Policy Platform
This publication is an overview of the Councils stance on citizen participation, community supports, education, legal justice issues, employment, health care, long-term care, and transportation for people with disabilities.
Policy Platform
MISSION STATEMENT:
The mission of the Council is to promote public policy which leads to the independence, productivity and inclusion of people with disabilities in all aspects of society.
The Council believes that people with disabilities, regardless of ethnic or cultural background, should be able to:
1. live in and participate with maximum independence as members of inclusive communities (with choices, options, and access to supports, including transportation, mental health and health care, required for maximum independence and full participation).
2. Be employed in integrated jobs, including fair and equitable wages and benefits, a variety of job options, upward mobility, and appropriate accommodations for employment supports, including transportation and flexible work schedules and settings.
3. have access to education and life-long learning, with the choice, options, and access to supports required for full participation in the least restrictive environment.
4. Receive supports and services from a unified and accountable, consumer-responsive service system that values and promotes cultural diversity, inclusive communities, families, and natural community supports, and that provides on-going education for community empowerment.
CITIZEN PARTICIPATION
Government by the people includes citizens with disabilities. The right of citizen participation in the governance and policy making of the nation and the state is fundamental. Citizens with disabilities are often brushed aside in the process of making decisions which have profound effects on their lives.
The Council Supports Legislation Policy and Practice Which Results in:
* Accessibility of all voting places
* Increased consumer control of funds expended in their behalf
* Increase consumer participation in policy development and decision-making
COMMUNITY SUPPORTS FOR CHILDREN AND ADULTS
Responding to the needs of people by supporting them in their own homes is clearly the right thing to do. It is also a reflection of strong commitments to the rights, dignity, and freedom that people with disabilities share with everyone. Increasingly, people with disabilities, with the support of their families and friends, have expectations for a full life as participating members of their community.
Some of the lessons we have learned from people with disabilities are that: smaller is better, people like services close to family and friends, people report their lives are better when they live in their own homes, and everyone can be served in their community.
There is a need to shift resources from institutional and facility-based care to individual and family supports tailored to the needs and wishes of the individual with disabilities.
The Council Supports Legislation Policy and Practice Which Results in:
* Affordable available Attendant care
* A seamless continuum of supports and Maintenance of needed supports as independence increases
* The elimination of institutional environments which deprive people of their rights, freedoms and life quality when they have not been convicted of crimes.
* Expand the systemic capacity of community-based services in order to meet the needs of persons on waiting lists and living with aging parents and a moratorium on development of institution like "group placement" settings
* Fair affordable housing
* Increased availability of supported living
* Increased Waiver slots
* Increasing the number of Independent Living Centers to serve all areas of the state.
* Increased consumer options for providers of personal services
* Increased personalization of services and decreased beaureaucratization
* Resources to enhance the work of the Family Support Council;
* Statutory protection from faulty products for consumers of assistive devices;
* The expansion of children's mental health services, including collaborative planning and the sharing of flexible funding and programming;
* Flexible funding systems for community-based programs and wrap-around services to better serve children with disabilities and their families;
* The early identification and provision of community-based primary, preventative, and special services for children with special needs within the new Children's Health Insurance Plan;
* Funded programs, services and family support alternatives that provide options for persons with disabilities of all ages to live at home and to participate fully in the community;
* A plan to be developed through the Developmental Disabilities Task Force (also known as the 317 committee)that will meet the comprehensive needs of persons with disabilities through the life span, including:
* the development of accurate information on the number of persons waiting for specific individualized services;
* Medicaid waivers to afford the greatest selection of choice for the consumer, the widest array of services, and the most efficient use of state dollars;
* the continued use and expansion of Medicaid, including Medicaid waivers, and other funding sources to provide community based services and family support alternatives for persons with disabilities, regardless of age;
* the level of care determination of Medicaid waivers to be made at the local level;
* flexible funding that follows the person, giving the consumer choice in the selection and location of services as a standard feature of all publicly funded services;
* an aggressive public response to serving all persons waiting for specific and individualized services;
* Resources returning to community services to support the expansion of community-based programs, including supported living, that allow persons with disabilities to live, work and play in the community.
* Services that are person centered or age appropriate family centered.
EDUCATION
For students with disabilities, as with all students, the quality of their experiences in school is a crucial component in achieving outcomes of independence, integration and productivity. Currently best practice calls for the education of students in integrated settings in their neighborhood schools. Federal law mandates that the educational system serve students in response to their individual educational needs in the least restrictive environment. However, students with disabilities often leave school without the skills, experiences and supports they need to live, learn, work and play as valued citizens in their communities
The Council Supports Legislation Policy and Practice Which Results in:
* Quality education for all children, pre-school through Grade 12, including
* fully-funded school programs, with an additional factor for at-risk children and children with disabilities
* an equitable school distribution formula that serves all Indiana public schools while recognizing the individual needs of students
* implementation of IDEA-97, including the participation of students with disabilities in fully inclusive educational settings, statewide assessments and in the Performance-Based Accreditation Program
* flexible funding to encourage the coordination of programs and services for children and families through collaborative planning and sharing of resources by all departments of state government
* positive merger of "regular' and "special education"
* proactive educational staff training and development
* Expansion of personal futures planning and school involvement in transition planning
* State support for parent training and information centers, as provided in IDEA-97
* The review and expansion of collaborative efforts by the Division of Special Education, the Indiana Department of Education, and the DDARS Rehabilitation Service and Workforce as stipulated in IDEA-97, to strengthen transition-to-work programs and to promote and expand employment opportunities for students with disabilities.
* Increased opportunities and supports for post-secondary education for students with disabilities
LEGAL/ JUSTICE
Citizens with disabilities experience greater difficulties than other citizens when dealing with the justice system. Ignorance about the needs of citizens with disabilities results in failure to arrest and prosecute those who commit crimes against them. This same ignorance results in suffering and death of citizens with disabilities when they are arrested and/or incarcerated.
The Council Supports Legislation Policy and Practice Which Results in:
* Effective training of officers of the court, police officers, corrections personnel and others a within the criminal justice system in the needs and concerns of people with disabilities including at least:
* Recognition of disabilities including mental illnesses.
* Maintenance of prescription medications.
* Creation of an independent entity responsible for responding quickly and effectively to issues of abuse and/or neglect;
* The development of mental health education programs for law enforcement officers involved with individuals with mental health issues.
EMPLOYMENT
People with disabilities in Indiana are unemployed or underemployed at a disproportionately high rate compared to other Hoosiers. People with disabilities are more likely to be impoverished compared to other Hoosiers.
People with disabilities should:
Have career path opportunities in a wide variety of industries and kinds of jobs;
Have individual choice in jobs and careers, in typical business settings, earning typical wages with individualized supports for long term employment success.
Be paid adequately for their work, and their compensation should include benefits for health, unemployment compensation, worker and disability compensation, pension, vacation, and sick and compassionate leave.
Receive the necessary education, training, and retraining needed to become and remain employed and to advance their careers. There are effective means for linking people in search of jobs with job openings.
Advance to higher paying and higher status jobs throughout their careers.
Receive reasonable accommodations and assistive technology, as indicated in the Americans with Disabilities Act, to maintain and advance in their chosen careers.
The Council Supports Legislation Policy and Practice Which Results in:
* Increased supported employment services
* Increased opportunities for integrated employment
* Continuation and expansion of the efforts toward full statewide compliance with Title 1 of the ADA.
* All workforce development programs, including vocational rehabilitation, that are funded by the State of Indiana be available to and accessed by individuals regardless of their disability;
* Participation of persons with disabilities in school-to-work programs, job training and employment opportunities;
* Medicaid waivers for long-term supported employment needs.
HEALTH ISSUES: LONG TERM CARE, MANAGED CARE
Managed care has the potential to become synonymous with patient centered care, a flexible network of services that is based on quality and is responsive to the patient's needs. Consumer satisfaction must be a paramount consideration if managed care systems are to live up to the goal of cost effectiveness and efficiency. Managed care will neither be cost effective or efficient if the consumer does not receive appropriate quality care in a timely manner. It is only through the consumer that outcomes related to quality and effectiveness can be measured.
Many people with disabilities have complex health care needs that require care coordination by a primary care physician and the utilization of specialist physicians. The test of an effective system is how well it serves people with disabilities and chronic conditions.
The Council Supports Legislation Policy and Practice Which Results in:
* Increase availability of affordable Health Insurance
* Full mental health parity for children under the federal Children's Health Insurance Program;
* Full mental health parity for all.
* Consumer choice and a system for monitoring access to and quality of medical services provided by available plans
* A statutory definition and licensure of assisted living and adult foster care
* A long term care service that
* Provides quality assurance regardless of funding sources
* Reduces dependence on institutionalization, and
* Redirects resources to maximize home and community-based care options, including the CHOICE program, based on consumer choice
* Managed care must include:
* Programs that insure high quality as well as manage costs
* Protections for individuals in managed care programs, including
* User-friendly information for informed consumer choice
* Access to specialty care, including behavioral health
* Quality assurance, with clear and accessible grievance procedures
* An independent review process
* Inclusion of the consumer and/or consumer's family in the managed care decision-making team
* For consistency in managed care plans--
* A statutory definition of medical necessity that includes assistive technology
* A statutory definition of durable medical equipment
TRANSPORTATION
Freedom of movement is a fundamental right in our society. It is an essential component of any effort to enable citizens to live independently; to engage in productive self-sustaining activity; and, most importantly, to be fully integrated within their communities. All components of a transportation system must meet the needs of citizens in an accessible and affordable manner.
The Council Supports Legislation Policy and Practice Which Results in:
* Improved transportation options statewide
* All publicly funded or publicly regulated transportation services must be in full compliance with the ADA as soon as possible and must be architecturally, physically (mechanically) and programmatically accessible to people with disabilities.
* Coordinated community transportation systems that are accessible affordable, and available to all people with transportation needs;
* Stable funding for accessible and affordable transportation options, including paratransit, for people with disabilities and others who use public transportation.
* Removal of barriers and promotion of the coordination of publicly funded transportation services particularly in rural communities.
* Education of transit personnel to sensitize them to the transportation needs of people with disabilities, as well as "user-side training" for people with disabilities.
* Development and coordination of regional transportation systems including mechanisms for consumer based quality control.
