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Real Emergency Access for Aging and Disability Inclusion for Disasters Act Reintroduced in Congress
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On March 29, S.1049/H.R. 2371,The Real Emergency Access for Aging and Disability Inclusion for Disasters Act (REAADI Act), was reintroduced in Congress. Momentum joined more than 190 national organizations as an original endorser of this bill that is intended to add protections for people with disabilities and older adults during disasters.
According to statistics released by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) the United States experienced 90 declared federal disasters in 2022. Of the 54 million people impacted by these disasters, more the 16 million were individuals with disabilities. The study found that individuals with disabilities and older adults have been found to die at higher rates, compared to the general population, during these disasters.
Factors contributing to the increased vulnerability of people with disabilities during disasters include:
- Public shelters often do not have disability-related accommodations, often forcing individuals with disabilities and older adults to be segregated, sometimes apart from their families and natural supports during disasters.
- Failure to provide accessibility for, or plan for accommodating, individuals with physical or sensory disabilities, chronic illness, or mental disabilities decreases the ability of those individuals to evacuate prior to or during a disaster.
- Less than a third of individuals with intellectual disabilities and individuals needing personal care attendants have planned with their personal care providers what to do in a disaster.
The REAADI Act was introduced to reflect the sense of Congress that individuals with disabilities and older adults should be supported during times of disasters, and during disaster preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation in order to ensure maintenance of, and access to, services and supports and enable those individuals and adults to return to their communities in a timely manner as compared with the general population.
The bill text further states that “during the recovery and mitigation phases of disaster response, all buildings and services should be designed, and constructed or reconstructed, according to principles of universal design and to the standards established by the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board in order to ensure access for individuals with disabilities, older adults, and all individuals.” This goal highlights the fact that mere compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) does not make a shelter accessible and holds disasters planners to a higher standard.
REAADI will ensure there is a strong disability and older adult voice in the preparation, response, recovery, and mitigation of disasters. The REAADI for Disasters Act would:
- Establish a National Commission on Disability Rights and Disasters to study the needs of people with disabilities, older adults, and others with access and functional needs and make recommendations for best practices at the local, state, tribal, and federal levels for ensuring older adults and people with disabilities are included in all aspects of disaster preparedness, including:
o accessible communication,
o protection of civil rights,
o accessible transportation and evacuation, and
o accessible health and medical services.
- Create a national network of centers focused on training and technical assistance, as well as research, to assist states and localities to better involve and support people with disabilities and older adults during and after disasters.
- Direct the Department of Justice to review the spending of disaster funds by federal agencies and states to ensure funds have been spent in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Covered activities include emergency shelters, services, and reconstruction of buildings.
- Create a competitive grant program to pilot strategies for greater inclusion of people with disabilities and older adults in disaster preparation, response, recovery, and mitigation.
- Prevent the development or implementation of potentially discriminatory crisis standards of care policies when resources are scarce during a disaster; and
- Require the Department of Justice to examine how the civil rights of people with disabilities and older adults are or are not upheld during and following disasters.
All advocates are urged to contact their Members of Congress and ask that they support the REAADI Act. Please visit Momentum’s online advocacy center by clicking here to add your voice to this critical advocacy initiative.
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Action Needed to Avoid Unintended Cuts to Independent Living Skills Rates
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California is in the midst of a welcome and much-needed investment in disability services necessary to ensure the long-term viability of supports for Californians with disabilities. This effort, the implementation of the 2019 disability rate study, is scheduled to be fully in place on July 1, 2024.
However, the 2019 rate study framework contained flawed assumptions in some rate models and completely omitted some existing service types. And, contrary to California legislative intent, some provider rates will actually decrease at full implementation on July 1, 2024. One service area most acutely impacted by this flaw is Independent Living Skills (ILS). It is expected that the majority of ILS providers will experience significant rate cuts unless the legislature takes action during this session to address this critical oversight.
ILS service providers are skilled life coaches and instructors, teaching people with developmental disabilities how to live independently in a safe, supported, and person-centered environment. As people with IDD learn more skills, they can lead more independent lives and reduce their reliance on other support services. But the Rate Study misclassified these ILS Direct Support Professionals. As a result of this misclassification, ILS providers will be receiving a rate cut at full implementation of the rate study.
Momentum is calling on the legislature to pass AB1568 to address this miscalculation. AB 1568 addresses the ILS error by drawing more appropriate parallels to Bureau of Labor Statistics job codes. Specifically, AB1568 would align ILS rates with the following Wage Assumption Occupations (Bureau of Labor Statistics), and associated percentages, that provide a more accurate description of the complexity and scope of the ILS instructor position than those utilized in the Rate Study:
- Rehabilitation Counselor 30%
- Social and Human Service Assistant 30%
- Teachers & Instructors 40%
Additionally, AB 1568 would align the implementation of the revised ILS rate with the statutory timeline for the implementation of other revised Developmental Services rates.
All are urged to click here to add their voice to this effort and call on their legislator to support AB 1568 to protect disability services in California.
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Hearing on The Disability Equity and Accountability Act of 2023 Set for April 18
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The California Assembly Human Services Committee held a hearing on AB 1147, the Disability Equity and Accountability Act of 2023, on April 18. AB 1147, introduced by Assemblymember Dawn Addis, strengthens the ability of the California Department of Developmental Services (DDS) to provide effective oversight of the 21 regional centers and is formally supported by Momentum.
AB 1147 focuses on three main areas for people served by regional centers:
- Equity – People served by regional centers receive equal and timely access to services regardless of their race, ethnicity, disability, or location by requiring DDS to establish a minimum set of specific services that all regional centers must provide.
- Accountability – The state looks more closely at how regional centers are serving their clients and holds them responsible for how clients are treated and served by requiring DDS to establish targets/standards above which a regional center may receive rewards for good performance, and a separate set of standards below which the regional center is subject to levels of probation and required corrective action.
- Transparency – Clients and families have more opportunities to see how they are individually served and how their regional centers are serving all clients through a new technology system and added transparency.
You can follow the hearing, which will be streamed live, at assembly.ca.gov/todaysevents. And advocates can take action on AB 1147 by visiting Momentum’s online advocacy center by clicking here.
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AB 248 – The Dignity for All Act Passes Assembly by 78 to 0 Vote
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On March 20, AB 248, the Dignity for All Act, passed the California Assembly by a unanimous vote of 78 to 0. The bill, authored by Assemblymember Devon Mathis (R-Visalia), would replace the offensive and outdated terms “Retard”, “Retarded” and “Retardation” from the California Code Sections with “individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities”.
In existing state law, the terms “Retard”, “Retarded” and “Retardation” are still used when describing individuals with an intellectual or developmental disability within the Government Code, the Health and Safety Code, and the Welfare and Institutions codes. This issue was addressed nationally in 2010, with the signing of “Rosa’s Law” which changed “mental retardation” to “intellectual disability” in US federal law.
“No longer is it acceptable to demean people or use demeaning language. Our laws, unfortunately, don’t reflect our current understanding. Ugly relics of the past remain in the words of the very laws that are meant to protect us all equally,” explained Mathis. “It’s unbecoming of the inclusive state that California is continually striving to become.”
The bill now moves to the state Senate where it is expected to pass with no dissent.
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ANCOR and UCP Release Case for Inclusion 2023
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ANCOR, a national trade organization representing more than 2,000 disability service providers including Momentum, and United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) recently released the Case for Inclusion 2023.
Case for Inclusion 2023 includes new data assessing how well all 50 states and the District of Columbia are supporting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) to be included in the community.
This year’s edition of the annual report finds that ongoing failures to invest in community-based I/DD services are exacerbating a long-standing workforce crisis, jeopardizing the ability of people with I/DD to access their communities. To read about more of the findings and access data click here to access and download a copy of the Case for Inclusion 2023
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