Family Voices Indiana

FV Indiana urges our members to read and be responsive to this effort if it is important to you! HB 1311 is a bill, proposed by Rep. Goodin , that would mandate insurance coverage for hearing aids in Indiana. The proposed bill is being heard by the House Insurance Committee next Wed., Jan. 21, at 10:30 in Room 156B. A link to the proposed bill: http://www.in.gov/apps/lsa/session/billwatch/billinfo?year=2009&session=1&request= getBill & docno =1311 The bill would mandate hearing aid coverage for all state employees and all insurance policies and HMOs . Letters of support can be written to the members of the House Insurance Committee: Chair: Representative Fry Vice Chair: Representative Herrell Members: Bardon , C. Brown, GiaQuinta , Porter, V. Smith. Borders R.M.M., Burton, Lehman, Murphy, Torr. If any of the above committee members are YOUR local representatives, please contact them directly. We recommend using email to ensure the letter is received before the heari

NAMI is working on federal legislation, The Healthcare Crisis Relief Act, designed to increase the number of child-serving mental health professionals (child-psychiatrists, child-psychologists, child-serving social workers, child-serving counselors, etc.) across the country. As we go to Capitol Hill in support of this legislation, we are developing fact sheets with colleague organizations that will include quotes from families about the impact on children and families when they cannot access mental health services for their child because they do not have access to a mental health provider, must travel long distances to see a mental health provider, and/or must wait on long waiting lists for services. If any of these issues have impacted your child and family, we would ask that you please consider sending us a short quote that describes the circumstances and the impact on your child and family. Again, we ask that you keep it short because we will not have a whole lot of room on our fact

from DDRS: 2009 Graduates and Students  Who Left School in 2007, 2008  May Be Eligible for Priority Support Services  Medicaid  Waiver  The Division  of Disability and Rehabilitative Services is excited to issue a public reminder of the continuation of the Priority Criteria allowing young adults with disabilities to bypass the waiting list and apply for an Indiana Home and Community-Based Medicaid Support Services waiver.  Individuals between the ages of 18 and 24 who are graduating with the class of 2009 or have left  special education programs  with the classes of 2007 or 2008 should contact their local Bureau of  Developmental Disabilities Services  (BDDS) office as soon as possible to determine eligibility. For eligible individuals, the 18-24 Priority Criteria is an important step to ensuring a  smooth transition from school  to adult life and potentially averting the need for more intensive services in the future. The Support Services waiver provides non-residential assistance

We encourage our members to stay abreast of topics of importance to Indiana families. This is the text of the Governor's speech: State of the State Address Governor Mitchell E. Daniels Jr. Fellow public servants and fellow citizens. Together again! Thank you as always for the privilege of this assignment, and of this podium. We gather annually to review the state of our state, but rarely at a time of such national and even international alarm. For Indiana, tonight is of course a night for facing difficulties, but doing so with confidence, and even pride. I awake every day glad for many reasons that I am a Hoosier. And though we meet tonight in an hour of great stress, we have cause if not for gladness then at least for relief, that it is in Indiana we are meeting. For, thanks in large part to the people here assembled, we can speak tonight of challenge, but not crisis; issues, but not emergencies. We will examine the state of our state soberly, but with satisf