• Today, Wednesday, January 22, 2014; 3:00 – 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time
• Register online

Join the LEAD Center this today for a timely conversation on MyFreeTaxes, a free, inclusive tax preparation tool in which taxpayers earning $58,000 or less can prepare and file their federal and state taxes online in all 50 states. Hear about how American Job Centers across the country are incorporating MyFreeTaxes as part of their service delivery model to help customers in the low- to moderate-income range increase their financial stability. Learn how your organization can participate in this expanding opportunity and the steps you can take to help increase awareness and options of free tax preparation through one click at www.myfreetaxes.com.

Target Audience: Workforce Development Professionals, Individuals with Disabilities, Professionals from Partner Systems, and Related Stakeholders

Please note: This webinar will be captioned and a link to download the presentation will be sent to registrants prior to the webinar. To request any other reasonable accommodations, please contact Brittany Taylor at [email protected] within 48 hours of the webinar.

Ashton Rosin

This year’s International Day for Disaster Reduction, organized by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) and UN-ENABLE, was attended by individuals from an unprecedented 120 different countries. The day was honored with interactive awareness-generating campaigns and the development of platforms for accessible grassroots advocacy for people with disabilities across the globe.

This week of energetic activities was kicked off at the UN Headquarters in New York on October 10th and extended out to rallies in Nigeria, a creative competition in Peru, high level discussion forums in Europe and the U.S., and marches in the Caribbean and Southeast Asia. At the same time, a new disability-inclusive, community-based disaster risk management toolkit was rolled out in Fiji. Films, dances, and debates that included people with and without disabilities across the world engaged participants in a day that symbolized the importance of disaster planning and risk reduction.

This celebration was a means of garnering attention for current findings regarding disaster and its effect on people with disabilities. Results from UNISDR’s recently published survey of people living with disabilities and how they cope with disaster solutions is monumental in nature, as it is the first ever UN global survey of its kind. Furthermore, this is the largest and most diverse group of people with disabilities ever to be consulted regarding disaster management planning in their communities. The survey was launched to discover why people with disabilities die or are injured in disproportionate numbers during disasters.

The 5,700 individuals who completed the survey illustrated vivid anecdotes about their experiences and difficulties to demonstrate how only 20% of them are able to evacuate immediately without difficulty in the event of a disaster. Most participants noted that they could evacuate, but with varying degrees of difficulty, and 6% were unable to evacuate at all. A participant exclaimed that, “I can’t hear sirens, [so] when there is severe weather, I have to stay awake to watch storms until all gone.”  [Read more…]

This conference will bring researchers, educators, policy-makers, and providers from across disciplines together with members of the judiciary and those with lived experience. The primary aim is to share knowledge and experience, to advance the rights and highlight the needs of families striving to live well with parental mental health challenges. Related objectives include provision of an interactive forum to discuss common experiences, effective and evidence informed support and advocacy strategies, and contemporary, cutting edge, research.

• April 25 – 27, 2014
• Ed Roberts Campus, Berkeley, California, USA
• See full conference details, including a call for submissions and sponsorship opportunities (PDF)
• Contact: Ella Callow, Legal Program Director at the National Center for Parents with Disabilities and their Families at [email protected]

We are very happy to announce that all 1400 pictures from NCIL’s 2013 Annual Conference on Independent Living are now available on Flickr.

We apologize that we do not have the capacity or knowledge to caption every picture. If you see a picture of yourself or others you know, please caption it for the benefit of all. You can comment on photos using a Flickr / Yahoo account, with an option to comment via Google or Facebook.

Special thanks to Tom Olin for his amazing photos and dedication to our Movement and its documentation. And, as always, thanks to our members, who made these photographs what they are: the story of our people gathering in our nation’s Capitol to bring about equality and freedom for people with disabilities!

View the photos.

And if you attended this year’s conference, don’t forget to complete an evaluation if you haven’t done so already. Thank you!

July 24-27, 2013; Grand Hyatt, Washington, DC

Contents

• Evaluation
• Photos
• Overview
• Employment Preconference: Youth Take Charge
• March & Rally
• Annual Council Meeting
• Awards

Overview

NCIL’s 2013 Annual Conference on Independent Living was a resounding success!

Over 600 advocates attended this year’s conference. First-time attendees were present in force and brought fierce passion to the annual march to and rally at the Capitol. This year’s march was robust and our chants for equality could be heard clearly as they reverberated through the historic streets that lead to the Capitol. The rally was followed by a press conference on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Advocates left fired up and fully prepared to bring our voices on our issues to Congress, including the reauthorization of the Rehabilitation Act and the establishment of an Independent Living Administration, NCIL’s top priority. Just a few days after our advocacy efforts, S. 1356 was successfully passed out of the Senate HELP Committee. We are truly thankful to the advocates who made this possible.

Congress woman Tammy Duckworth, the first woman with a disability to serve in the House of Representatives, brought the house down during the opening plenary and prepared advocates to present their message to Congress effectively. The annual awards luncheon was especially moving. There was not a dry eye in the house as NCIL saluted the life of Michael Winter through video tribute. Just afterward, Shannon Jones, co-chair of NCIL’s Rehabilitation Act Subcommittee, was surprised on stage by her son and granddaughter, who flew across the country to witness her receive the Corey Rowley National Advocacy Award.

The Annual Council meeting was the briefest in recorded history. Elections were held for President, Treasurer, and three Member-At-Large positions. The results of elections (held prior to the conference) for Representatives of Regions I, III, V, VII, and IX were also announced at the Annual Council Meeting. One resolution was passed by the NCIL membership regarding disability profiling.

Kathy Greenly, Assistant Secretary for Aging, delivered the closing plenary. She spoke of the role disability played in the life of the people closest to her. To thunderous applause, she told the crowd that the Independent Living Program would be welcomed with open arms should the proposed move to the Administration on Community Living be enacted.

This year’s conference was one of the most impactful in many ways. The mix of hard-core veteran leaders and inspired new advocates created a dedicated army that left its mark on Washington. Thank you, once again, to the NCIL membership, which continues to impress and inspire the NCIL staff and Board.  [Read more…]

August 2, 2013 

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

We would like to thank you for meeting with representatives from the disability community on Thursday, July 25 to commemorate the 23^rd anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and would like to take this opportunity to summarize our recommendations.

As you know, employment is integral to personal growth and economic self-sufficiency, but the success rate for moving people with disabilities into gainful employment has been abysmally low. While the ADA has helped people with disabilities be more included in the American social fabric, it is an unfortunate reality that the percentage of unemployed people with disabilities of working age has changed negligibly since 1990; it remains nearly double the rate of those without disabilities (14.2% compared to 7.6%). Even this sad statistic misrepresents a true picture of our community for it excludes two significant realities:

• There is a large number of people with disabilities who rely on public programs for income supplements and long term services and supports (LTSS) and who make the rational choice to forgo even the prospect of economic enhancement or self-sufficiency in order to preserve eligibility for needed services and supports, and
• There are gender inequalities that exist among people with disabilities as there are in general; women with disabilities are less likely to have jobs than their male counterparts, their wages are lower than their male counterparts and they have greater difficulty accessing basic healthcare services than males with disabilities.

We believe that our recommendations can be advanced as part of your Plan for a Strong Middle Class and that such actions will benefit people with disabilities and the Nation socially and economically. [Read more…]

The National Council on Independent Living (NCIL) takes pause today to remember the life of one of our own. Michael Winter, a leader in the Independent Living Movement, passed away July 11, leaving behind an exceptional memory of a person who was a genuine advocate, colleague, and dear friend.

Michael was the Executive Director of the Center for Independent Living (CIL) in Berkeley, California for approximately 12 years, and also directed the CIL in Honolulu. He will also be remembered in the Independent Living community for his role serving as President of the NCIL Board from 1989-1991.

The cause of accessible transportation was a running theme throughout his career. Michael was a long-time employee of the Department of Transportation, where he worked on civil rights issues as they pertained to the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and environmental justice. Michael Winter was also featured in Eric Nuedel’s award winning documentary Lives Worth Living, which focused on the creation of the Disability Rights Movement in the United States after WWII.

Michael Winter was a well-known and loved member of the NCIL family, and as advocates gather in Washington, DC in the coming weeks we will honor his legacy and friendship at the 2013 NCIL Conference.

United States Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth is set to deliver the keynote address at the 2013 NCIL Annual Conference in Washington, DC.

In 2004, Duckworth was deployed to Iraq as a Blackhawk helicopter pilot for the Illinois Army National Guard. She was one of the first Army women to fly combat missions during Operation Iraqi Freedom until her helicopter was hit by an RPG on November 12, 2004. Duckworth lost her legs and partial use of her right arm in the explosion and was awarded a Purple Heart for her combat injuries.

Duckworth spent the next year recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. As one of the highest-ranking patients, she quickly became an advocate for her fellow soldiers and testified before Congress about caring for our veterans and wounded warriors.

In 2009, President Obama appointed Duckworth to be Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs. At VA, Duckworth led an initiative to end homelessness among Veterans. She created the Office of Online Communications to improve the VA’s accessibility, especially among young Veterans, and also worked to address the unique challenges that Native American and female Veterans face.

Duckworth ran for Congress in 2012 to advocate for the practical solutions and cooperation needed to rebuild our economy and ensure that every American has a chance to achieve the American Dream. Upon her election less than a year ago, she became the first woman with a disability to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

To see Congresswoman Duckworth make history at the NCIL Conference, you need to be in Washington, DC with fellow advocates just a few weeks from now. Today is the last chance for pre-registration. Additional details are available bellow.  [Read more…]

This is the week to make our message to Congress heard loud and clear: Release the Disability Treaty! Take action this week in memory of Justin Dart.

If you haven’t been following the Goodwill story, it’s a doozy. Last Friday, NBC’s Rock Center with Brian Williams aired a major exposé on the practice of paying workers with disabilities Subminimum wage, which NCIL has long opposed. Social media lit up in reaction, and the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) developed a petition. Keep a look out for updates and specific actions you can take to help end this shameful practice.