Independent Living News & Policy from the National Council on Independent Living
NCIL is seeking input from potential participants for the 2022 Annual Conference on Independent Living. We know that the COVID-19 pandemic is still a huge factor in decisions about travel and indoor events. Please take a few moments to share your thoughts about the NCIL conference with us! This very brief survey is designed to take less than 2 minutes to complete.
Take the survey: ncilforms.wufoo.com/forms/rq7ffw80kzhih0
November 17, 2021; 3:00 – 4:30 p.m. Eastern
The IL-NET National Training & Technical Assistance (T&TA) Center operated by ILRU in collaboration with NCIL, APRIL, and the University of Montana Rural Institute and RTC: Rural, supports CILs and SILCs in building capacity to run strong, effective organizations. The IL-NET’s resources cover an expansive list of topics related to CILs and SILCs, with an emphasis on core services. The scope of the center’s offerings is broad. This webinar will highlight what’s new with the IL-NET and help you learn how to find the resources and training available through ILRU’s comprehensive website that best meet your needs. Our IL-NET team is here to assist you with finding the publications, recorded trainings, courses, and materials that will help you operate your CIL or SILC with excellence.
Please join us for this complimentary webinar to learn what the IL-NET National T&TA Center has to offer you. Staff from ILRU will be joined by IL-NET collaborating organizations: NCIL, APRIL, and the University of Montana Rural Institute and RTC: Rural. The entire team will walk you through the trainings and resources the IL-NET offers and show you how you can best access them. You will learn about on-demand trainings and materials that are available immediately, as well as training topics for 2022 that you can add to your calendar. Don’t miss this free event!
[Read more…]ABOUT THE CHALLENGE
This Challenge encourages teams of current undergraduate and graduate students enrolled at U.S. institutions, and Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) alumni, to leverage 5G and other leading-edge technology to advance equity within the U.S. in CGI U’s five focus areas (education, environment and climate change, peace and human rights, poverty alleviation, and public health). The initiative is part of Citizen Verizon, Verizon’s responsible business plan for economic, environmental, and social advancement. The HBCU Founders Initiative and the United Negro College Fund are proud to join forces with Verizon and CGI U to inspire and support undergraduate and graduate students in tackling society’s greatest challenges across the five focus areas listed above through the Forward for Good Challenge. Finalists will receive access to intensive summer entrepreneurship training with accelerator partner VentureWell, seed funding, and living stipends to advance their solutions.
[Read more…]October 28, 2021; 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM EDT
Part of the RACE + DISABILITY webinar series, co-sponsored by FISA Foundation, The Heinz Endowments, and The Pittsburgh Foundation
Historically, disability services were designed to accommodate a singular identity: person with a disability; all other aspects of an individual’s experience were considered secondary. But structuring services that ignore the lived experience of racism has created and exacerbated inequities within disability services. Treating disability as race-neutral has also created unwelcoming and sometimes unsafe working conditions for people of color with disabilities who are on staff.
This session will explore promising practices in cultivating a welcoming and equitable culture, designed to include people of color with disabilities who are both consumers of services and staff offering support. Presenters represent various Centers for Independent Living. All panelists are multiply marginalized people with disabilities who are recognized for their efforts to advocate for equity in both the provision of supports and the leadership of staff.
This session will:
PRESENTERS:
NCIL is thrilled to announce the results of our recent elections to the Governing Board.
Kent Crenshaw had previously served as Region 4 Representative and is the Executive Director of Independent Rights & Resources (IRR) in Montgomery, Alabama. In addition to his own extensive advocacy accomplishments, Kent is deeply committed to NCIL’s commitment to become a leading disability justice organization. We share our congratulations and appreciation with Kent, Larissa, and Joel. Keep reading to learn more about NCIL’s new Governing Board members.
[Read more…]Join us on Thursdays from October 14th to November 4th to learn the skills you need to run for elected office. Elevate: Campaign Training for People with Disabilities is a nonpartisan series of webinars bringing together campaign experts and elected officials to teach you how to run your first campaign. All webinars will have CART captioning and American Sign Language Interpreters.
If you cannot attend the live webinars, we will be recording and sharing each session. You will also have the opportunity to submit questions ahead of time so that we can answer them during the training.
You must be a member of NCIL to participate in this webinar series. Individual NCIL memberships are just $35 / year, and $10 / year for people ages 26 and under. NCIL does not turn anyone away for financial reasons. For dues waivers or reductions, contact Tim Fuchs at [email protected].
Course Schedule:
Introduction to Campaigns, Self and Opposition Research
Thursday, October 14, 2021
1:00 to 2:30 PM Eastern
Your Story. Your Campaign. Your Brand Online.
Thursday, October 14, 2021
3:30 to 5:00 PM Eastern
POWER Fundraising: 5 Keys to Raising Money Confidently and Effectively (Even If You’re a First-Time Candidate and Never Fundraised Before!)
Thursday, October 21, 2021
1:00 to 2:30 PM Eastern
Organizing Post Obama, Trump, and COVID
Thursday, October 21, 2021
3:30 to 5:00 PM Eastern
Harnessing Your Power to Advocate for Change
Thursday, October 28, 2021
1:00 to 2:30 PM Eastern
Fundamentals of Digital Media
Thursday, October 28, 2021
3:30 to 5:00 PM Eastern
Campaign Outreach Methods: Paid, Earned and Owned Media, Direct Mail, and Email Marketing
Thursday, November 4, 2021
1:00 to 2:30 PM Eastern
Thank you to our generous sponsors for making Elevate possible!
![Your Story. Your Campaign. Your Brand Online. October 14, 2021 3:30 to 5:00 PM Eastern Register Today! www.ncil.org/elevate Trainer: Atima Omara, Omara Strategy Group Guest Speaker: Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley [D-MA7] Elevate Logo: Campaign Training for People with Disabilities Sponsored by Run for Something Action Fund and ActBlue Image 1: A headshot of Atima Omara standing with her arms crossed. She wears a gray suit jacket with an orange shirt and a gold flower necklace. Image 2: Ayanna Pressley, a Black woman with a bald head, wearing red lipstick and pearl earrings. She is wearing a black suit with a white blouse, and standing in front of a tan background.](https://advocacymonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Course-2-Your-Story.-Your-Campaign.-Your-Brand-Online.-.png)
Source: ILRU
Kimberly Tissot of Able South Carolina and Richard Petty of ILRU in Houston announced today the Disability Vaccine Access Opportunities Center (DVAO Center) is extending the application deadline to October 15 at 12:00 Noon Eastern Time for applications for grant-based funding to support vaccination access for people with disabilities across the nation. Centers for independent living (CILs) that were not funded through the CARES Act and that were not previously recipients of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funding are eligible to submit applications. This group of CILs includes centers funded through Part B of Title VII of the Rehabilitation Act (Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act) and/or CILs funded with state and local funding. Awards for up to $50,000 through the vaccine access opportunity program for individual CILs are anticipated.
Interested eligible CILs are encouraged to apply for funding by completing an online application by 12:00 pm (Noon) EDT on October 15, 2021. The link to the online application is at https://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/6530923/Leveraging-CILs-To-Increase-Vaccine-Access-for-People-with-Disabilities-Request-for-Applications-RFA.
The Disability Vaccine Opportunity Access Center is a national center that will further vaccination access for people with disabilities. The prime recipient of the grant for this project is Able South Carolina, which as a center for independent living is a consumer directed organization. ILRU, an organization managed and operated by people with disabilities, is the principal partner and contractor. The DVAO Center will support local disability-run centers for independent living to assist people with disabilities to have full access to the vaccines that fight COVID-19. Funding for this effort is provided by the CDC Foundation of Atlanta, GA.
[Read more…]Negotiations about home and community based services (HCBS) in the reconciliation package are continuing in Congress. (You can read more about reconciliation in our previous alert.) The package that passed out of the House Energy & Commerce Committee funds HCBS at $190 billion, which is less than half the amount promised in President Biden’s American Jobs Plan. That is not nearly enough to meet the needs of disabled people across the country.
The situation is changing quickly, and the chances of reaching a deal seem to be fading as time passes. But we cannot lose hope, and we cannot stop pressuring our Members of Congress to invest in HCBS! We need to keep urging our Members of Congress to prioritize their disabled constituents’ needs in their negotiations.
Our Members of Congress need to remember the millions of our people stuck in institutional settings. They need to be reminded about the over 800,000 on waiting lists for HCBS – many who will wait years before receiving the supports and services they need. We cannot let them forget how hard congregate settings have been – and continue to be – hit by COVID-19. And they need to understand that the direct support workers who keep us safe in our homes – most of whom are Black and brown women – have been undervalued for years.
Improving wages and benefits for our direct support workers values the work being done and the people doing the work. Investing in HCBS is critical to protecting disabled people and our workers. And the COVID-19 pandemic has made it more urgent than ever.
Take action!
President Biden proposed a major investment in HCBS, and Congress introduced the Better Care Better Jobs Act (BCBJA) to put that proposal into action. We need Congress to fully fund HCBS in the budget reconciliation package! Our Members of Congress need to keep hearing from us as they continue negotiations and finalize the package.
Contact both your Senators and your Representative today! Tell them they MUST meet the needs of their disabled constituents and the direct care workforce in the reconciliation package!
More information – including how to contact them and a sample script – is below.
[Read more…]Centers for Independent Living (CILs) and Statewide Independent Living Councils (SILCs) provide critical core services to people with disabilities. Even though the core services are the same, CILs are not all funded in the same way. Some CILs receive direct federal funding through the Administration on Community Living (ACL). These CILs are referred to as “Part C” CILs. Many CILs get their funding through their States, which distribute the federal funds. These CILs are referred to as “Part B” CILs. The National Council on Independent Living (NCIL) is committed to the entire Independent Living network, regardless of how services are funded.
In March 2021, conversations began at the federal level about the need to use local networks, including CILs, to increase COVID 19 vaccine access to aging and disabled people. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) was looking for partnerships to specifically address vaccine access for aging and disabled people. When the CDC approached ACL, ACL indicated they would only be able to distribute those funds to Part C CILs. This is how ACL distributed CARES Act funds, even though NCIL had advocated to make those funds available for the entire IL network. NCIL and the CDC wanted to see vaccine access funds made available to all disabled and aging people. They did not want how the CIL serving their area was funded to further limit access. Based on this mutual goal, the CDC approached former NCIL Executive Director, Kelly Buckland, with a proposal to deliver funding to Part B CILs. CDC’s proposal was through a seven million dollar grant to be administered by NCIL.
These funds were not ultimately made available to NCIL for distribution to Part B CILs. In July 2021, the CDC Foundation announced the release of $6.3 million for aging and disabled vaccine access. The proposal submission deadline for this opportunity was one week after its announcement. NCIL was informed of this announcement several days after it was announced and, as a result, did not have the opportunity to submit a proposal.
This week, ABLE South Carolina announced that, in tandem with Independent Living Review and Utilization, it had received the CDC Foundation grant. ABLE and ILRU will operate a center to support Part B CILs in addressing the systemic disparities from limited access to federal support for vaccine-related services and supports to their consumers.
Under the grant, ABLE South Carolina and ILRU will distribute federal funds to address inequities and build capacity in the IL network nationwide. Since Part C CILs have had access to vaccine funds since April of this year, NCIL hopes the process for applications and timelines associated with distribution of the funds will be tangible for eligible members of the IL network. Therefore, we urge ABLE South Carolina and ILRU to reconsider their October 7th deadline for funding opportunities to allow sufficient time for eligible CILs to complete the complex application process accordingly.
