Last night the Families First Coronavirus Response Act was signed into law after it passed through the Senate late in the day. The Families First Act increases Medicaid funding through a 6.2% FMAP (Federal Medical Assistance Percentage) increase, provides free COVID-19 testing, provides for some emergency paid sick and family leave, expands food assistance, and expands unemployment benefits.

This comes after Congress passed the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act on March 6. Through that, Congress provided $8.3 billion in emergency funding to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Both of those were good first steps. However, there are major gaps in the legislative response to the pandemic, and Congress is already working on a third response bill. It is critical that all future legislation addresses the needs of people with disabilities. Disabled people are at disproportionate risk of severe symptoms and complications from COVID-19, and we need to be a part of the COVID-19 response!

NCIL has been closely monitoring and responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. We have been working to provide tools and resources to the Independent Living network; engaging with partner organizations, Congress, and the ILA; and continuing to advocate for the needs of people with disabilities across the country.

Earlier this week NCIL sent a request to the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (L-HHS-Ed). NCIL requested $100 million for Centers for Independent Living (CILs) in the next COVID-19 response package. Read the letter.

CILs around the country have been actively responding to the needs of disabled people in their communities as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. CILs are coordinating services, providing information and referrals, helping people avoid involuntary institutionalization, and advocating for the disability community’s rights and evolving needs during this crisis. People with disabilities are at disproportionate risk during this pandemic, and all around the country, CILs are working – on their own, and with community partners and governments – to ensure people with disabilities survive. Read the letter to see some examples of what CILs around the country are doing in response to COVID-19.

Food insecurity disproportionately impacts people with disabilities, and barriers to accessing food have already been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. A small number of Centers for Independent Living (CILs) have been able to assist disabled people in their communities by operating food pantries, and Portlight Strategies (portlight.org) and Kelly’s Kitchen (kellys-kitchen.org) would like to help expand this capacity.

If your CIL has or would like to start a food pantry in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, please fill out the online form. If your CIL currently has a food pantry, Portlight Strategies and Kelly’s Kitchen may be able to provide financial support; if your CIL is interested in starting a food pantry, they can provide guidance and money to do so.

Last week we sent out an information alert with information about cuts and harmful proposed changes to the Independent Living (IL) Program in the President’s 2021 Budget.

As a reminder, the budget includes a $7.5 million cut to Part B funding. It also includes a $5 million increase to Part C funding, but those funds are reserved for competitive employment grants.

Importantly, there are also three legislative proposals related to the IL Program:

• The first proposal would allow funds currently appropriated for training and technical assistance (T/TA) to be used for program evaluation and performance measurement.
• The second proposal would remove the requirement for any reviews of Centers for Independent Living (CILs) to be conducted onsite.
• The final proposal would allow the Administration for Community Living (ACL) to stop contracting out for T/TA.

All three proposals are bad ideas and would all harm the IL Program. Regarding the first proposal, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) states that the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) shall ensure the Independent Living Administration (ILA) has sufficient resources to provide technical assistance, support, and oversight. If ILA leadership does not believe they have sufficient funds to carry out their responsibilities, they should be asking for more funding rather than reallocating funding from one important duty to another.

• Part 1: March 31, 2020; 3:00 – 4:30 p.m. Eastern
• Part 2: April 1, 2020; 3:00 – 4:30 p.m. Eastern
• Register online

The Office of Independent Living Programs (OILP) recently released the Compliance and Outcome Monitoring Protocol (COMP) Tool for Centers for Independent Living (CILs). The COMP tool was created to assist CILs to improve program performance; to understand how OILP is monitoring CIL performance; and to conduct self-assessments to prepare for desk audits, onsite reviews, or for internal reviews. Join us for this free, two-part webinar series to learn exactly what is included in the COMP tool and how you can use it at your CIL.

Registration Fee: This event is free-of-charge.

Target Audience: Executive directors, program managers, and board members of centers for independent living.

Earlier this week, the President released his 2021 Budget. The budget includes a $7.5 million cut to Part B funding. It also includes a $5 million increase to Part C funding, but those funds are reserved for competitive employment grants. Specifically, the budget would use that $5 million “to test evidence-based models of employment training and support that could be adopted by Centers for Independent Living to improve employment outcomes for people with disabilities”.

The budget includes major cuts to many critical programs disabled people rely on, including Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, the Affordable Care Act, and others. It also includes cuts to several important disability programs within the Administration for Community Living (ACL), including (but not limited to) NIDILRR (the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research), State Councils on Developmental Disabilities, University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDDs), and eliminates the Assistive Technology Alternative Financing Programs.

It is important to note that this is only a proposal, and Congress is unlikely to include many of these proposals in their appropriations bills. However, it does provide insight into what the President’s priorities are. It also gives us additional insight into the areas we’ll likely have to continue fighting for.