to utilize the programs.  Direct DDRS to …

From Indiana DOE: Our office is developing several videos this spring to share with parents and educators. These videos highlight the development of Indiana’s assessment system and topics specific to our assessments. Please share these valuable resources via newsletters or parent messages. How is Indiana considering building a system of assessments? Watch this 3-minute video to find out more about how Indiana assessments work together. How is Indiana integrating technology with assessment? Watch this 3-minute video to find out more about Assessing with Technology.

from Indiana DOE:

Dyslexia Intervention Guidance Senate Enrolled Act (SEA) 217 does not endorse a single product or approach for dyslexia intervention. While there is not a specific intervention program schools must use, SEA 217 does have recommended instructional approaches.  IDOE has created two documents to aid schools in selecting an intervention program. The “Dyslexia Intervention Program Check” can be used to investigate the fidelity of a dyslexia intervention program.  The second document lists the recommended instructional approaches from SEA 217 and provides example approaches that satisfy the recommended approaches from the law.  This is not an exhaustive list. IDOE does not  endorse any of these products, but they are offered as examples. These documents can be found on IDOE's dyslexia page.

Thanks to the hard work of advocates like you, H.R. 259, the Medicaid Extenders Act, was signed into law.  The Act provides three months of MFP funding (states have until Sept 31, 2019 to spend it) and extends the HCBS Medicaid spousal impoverishment protections until March 31, 2019.  We’ll keep working for a longer extension, since it's only short-term, but for now, we celebrate the victory and thank you for your hard work! For more information on the bill, visit this page.