the advocacy monitor

Independent Living News & Policy from the National Council on Independent Living

Message from NCIL’s President and Vice President: NCIL Advocacy Committee Restructuring

May 3, 2023

Dear NCIL Members,

We want to express our gratitude for the years of advocacy and support for the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL).

As you may recall, the NCIL Board held a two-day retreat last fall as we prepared to advertise for a new Executive Director and to prioritize activities for the next five years. As part of the recommendations from our consultant, we were asked to consider how we can best balance our limited staff and financial resources within our advocacy department.

While reviewing the incredible amount of work being accomplished through the NCIL Subcommittees, the Board made some broad-sweeping recommendations to focus our efforts so that we can become more efficient on areas that directly impact our membership of Centers for Independent Living (CILs). Key areas of Rehabilitation Act / IL Funding, Housing, Transportation, ADA / Civil Rights, and Healthcare / Long Term Services and Supports (LTSS) will remain as the core of NCIL’s emphasis. So that we can continue to provide support to all areas, we will be consolidating issues within these NCIL Subcommittees so that we can be much more efficient in meeting goals, objectives, and outcomes. All issues will have a greater opportunity for much more support and coordination of efforts.

We look forward to working with everyone as we become a stronger and more agile National Council on Independent Living. If you have any questions about these changes, please reach out to NCIL Executive Director Theo Braddy at [email protected].

Sincerely,

Kent Crenshaw

NCIL President

Jeff Hughes

NCIL Vice President