LIKE A HEAT WAVE

The International Conference is just nine weeks away! Early bird discount deadline is May 1. Now is the hot time to Register for the conference and make hotel reservations at the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center

GET READY Four Tops

…is the right of all people, regardless of disability or need for support.

    Click on the image on the left to view the official International Conference on Self-Determination conference brochure.

Opportunity Not to Miss
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have made a major commitment to participate in all roundtables and sessions strands, provide private consultation, and to present at the plenary luncheon with key personnel from Baltimore.

Other key sponsorships to date:
Detroit Wayne Community Mental Health
Michigan Department of Community Health
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Community Living Service, Inc
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
The Office of the Deputy Secretary Department for Planning and Evaluation, U.S., HHS
Oakland County Community Mental Health Authority
The Developmental Disabilities Institute at Wayne State University
This list is not complete – please check ICSD website for timely updates website.

NOWHERE TO RUN

Each session moderator has worked with the ICSD conference committee to organize the panel (in which he or she moderates) and assures cross-disability representation with the subject.

Session 1A Systems Change: Changing the Agenda for Human Services and the Control of Public Funding in the United States Moderators: Rebecca Shuman, the Arc of New Mexico and Bob Kafka, ADAPT

Session 1B Systems Change: Changing the Agenda for Human Services and the Control of Public Funding—an International Perspective Moderator: Steve Dowson, National Development Team, UK

Session 1C Structural Change: Budgets, Allocation Strategies; Fiscal Management; Planning, Brokering, Peer Supports, Coordination Moderator: Jim Dehem, Community Living Services, MI

Session 1D Advocacy and Leadership - Strengthening the Movement Moderators: Dan Fisher, the National Empowerment Center; Marsha Rose Katz, ADAPT, Rural Institute, MT and Bob Liston, ADAPT, Montana Fair Housing

Session 1E Work Imperative: People Taking Charge of Their Economic Futures With Self-Determination Moderators: David Hammis and Cary Griffin, Griffin-Hammis Associates, LLC

Session 1F Workforce Issues Moderator: Dohn Hoyle, the Arc of Michigan, SEIU members and others

Session 1G StoryCorps Interviews and The Power of Your Story Moderators: Pat Carver, Community Drive, Inc; Angela Martin, the Developmental Disability Institute, Wayne State University; Ray Schuholz, Community Living Services, Inc and Ann Thomas, The Council on Quality

Panel members for the above sessions to date include Edddie Bartnik, Anne Beales, Micheal Bleascale, Ricky Broussard, Gerald Butler, Mike Clark, Eli Cohen, Jim Conroy, Annette Downey, Derrick Dufrense, Beth Durkee, Susan Flanagan, Nancy Fudge, Jackie Golden, Jack Hillyard, Mike Halligan, Steve Harrington, Mike Head, Jeff Keilson, Kathleen Kovach, Jan Lampman, Barbara LeRoy, Bob Liston, Joe Loncor, Kevin Mahoney, Angela Martin, Noreen Jaloway, Maria Maria Marquez, Mike Oxford, Lori Owen, Russ Rankin, Dorren Rosimos, Marcie Roth, Brian Salisbury, Ray Schulolz, Tim Stainton, Rebecca Shuman, Verna Spatyh, Glenna Taylor, Ann Thomas, Josh Wiener, Doug Woollard, and more …

COME SEE ABOUT ME

Come, see and participate in one of these two informative per-conference sessions on Tuesday May 27th from 9 am to 4 pm at the Detroit Marriott.

The Income and Asset pre-conference session is an in-depth forum on critical elements of helping people, regardless of their disability, to have viable opportunities to earn income and build financial assets. Highlights: Creating alliances to give people the tools for a better life; government and community endeavors that support people to gain freedom through financial security. The Moderator is Jack Hillyard, Employment Policy Group, University of Iowa And topics include:

• Self-Determination and Asset Building as a Central Tool for Social Policy
• Social Investments and Life Course Perspective
• Asset-based Approaches in the Context of Poverty and Social Exclusion: Concepts and Theory
• Increasing Individual and Family Economic Success
• Access to Banking and Savings
• Individual Development Accounts (IDA) Targeted to Low-Income Groups
• Building Housing Assets of Low Income Groups
• Strategic Next Steps to Asset-Building

International Communication and Information Sharing pre-conference session is a forum for hearing what is going on around the world in self-determination and finding ways to create effective international information sharing and communication. Highlights: speakers from around the world; opportunities to develop ways to keep informed of what is happening in other places; making sure information sharing is accessible to all who need it. The Moderators are Barbara Leroy Ph.D., The Developmental Disabilities Institute, Wayne State University, Detroit; Brian Salisbury and Doug Wollard, Community Living British Columbia; Colleen Wieck Ph.D., Minnesota Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities and Dan Fisher, The Empowerment Center, MA

For more details on both important and valuable pre-conference sessions visit: http://www.communitydrive.org/uploads/preconf_session_details.pdf

Register for the preconference http://www.macmhb.org/reg_forms/ISDPreconferenceWorkshops.htm

JIMMY MACK

You’ll be coming back after dinner (if you choose) on Wednesday 5/28 to participate in one of the evening Roundtables. Topics range from the “Future of Systems Change” to “Assuring Quality.” To hurry back, go to the Program page on the ICSD website for roundtable details.

I SAY A LITTLE PRAYER

Say a prayer. Tell a story. Record your thoughts. Create folklore and build a portrait of who we really are as Americans. Sign up to participate in STORYCORPS at the International Conference on Self Determination on Wednesday May 28, 2008.

By recording the stories of our lives with the people we care about, we experience our history, hopes, and humanity.

If you’re thinking about being interviewed

• Find a Partner to interview. The best StoryCorps interviews happen between two people who know each other well. A crucial part of the StoryCorps experience is having the chance to be interviewed someone important to you, and to ask questions you have never been able to ask. Your partner can be a family member, friend, and colleague, everyday people who know you well and will be at the conference. Stories of everyday people are the most important and interesting stories of all.
• Contact Pat Carver at pcarver@chartermi.net TODAY to sign up. Interviews are 40 minutes long and therefore limit the amount of the time slots.
• Learn about STORY CORPS. A StoryCorps interview is a conversation between two people who know each other well. Each conversation is recorded on a free CD to take home and share, and is archived for generations to come at the United States Library of Congress. Visit the STORYCORS website http://www.storycorps.net especially the Questions and Answers page http://www.storycorps.net/about/faqs

DANCING IN THE STREETS

Tiff Tidbits is the ICSD monthly column highlighting events and little known facts about the big “ D” written by Tiffany Devon the Public Relations Director at Community Living Services. Tiff’s Tidbits is dedicated to all the cool things happening in and around Detroit as well as an information source for all those little known facts about the Motor City. From the alluring architecture and the dynamic dining to the classy culture and casinos, there’s something for everyone in Detroit!

One spot could be the Motown Historical Museum where Smokey Robinson is quoted as saying “All over the world, all through the races, all through everything, Motown bridged a gap...and I’m so proud of that!” said Smokey" Robinson. You, too, will be proud being a part of what we anticipate as some of the most meaningful discussions of the future of self-determination that we've experienced in a long time about bridging those gaps for that new day when people, regardless of disability or need for support, will have control over their future and the resources they need to pursue a meaningful life.

Sound familiar?

Watch for Next ALLIANCE for Freedom issue to find out who exactly sings the Motown songs in the headlines above!!

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