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Monday, March 19, 2012
As always you can contact us with comments or questions at advocate@arcmass.org.
Regards,
The Staff |
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State Budget-Time to Act |
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As you know Governor Patrick released the state's FY'13 budget in late January. We are concerned with some of the line items including Family Support/Respite, Salary Reserve, Turning 22, Employment and Transportation Funds.
The Family Support/Respite program is slated for a $5.5 Million cut this year negatively impacting over 2,200 families while there is no salary reserve at all for disability and human services.
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Rep. Khan with Speaker DeLeo |
It's time to act now! We need to increase the number of people responding on these critical needs!
Legislators (both branches) have been meeting for some time now with Chairs Dempsey and Brewer respectively to share their budget priorities. They must hear from you before they have their meetings.
Contact your representative and senator today to request they support and restore funding in the Department of Developmental Services (DDS) budget and make sure that there is a human services salary reserve! Please include one line or more of personal information.
Take action here!
Read our budget fact sheet here.
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MBTA-Ride Update |
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MBTA General Manager Jonathan Davis said he and Transportation Secretary Richard Davey would present a final recommendation for fare increases and service cuts to the board and the public the week of March 26, with a likely vote coming on April 4. There have been 31 public hearings on the issue.
On March 14, Secretary Davey said the state is continuing to explore options to reduce the agency's $159 million deficit. Approximately $12 million has been identified in possible transfers. The MBTA also is looking at shifting the boat service and Silver Line to Massport under the premise that both could be considered shuttle services.
Related to concerns about changes in routes and costs for the MBTA, is the federal extension of the $109 Billion surface transportation bill which would extended highway and transit programs funded through this bill. The current temporary extension is set to expire March 31, 2012. The Senate continued debate on this bill during last week while the House is still trying to find a compromise over the funding levels that would garner enough support to pass a bill.
Go here for fare proposal page at the T. |
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Federal Report on Discipline and Restraint |
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The Office of Civil Rights of the Department of Education released the Civil Rights Data Collection which includes district-level and school-level data that it collected for the 2009-10 school year from nearly 7,000 school districts. The data comes from almost half of the total number of school districts and represents 85% of all students. The report includes data about school discipline and, for the first time, data about restraint and seclusion. The Department released a national-level summary of some of the data. Students with disabilities (served under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) or Section 504) comprise 12% of students in the sample and are more than twice as likely to receive one or more out-of-school suspensions (6% of all students compared to 13% of students covered by IDEA). Of all students who are physically restrained in schools, 70% of them are students with disabilities. A summary is located here.
The National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) released a report detailing examples of the use of restraint and seclusion in schools across the country. We share that with you here
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Tax Time - Resources Available |
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The IRS VITA Program generally offers free tax help to people who make $50,000 or less and need assistance in preparing their own tax returns. IRS-certified volunteers provide free basic income tax return preparation to qualified individuals in local communities. Some sites include specific training on resources for persons with disabilities.
Go here to find a location in the Commonwealth.
For help in Greater Boston from the Earned Income Tax Coalition - EITC.
Accessible information on taxes is located here
Specific tax forms that are accessible are listed here.
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