The following information is forwarded to you by the DBTAC-Great Lakes ADA Center (www.adagreatlakes.org) for you information: ODEP Releases Making the Move to Managing Your Own Personal Assistance Services (PAS): A Toolkit for Youth Transitioning to Adulthood

 Through its Youth Technical Assistance Center, the National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability-Youth, ODEP is releasing Making the Move to Managing Your Own Personal Assistance Services (PAS): A Toolkit for Youth Transitioning to Adulthood. Whether moving from school or a home setting to work, college, or living on their own, transition-age youth with significant disabilities and their families or friends will benefit from the information and guidance offered by the toolkit as they navigate the complex world of PAS.

 Accessing and maintaining long-term supports such as PAS has often been a significant barrier to employment youth and adults with disabilities. This new toolkit assists youth in strengthening some of the most fundamental skills essential for successfully managing their own PAS: effective communication, time-management, working with others, and establishing professional relationships. Such skills are key to not only enhancing independence, but also thriving in the workplace and growing professionally.

 The toolkit offers sample worksheets, questions, and charts that provide readers clear, helpful examples of things to consider along the path to greater independence. Stories from real youth and their families give practical insight and guidance for youth with disabilities who want to manage their own PAS.

 For more information or to download a Word or PDF version of the toolkit, visit the ODEP’s Youth Technical Assistance Center, the National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability-Youth.

A Trust Protector Can Look Out for a Beneficiary’s Interests

Last Updated: 5/4/2010

One of the most important decisions a special needs trust’s donor (the person who supplies the funds for the trust) makes is the choice of a trustee for the trust. A trustee typically manages the day-to-day operations of the trust, often making distributions to the trust’s beneficiary, investing the trust’s assets, and paying the trust’s bills. But how can the donor make sure that the trustee will properly manage the trust when the donor is no longer around to keep an eye on the trustee, especially if the trust’s beneficiary is not capable of supervising his own trustee? In many cases, a trust protector can ensure that a beneficiary is protected from trustee mismanagement.

Once she assumes office, a trustee almost always serves in a “fiduciary capacity,” meaning that she is in a position of trust and confidence and has a legal duty to properly manage the trust’s assets while keeping in mind the best interests of the trust’s beneficiary. A fiduciary is held to a high standard of conduct, and she owes the trust’s beneficiary a strict duty of loyalty. However, in many cases involving special needs trusts, the beneficiary of the trust is unable to properly enforce this fiduciary duty because of his special needs. This is where a trust protector comes in.

A trust protector is a person chosen by the donor who is responsible for monitoring the trustee’s actions. The trust protector’s duty is to the trust’s beneficiary as an additional pair of eyes, making sure that the trustee is properly performing her job. The trust protector typically has access to the trust’s accounts, and can compel a trustee to produce a summary of what she has done for the beneficiary. If a trust protector believes that the trustee is not properly performing her duties, he can usually fire the trustee. Depending on how the trust is drafted, the donor can even give the trust protector the power to name a new trustee if the donor has not done so himself in the trust document. (Most of the time, however, the trust protector must name an independent trustee as the new trustee, avoiding the scenario where the trust protector fires a trustee only to name himself as the new trustee).

Trust protectors may be useful in a variety of situations. Take the case of Jennifer and her son, Adam. Jennifer is elderly and would like to make sure that her son, who has special needs, is cared for at home for as long a possible when she is gone. So Jennifer decides to establish a special needs trust that will hold her home for Adam’s benefit, and she funds this trust with enough money to make sure that the property is well kept and that the bills are paid. However, Jennifer’s closest relative, her niece Margaret, does not want to serve as trustee of Adam’s trust because she does not want the added responsibility of managing a home. Jennifer decides to name John, a friend of hers who knows Adam and who runs a property management company, as the trustee instead. Although Jennifer trusts John, she decides to name Margaret as a trust protector to review his yearly accounts and make sure that he charges the proper amount for his services and is keeping the property in good shape.

Every special needs trust is different, and in many cases, especially when a donor is serving as trustee, a trust may not initially need a trust protector. The best way to decide if your special needs trust should include one is to speak with your qualified special needs planner

Countdown to the Anniversary of the ADA: Day 52 – Anniversary of the IDEA

For many Americans, it is not until they are faced with an issue head-on that they consider the value of debate and why it can be necessary to help shape our country’s policies, regulations and laws. People often believe  that much of the power to change our laws resides in our nation’s capital, but as most Washington, D.C., residents will tell you, the catalyst for change often lies “outside the Beltway” in neighborhoods, towns and communities across the country. Consider, for example, the issue of education.

 Although today we celebrate the 13th anniversary of the signing of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 1997, the passing of this important legislation and the subsequent practice of providing individuals with disabilities with free, appropriate public education is in no way simply a matter of history. Heated debates about what constitutes the nature and delivery of “appropriate” education for students with disabilities continues among boards of education and in school systems throughout the nation.

 Topics such as mainstreaming, access, teacher preparation and Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) are just some of the issues we as a nation have struggled with in an attempt to find the best methods to address the particular educational needs of our children with disabilities.  At the center of this debate, those most affected find themselves having to make the case that free, appropriate education for all children, including those with disabilities, will benefit entire school systems.

 Yet, the conversation around education for individuals with disabilities and the signing of the IDEA marked a significant step in ensuring the inclusion, and ultimately the freedom, of all Americans.  The words of Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey could not be truer: “Freedom is hammered out on the anvil of discussion, dissent, and debate.

 On the day of the signing of the IDEA in 1997, Judith Heumann, Assistant Secretary of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services at the U.S. Department of Education, spoke about the significance of IDEA from the perspective of a civil servant and as a person with a disability who experienced the very discrimination which the Act sought to fight.

 The closing words of her speech that day offer a realistic, yet hopeful, view of the days ahead.  “We have come a long way,” she said, “but we know that we can and must do better. Making progress will require continued partnership, aggressive collaboration and a love for all children.”

 For More Information:

 To learn more about the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, visit the Department of Education’s IDEA page at http://idea.ed.gov/.

 To read the remarks of Judith Heumann at the 1997 signing of the IDEA, visit http://www.benderconsult.com/people/speech/heumann.html.

 Posted by Diana Z. on Jun 4, 2010 1:14:15 PM in 100 Days to the ADA, Civil Rights, Education

The Disability Pride Parade will take place in 2010 on July 24th.
Not only will there be the parade but there will also be exhibits in Daley Center of organizations which serve individuals with disabilities.

The overall mission of the Disability Pride Parade is:

To change the way people think about and define “disability”;
To break down and end the internalized shame among people with Disabilities; and
To promote the belief in society that Disability is a natural and beautiful part of human diversity in which people living with Disabilities can take pride.

The specific objectives for the parade are:

To organize a fully inclusive, annual event that will celebrate and strengthen the pride, power, and unity of people with disabilities, our families, and allies;
To generate national visibility of the Disability community

At the request of Sage Publications, Sarah Triano wrote the following definition of “Disability Pride” for the Encyclopedia of Disability:

” ‘Disability Pride represents a rejection of the notion that our physical, sensory, mental, and cognitive differences from the non-disabled standard are wrong or bad in any way, and is a statement of our self-acceptance, dignity and pride. It is a public expression of our belief that our disabilities are a natural part of human diversity, a celebration of our heritage and culture, and a validation of our experience. Disability Pride is an integral part of movement building, and a direct challenge to systemic ableism and stigmatizing definitions of disability. It is a militant act of self-definition, a purposive valuing of that which is socially devalued, and an attempt to untangle ourselves from the complex matrix of negative beliefs, attitudes, and feelings that grow from the dominant group’s assumption that there is something inherently wrong with our disabilities and identity.’