Project CORE - Mailing List Archives

Welcome to The Connecting Point Mailing List Archives

1) Abuse of Women with Disabilities Study
2) Update on Reauthorization of the WIA & Rehabilitation Act
3) Teleconference Call – Promoting Post-school Outcomes for Students with disabilities
4) HOME Program information Bulletin
5) Workers with Disabilities Medicaid Buy-In Program - Summary of Status of State Medicaid Buy-In Programs

1) Abuse of Women with Disabilities Study Women with disabilities appear to be at the same risk for emotional, physical, and sexual abuse as women without physical disabilities. However, they are more likely to experience a longer duration of abuse than women who do not have disabilities. The following resources offer information and advice on this difficult issue. Women with Disability Health Issues http://www.4woman.gov/wwd/wwd.cfm?page=24

2) Reauthorization Of The Workforce Investment Act And The Rehabilitation Act
Excerpted from the November 2003 NCD BULLETIN, a Monthly Publication of the National Council on Disability (NCD) http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/bulletins/b1103.html Status: The House and Senate have both passed legislation reauthorizing the Workforce Investment Act, including the Rehabilitation Act. Issues Funding: Both S. 1627 and H.R. 1261 include language that would give governors the authority to divert funds authorized for the public Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) program to the One Stop system. The bills authorize the governors to take money from each of the mandatory partners (including VR) to cover the infrastructure costs of the One-Stops in the state. The Rehabilitation Act specifies that Title 1, Rehab Act, funds are to be limited to activities supporting VR services for eligible individuals with disabilities. Most states currently cannot serve all who apply and are found eligible for VR services, and this provision would create additional barriers to employment for individuals with disabilities. Accessibility: Although one of the crucial elements of the workforce development system is universal access to the system, it is reported that physical and programmatic accessibility in the One-Stops is a major barrier for individuals with disabilities wishing to receive services. The Senate bill includes a number of provisions to strengthen the requirements that individuals with disabilities have equal access to One-Stop services. S. 1627 would require states to periodically assess physical and programmatic accessibility of the One-Stop system. The bill would also require the Department of Labor to provide technical assistance to help ensure the One-Stops are both physically and
programmatically accessible. Performance measures: H.R. 1261 introduces new performance measures into the workforce development and vocational rehabilitation systems, including cost-effectiveness as an indicator of acceptable performance. As the General Accounting Office reported and the Senate recognized, performance measures frequently drive the workforce system, and using cost-effectiveness as a performance measure would create significant disincentives for serving harder-to-serve populations. The Senate bill requires state and local workforce boards to adjust performance measures to accurately reflect and measure the provision of services to individuals with disabilities. The Senate bill also creates incentives for local One-Stops that do an exemplary job of providing services to individuals with disabilities.

3) Teleconference Call -
Please join us for the December national teleconference call on linking and aligning resources to promote more positive postschool outcomes for youth with disabilities. During this call you will learn about: (a) recent funding and policies supported by the US Department of Labor_s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) to promote linking and aligning resources; (b) the National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability - Youth, a technical assistance center funded by ODEP; and (c) ODEP_s efforts to assist NCSET with promoting better interagency collaboration and alignment of resources. Presented by Joan Wills, Director of the Institute on Educational Leadership and Kelli Crane, Senior Policy Analyst of TransCen, Inc. To join this call, dial 703-925-2400 a couple of minutes before the call begins, and refer to the _NCSET Teleconference Call" if asked by the operator. http://www.ncset.org/teleconferences/

4) Home HOME Investment Partnership Program -
Information Bulletin # 60 During the past eleven years, HUD allocated more than $15 billion HUD funds to the HOME program. The disability community should know how the HOME program works, who benefits and what advocates can do to make it more disability focused so we increase "Affordable, Accessible and Integrated" housing. How does the HOME program work?

HOME funds are allocated by formula - 40% of the funds go to State housing agencies (for re-distribution to small and rural communities) and 60% go to your larger city and county housing agencies. BUT because your State and local agencies have discretion in how they use these funds, your input in holding them accountable is critical. Their Consolidated Plans must describe how their HOME funds will be allocated.

HOME funds can be used either for the following activities: 1. new construction; 2. rehabilitation; 3. acquisition; OR 4. Tenant Based Rental Assistance (TRBA) ( AKA, rental housing vouchers). It can be for rental new construction, rehabilitation or acquisition OR for Homeownership. Your State and local housing people decide.

Of the $15 billion, more than half went either to construct RENTAL units or to individuals who could use the TBRA as vouchers (with the other half going to homeowners or home buyers). These funds produced nearly 329,701 new rental units WITH ANOTHER 96,948 TBRA vouchers.

57% of the rental units were used by low-income persons whose income was 0 -30 % of median income (SSI levels) and another 31% by persons with 30 -50% of median income. Why do we need to know about HOME?

1. The HOME rental units must accept Section 8, Mainstream or other federal housing vouchers as rental payment. With a voucher, the tenant pays only about a third of her/his income. These rental units cannot legal deny a person because they have a voucher.

2. The HOME funds are "federal financial assistance," and the new construction, rehabilitation and acquisition must comply with Section 504 and have AT LEAST 5% of the units fully accessible for persons with disabilities.

You can find out by State the total amount of HOME funds your State received statewide. See www.hud.gov/offices/cpd/about/budget/budget03/index.cfm But to learn how these funds were actually spent in your State and your local areas, you will have to read your State and local Consolidated Plans for the past years.

How these funds will be used in the future (rental versus home ownership, or construction versus TRBA) depends on what your State and local housing officials write in their Consolidated Plans. You must have input into this decision making. If you do not make sure the funds are allocated to benefit the disability community, then probably they will not be.   Specifically:
1.       Learn how HOME funds were actually spent both by your State and local housing agencies by reviewing their Consolidated Plans. These are public documents and must be available to you.
2.       Decide how your disability community wants these funds to be allocated in the future (e.g., what percentage to construct rental units, home ownership or rental vouchers, etc.).
3.       Find out when and where the State and local housing agencies will hold public hearings regarding their Consolidated Plans for the next year. You have to use the Consolidated Plan as one political pressure point in the struggle for "Affordable, Accessible and Integrated" housing.
4.       Pressure your State and local agencies to spend the HOME funds to benefit people with disabilities. These decisions are part of the political process and subject to your political pressures.

Following are part of the HUD rankings by State for the HOME Program as of 9/30/03. These are cumulative since 1992. A rank of 1 is the highest (and best); a rank of 50 is the lowest. (If you want to break down your state into your local HOME recipients, go to HUDs webpage and click on your state:
http://www.hud.gov/offices/cpd/affordablehousing/programs/home/snapshot/index.cfm.)

This list compares the States by combing all of HUD's HOME subcategories and criteria of performance, e.g., % of HOME funds that your State has committed, % of HOME funds your State has actually disbursed for units, % of HOME completed rental units; % occupied, etc.

NORTH DAKOTA ranked # 1; NEVADA ranked # 2; VERMONT ranked # 3; RHODE ISLAND # 4; IDAHO # 5; ALASKA # 6; SOUTH DAKOTA # 7; MASSACHUSETTS # 8; MONTANA # 9; WISCONSIN 10; NEW HAMPSHIRE 11; OREGON 12; IOWA 13; INDIANA14; MINNESOTA 15; ALABAMA 16; KANSAS 17; ILLINOIS 18; COLORADO 19; DELAWARE 20; HAWAII 21; MISSOURI 22; WYOMING 23; NORTH CAROLINA 24; GEORGIA 25;NEW MEXICO 26; NEW YORK 27; KENTUCKY 28; MARYLAND 29; WASHINGTON 30; ARIZONA 31; FLORIDA 32; CALIFORNIA 33;MAINE 34;OKLAHOMA 35; CONNECTICUT36; SOUTH CAROLINA 37; MICHIGAN 38; TENNESSEE 39; WEST VIRGINIA 40; UTAH 41; VIRGINIA 42; NEBRASKA 43;LOUISIANA 44; PENNSYLVANIA 45; ARKANSAS 46; TEXAS 47; NEW JERSEY48; OHIO 49; and MISSISSIPPI ranked # 50.

Disability housing advocates can use these rankings in negotiations with your State (and local) HOME recipients. "Affordable" housing must be for the poorest people in the State. What do your Consolidated Plans say about the percent of rental units that must available for the "Extremely Low Income" and the "Very Low Income"? "Accessible" housing is not even addressed with these rankings. How many of the units are in fact accessible to persons with disabilities and in fact occupied by them? To find out, you must inquire with your State and local HOME
recipients.

5) Workers with Disabilities Medicaid Buy-In Program -
Summary of Statusof State Medicaid Buy-In Programs This document represents a state-of-the-states chart as of September 17, 2003, which includes a listing of 27 states that have operational Medicaid Buy-In programs
http://www.uiowa.edu/~lhpdc/work/III_Framework/2003_Summary_StatusofStates.doc

Readers are invited to send information about new resources on secondary education, transition from school, services and supports for adults with disabilities to connectingpoint@projectcore.org . Approved information will then be posted. Additional questions or comments can be sent to the Project Coordinator at coordinator@projectcore.org .
While The Connecting Point is not a discussion group, additional questions and discussions can be posted at
bulletinboard@projectcore.org .
The CORE Project is funded by the Department of Education Rehabilitation Services Administration.
The CORE Project (In Washington State)
Phone- 1-800-5-PARENT
Phone- 1-509-928-1522
Fax 1-509-928-1522
Web site www.projectcore.org

CORE Project
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1324 N. Liberty Lake Rd
Liberty Lake, WA 99019
(A Project of Washington PAVE)

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