Law, Health Policy & Disability Center
University of Iowa College of Law
http://disability.law.uiowa.edu/dpn/
and
The Burton Blatt Institute
Syracuse University
http://bbi.syr.edu
One–Stop Toolkit
Resources of the Week Technical Assistance Project E–Mail listserv
26 October 2007
Good morning everyone,
Below please find the web site and publication of the week, as well as other resources that we hope will be useful as you work on systems change activities to help improve employment opportunities for persons with disabilities.
To subscribe and / or view past resources of the week archives, access: www.onestoptoolkit.org and click on the link to "Resources of the Week" on the right hand side of the home page.
To view an indexed list of the resources of the week by subject matter, visit the L.P.H.D.C. web site at http://disability.law.uiowa.edu/lhpdc/resources/wig/default.asp. It currently includes 20 categories, covering over 300 annotated references. Each category opens to a new window with each Resource of the Week which covered material in that area.
Have a good day and weekend!
Laura Gleneck
Program Associate
Law, Health Policy & Disability Center
University of Iowa College of Law
P: 617–489–0086
F: 617–489–1374
[ E–mail Lgleneck@mail.law.uiowa.edu ]
[ E–mail LFarah8@aol.com ]
[ http://www.onestoptoolkit.org ]
[The full announcement is located under the section heading "Publications of the Week."]
If you have heard it once, you have heard it a hundred times when referring to overarching themes within the Disability Program Navigator initiative and that is “collaboration, collaboration, collaboration.” The publication, Opportunities for Collaboration Across Human Services Programs, states that the “importance of collaboration and cooperation in the development and implementation of human service programs at the state and local level is increasing dramatically both from the perspective of effective services to families and that of efficiently stewarding resources in a time of fiscal pressure.”
This paper provides an overview of some of the major human service programs administered at the state and local level including:
For each of these programs, you will find a description of the program; the program goals; the population served; constituencies and critical partners; major funding sources and administering agencies; the need for collaboration and current program interdependence; future opportunities for and examples of collaboration; and tools, resources, and contacts for more information.
On Wednesday, October 17, the Social Security Administration announced that monthly Social Security and Supplemental Security Income benefits for more than 54 million Americans will increase 2.3 percent in 2008. Access the website to read more about the Cost of Living Adjustment.
[The following news piece from the U.S. Census Bureau is included below in its entirety.]
Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid accounted for more than $1 trillion of the $2.3 trillion the federal government spent in 2005, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, which publishes the only consolidated source of data on the geographic distribution of federal expenditures.
The Consolidated Federal Funds Report for Fiscal Year 2005 (www.census.gov/prod/2005pubs/cffr-04.pdf) [ Get free Adobe Reader ] is a presentation of data on most domestic spending by the federal government for state and county areas of the United States, including the District of Columbia and U.S. outlying areas. The data include expenditures for the Defense Department and the Department of Homeland Security.
The report covers direct payments, grants, procurement awards, and salaries and wages by federal agency and program. The report does not include expenditures for selected intelligence agencies, international payments, foreign aid and interest on the federal debt.
A companion report, Federal Aid to States for Fiscal Year 2005 (www.census.gov/prod/2007pubs/fas-05.pdf) [ Get free Adobe Reader ], contains federal agency and program-level data on grants to state and local governments.
Consolidated Federal Funds Report highlights:
The data in these reports are not subject to sampling variability, but are subject to nonsampling errors, which include errors of response and processing.
Editor’s note: These reports present data for the states and counties only. They do not support the application of federal spending data directly for other areas such as places and congressional districts.
People with disabilities believe Personal Assistance Services (PAS) are services that are only used in the home to assist individuals to remain independent. Over the past 20 years people with severe disabilities have discovered they can use PAS services in the workplace as a reasonable job accommodation and consider a workplace PAS a necessary to perform the essential job functions.
It is important for employees with disabilities to understand what workplace PAS is and is not. A workplace PA does not mean that someone will be performing the job duties or that they will be expected to take care of daily personal needs, it is not the employer’s responsibility to provide this type of service. A workplace PA is used only to provide assistance with the actual job tasks to increase the efficiency and productivity of employees with disabilities. Employers are responsible to provide this accommodation under Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Employees need to work with their employer to find the right individual to provide this valuable on the job support.
Veterans Day originated as “Armistice Day” on Nov. 11, 1919, the first anniversary of the end of World War I. Congress passed a resolution in 1926 for an annual observance, and Nov. 11 became a national holiday beginning in 1938. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed legislation in 1954 to change the name to Veterans Day as a way to honor those who served in all American wars. The day has evolved into also honoring living military veterans with parades and speeches across the nation. A national ceremony takes place at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
This fact for feature special edition includes wonderful statistics on Veterans, including:
The Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Spotlights are an in–depth look at some of the program rules referred to in the booklet, Understanding Supplemental Security Income available at: http://www.ssa.gov/ssi/text-understanding-ssi.htm.
They are designed as handouts to help applicants through the process of applying for and receiving SSI benefits. The SSI Spotlights are intended for use by the general public. SSA encourages advocates to distribute them to their clients and to any other individuals or groups who can use them. They provide more details than our general information pamphlets. The information in the SSI Spotlights is general and not to be applied to specific case situations.
To the former National Governors Association (NGA) Chair, Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, 2007 has been the year of Innovation. For her NGA Chair's initiative, she launched Innovation America to promote innovation in each state and across the nation. "To be competitive as a nation, we must prepare our young people to meet the real demands of the job market," said Gov. Napolitano.
The Institute for a Competitive Workplace has forged a new partnership with Governor Napolitano. To support her work, it has just released Innovation America: A Public-Private Partnership. This new publication is a guide for business on how to work with state leaders to support and promote innovation at the regional and state levels. Governor Napolitano has spent the year working with other Governors to help them understand how they can implement policies and programs that will foster innovation in their states. The report includes a 10 point list for business engagement in innovation and specific examples of how different states have implemented innovation initiatives. Access the URL to learn more information on how you can support innovation where you live and do business.
[The following is excerpted from the Introduction.]
The importance of collaboration and cooperation in the development and implementation of human service programs at the state and local level is increasing dramatically both from the perspective of effective services to families and that of efficiently stewarding resources in a time of fiscal pressure.
This paper provides agency and program leaders, governors’ staff, and legislative staff with a concise overview of some of the major human service programs administered at the state and local level. It also discusses the interdependence of those programs, their common goals, and the way in which those programs might work together. While directed largely at individuals new to these responsibilities it can also prove of value to more experienced staff as well.
The leaders of state human services agencies and programs face an extraordinary series of challenges in the years ahead. These challenges are exacerbated by a combination of factors, including a slower than expected economic recovery, the extremely tight fiscal situation of government at all levels, and a continuing change in the underlying structure of federal programs as they go through the reauthorization process.
Increasingly, political leaders, advocates, researchers and public administrators are recognizing that social problems cannot always be solved within the constraints of individual programs and funding silos. Many families and individuals face multiple problems. And, many problems cannot be solved within the confines of a single program. As a result, there is a growing recognition that success will, in many cases, depend upon the ability of government to work with nonprofits and the private sector to create ready access to the comprehensive services needed.
While there are, and will be, many attempts to achieve comprehensive services through statutory changes and formal requirements for the integration of services, these efforts will probably fall short of the mark. As a result, both short- and long-term improvements will probably depend on efforts at the state and local levels to improve cooperation and coordination among existing programs and organizations.
Such efforts are difficult at best and are often hampered by a lack of information on the roles and responsibilities of other program and agencies. Efforts often fail because they begin with a demand for what one agency needs, rather than with the recognition of common goals and objectives or with a willingness to bring a resource to the table that can be shared with others.
In an effort to encourage greater dialogue at the national level, The Finance Project’s Welfare Information Network invited leadership from ten organizations that represent state officials that administer fourteen human service programs to come together to discuss their individual organizations and to examine areas where they might work together. At its first meeting, this group identified the importance of collaboration at the service delivery level. It also noted the lack of information and tools that could assist their members in exploring opportunities for collaboration. Following an intensive discussion, the organizations agreed to explore a number of joint activities. This publication represents the first of those activities.