March 11, 2021; 3:00 – 4:30 p.m. Eastern
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted what IL advocates have known for years – that nursing homes and other congregate settings are not safe places for people with disabilities. According to CMS data, over 128,000 nursing home residents have died of COVID-19. We know this number is likely much higher since the CMS classification of nursing homes does not include other institutions and congregate settings, and there are reported instances of states suppressing data and nursing home underreporting.
Thankfully CILs have been doing what they do best: getting people out of institutions and back to the community. Of course there are daunting challenges to this work during the pandemic, especially due to in-person visits being prohibited or restricted for residents in congregate settings.
It is possible, however, and we must do what we can to get people out of institutions. Join us on March 11 to learn how two CILs have accomplished emergency relocations and transitions during COVID-19. We’ll share the activities, partnerships, advocacy, and funding that made it possible.
Registration Fee: This event is free-of-charge.
Target Audience: Staff and board members of Centers for Independent Living. Some of the systems level responses may also be of interest to staff and members of Statewide Independent Living Councils.
What You Will Learn
- How emergency relocation programs during the pandemic differ from the core service of transitioning consumers out of institutions and congregate settings.
- The staffing, funding, and community partnerships utilized by presenters to build emergency relocation programs that offer safe alternatives to nursing homes and other congregate settings.
- Examples of major challenges encountered during pilot programs at two Centers for Independent Living and the ongoing efforts to overcome these challenges and advance this work.
Meet Your Panelists
Jodie Baney is a registered nurse in Pennsylvania. She is also the Director of Programs and Services for the Roads to Freedom Center for Independent Living. Jodie is a member of North Central PA ADAPT and has two children with physical and intellectual disabilities. Jodie’s career focus has been working with individuals to remain in the community and promote independent living. Jodie continues her passion and dedication to end the institutional bias. With the help of others Jodie’s focus during COVID has been on relocating individuals from congregate settings into cohort settings.
Candie Burnham is the Executive Director of Atlantis Community, Inc.
Misty Dion, CEO for the Roads to Freedom Center for Independent Living (RTFCIL) has 16 years of experience empowering and promoting independence to members of the Disability Community. She holds membership in the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL) and is actively involved with the Mid Atlantic ADA Center’s Leadership Network and a member of the Center’s Advisory Board. Misty serves on the board of the State Independent Living Council (SILC) for Pennsylvania and the current President of the Pennsylvania Council on Independent Living (PCIL). She is a proud member of National ADAPT and a founding member of the North Central PA ADAPT chapter.
During the COVID Pandemic, Misty and her team have focused their efforts on changing the narrative for the hundreds of thousands of people dying in long term care facilities. Using their Emergency Relocation program, they have provided residents in these congregate settings the opportunity to socially distance in a safe cohort setting to prevent them from contracting and further spreading this deadly virus.
Anaya Robinson is a Latinx queer disabled trans man, born and raised in West Michigan, who now calls Denver home. He is currently the Associate Director of Atlantis Community, Inc., the third Center for Independent Living in the country that has been transitioning individuals out of congregate settings for over 46 years. Anaya has been working in disability advocacy with a systems focus for nearly a decade. He has 8 years of non-profit management experience and believes that collectively working from an intersectional anti-oppressive lens is the only way to fully dismantle systems of privilege and power and achieve true equity and justice.
Presented by the IL-NET: The IL-NET National Training and Technical Assistance (T&TA) Center for Independent Living is operated by ILRU (Independent Living Research Utilization). The IL-NET T&TA Center provides training and technical assistance to centers for independent living and statewide independent living councils. The IL-NET is supported by grant numbers 90ILTA0002 and 90ISTA0002 from the U.S. Administration for Community Living, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C. 20201. Grantees undertaking projects under government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their findings and conclusions. Points of view or opinions do not, therefore, necessarily represent official Administration for Community Living policy.
