Looking Forward to the 2016 Legislative Session
As you read this issue, the 2016 Georgia legislative session has already begun. The Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) is at the Gold Dome on a daily basis working hard alongside policymakers, partners and other allies.
We are committed to being there during the session to uphold our mission of bringing about social and policy changes that promote opportunities for persons with developmental disabilities and their families to live, learn, work, play and worship in Georgia communities. But as with any organization that engages in legislative advocacy, our work to prepare for the 2016 session began even as the last session ended. In particular, we had an especially busy fall ramping up for this legislative session. Let me tell you about just a few of the things we have been doing leading up to now.
A Busy Fall Season Leading Up to the Session
One way in which we prepare for the legislative season is to hear from you, the citizens of Georgia, about what issues people with disabilities and their families are facing. We traveled across the State hosting 11 public forums to hear what you think is working well, what is not working well and what needs to change to improve the lives of people with disabilities. You will hear more about the results of these forums in the coming months as GCDD will be using the information to draft our next strategic Five-Year Plan. Suffice it to say that many of the themes that emerged, such as the need for better employment outcomes for people with disabilities, will be reflected in the current legislative agenda.
We also focused extensively on building up the membership of and making some changes to our cross-disability coalition formerly called “Unlock the Waiting Lists!” For several years, this campaign focused exclusively on reducing Georgia’s Medicaid waiver waiting lists. However, in recent years, this coalition focused more broadly on rebalancing Georgia’s system to shift its long-term supports from institutional to home and community-based services (HCBS). Therefore, this coalition has decided to drop “the waiting lists” from its name and just go by UNLOCK. You will read more about the UNLOCK agenda items later in this article.
Finally, toward the end of the 2015 legislative session, House Resolution 642 was passed with Chairman Katie Dempsey (R – District 13) as the primary sponsor. It initiated a House study committee on “Post-Secondary Education and Employment Options for Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.” Chairman Dempsey led this study committee and, along with other committee members, held four meetings in the fall.
The committee heard extensive testimony from numerous stakeholders including GCDD and Employment First Georgia. If you haven’t done so, please thank Chairman Dempsey for her leadership and other committee members for all their hard work on this committee: Rep. Amy Carter (R – District 175), Rep. Bubber Epps (R – District 144), Rep. Valencia Stovall (D – District 74) and Rep. Bill Werkheiser (R – District 157). As this issue goes to print, we look forward to reading the report of this committee and the recommendations it contains.
2016 Legislative Agenda
Make Georgia an Employment First State
Employment First means that employment should be the first and preferred option for all people, regardless of their disability. Under Employment First legislation, employment in the general workforce at or above minimum wage is the first and preferred option for all working-age citizens with disabilities.
Currently, the Georgia system creates many barriers for individuals with disabilities to work. Although the majority of Georgians with developmental disabilities want to work, only 8% of Georgians with developmental disabilities are currently employed in the community.1 Under an Employment First policy, state agencies will need to re-align their policies and funding to prioritize employment for all working-age Georgians with disabilities.
• Support legislation that will make Georgia an Employment First state.
Register for Employment First Advocacy Day here: www.gcdd.org/advocacy
Support Students to Attend Inclusive Post-Secondary Education Programs in GA
Inclusive post-secondary education (IPSE) provides opportunities for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities to access higher education. This education prepares them to live increasingly independent lives and pursue careers of their choice.
Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities who receive post-secondary education are more likely to find paid employment than those who don’t, and their earnings are 73% higher than peers who do not receive post-secondary education.2
Thanks to support from the Georgia General Assembly, the number of inclusive post-secondary programs in Georgia has grown from one to four. Additionally, the Center for Leadership in Disability at Georgia State University recently received a federal Transition Programs for Students with Intellectual Disabilities grant, which means we can anticipate the addition of more programs within the next few years.
However, students in inclusive post-secondary programs have very few resources available to them to pay for these programs compared to what is available to students of traditional college programs. For example, IPSE students cannot access the HOPE scholarship program. Without financial support, many qualified and eager students simply cannot afford the life-changing opportunity of inclusive post-secondary education.
• Increase student access to inclusive post-secondary educational programs by creating a scholarship to mirror HOPE to assist students who could not otherwise afford these programs.
• Support the sustainability of inclusive post-secondary educational programs in Georgia by doubling the legislative funding from $200,000 to $400,000. The FY 2017 ASK for new funding: $200,000.
Register for IPSE Advocacy Day here: www.gcdd.org/advocacy
UNLOCK (formerly “Unlock the Waiting Lists!”)
GCDD is proud to support UNLOCK, formerly known as “Unlock the Waiting Lists!” The UNLOCK campaign advocates with Georgians with disabilities so they and their families can live full lives and contribute to Georgia communities and its economy. We believe Georgia must rebalance its system of long-term services and supports, so that fewer dollars are spent on institutional care and more dollars are invested into HCBS services.
We Need More DD Waivers
Out of the several Medicaid waivers that Georgia offers to those who qualify for this level of care, the New Options Waiver (NOW) and the Comprehensive Supports Waiver Program (COMP) have by far Georgia’s longest waiting list. There are over 8,000 individuals with developmental disabilities on this waiting list. These individuals and their families are desperately hanging on and need Georgia to throw them a lifeline.
• Fund at least 1,000 NOW/COMP waivers to reduce Georgia’s longest waiting list and allow more individuals to begin to receive services: $16,486,250.
Address the ICWP Rate Disparity
The Independent Care Waiver Program (ICWP) provides vital assistance to people with significant physical disabilities and traumatic brain injury to help them with daily tasks such as toileting, bathing, dressing, meals and housekeeping. The Medicaid reimbursement rate is significantly lower than all the other Georgia Medicaid waivers making it extremely difficult to find qualified caregivers. By the time home health agencies take their cut, caregivers often are paid only $8-9/hour.
• Increase the ICWP’s Personal Support rate to $20/hour to be consistent with other Georgia waivers. We recommend phasing in this amount with an increase for FY 2017 of $3/hour: $7,975,490.
Children’s Freedom Initiative: Bring Georgia’s Children Home
There are a number of school-age children living in nursing facilities or intermediate care facilities. They are in facilities simply because they have a disability and need care despite the fact that it is completely possible to care for them in the community. Georgia needs to shut the front door to these facilities and ensure every child has a permanent loving home.
• Provide funding for all of the young Georgians with disabilities under the age of 22 currently living in facilities to move into permanent loving homes and have the care they need.
The Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act
An ABLE account is a tax advantaged savings account that will allow people with disabilities to save money without putting their benefits in jeopardy. It is limited to individuals with significant disabilities who became disabled before age 26 and must be spent on certain qualified expenses. Although the federal legislation that enables these accounts was passed by Congress and signed into law in 2014, states must pass their own bills to establish ABLE programs for their residents. We anticipate multiple ABLE state bills being filed during this session.
• Support legislation that would establish a Georgia ABLE program for Georgia residents.
Register for ABLE Act Advocacy Day here: www.gcdd.org/advocacy
Support Georgians Who Care for Their Families: The Family Care Act
Many Georgians balance their work lives with caring for their families. The Family Care Act would enable Georgians who have earned sick leave to use up to five days of that leave to care for sick members of their immediate family. The Family Care Act does not add any additional sick days or require employers to provide them; it only allows Georgians to use the sick days they’ve already earned to care for family members.
• Support the Family Care Act.
Change the Standard to Prove Intellectual Disabilities in Capital Punishment Cases
In 2002, the US Supreme Court said it is wrong to execute a person with intellectual disabilities because it violates the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.3 But in Georgia, it is extremely difficult for an individual to prove in court that they have intellectual disabilities. Georgia is the only one of the 50 states that requires a person to prove “beyond a reasonable doubt” that they have intellectual disabilities in capital punishment cases.
• Change the legal standard of proof for proving intellectual disabilities in the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (OCGA) to “preponderance of the evidence,” which is the standard used in most other states.
The previous items are the focus of our legislative agenda for 2016! In addition, GCDD is also proud to support …
• Changes to Georgia’s high school diploma system that will give more students with disabilities the opportunity to obtain diplomas and access further career and educational opportunities.
• The creation of an Elder and Disabled Abuser Registry in Georgia that would allow employers of direct care workers to have a better way to screen potential employees and may deter abusers.
• The creation of the Phillip Payne Personal Assistance Program, a sliding fee scale program for workers with disabilities to pay a cost share that would allow them to access Personal Assistant Services to maintain their independence.
• The creation of PeachWork, a program allowing workers with disabilities to pay a premium in order to receive medical coverage through Medicaid. Workers on this program could earn a modest income without putting their Medicaid health insurance at risk.
Mark your Calendars and Join Us for 2016 Advocacy at the Capitol!
No matter how robust our legislative agenda, we cannot be successful in our efforts without YOU – the voices of the people with disabilities, their families, and other allies. We will be holding a series of advocacy days along with our annual Disability Day at the Capitol. Each advocacy day will have training, visits with legislators and networking with others in our community.
Register TODAY. You don’t want to miss it!
2016 Advocacy at the Capitol!
We Need More DD (NOW/COMP) Waivers Day
Wednesday, January 20
(sponsored by GCDD and UNLOCK)
Independent Care Waiver Program (ICWP) Raise the Rate Day
Wednesday, January 27
(sponsored by GCDD and UNLOCK)
Inclusive Post-Secondary Education (IPSE) Day
Tuesday, February 2
(sponsored by GCDD, UNLOCK and the Georgia
Inclusive Post-Secondary Education Consortium)
Intellectual Disability and the Death Penalty
Tuesday, February 9
(sponsored by GCDD, PAPE Coalition and GFADP)
Employment First Day
Thursday, February 11
(sponsored by GCDD, UNLOCK and the Employment First Coalition)
18th Annual Disability Day at the Capitol*
Thursday, February 18
ABLE (Achieving a Better Life) Act Coalition Day
Wednesday, February 24
(sponsored by GCDD, AADD and the Georgia ABLE Coalition)
Wildcard Day! End-of-Session Advocacy
Tuesday, March 1
(sponsored by GCDD and UNLOCK)
* Disability Day registration information is on pages 16-17.
Receive the latest information throughout the session:
Please go to www.gcdd.org, scroll to the bottom of our homepage and click on “Join our Advocacy Team!” and follow the instructions. You will have the opportunity to select your subscription preferences. Be sure that you sign up to receive our “Advocacy & Policy Alerts” and “Unlock the Waiting Lists! Alerts.” This will also allow you receive our legislative newsletter, “Public Policy for the People” that comes out every two weeks during session.
References:
1. National Core Indicators 2013-2014. National Association of State Directors of Developmental Disabilities Services and Human Services Research Institute. http://www.nationalcoreindicators.org/charts/
2. Migliore, A., Butterworth, J., & Hart, D. (2009). Postsecondary Education and Employment Outcomes for Youth with Intellectual Disabilities. Think College Fast Facts. No 1. http://www.thinkcollege.net/publications/fast-facts
3. See Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304 (2002)
Read more from the winter 2016 edition of Making A Difference:
