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NASUAD Announces Call for Sessions for 30th Annual HCBS Conference
The National Association of States United for Aging and Disabilities (NASUAD) announced the Call For Sessions for the 30th Annual National Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) Conference on September 15-18, 2014 in Arlington, VA. The conference offers a blend of policy, program and practice issues for professionals interested in home and community-based waivers and services for all ages and abilities. Last year's conference had a strong presence from the agencies of the US Department of Health and Human Services including Administration for Community Living (ACL) and Administration on Aging (AoA). Proposals are currently being accepted for workshops and the due date is March 31, 2014.
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National Information and Referral Support Center
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Call for Proposals Due March 1: Aging and Disability Symposium at the AIRS Conference
The 2014 AIRS Conference will be held in Atlanta, GA this year from June 1-4. NASUAD's National I&R Support Center is coordinating the 2014 Aging and Disability Symposium, including a full-day, pre-conference intensive on Sunday, June 1, and 16 Aging and Disability Track workshop sessions. The Support Center is actively seeking presenters on topics such as Disability 101; Aging with lifelong disability; and Military & Veteran culture and mental health with aging/disability populations. We also expect to host sessions on LGBT resources for older adults and people with disabilities; Centers for Independent Living; Options Counseling; and Care Transitions.
Proposals are due by March 1.
Click here to contact Support Center Director, Sara Tribe,with questions or ideas about possible presentation topics.
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Aging Network Volunteer Collaborative
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Register Today: PowerUP! Training Institute in Santa Ana, CA
The PowerUP! Program is bringing a Training Institute to Santa Ana, California. These institute will train your organization to form Self-Directed Volunteer Teams™, using a research-based framework. These volunteers carry out projects that extend your capacity to serve older adults.
Training involves:
- One or more executive leadership staff (web training, date and time TBA)
- One or more key staff (web training, date and time TBA)
- Two to three lead volunteers (in-person training, April 3-4, 2014, Council on Aging - Orange County, Santa Ana, CA. See details and enroll.
Learn more about the Training Institute with the PowerUP! Training Institute over. Click here for an Online Tutorial with training details.
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New Materials Available to Advertise Got an Hour? Campaign
The Got an Hour? Give it Back Campaign has posted new materials to their website, GiveitBacktoSeniors.org. These materials include:
- A sample press release which can be used in local media, newsletters, and on any organization's website. The press release has been designed as a template for organizations to adjust to include their relevant information.
- A template for a letter to an elected official. This sample letter can be used to invite local mayors, state and federal senators or assemblymen, to give an hour of their time back. This letter is meant to serve as a template for an organization to edit - include specifics with contact information, or upcoming volunteer opportunities.
To view these new materials, click here.
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Aging and Disability Resource Center
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Aging and Disability Resource Centers (ADRCs) and Tribal Communities - The Wisconsin Experience
ADRCs and the Tribal Communities will be hosting a webinar on Wednesday, February 26, 2:00 p.m. ET. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn from the experiences of a Long-Term Services and Supports (LTSS) program in the Wisconsin area including the purpose of developing ADRCs, and building partnerships with key stakeholders to develop successful information and assistance programs to meet the needs of tribal communities.
Click here to join the webinar. Select "Enter as a Guest"
Phone: 1-888-757-2790; Code: 177695#
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National Council on Disability
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President's Executive Order on Federal Wages Applies to Persons with Disabilities
The Obama administration recently included workers with disabilities in an executive order that the President promised during the State of the Union address to raise the minimum wage for employees of federal service and concession contractors to $10.10/hour. Thousands of workers with disabilities are currently employed by government contractors in service, concession and production areas. With regard to workers with disabilities working under federal contracts, the Executive Order now states: "Under current law, workers whose productivity is affected because of their disabilities may be paid less than the wage paid to others doing the same job under certain specialized certificate programs. Under this Executive Order, all individuals working under service or concessions contracts with the federal government will be covered by the same $10.10 per hour minimum wage protections."
Click here to view the news release.
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Social Security Administration
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SSA Announces New Expedited Disability Process for Veterans
Carolyn W. Colvin, Acting Commissioner of Social Security, along with Congressman John Sarbanes (D-MD) revealed a new initiative to expedite disability claims by veterans with a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) disability compensation rating of 100% Permanent & Total (P&T). Under the new process, SSA will treat these veterans' applications as high priority and issue expedited decisions, similar to the way the agency currently handles disability claims from Wounded Warriors. In order to receive the expedited service, veterans must tell SSA they have a VA disability compensation rating of 100% P&T and show proof of their disability rating with their VA Notification Letter. Social Security plans to launch the expedited process in mid-March.
Click here for information about this service.
Click here for more information about Social Security's handling of Wounded Warrior's disability claims. |
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Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
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First Responders Behavioral Health Mobile App
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announced the first responders behavioral health mobile app. The mobile app offers first responders immediate access to field resources for aiding disaster survivors. The mobile app also has the ability to search for and map behavioral health service providers in the impacted area, review emergency preparedness materials, and send resources to colleagues.
Click here to download the free mobile app.
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Congressional Recess
The House and Senate are in recess this week.
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American Association on Aging and Disability
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New Fact Sheets for the National Disability Navigator Resource Collaborative
The American Association on Health and Disability (AAHD) released two new fact sheets for the National Disability Navigator Resource Collaborative (NDNRC). Fact sheet #2: Getting and Using Health Plan Evidence of Coverage is intended to help navigators answer specific questions that people with disabilities might ask about getting and using a health plans' evidence of coverage documents. The third fact sheet: Using Health Plan Customer Service is designed to help navigators answer specific questions that people with disabilities might ask about the role of health plan customer services. Both fact sheets are a useful follow-up to the fact sheet #1 which addressed a health plans' summary of benefits and coverage.
Click here to view the fact sheet #2.
Click here to view the fact sheet #3.
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American Society on Aging
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Webinar: Brain Health - A Decade Later
The American Society on Aging (ASA) is holding a webinar entitled, Brain Health: A Decade Health on February 27, 2014, 1:00 p.m. to 2: 00 p.m. ET. The webinar will provide an overview of some of the history that shaped the area of brain health, how brain health has interfaced with multiple sectors of society, the business and ethical aspects of promoting brain health, and what the research supports. The webinar will also attempt to provide a future direction for brain health and discuss untapped capacities and opportunities for the human brain.
Click here to register in advance for the webinar.
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National Association of Nutrition and Aging Services Programs
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Executive Director Blancato on the Heartbreak of Elder Abuse
Statistics shows that children who were victims of abuse have more frequent depressive symptoms when caring for their abusive parent than caregivers who have not been abused. In addition, those caregivers who had been abused during their childhood have a greater chance of abusing their elderly parent continuing the pattern of abuse. Robert Blancato, Executive Director of the National Association of Nutrition and Aging Services Programs, wrote an article for the Huffington Post on the impact of inter-generational abuse in families. The article explains that Child Protective Services and Adult Protective Services can and should work together to create educational programs to prevent and treat victims of abuse.
Click here to view the Huffington Post article.
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| National Council on Aging |
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Revised Updates to Food Assistance Benefits
Earlier this month, Congress approved and the President signed a new Farm Bill, which has significant impacts on food and nutrition benefits. The National Council on Aging (NCOA) has written a summary of the Farm Bill's benefits to for seniors. The law includes cuts of over $8.6 billion in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits over the next 10 years that will affect individuals in 16 states and the District of Columbia. The law also provides for the transition of the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) to a seniors-only program.
Click here to view the Bill summary.
Click here to view the NCOA's explanation of the Farm Bill's benefits for seniors.
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Updated Eligibility Charts for LIS and MSP
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Social Security Administration (SSA) have updated the eligibility criteria for the Part D Low-Income Subsidy (LIS) and the Medicare Savings Programs (MSPs) for 2014. NCOA has published charts that will assist organizations to screen and assist clients in applying for these assistance programs.
Click here to view NCOA's LIS chart.
Click here to view NCOA's MSP quick-screen charts.
Click here to view SSA's updated LIS publication.
Click here to view the update from CMS on MSPs.
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Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute
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PCORI Releases Rubric on Patient and Family Engagement
In response to frequent questions about what the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) means by "engagement in research," PCORI, with contributions from their Patient Engagement Advisory Panel, developed the Patient and Family Engagement Rubric to provide guidance to applicants, merit reviewers, awardees, and PCORI program staff, on meaningful engagement practices. The rubric was created by identifying promising practices of engagement within PCORI's first three funding cycles.
The rubric also provides a variety of options for incorporating engagement, where relevant, into the research process, and is not intended to be prescriptive or comprehensive. The rubric will be used as an evaluation tool during the merit review process and as PCORI observes and collects information about the engagement activities in their funded projects.
Click here to learn more about PCORI's view the rubric.
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Tennessee Respite Coalition
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Call for Presentations Due March 21: 2014 National Lifespan Respite Conference
The Tennessee Respite Coalition will host the 2014 National Lifespan Respite Conference in Nashville, TN on
October 7-9, 2014. Participants are invited you to submit a proposal for a breakout session on any aspect of planned or emergency respite service delivery, access, research, evaluation, best practices or innovation. The conference theme, Get in Tune with Respite, reflects the great musical city of Nashville and challenges conference attendees to learn and share how respite can create harmony for families in caregiving situations. The Call for Presentations is now open and proposals for breakout sessions are being accepted. The deadline for submissions is March 1, 2014.
Click here to download the Call for Presentations and complete the Presenter Application Form online.
Click here for more information on the conference.
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Webinar: Best Practices in Disability Recruiting
Think Beyond the Label (TBTL) will be holding a free, HRCI-certified webinar on February 24, 2014, 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET, to help federal contractors comply with the new Section 503 regulations regarding hiring people with disabilities. The webinar will focus on what the legislation means, how to find and engage job seekers with disabilities, and how to showcase an organization's diversity hiring initiatives. Think Beyond the Label is a public-private partnership that delivers information, outreach and resources to businesses, job seekers and the public workforce system to ensure greater recruiting and hiring opportunities for job candidates with disabilities.
Click here to register for the webinar.
Click here to view TBTL website.
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Save the Date: 2014 Consumer Voice Annual Conference
The National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care is holding the 2014 Consumer Voice Annual Conference from
November 15-19, 2014 in Arlington, VA. Attendees will have the opportunity to network with advocates and colleagues from across the country; interact directly with long-term care consumers; hear from the best speakers in the field; receive the latest long-term care policy updates from key experts; and acquire tools and resources that will re-energize their work and help put advocacy into action.
Click here to receive updates on registration and conference agenda details.
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Progress and Challenges in Reducing Colorectal Cancer
On Wednesday, February 26, 3:30 p.m. ET, the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG), the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) and the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE) will host a briefing to highlight the value of colonoscopy and the expertise of the gastroenterologists who perform this life-saving procedure in Washington, DC.
Speakers include:
- Dr. Howard Koh, Assistant Secretary for Health, U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services
- Dr. Gregory Ginsberg, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine
- Dr. David Greenwald, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
- Dr. Mark Pochapin, NYU Langone Medical Center
Presentations will highlight the public health impact of colorectal cancer, demonstrate life-saving technology and review current policies and initiatives underway to increase screening rates as part of National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month in March.
Refreshments will be served.
Location: 2168 Rayburn House Office Building (Gold Room)
Click here to RSVP to Caroline Campbell or call 202-745-5062
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RespectAbilityUSA Features BMX Bike Champion TJ Lavin in Disability PSA
On February 11, RespectAbilityUSA featured TJ Lavin, BMX bike champion and host of MTV's The Challenge, in a new public service announcement (PSA) on disability. Watch the PSA here.
Assistant Secretary Martinez Heads to Sochi for the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games
Kathy Martinez, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Disability Employment Policy, will be traveling to Sochi, Russia as part of the Presidential Delegation to the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games, which start on March 7. Visit the Paralympic Games website here.
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DC Office of Aging: Deputy Chief of Staff
The DC Office of Aging (DCOA) is seeking a Deputy Chief of Staff to perform a variety of authoritative advisory duties within DCOA, as well as outside DCOA on issues in the area of law, policy, plans of action, and proper approaches, as they relate to DCOA's projects, initiatives, research and analysis. The Deputy Chief of Staff will build partnerships within the District Government, federal and community organizations to advance DCOA's agenda.
Click here to apply for the position.
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NASI 2014 Summer Internship
The National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI) has challenging internship opportunities available for about 20 outstanding students this summer. These are nationally-competitive internships with a select number of placements made each year. NASI's internship program focuses on developing young leaders in the social insurance field by placing interns at various Washington, D.C. agencies and organizations under the supervision of NASI members. The internship programs offer a wide array of opportunities and a $3,500 stipend. Available internships:
- The Washington Internship on Social Insurance
- The Somers Aging and Long-Term Care Internship
- The Nathan J. Stark Internship for Non-Profit Development
- The Eileen Sweeney Graduate Internship in Disability Policy
The application deadline is March 1, 2014.
Click here for additional information on the internship programs and how to apply.
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