AdvocacyDenver y Trumpet Behavioral Health están orgullosos de presentar este seminario web juntos. Esta presentación proporciona consejos y trucos fáciles para facilitar el entrenamiento para el baño para usted y para su hijo. Puede ver una grabación del seminario web y descargar un PDF de las diapositivas a continuación.
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[Read more…] about Webinar: Control de Esfínteres para Personas con DiscapacidadesChild Discipline Reform Measures Up for Hearing
An Interview with Catherine Strode
This week, the House Education Committee will hear testimony on House Bill 1194. The bill establishes requirements under which public schools can suspend or expel students enrolled in preschool through second grade (usually three or four year olds through 7 year olds). Colorado Department of Education reports that 5,849 kindergarten through 2nd grade public school students were suspended from school in 2017-2018. The bill is aligned with national recommendations that seek to limit school removal for very young children while endorsing thoughtful exceptions that ensure school safety.
The bill has bipartisan sponsors in both the House and the Senate. Republican State Representative Colin Larson, says education is a priority issue for him as a legislator. He supports the bill because he says he doesn’t want to set kids back educationally or developmentally at young ages.
[Read more…] about Child Discipline Reform Measures Up for HearingJail Wait At ‘Crisis Point’ For Individuals With Disabilities
An Interview with Catherine Strode
For the past 12 years, Alison Butler has been advocating for the rights of people with disabilities in her role as the Director of Legal Services for Disability Law Colorado. She has investigated reports of institutional abuse, housing and workplace discrimination, and inequities in education. However, the 2019 Legislative Session may be presenting her with one of her most challenging advocacy issues as she leads a campaign to reform the state’s handling of people with disabilities in the criminal justice system.
Currently, the average jail wait time for a person judged to be incompetent to proceed in Colorado’s criminal justice process is 79 days. Allison is leading an educational and legislative campaign to reduce that wait period down to no more than 14 days. In addition, she aspires to change the way people with disabilities who have committed low level crimes are routed through the criminal justice system. She says this issue in Colorado has reached a point of crisis.
[Read more…] about Jail Wait At ‘Crisis Point’ For Individuals With DisabilitiesCouncil On Developmental Disabilities New Leadership
An Interview with Catherine Strode
For the past five months, the Colorado Developmental Disabilities Council has been under new leadership. Executive Director Joelle Brouner now heads up the Council, consisting of 24 members. Each Council member is appointed by the Governor. Council members fall into three groups: individuals with developmental or intellectual disabilities (I/DD), parents or guardians of people with I/DD, and individuals who work in service systems. Joelle Brouner discusses her vision for the Council’s future work and her goal of creating opportunities for individuals with disabilities to lead lives of their own choosing.
[Read more…] about Council On Developmental Disabilities New Leadership
HCPF Bids Farewell to Medicaid Director Gretchen Hammer
An Interview with Catherine Strode
Gretchen Hammer is recognized as one of the state’s most respected leaders in healthcare. Formerly the State’s Director of Medicaid, she recently left the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing. For the past four years, Gretchen has overseen the Department’s Health Programs Office which administers the state’s public health insurance programs for low-income Coloradans including Medicaid and Child Health Plan Plus (CHP+). Prior to HCPF, she served as the Executive Director of the Colorado Coalition for the Medically Underserved (CCMU). As she looks back over the years of her tenure, Gretchen Hammer cites progress for the state’s Medicaid members in that they have reported satisfaction with the delivery and quality of their care.
[Read more…] about HCPF Bids Farewell to Medicaid Director Gretchen Hammer
Needs Assessment Validates Services Offered By RMHS
Executive Director, Rocky Mountain Human Services
An Interview with Catherine Strode
When Denver Human Services (DHS) released the findings of a needs assessment for individuals with developmental or intellectual disabilities, one Denver nonprofit organization took it as validation of its work. As part of the needs assessment, Denver Human Services surveyed recipients, providers and others and asked how supportive people are of the current mill levy services being provided by Rocky Mountain Human Services. On a scale of one to ten, where 1 is the lowest level of support and 10 is the highest level of support, across the different types of respondents to the survey, the scores were just over seven and just under nine in terms of how satisfied people were with those current services. Executive Director Sheri Repinski says the results of the needs assessment reflect that RMHS is on the right track and doing work that people value with Denver property tax mill levy dollars.
[Read more…] about Needs Assessment Validates Services Offered By RMHS
Affordable Housing Tops List In Needs Assessment for Individuals with Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities
An Interview with Catherine Strode
The results of a needs assessment on services available to Denver residents with intellectual or developmental disabilities have been completed. Denver Human Services (DHS) has released the findings and is now in the process of seating an Advisory Council to recommend solutions. The assessment rated support for the use of Mill Levy funds for enhanced services was high, but cited key gaps in unmet needs. Denver Human Services Mill Levy Program Manager, Justin Sykes, explains the systemic challenges revealed in the needs assessment and discusses the next steps.
Promoting Inclusion with Why Not Them?
An Interview with Catherine Strode
Since 2005, Lloyd Lewis has been overseeing all operational and financial management issues of the arc Thrift Stores in Colorado. He has built a strong reputation on his financial management prowess, turning a business that was burning cash into a solid source of revenue for all of the state’s Arc chapters. However, his latest undertaking is earning him recognition as an advocate, and, as a dad. In the book Why Not Them?, Lloyd delves into how the experience of parenting his son Kennedy has changed not only his life but also his life’s mission.
Fight for Access to Disability Benefits Scores Victory
An Interview with Catherine Strode
For the past two years, Attorney Allison Neswood has campaigned for individuals with disabilities to have greater access to benefits provided by Colorado’s Aid to the Needy Disabled program (AND.) The program provides cash assistance to people with disabilities who are in the process of applying for Supplemental Security Income (SSI.) She, along with a group of community advocates, fought for a rule change that will make applying for the cash assistance easier. The State Board of Human Services approved the change unanimously last month, impacting the lives of people with disabilities statewide.
[Read more…] about Fight for Access to Disability Benefits Scores Victory
The Gift of A Lifetime
An Interview with Catherine Strode
For nearly 50 years, Don Morales has given his time and talent to support the needs of individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities. At 84 years old, Don currently serves as the Treasurer on AdvocacyDenver’s Executive Board. However, his history of service does not begin there nor does it end there. He has logged countless hours of volunteer time over the decades in order to raise funds and improve services for our community.
Don says the greatest advancements he has seen over the years has been children having the right to attend public schools. His service has been based on his passion to help individuals like his own son Danny. He says Danny, now 56 years old, has been a gift to his entire family. ”