Join the CT Tech Act Project's AT Advisory Council

If you are an Assistive Technology (AT) user

or a family member of

someone who uses AT

and

would like to volunteer and give input into the

programs that we offer to individuals with disabilities

throughout the state,

call to find out how you can join the Connecticut

Tech Act Project’s AT Advisory Council.


Call 860-424-4881

for more information

DNEC SUPPORT GROUPS

DNEC believes that change starts with the individual. To that end we are adding two support groups: one for women who have been or are in an abusive situation; and one for caregivers who are in danger of possibly becoming abusive.

Women’s Support and Skills Group
Abuse comes in many forms. It can happen to anyone, any time, anywhere. It is a widespread problem. Everyone knows someone who has been or is being abused, but you may not know it is happening. This group is designed to help women to learn to prevent it from continuing.

Caregivers Support Services
Being a caregiver for a parent, spouse or child is difficult. Many times the pressure of trying to work and take care of someone else builds up and the caregiver can feel frustrated and angry. Although this is normal, unless the caregiver has support, there is a potential for abuse.

Sometimes the abuse is unintentional, the result of the caregiver being overwhelmed and not knowing where to turn for help. This group will offer valuable resources for caregivers, teach coping skills, self advocacy, and stress / anger management, as well as providing group support.

The Women’s Support and Skills Group will run the 1st and 3rd Thursdays from 10AM – Noon.

The Caregivers Support Services begins June 12th, from 10AM to Noon, on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays.

Recent VA News Releases

To view and download VA news releases, please visit the following
Internet address:
http://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel

VA Begins Next Phase of Combat Vet Outreach

Calls to Ill or Injured Veterans Completed

WASHINGTON (May 30, 2008) -- The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced today it has completed making calls to veterans potentially identified as being ill or injured from Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF-OIF), and will immediately begin targeting over 500,000 OEF-OIF veterans who have been discharged from active duty but have not contacted VA for health care.

"We promised to reach out to every OEF and OIF veteran to let them know we are here for them -- and we are making real progress in doing so," said Dr. James B. Peake, Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

A contractor-operated "Combat Veteran Call Center" is making the initial calls on behalf of VA. All potentially sick or injured veterans on VA's list received an offer to appoint a care manager to work with them if they do not have one already. VA care managers ensure veterans receive appropriate care and know about their VA benefits.

In the new phase, beginning today, veterans who have not accessed health care from VA will be called and informed of the benefits and services available to them. Additionally, military personnel received information about VA benefits when they left active duty, and the Department had sent every veteran a letter with this information after their discharge.

For five years after their discharge from the military, these combat veterans have special access to VA health care, including screening for signs of post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. VA personnel have been deployed to the military's major medical centers to assist wounded service members and their families during the transition to civilian lives.

"VA is focused on getting these veterans the help they need and deserve," said Secretary Peake. "I expect these calls to make a real difference in many veterans' lives."

KEEP THE PROMISE

Keep the Promise Coalition
Golden Pen Opportunities!
KTP Advocates…GET YOUR PENS OUT!!

Okay Coalition members, here is a perfect opportunity to educate and inform the community about critical mental health issues … and you can qualify for a Golden Pen Award at the Annual Keep the Promise Awards ceremony in the Fall!

We encourage members to write letters to the editor in response to a powerful editorial from the Hartford Courant.

Please see Monday's Editorial from the Hartford Courant copied below.

PLEASE ACT NOW! Newspapers are normally willing to print responses or other letters within a few days. Be sure to reference the article you are writing in support of. You can go to the KTP web site for a state list of newspapers and to find tips for writing your letter at http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=9FCRwJ9s3C0uuCaWLfVUWFZzygS3IR8n or contact Cheri or Maura directly at: (800) 215-3021. Be sure to send KTP a copy if your letter is published in order to get credit for a Golden Pen Award. Get your ideas into the media TODAY!

Cheri BraggKTP Coordinator(860) 882-0236; (800) 215-3021
keepthepromise@namict.org

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=rauUld91602WMRSF2kfEJlZzygS3IR8n

Back To The Future
June 2, 2008

Connecticut officials had years ago promised to provide mentally ill patients with housing and community-based services to replace costly state psychiatric hospitals that were closing because they were draining the state's coffers.

Lawmakers largely broke their promise, forcing huge numbers of people with mental illness to languish in nursing homes and state prisons, sometimes under bad conditions. The state is now paying for its neglect.

Federal officials last year denied Connecticut $1 million in Medicaid reimbursements because mental health patients exceeded 50 percent of the population at several of the state's nursing homes. By law, nursing homes in which more than half the patients are mentally ill automatically lose their federal Medicaid funding and are reclassified as de facto psychiatric hospitals.

Connecticut expects to lose another $6.5 million in Medicaid reimbursements this year for the same reason. State officials also face a federal class-action lawsuit that accuses them of warehousing the mentally ill in nursing homes.

Had the state done what it promised long ago, it wouldn't be in this mess.

Advocates estimate that there are 3,700 mentally ill patients, most of them under 65, living in nursing homes. Many of them are capable of living in the community with some help. The best that Gov. M. Jodi Rell could do this year to alleviate the problem was offer $9.5 million in proposed budget adjustments over two years for additional community beds and improved screening for the mentally ill. She has dropped the proposal now that rapidly dwindling tax revenues have compelled her and the General Assembly to live with a "do-nothing" budget this year.

The irony is that it costs the state more to keep mental patients in nursing homes than it would to provide housing and community-based mental health programs.Without community housing, the state is resorting to the same expensive warehousing system it did away with over the last four decades.

Copyright © 2008, The Hartford Courant

Workshop offered at CTWorks

DIRECT Workshop

Where you can learn about Disability related Information and Resources, to Educate yourself in Customizing your Transition to employment.


ADA
Contact your local CTWorks Center to register for this Workshop.

Schedule for the DIRECT workshops for June is:

Norwich CTWorks on 6/18
Danielson CTWorks on 6/23
Willimantic CTWorks on 6/24
New London CTWorks on 6/25 (this was Rescheduled from 6/26)

All workshops start at 2:30.

Accessible
Alternate
Dispute
Resolution
(ADR)
Alternate
Formats
Alternate
Methods
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Assistive
Technology Auxiliary Aids and Services Disability
And Technical
Assistance Centers
(DBTAC) Electronic and Information Technology Essential Job Functions Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission (EEOC) Fundamental Alteration Individual
With a Disability Information Transaction Machines (ITM) Job
Coach Major Life Activity Natural Supports Qualified Individual with a Disability
Reasonable Accommodation Rehabilitation Act of 1973 Rehabilitation Research and Training Centers
(RRTC) Section 508 Supported Employment
Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) Teletypewriter Technology (TTY) Ticket to Work Title V of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973Undue Hardship Vocational Rehabilitation

New Rules Proposed to Implement the ADA

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, June 4, 2008
www.USDOJ.GOVCRT
(202) 514-2007
TDD (202) 514-1888

The Department of Justice Proposes New Rules to Implement the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

WASHINGTON - The Department of Justice announced today its intent to solicit comment on proposed amendments to its regulations implementing Titles II and III of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). The proposed regulations will, for the first time, establish specific requirements for the design of accessible public facilities such as courtrooms and an array of recreation facilities including playgrounds, swimming pools, amusement parks, and golf courses, making it easier for individuals with disabilities to travel, enjoy sports and leisure activities, play, and otherwise participate in society.

The ADA is a landmark law that protects the civil rights of the more than 50 million persons, including 5 million children ages 3 to 14, with disabilities, and was intended to provide individuals "equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency." The ADA bans disability-based discrimination by state and local governments and by public accommodations. Public accommodations are defined as private businesses that are generally open to the public, such as hotels, restaurants, retail stores, theaters, and health care facilities. Additionally, the ADA aims to prevent discrimination as it applies to the design and construction of commercial facilities such as office buildings, factories and warehouses.

The proposed amendments are intended to implement revised guidelines published by the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (Access Board), and to adopt changes necessary to address issues that have arisen since the publication of the original regulations in 1991. The amendments, which represent more than 10 years of collaborative efforts with disability groups, the design and construction industry, state and local government entities, and building code organizations, also are intended to provide greater consistency between the ADA Standards and other federal and state accessibility requirements.

Among other provisions, the proposed amendments to the regulations provide:

* accessible swimming pools, miniature golf courses, boating facilities, amusement rides, and other recreational activities;

* accessible playgrounds;

* captioning of emergency announcements in large stadiums;

* identification of accessible hotel room features, and require guaranteed reservations of such rooms to the same extent as the entity guarantees reservations for others;

* the availability of accessible seating in public venues, such as theaters and sports stadiums, for purchase by people with disabilities; and

* the availability of auxiliary aids, such as video interpreting services, to ensure that people who are deaf or have limited hearing can receive and convey vital information in medical and other settings.

Moreover, the amendments reiterate the requirement for covered entities to permit the use of service animals by people with disabilities, and highlight the distinction that a service animal must be a dog or other common domestic animal that is trained to perform specific tasks to assist its owner. The amendments also provide a "safe harbor" for establishments that comply with the current ADA standards, such that retrofitting to meet new accessibility standards is not required unless the building element is being altered or replaced.

Advance text of the proposed amendments are now available on the Department of Justice's web site at www.ada.gov They will soon be published in the Federal Register, and the Department will seek public comment on the proposals and on related issues that have been identified in the preambles. In compliance with the time period established in the Federal Register, public comment will be accepted at www.regulations.gov. The Department anticipates holding a public hearing on the proposed regulations in Washington, D.C. in July 2008.
http://www.ada.gov/.

More information about the ADA, the proposed regulations, and a public hearing can be obtained on the Department of Justice's ADA home page at http://www.ada.gov/.
Information about the ADA is also available the Department's toll-free ADA Information Line at 800-514-0301 or 800-514-0383 (TTY).

Know the Warning Signs of Teen Suicide

• A tendency toward isolation and social withdrawal
• Increasing substance abuse
• Expressions of negative attitudes toward self
• Loss of interest in usual activities
• Giving away valued possessions
• Expression of a lack of future orientation: "it won't matter soon anyway"
• For someone who has been very depressed, when that depression begins to lift, the individual may be at INCREASED risk of suicide, as the individual will have the psychological energy to follow-through on suicidal ideation.
  

If you or someone you care about is showing any of these signs, don't hesitate to pick up the phone to speak with a trained counselor at The Trevor Helpline 866.4.U.TREVOR (866.488.7386)

http://www.thetrevorproject.org/

STATEWIDE DISABILITY PUBLIC FORUM

The State of Connecticut
Office of Protection and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities
Invites you to a

STATEWIDE DISABILITY PUBLIC FORUM

You Speak ... We Listen

To be held in Groton

Groton Public Library
52 Newtown Road
Groton, CT 06340

Tuesday, June 17, 2008
4:00pm to 6:30pm

The Office of Protection and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities (P&A) is an independent state agency that promotes, protects and defends the civil and human rights of people with disabilities. Every year, P&A develops priorities in response to the needs of people with disabilities. These priorities determine the issues that receive special attention during the year. We determine these priorities partly in response to what people tell us at our annual forum.

If you are an individual with a disability or someone who cares about disability issues, we want to hear from you! Interested members of the public are invited to make brief statements about disability -related experiences and issues that are important to them.

A sign language interpreter will be present at this forum. Contact P&A at least 3 business days before the event at (860) 297-4310, if other accommodations (materials in large print, assistive listening systems, etc.) are needed.

Please refrain from wearing scented products to the forum.

- SAVE THE DATE -

SENIOR LIVING EXPO
Windham
Friday, June 27, 2008
9:30AM – 12:30 PM
East Brook Mall
95 Storrs Road
Willimantic, CT

Health Screenings
Art Show
Information
Raffles
-Seniors
-Caregivers
-Professionals
Plenty of FREE Parking
Handicap Access

Sponsored by Senior Resources

GIMME A BREAK

Excerpts From the article GIMME A BREAK, in the Senior Sentry, May 2008 issue

Caring for a person with dementia is a particularly emotional and tiring job. Even the most dedicated and loving caregiver can experience burnout and the desire to have a break. Respite care can help. It can last a few hours or a few days and can be restorative if it provides an opportunity for renewal.

Respite care is not just for caregivers. Individuals with dementia and other conditions may want the opportunity to meet other people, socialize and spend time in a safe and supportive environment.

WHAT KINDS OF CARE ARE AVAILABLE?
Care can be provided in the home, in an Adult Day Care Center, and by friends and family. Residential care is another option.

HOW DO I CHOOSE RESPITE CARE SERVICES?
In order for a caregiver to feel comfortable leaving a loved one in care, he or she needs to select the right service. Meet the person who will be providing the care. Make sure that person is experienced in Alzheimer care. Visit the facility if it is not your home. Ask for references and be sure to research terms and costs. You may want to make an unannounced visit to get a general sense of the facility.

PREPARING YOURSELF
Some caregivers are burdened with a sense of guilt and failure if they seek respite care. It is important to remember that respite care helps both the provider and the person receiving care.

PREPARING THE PROVIDER
You will want to share information about the individual with the care provider. Information about the individual's likes and dislikes, his/her level of communication, personal habits and favorite hobbies are helpful. Any routines or medication needs are vital to share.

PREPARING THE PERSON WITH DEMENTIA
Some individuals will welcome a new face while others may balk. Some can understand while some may be hesitant. Even if the person in your care resists, it's important to get the respite and relief from the stress of caregiving. Some people may wish to stay the first few times someone visits. Don't give up! The first visits may be difficult, but the long-term rewards are worth it.

Additional resources: www.alz.org

_______________
THE RESPITE CARE PROGRAM offers an opportunity to purchase respite services from an approved community services provider for the individual with Alzheimer’s, or the option of receiving an assessment of services needed and the development of a short-term care plan. The program offers funding for respite services that include, but are not limited to: Adult Day Care, Home Health Aide, Homemaker, Companion, Skilled Nursing Care or short term nursing home care. Funds may be used for daytime or overnight respite. The individual with Alzheimer's or dementia must meet eligibility requirements and 20% co-payment is required.

For more information or forms to apply: www.seniorresourcesec.org/caregivers or call (860) 887-3561