Category: Uncategorized

The Administration for Community Living has been working with a group of federal and non-federal partners – including several experts from the UCEDD network – to develop a COVID-19 decision guide for families with children with special health care needs. We are seeking your assistance with beta testing this tool.

While many children have already started school — parents of children and youth with special healthcare needs (CYSHCN) will continue to make difficult personal decisions about how to keep their children safe and learning. With guidance from public-health experts, parents, and health providers – the Stanford Health Literacy Lab has designed this interactive, educational Guide for Parents of CYSHCN, to help parents make sense of these back-to-school decisions.  Please access the Decision Guide at SCOLGuide. Now in “beta test” mode, the Guide is meant to be used on a smartphone, and to guide discussion with a trusted advisor (child health provider). 

We are asking that you share this with your networks so that the developers at the Stanford Health Literacy Lab can improve upon this tool to make it most useful to families. We appreciate your assistance with getting the word out about this important resource for families. Please send any feedback within the Guide, or to mcjsmith@stanford.edu. 

To ease the economic burden for those struggling with lost wages due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, President Donald J. Trump authorized FEMA to expend up to $44 billion from the Disaster Relief Fund for lost wage payments. FEMA will provide grants to participating states, territories, and the District of Columbia to administer delivery of lost wages assistance. Please see the attached document for further details.

Louisiana has been approved for a major disaster declaration for Emergency Protective Measures (Category B). (More information can be found on FEMA’s website at: www.fema.gov.)

FEMA’s Region 6 (which includes Louisiana) Disability Integration team members will provide support to its disability partners throughout Louisiana to ensure that the needs of people with disabilities, including access and functional needs, are incorporated throughout disaster operations.

To register for assistance, call the FEMA Helpline: 1-800-621-FEMA or 1-800-621-3362, or go to: https://www.disasterassistance.gov/

National Disability Institute (NDI) has prepared a new research brief: Race, Ethnicity and Disability: The Financial Impact of Systemic Inequality and Intersectionality. This unprecedented time has also increased the disparity in economic status and opportunity available to people that are Black, Indigenous or People of Color (BIPOC) with disabilities. This brief shares a historical context for understanding intersectionality, the financial impacts on BIPOC individuals with disabilities and presents a set of conclusions and recommendations that should involve all of us as individuals, families, organizations, institutions and government. The most financially vulnerable population in America is the group of individuals that live at the intersection of disability, race and ethnicity.

Monday, July 13 – Friday, July 17 is National Disability Voter Registration Week. AUCD is excited to join partners across the disability community working to increase the political power of people with disabilities by sharing resources and getting folks registered to vote. Justin Dart, father of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), said it best: “Vote as if your life depended on it, because it does.” For additional information and resources, see the AUCD website: https://www.aucd.org/template/event.cfm?event_id=8674

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Join Mark A. Thomas, the Deputy Secretary for Louisiana’s Department of Health and Julie Foster Hagan, the Assistant Secretary for the
Office for Citizens with Developmental Disabilities also at Louisiana’s Department of Health. This podcast focuses on Louisiana’s emergency response both within the I/DD system and the larger departmental and state responses in Louisiana. Did previous emergency responses position the system to better respond during COVID-19? How do state agencies work as one effective system to serve the community? Find out more about the unique and universal challenges in this state’s crisis response.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN OR GRAB THE LINK TO SHARE: https://soundcloud.com/user-27965428-561770656/state-spotlight-louisianas-collaborative-emergency-response

HDC has shared a list of COVID-19 related resources geared toward Louisiana residents. Click here to view it: https://www.hdc.lsuhsc.edu/covid19_resources.aspx

The Louisiana Department of Education today announced it has expanded its at-home care and learning supports for families who are home with young children as a result of the ongoing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak. See news release here.

The LASARD Project is posting resources and short videos/webinars to their LASARD Facebook page to support parents who are now “teaching” at home.

Their latest mini-webinar reached 1.6k views. LASARD coordinator, Julie Riley, developed it to help familes understand how they can help their child feel supported and understood during these difficult times. She also shares several low-tech communication supports that can be created at home. Here’s the direct link to the post. https://www.facebook.com/LASARD.Project/posts/2737608002954394