Miscellaneous

NCD Bulletin, February 2009

NCD conducted its Winter quarterly meeting January 12-14 in Scottsdale, AZ, with over 140 people in attendance.

On January 12, after conducting the general business of the agency, NCD heard a presentation on the signing and ratification process for the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities by Eric Rosenthal, Founder and Executive Director, Mental Disability Rights International.

On January 13, NCD heard a presentation by Trent Hamblin, Director of Operations, UTM Event Management and RTW Management, on his experiences during the evacuations for recent hurricanes.

NCD also heard employment-related presentations by Kevin Foster, Director, Human Resources, Motorola, and Tom Siegfried, Co-Director, Rehabilitation Continuing Education Program, InterWork Institute, San Diego State University.

Presentations about a variety of issues impacting people with disabilities in the Southwestern United States were given by Tony DiRienzi, Executive Director, Arizona Statewide Independent Living Council; Treva Roanhorse, President, Consortia of Administrators for Native American Rehabilitation; Jimmy Warne, Director, Center for American Indian Rehabilitation at SDSU; Randy Collins, Director, Arizona Assistive Technology Act Project; and Mike Blatchford, Executive Director, Assist to Independence Center for Independent Living in Tuba City, Arizona.

NCD conducted a policy forum on disability healthcare, which is of great interest to the Council. Presenters included Leonard Kirschner, President, AARP, Arizona; Anthony Rodgers, Director, Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System; Merrill Friedman, Assistant Vice President, Amerigroup Corporation; Jude Walker, Division Chief, Member and Provider Services, Education Advocacy, Office for Children with Special Health Care Needs, Public Health Prevention Services, Arizona Department of Health Services; and Jill Rissi, Director for Research and Policy, St. Lukeโs Health Initiatives.

Updates on regional programs funded under the Developmental Disabilities Act were given by Andrew Mudryk, Southern California Litigation Director, Disability Rights California; Pat Putnam, Executive Director, New Mexico Developmental Disabilities Planning Council; and Barbara Brent, Assistant Director, Arizona Department of Economic Security, Division of Developmental Disabilities.

Summaries of those presentations can be found at http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/quarterly/2009/AZ_Appendix_12-14_Jan%202009.doc.

During the Unfinished Business section of the meeting, NCD voted to send a letter to President Barack Obama recommending that he sign the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which opened for signature in March 2007, and entered into force in May 2008. To date, 137 countries have signed the CRPD and 46 have ratified it to become States Parties. On March 5, 2007, NCD sent a similar letter to then President George W. Bush.

More NCD information on the Convention can be found at http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/publications/2008/doc/ncd_crpd_analysis.doc.

NCD also voted to continue its membership in the United States International Council on Disabilities (http://www.usicd.org/)

Current Issues

NCD's current list of issues and projects for 2009 and beyond include studies and reports on:

The Current State of Health Care for People with Disabilities
Invisible Wounds: Serving Service Members and Veterans with PTSD and TBI
Effective Homeland Security Practices for Use by Communities and People with Disabilities
National Disability Policy: A Progress Report
2008 Housing Initiative
Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act: Implementation Evaluation and Recommendations for Reauthorization
Workforce Infrastructure in Support of People with Disabilities: Matching Human Resources to Service Needs
Improving the Participation Rate of People with Targeted Disabilities in the Federal Workforce

2010 National Summit on Disability Policy Update

NCD's 2010 National Summit on Disability Policy will take place July 26-27, 2010, in Washington, DC.

This Summit will commemorate the 20th anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. More than 300 people with disabilities and prominent stakeholders, including federal, community, and private sector disability experts, will be invited to confer and exchange ideas on significant themes for all people with disabilities.

Issue papers to be drafted in 2009 will identify key factors surrounding important issues, and will become the basis of discussion for Summit delegates as they craft policy recommendations for the future. Topics include Civil Rights (including voting issues), Employment (including asset accumulation and finance), Education, Health Care (including Mental Health Care, i.e. whole health), Transportation, Housing, Telecommunications and Technology, International, Homeland Security (including emergency preparedness), and Disability Statistics and Data.

NCD is also seeking sponsors who may be interested in supporting this worthwhile event. If you are interested, please contact NCD Executive Director Mike Collins at ncd@ncd.gov. NCD's first disability policy summit took place in 1996 in Dallas, TX. It resulted in a report entitled Achieving Independence (http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/publications/1996/achieving.htm).

A Web page dedicated to the Summit is in development. Please visit http://www.ncd.gov in the coming months to find the link.

By:
When: 7/2/2014