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| June 2004 | Volume 1, Issue 8 |
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Freedom to live a meaningful life in the community Authority over dollars needed for support Support to organize resources in ways that are life enhancing and meaningful Responsibility for the wise use of public dollars Confirmation of the important leadership that self-advocates must hold in a newly designed system
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Month's Feature Stories Georgia Hospitality While the final Immersion Learning 2004 report is being compiled for publication in the Center's Summer newsletter, now is the time to recognize the fine hospitality of the Georgia Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD). Participant feedback indicates the Georgia Self-Determination Team of self-advocates and the Governor's respect of the GCDD as highlights of the Immersion Learning. Because of Eric Jacobson and Beth Spinning's dedication to self-determination, many were challenged to rethink "business as usual" back home and begin to profoundly alter their ways in seeking and supporting freedom for American citizens with disabilities. See story http://www.gcdd.org/ Mental Wellness in Orlando June 30- July 2 The final agenda for the First Annual Mental Wellness: A Journey of Self-Determination and Choice through Medical, Legal, and Educational Partnerships Conference will be revealed Wednesday, June 9th by 5pm EST. Center Director Tom Nerney is on the agenda opening day to present Freedom as the Foundation for Quality. The conference goal is "to promote dialogue among people with mental health needs, behavioral health care professionals, lawyers, educators, and researchers about the goals for transforming the current mental health system identified in the July 2003 report of the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health." Visit http://www.floridasdc.info/Pages/SDCHome.html Self-Determination: "Let's Just Do It" Michigan Conference June 14 & 15, Lansing In his keynote address, Free Men and Women: The Roots of Quality Grow from Equality, Tom Nerney will speak to fact that there cannot ever be true quality or quality assurance without the ordinary freedoms all Americans expect. During this 7th annual event, Center consultant Jim Conroy (Center for Outcome Analysis www.outcomeanalysis.com ) will support this notion in his two sessions New Approaches to Quality. Within the next few weeks Tom's new essay on re-thinking quality called Lost Lives will be available and posted on our web site. http://www.macmhb.org/Self-determination/SDAgenda3.PDF VOR Annual Membership Meeting Tom Nerney has agreed to make a presentation on self-determination at the Voice of the Retarded ( VOR ) Annual Membership meeting in June. The VOR annual meeting kicks off the organization's Washington Initiative, a week of legislative lobbying during which VOR will assert their position that some persons with disabilities will always require segregated residential and support options. This invitation to present resulted from a two-day individual budgeting training session in Kentucky that was attended by two key VOR members. Last year the Center entertained a request from SEIU (the California union whose membership seeks to include direct care workers who work with people with disabilities) to react to a legislative proposal that was being advanced by the union in California. Tom responded with a 17 page memo. VOR and SEIU each have ideological and economic agendas which directly conflict with the principles championed by the Center for Self-Determination. Nerney feels strongly that the Center has an obligation to get the message on self-determination to anyone who desires to hear it. News from Self-Determination.com The Beat Goes On Please welcome the following supporters of self-determination in their new role with the Center for Self-Determination online community. Each has agreed to seek, receive, support and offer updates on self-determination as a State Contact. Pat Carver, communications coordinator, has stated since the inception of the website state pages "When people are struggling for control of their lives, support from and connection with others is vital. It can be life-saving. By networking through the Center, those beginning the fight for freedom and those further along in the quest can both seek and offer confirmation." Included among the following new State Contacts is a woman who is struggling to manage her life her way; her dad, a Director of large state agency, a fiscal intermediary, a provider of services in a Midwest metropolitan area and a young talented southern support coordinator. This wide representation illustrates a bit of what it takes to keep the heart of self-determination beating. Arkansas Rebecca Riggs rriggs@ipa.net Florida Pam Kyllonen Pamela_kylonen@dcf.state.fl.us Minnesota Cheryl Vennerstrom cherylv@orionassoc.net New Jersey Frank & Maria Tetto tetto@optonline.net South Carolina Stacy Roper sroper@ridsn.state.sc.us Utah Marilyn Bown marilynbown@aol.com Wisconsin Peter Leidy peterleidy@yahoo.com Self-Determination State Sites Arkansas On July 13-14 at the Fort Smith Civic Center the Arkansas Independent Living Council, through a grant from Arkansas Rehabilitation Services, will host employment training provided by Center Consultants Doreen Rosimos & Darcy Smith of Income Links, LLC. For more info: www.selfdetermination.com/states/arkansas/index.html Florida Renee Whaley, Florida Freedom Initiative Director, presented "Blueprint for Self-Determination in Florida: The System of the Future" on behalf of the Center at the 6th Family Cafe Conference on Saturday May 29 in Orlando. Showcasing Florida's menu of services, the Family Café is an annual statewide conference and forum where families and self-advocates learn about services and programs in the state and where professionals and policymakers interact directly with the families and individuals they serve. http://www.familycafe.net/about.php Colorado To gain a glimpse of Colorado's Self-Determination Process (a DRAFT document) for the Developmental Disabilities System visit http://www.self-determination.com/states/colorado/index.html Tom Nerney was among the national experts asked to review this proposal and he submitted a formal response to the state. On the Colorado page of the Center's web site, Roger G. Jensen, the Center's State Contact, also provides an up-date on self-determination efforts in his home state. Click above for Roger's article. New Mexico Rebecca Shuman, Executive Director of the Arc of New Mexico and Center State Contact, proudly announces the 2004 Institute for Self-Determination. The schedule begins this month with Center Consultant Dennis Harkins and follows with trainings by Doreen Rosimos, Darcy Smith, Tom Nerney, Pat Carver, Jan Lampman and Carol Wallace. See more information at http://www.self-determination.com/states/newmexico/index.html Updates and Announcements Employment, Medicaid and Social Security In Minneapolis in May, Tom Nerney offered assistance to employment providers in how to expand Medicaid resources for necessary supports and services. Nerney was joined by a panel of experts which included Shelly Brantley, Developmental Disabilities Director for the Florida Department of Children and Families who highlighted her state's Social Security Waiver that permits SSI beneficiaries who are on its Consumer Directed Care Waiver to keep more of their earnings. (See System of the Future http://www.self-determination.com/pdf/SystemFuture.pdf ) The panel was organized and moderated by Leslie Wilson of Wilson Resources, Inc - a consulting firm in Tallahassee that specializes in employment services. Contact APSE: The Network on Employment www.apse.org/ concerning outcomes of this conference on employment, Medicaid and Social Security. Dale Dutton Offers a Noble Solution At the initial immersion learning opportunities, the Center was technologically rescued a few times by participant Dale Dutton. At that time Dale was attending the trainings to stay abreast of self-determination because of his dual role as a CARF professional and as a father. Recently Dutton started a firm called Noble Solutions. According to his business advertisement,"Noble Solutions is a single organization for the majority of your outside consultation. By bringing together an alliance of experts, who also have their own individual businesses, we can offer you a far broader range of services. Our seasoned professional affiliates have years of solid experience working with profit and non-profit organizations, public education systems, advocacy, employment, and health care organizations." For more information visit: http://www.nobleS.biz EQUITY E-Newsletter Addresses Disability and Asset Building The World Institute on Disability (WID) publishes EQUITY Newsletter which may be of great interest to Center for Self-Determination members. EQUITY covers 1) disability access issues for the asset building community, and 2) asset building strategies, including Individual Development Accounts. WID claims that while there are "no statistics on how many people with disabilities participate in poverty reduction programs, we can reasonably speculate that a large number do. People with disabilities permeate social service programs because of the high level of poverty in this population. EQUITY provides the connection between the two communities". To subscribe visit http://www.wid.org/equity The " T " Stands for " Thank You" Through the spur-of-the-moment generosity of the Alabama Ticket to Work program's Pamela Trammell and her colleagues, most of the attendees at the recent Immersion Learning in Atlanta went home with a colorful souvenir. Ted Alvis set up temporary shop in the hotel lobby and opened up two large boxes filled with hundreds of the rainbow-motif T-shirts and they were all gone within minutes! Trammell said, "The conference was excellent. Left with a wealth of information and networking and knowledge.… This one was true Immersion Learning!" Closing Quote "Our worst fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and famous? Actually, who are we not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world." Marianne Williamson (quote is often mistakenly attributed to Nelson Mandela)
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