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September 2008, Vol.8, No.9
To read past issues, please consult archives of the newsletter on the left.
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The U.S. Senate designates the week of September 8th as National Direct Support Professionals Recognition Week. Click here to read more on S. Res. 613.
Dear AAIDD Friends and Colleagues:
- American families, including middle-class ones, raising children with disabilities are reporting severe hardships at rates that are chilling, a new study reports.
- Two significant milestones are reached in the Medicaid Home and Community Based Waiver in 2007, twenty five years since its launch.
- Kids are a diminishing national priority, although U.S. federal spending on children in health grew 4.5% last year, new report reveals.
- New Autism Speaks™ 100 Day Kit helps families make the best use of 100 days following the diagnosis of autism in a child.
- AAIDD announces New Orleans, Louisiana, as the venue for its 133rd Annual Meeting in 2009.
AMERICAN FAMILIES, INCLUDING MIDDLE-CLASS ONES, RAISING CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES ARE REPORTING SEVERE HARDSHIPS AT RATES THAT ARE CHILLING, A NEW STUDY REPORTS
Families with children with disabilities are struggling to keep food on the table, a roof over their heads, and pay for needed health and dental care. According to a new study of 28,141 households by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, these challenges are now falling on middle-income households and not just on poor families, as previous research has found. “The bottom line is that U.S. families raising children with disabilities are reporting severe hardships at rates that are chilling, including families that are solidly middle-class,” says Dr. Susan L. Parish, the study’s lead investigator and an assistant professor in the UNC School of Social Work. “We were shocked to find such high rates of hardship among upper-income families.”
To read a news release on this study, click here.
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TWO SIGNIFICANT MILESTONES ARE REACHED IN THE MEDICAID HOME AND COMMUNITY BASED WAIVER IN 2007, TWENTY FIVE YEARS SINCE ITS LAUNCH
The Medicaid Home and Community Based Waiver, authorized on August 13, 1981 to allow the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services to waive certain Medicaid requirements so that states could receive Medicaid cost share for “noninstitutional” services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, is now financing services for 5.2 times as many persons than the ICF/MR program for which it was developed as an alternative twenty five years back. A new article in the journal, Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities by Charlie Lakin and David Braddock, notes that the HCBS Waiver crossed the half a million recipient mark and exceeded $20 billion in expenditure by the end of 2007. From 1992-2007, in every U.S. state, the number of HCBS recipients more than doubled.
To read “Twenty five Years of Medicaid Home and Community Based Services (HCBS): Significant Milestones Reached in 2007” in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Volume 46, Number 4 (August 2008), click here. To learn more about Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, click here.
KIDS ARE A DIMINISHING NATIONAL PRIORITY, ALTHOUGH U.S.FEDERAL SPENDING ON CHILDREN IN HEALTH GREW 4.5% LAST YEAR, A NEW REPORT REVEALS
Kids’ Share 2008: How Children Fare in the Federal Budget, a report from the Urban Institute, reveals that children are a declining priority in the federal budget, a trend that shows no signs of stopping. Absent a policy change, children's spending will continue to be squeezed in the next decade. The report classifies federal programs that spend money on children within eight major budget categories: income security, nutrition, housing, tax credits and exemptions, health, social services, education, and training. The categories of children’s spending that grew in real terms from last year’s levels were health (4.5%), housing (1.5%), tax credits and exemptions (1.2%), and nutrition (0.1 %). But except for health, these children’s program categories lost ground relative to the economy. To read the report, click here.
In related children’s news, the 2008 Child Well-Being Index (CWI) published by the Foundation for Child Development finds that after an upward trend for eight years, from 1994 through 2002, progress in American children's quality of life has now moved into a stall/slow growth period. Read more here.
NEW AUTISM SPEAKS™ 100 DAY KIT HELPS FAMILIES MAKE THE BEST USE OF 100 DAYS FOLLOWING THE DIAGNOSIS OF AUTISM IN A CHILD
A new downloadable publication from Autism Speaks, is designed to help families who have just received a diagnosis of autism for their child, make use of the next 100 days to understand the condition and deal with issues such as getting services and interventions. To access the Autism Speaks™ 100 Day Kit, click here.
AAIDD ANNOUNCES NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, AS THE VENUE FOR ITS 133RD ANNUAL MEETING IN 2009
The American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD) will hold its 133rd Annual Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana, from June 9-12, 2009. To see a program at a glance, click here. Questions? Send an email to books@aaidd.org
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