[NHLakesChapter] Fwd: GSIL Advocacy Alert

Wed Feb 7 03:17:57 UTC 2024

Hello
I hope this sends okay - I'm never quite sure what the server allows
in terms of links/attachments. Of particular note in this alert from
GSIL's advocacy team is the last entry about the census count in terms
of people with disabilities. If folks can't read this, let me know and
I'll try to chop it up into bits and re-send.

Sincerely

Andrew Harmon

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Ryan Donnelly <rdonnelly at gsil.org>
Date: Tue, 6 Feb 2024 15:20:19 +0000
Subject: GSIL Advocacy Alert
To:

[cid:image001.jpg at 01DA58E5.4DD8CD60]

Granite State Independent Living

Advocacy Alert

February 6, 2024

In This Issue

  *   New Futures Advocacy 101 Training Webinar
  *   More Public Information Sessions on HCBS Case Management Training
  *   Feds Move to Enforce Accessibility Standards for Medical Equipment
  *   New Census Weighs Overhaul of Disability Questions

Granite State Independent Living

Advocacy Program

21 Chenell Drive

 Concord, NH 03301

Phone: (603) 228-9680 or (800) 826-3700

Visit our website at: www.gsil.org<http://www.gsil.org>

E-mail: advocacy at gsil.org<mailto:advocacy at gsil.org>

[cid:image002.png at 01DA58E5.4DD8CD60]
New Futures Advocacy 101 Training Webinar

Tue, Feb 13, 2024, 3:00 PM via Zoom

The 2024 legislative session is underway, and there are many
opportunities for you to get involved and influence proposed
legislation impacting you and your community. This webinar will
provide an overview of the NH state legislature and how a bill becomes
a law, and discusses when and how to get involved by participating in
public hearings, reaching out to legislators, using media, and other
advocacy strategies. You'll leave feeling more empowered to take
action on issues you care about during the 2024 legislative session!

ASL interpretation will be provided during this webinar. This webinar
will be recorded. Registrants will receive an email following the
webinar with a link to the recording, and a link to a digital resource
folder with materials that can be downloaded.
Register Here<https://new-futures.org/trainings/details/39/Advocacy-101-Webinar>

Additional Public Information Sessions on HCBS Case Management Training

The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)
Bureaus of Elderly and Adult Services (BEAS) and Developmental
Services (BDS), in partnership with the Human Services Research
Institute (HSRI), the UNH Institute on Disability, and the University
of Missouri at Kansas City Institute for Human Development, will hold
two additional public information sessions to seek input on training
priorities for case managers and service coordinators who support New
Hampshire’s Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) services for
older adults and people with disabilities.

This work is one of several initiatives in the state’s evaluation of
New Hampshire’s home- and community-based services. DHHS is working
with HSRI and its partners to assess training and support for case
managers and service coordinators and develop a plan to ensure
equitable access to high-quality, person-centered case management and
service coordination across the State.

Anyone who has feedback about HCBS case management and service
coordination is encouraged to attend a listening session. For
additional information about the listening sessions or to provide
direct feedback, please email
NHCMassessment at dhhs.nh.gov<mailto:NHCMassessment at dhhs.nh.gov>.

In-person listening session:
Thursday, February 22, 2024
10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Northeast Delta Dental Conference Center
Two Delta Drive, Concord

Virtual listening session:
Wednesday, February 21, 2024
6:00 – 8:00 pm
Zoom Link: https://bit.ly/48GjOiZ
Or by telephone:
Dial: 1-646-931-3860
Meeting ID: 854 1798 7066

People who need accommodations for communication access to in-person
sessions such as interpreters, CART (captioning), assistive listening
devices, or other auxiliary aids and/or services, can contact DHHS at
603-271-9203 or
NHCMassessment at dhhs.nh.gov<mailto:NHCMassessment at dhhs.nh.gov> five
business days before the listening session. At least five business
days' advance notice is requested in order to assure availability of
accommodations; requests made fewer than five days prior to the event
will attempt to be accommodated but cannot be guaranteed.

Feds Move to Enforce Accessibility Standards for Medical Equipment

(from Disability Scoop, written by Michelle Diament, published January
17, 2024):

Doctor’s offices often lack examination tables, weight scales and
other diagnostic equipment that are accessible to people with
disabilities. Now, the U.S. Department of Justice is trying to change
that.

The agency is proposing a rule under the Americans with Disabilities
Act that would adopt technical standards spelling out the
responsibilities that hospitals and health care clinics operated by
state or local governments have under the law.

The Justice Department said that the proposal published this month in
the Federal Register comes in response to numerous complaints from
people with disabilities who have been denied basic services by health
care providers due to a lack of accessible equipment.

Complaints cited cases where doctors failed to obtain an accurate
weight before administering anesthesia, a doctor who told a patient
who remained in his wheelchair for the entirety of his annual exam
that “I assume everything below the waist is fine,” and a patient who
was afraid to go to the doctor after being placed on a standard exam
table with no side rails.

“Individuals with disabilities often experience great difficulty
obtaining routine or preventative medical care because of inaccessible
medical diagnostic equipment. From examination tables to weight scales
to mammography equipment, accessible (medical diagnostic equipment) is
critical to ensuring equal access to medical care,” said Kristen
Clarke, assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s Civil
Rights Division. “This groundbreaking rule marks a significant
milestone in the Justice Department’s efforts to remove barriers that
people with disabilities face when accessing medical care.”

The proposed rule would adopt accessibility standards established in
2017 by the U.S. Access Board for exam tables, chairs used for eye and
dental exams, weight scales, mammography equipment and x-ray machines,
among other items used by health care providers for diagnostic
purposes.

The rule is being proposed under Title II of the ADA, which requires
state and local government services, programs and activities to be
accessible to people with disabilities, so the rule would apply to
public hospitals, health clinics and other entities that state and
local governments contract with to provide health care services.

Under the proposal, state and local government entities that provide
health care would be barred from denying services to patients with
disabilities because of a lack of accessible equipment and such
providers would be prohibited from requiring people with disabilities
to bring someone to help them with an exam.

The rule would require that any new medical diagnostic equipment that
covered entities acquire be accessible until they meet a required
threshold of accessible equipment. Providers that use exam tables
would have to have at least one that is accessible within two years.
Similarly, if the rule is finalized, entities that use weight scales
would need to have an accessible one within two years.

Staff would need to be able to operate accessible medical equipment
and be able to assist with necessary transfers and positioning, the
Justice Department said.

The proposal is up for public comment through Feb. 12.

The original text of this article may be read
here<https://www.disabilityscoop.com/2024/01/17/feds-move-to-enforce-accessibility-standards-for-medical-equipment/30697/>.

New Census Weighs Overhaul of Disability Questions

(from Disability Scoop, written by Michelle Diament, published January
29, 2024):

The U.S. Census Bureau says it received thousands of comments after
proposing major changes to the way it counts the number of Americans
with disabilities and is deciding whether to finalize the plan.

The agency put forth a proposal in October to update its American
Community Survey, which included substantial modifications to its
disability questions.

Under the plan, the series of six disability questions would be
reordered, reworded and a new question would be added to ask about
psychosocial and cognitive disability as well as problems with speech.
But potentially the biggest change is that rather than simply
responding with “yes” or “no,” people would be asked to rate the level
of difficulty they have with various functions. In order to be counted
as having a disability, advocates say that the model proposed by the
Census requires that a person respond to at least one question with “a
lot of difficulty” or “cannot do at all.”

Disability advocates said they were blindsided by the proposal and
they have warned that if it’s adopted, the new approach could lead to
a 40% drop in the count for this population. That could bring huge
consequences since Census figures are used to inform federal funding
allocations and other decisions related to everything from affordable
housing and transportation to health care, enforcing civil rights and
more, advocates said.

“In short, major changes to the ACS data collection could have
dramatic effects on people with disabilities’ access to critical
government supports,” according to comments signed by dozens of
advocacy groups that were submitted by the Consortium for Constituents
with Disabilities.

The Census Bureau collected public comment on the proposal through
mid-December and says it received over 12,000 responses.

“The majority of the comments cited concerns with changing the
disability questions,” the agency said. “The Census Bureau is
currently reviewing and considering the public’s feedback as part of
the process for making changes to the ACS.”

The agency said that it will work with the Office of Management and
Budget and the Interagency Council on Statistical Policy Subcommittee
on the ACS to decide what will be submitted for final approval for the
2025 American Community Survey.

The original text of this article may be read
here<https://www.disabilityscoop.com/2024/01/29/census-weighs-overhaul-of-disability-questions/30718/>.

Ryan Donnelly
Advocacy Coordinator

Granite State Independent Living
Tools for Living Life Independently
Home Care • Community Supports • Employment Services
21 Chenell Drive| Concord, NH | 03301
Office: (603) 228-9680 x1125 | (800) 826-3700 (V /TTY)
Visit our website at: www.gsil.org<http://www.gsil.org/>

Pinnacle Award Non-Profit Business of the Year, Greater Concord
Chamber of Commerce
Year of Service, Citadel Broadcasting / WOKQ
Corporate Fund Award for Excellence in Nonprofit Management
NHBR Business Excellence Award –Nonprofit
Business NH Magazine Nonprofit of the Year

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail and any files transmitted with it
are for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and contain
information that may be privileged and confidential.  Any unauthorized
review, use, disclosure, or distribution is prohibited.  If you are
not the intended recipient of this e-mail, please delete this e-mail
and any files transmitted with it and notify the sender immediately.
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: GSIL Advocacy Alert 2-6-24.doc
Type: application/msword
Size: 50688 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/nhlakeschapter_nfbnet.org/attachments/20240206/d22e1e38/attachment-0001.doc>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: 508_Listening Session flyer_FEBRUARY2024.pdf
Type: application/pdf
Size: 225186 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/nhlakeschapter_nfbnet.org/attachments/20240206/d22e1e38/attachment-0001.pdf>