HDC Featured News
Where Am I Going, and How Do I Get There? Transition Planning for Students with Significant Disabilities
WHO: Families and professionals supporting students with significant disabilities
WHEN: SEPTEMBER 5 & 6, 2019, 8:30 A.M. TO 4:00 P.M.
WHERE: UNO TRAC, The Oliver St. Pe Center/TRAC Building is located across St. Anthony Avenue from Benjamin Franklin High School (located at 2001 Leon C. Simon Blvd.) at the intersection of Leon C. Simon Blvd. and St. Anthony Ave. As you enter the campus on St. Anthony Ave., turn left at your first opportunity into a parking lot. The Oliver St. Pe Center sits at the end of the parking lot. http://www.uno.edu/trac/contact
HOW: Register via email. ladbp@lsuhsc.edu Please provide name, email address, and employer (if appropriate).
WHY: To assist students, families, and professionals in planning post-secondary lives for individuals with significant disabilities. Click here for the agenda.
Rest in Love, Stephanie Payne
Stephanie Payne
At HDC, we are deeply saddened to learn about the passing of our friend and former Louisiana Autism Spectrum and Related Disabilities (LASARD) facilitator Stephanie Payne. Stephanie was a valuable member of the LASARD team who approached her work with wit and compassion. The insights and engaging stories she shared are as unforgettable as her depth of knowledge and keen sense of humor. Her ability to connect with people was uncanny, and her passion contagious. Her smile, laugh, and hugs will always be remembered, and her footprint on all we do at LASARD endures.
Louisiana Autism Spectrum and Related Disabilities (LASARD) is a project of HDC under its K-12 Education Initiative.
Hearing on Social Security 2100 Act
On Thursday July 25, at 10 am, the full House Committee on Ways and Means will hold a hearing entitled “The Social Security 2100 Act.” This bill (H.R. 860), introduced by Congressman John Larson (D-CT-1) and cosponsored by over 200 Democrats, would increase benefits for all current and future Social Security recipients, cut taxes for almost 12 million seniors, and strengthen the trust fund by increasing some payroll taxes and by creating one trust fund for retirement, survivor, and disability benefits.
Earlier this year, the House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee held a series of hearings around this bill entitled “Protecting and Improving Social Security”: Enhancing Social Security to Strengthen the Middle Class (March 12), Benefit Enhancements (March 13), and Comprehensive Legislative Proposals to Enhance Social Security (April 10).
The hearing on July 25th will be before the full Committee on Ways and Means. The invited witnesses are: Stephen C. Goss, Chief Actuary, Social Security Administration; Nancy J. Altman, President, Social Security Works; Kelly Brozyna, Job Creators Network’s National Women’s Coalition; Abigail Zapote, Executive Director, Latinos for a Secure Retirement; and Shaun Castle, Deputy Executive Director, Paralyzed Veterans of America.
The hearing will be in room 1100 in the Longworth House Office Building (15 Independence Ave SE, Washington, D.C. 20515) and will be livestreamed here.
Employee Spotlight: Kisha Petty
Kisha Petty earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Elementary Education and Master’s Degree in Early Childhood Education. She has been in the education and early childhood education as an educator for Pre-K-4th, mentor for teachers, HS/EHS and Home-Based Education Specialist, and manager for 19 years working in the area of the public and private school systems and with four grantee head starts across Louisiana. She started working with early childhood education in 2006 and has always wanted to become a teacher which her passion is nurturing children. Kisha loves inspiring others to act justly, love mercifully, and walk humble in life with purpose. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her children, serving at her church as Knights of Peter Claver Jr. Daughter Counselor, religion teacher, lector and Eucharistic Minister and reading.
HDC News
Save the Date for Transition Institute, Sponsored by the HDC Louisiana Deafblind Project
HDC is proud to host the Transition Institute sponsored by its own Louisiana Deafblind Project, September 5 and 6, 8:00 AM to 3:30 PM.
Deaf Community Leader Award
Hamilton Relay, contracted service provider for Louisiana Relay, is currently seeking nominations for the 2019 Deaf Community Leader Award. Nominations are due August 12th. Please see the attached nomination letter and questionnaire for more details and feel free to forward this message on to others.
The Last Week of June 2019 Was Deafblind Awareness Week
Please read the attached article from the National Center for the Deaf to learn more:
Join the ODEP’s Section 14 (c) National Online Dialogue on Employment of People with Disabilities
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), through its ePolicyWorks initiative, is hosting the Section 14(c) National Online Dialogue to gather perspectives on Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act. We invite you to share your ideas, individual stories, and personal experiences illustrating the impact of Section 14(c) on the employment of people with disabilities.
Since 1938, Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act has authorized employers to pay wages that are less than the federal minimum wage to workers who have disabilities for the work being performed, after receiving a special wage certificate from Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. The purpose of this National Online Dialogue is to capture perspectives about Section 14(c) based on individual input from those “on the ground,” including a wide range of stakeholders. The information gathered during this important online dialogue will provide the U.S. Department of Labor with an opportunity to better understand the current landscape, as well as the potential future of Section 14(c).
To participate, visit 14cDialogue.IdeaScale.com and register to share your experiences and ideas, and to comment on ideas submitted by others.
