AccessAbility

There Are None So Blind as Those Who Will Not See
by Frank Pennisi

October 29 was the seventh anniversary of the passage of the federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA). Among other things, this law promised that people with disabilities would, for the first time, be able to cast their ballots at their local polling places just like everyone else. HAVA requires that polling sites be accessible to people with disabilities, and that voting machines themselves be usable by people who are blind, or who have poor hand coordination or other disabilities that make it difficult or impossible for them to use the old lever machines. In New York State, however, compliance with HAVA is still more a dream than a reality.

Broome and Tioga Counties, to their great credit, have both achieved 100% polling place accessibility. This means that anyone with disability is able to enter each polling site without encountering obstacles. The situation is much different, however, in other parts of the state. A large number of polling places in other counties remain inaccessible, denying citizens with disabilities one of their most basic rights in a democracy. Continue reading...

Courts Watch

DAI v Paterson
On September 9, 2009 a federal District Court judge ruled that Governor Paterson, and New York State’s Office of Mental Health and Department of Health, are violating the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the US Supreme Court’s Olmstead decision, by refusing to move thousands of people out of adult “homes” and into individualized, integrated “supportive living” settings. Continue reading...

First Choice Better than Worst Choice

Disability advocates have not made much progress over the past year in getting federal health care reformers interested in long-term care issues or the need to put an end to institutional bias. As we’ve reported, President Obama, who campaigned in the disability community on his support of the Community Choice Act (CCA), suddenly dropped that support as the health care debate heated up, and Congressional leaders told disability advocates that this was not the time to address their issues. Continue reading...

Bridges to Health
by Jennifer Watson

We are pleased to announce that STIC has recently become a provider under the Bridges to Health Waiver for children with disabilities receiving foster care.

The Bridges to Health (B2H) Waiver was designed to serve Medicaid-eligible children with serious emotional disturbances, developmental disabilities, and/or medical fragility, as well as their families and foster care providers. The B2H Waiver program recognizes that children in foster care can have many caregivers involved in their lives, all of whom can receive services simultaneously when appropriate, including foster parents, biological parents, and pre-adoptive parents. Continue reading...

Closed for the Holidays

Only the office will be closed. Ongoing scheduled services such as Consumer Directed Personal Assistance, Day Habilitation, Supported Employment Job Coaching, Sign Language Interpreters, and others, will continue to be provided as scheduled.
We’ll see you back here on January 4, 2010.
Happy Holidays!

Winter 2009-2010 Issue No. 97