Topeka Independent Living Resource Center
... for a fully integrated and accessible society for all people with disabilities ...
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Governor makes cabinet appointment
Kansas Governor Sam Brownback announced today he has chosen licensed social worker and former state legislator Phyllis Gilmore to serve as the administration’s Secretary of the soon to be named Department for Children and Families. ...
... Governor Brownback also released his executive reorganization order (ERO) to implement his strategic realignment of the state’s Medicaid agencies today. ...
Read the full story on our State/Local Issues News page
Beth Stuckmeyer checks out customers at a pharmacy in south
St. Louis County, Mo. In 2011, President Obama's healthcare law
provided Medicare beneficiaries a 50% discount on covered brand-name
drugs and a 7% discount on generics when they hit the so-called doughnut
hole. (Christian Gooden / St. Louis Post-Dispatch / December 14, 2011)
Health law delivers $2.1 billion in savings on drugs for seniors
In the first full year of the new healthcare law, 3.6 million people in the government Medicare program saved $2.1 billion on prescription drugs in 2011, the Obama administration announced Thursday.
The savings are one of the first tangible benefits of the sweeping overhaul that the president signed in March 2010. ...
... The Medicare prescription drug provision is designed to gradually phase out a gap in coverage for pharmaceuticals that was included in the Part D program when it was created under President George W. Bush. ...
... In 2011, the law provided beneficiaries a 50% discount on covered brand-name drugs and a 7% discount on generics when they hit the doughnut hole.
That worked out to an average of $604 per beneficiary, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. ...
Read the full story on our Benefits News page
Nursing home administrators pan abuse hotline
... The hotline is administered by the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services. People are encouraged to use it to alert officials of actual or potential abuse or neglect of elderly or disabled persons. ...
... State welfare officials can work with the courts to have a person committed or held in a nursing home if it is deemed in the best interest of the individual and the individual is ruled incompetent. ...
... After listening to ... testimony, the [House Aging and Long-term Care] committee’s chairman, Rep. Bob Bethell, R-Alden, announced that he would introduce a bill to transfer Adult Protective Services from SRS to the Kansas Attorney General’s Office.
Bethell, who's a licensed nursing home administrator, said he was fed up with SRS' oversight of the hotline. ...
Read the full story on our State/Local Issues News page
ACTIVITY CODES FOR PERSONAL ASSISTANT SERVICES (T1019) IN THE MR/DD WAIVER AND PERSONAL SERVICES (S5126) IN THE PD AND TBI WAIVERS, (PDF Format) (Word Format)
ACTIVITY CODES FOR ATTENDANT CARE SERVICES LEVEL I, LEVEL II, AND SELF-DIRECTED IN THE FRAIL ELDERLY WAIVER, (PDF Format) (Word Format)
SRS Accepting LIEAP Applications!
The Low Income Energy Assistance Program (LIEAP) helps eligible households pay a portion of their home energy costs by providing a one-time per year benefit.
To qualify you must be personally responsible for purchasing heating costs at the address where you live and have atotal household income that doesn't exceed 130% of the federal poverty level.
LIEAP applications (paper and online) will be available January 18, 2012 through March 30, 2012. For more information on LIEAP visit: http://www.srs.ks.gov/agency/ees/
Pages/Energy/EnergyAssistance.aspx
LET US HELP YOU ACHIEVE YOUR INDEPENDENT LIVING GOALS!
If you are a TILRC consumer you may already know how we help people who want to transition from an institution, like a nursing facility, back into the community or how we help folks get the attendant care services they need through the Medicaid Home and Community Based Waiver Programs, but you may not be aware of all the other ways we help people with disabilities maintain or increase their independence. Learn more about how our advocates can help you be more independent in many aspects of daily living.
2012 Kansas Mission of Mercy
February 17-18
Kansas City Community College
65th & State Avenue
The Kansas Mission of Mercy (KMOM) Dental Project is a two day clinic designed to provide urgent dental care to as many patients as the KMOM volunteer dental professionals are able to treat.Patients receive Treatment on a first come, first served basis. (Doors open at 5:30am)
Faces of Medicaid
In Faces of Medicaid, the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured documents the experience of Americans across the nation who rely upon Medicaid and describes the many ways in which Medicaid assists them.
New to the TILRC Website:
USA TechGuide is a webguide to wheelchairs, mobility scooters, and assistive technology choices. You can read and submit wheelchair reviews, mobility scooter reviews, wheelchair cushion reviews, standing device reviews, and search The TechGuide for all types of assistive equipment.
Employment1st.org - Across Kansas, there are many people trapped by attitudes toward their physical and mental disabilities, attitudes that deem them unemployable. The Employment1st.org website shows how wrong those attitudes are. In a series of stories, you will find information of interest to employers, to families and supporters, and to people with disabilities about how employment success is achieved.
Job Openings
- SILC Coordinator, Massachusetts Statewide Independent Living Council, application deadline February 10, 2012
- Independent Living Peer Guide, Independent Living Center of the North Shore and Cape Ann Inc., MA
- Vocational Program Manager, Sothern California Rehabilitation Services, Inc. (SCRS)
- Executive Director, Center for Independent Living of Broward, application deadline January 31, 2012
- Executive Director, Center for Living & Working, Inc. of Worcester, Massachusetts, application deadline January 31, 2012
- Executive Director, Kansas Council on Developmental Disabilities, Topeka KS
- Healthcare Policy Organizer, The Boston Center for Independent Living
- RN Care Coordinator, IndependenceFirst, Milwaukee, WI
Internships:
- NCIL Policy Internship, Washington, D.C.
- FamiliesUSA Spring 2012 Internships
Scholarships:
- Through the Looking Glass Scholarships for high school seniors or college students who have parents with disabilities. (application deadline is March 5, 2012)
- National Federation of the Blind 2012 Scholarship Program for blind scholars pursuing or planning to pursue a postsecondary course of study in a degree program at a U.S. institution in the 2012 scholastic year. (application deadline is March 31, 2012)
ONLINE LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES
Improving Outcomes with Evidence-Based Practices - Kansas Secondary Connections (KSSC) invites you to participate in a one-hour webinar on connecting post-school outcomes of youth with disabilities and evidence-based practices implemented in the classroom February 22, 2012, 1:00pm.
AccessibilityOnline Webinar Series
The next in the series of webcasts will be:
Accessible Courthouses and Courtrooms , February 02, 2012, 1:30 - 3pm
EASI Webinars
Overview of the Accessibility of Mainstream E-Readers, February 09, 2011, 1pm CT
Hearing Loss Association of America Webinar on Technology in the Workplace, February 16, 2012, 6pm CT
Causes of the Chasm: Factors that Impact Employment Among Persons with Disabilities, A Mathematica Issue Forum and Webcast Presented by the Center for Studying Disability Policy (CSDP), February 16, 2012, 11 - 12:30 CT
ESPA Distance Learning Opportunities
Connecting CILs and Mobility Managers for Accessible Transportation, February 29, 2012, 1:00-2:30 p.m. CST
Think College Webinar Series
Finding Jobs for Students with Intellectual Disability: Where do you start?, March 7, 2012, 1- 2:30pm CT
POLICYMAKERS/RESEARCHERS NEED YOUR INPUT:
Kansas Employment First Oversight Commission (EFOC) Seeking Comments on Goals for Employment First Implementation - EFOC has completed their goals for the next couple of years and would like input from people with disabilities. Deadline for comments is March 01, 2012. Please email comments to Martha Gabehart at mgabehart@kcdcinfo.com. Public comments will also be taken at the EFOC meeting at the Emporia Public Library, March 2 at 1:00 pm. (EFOC Annual Report and Goals)
Topeka Transportation Improvements and Priorities Survey - The Metropolitan Topeka Planning Organization (MTPO) is in the process of updating the regional Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP). The LRTP will include planned improvements, all forms of transportation, to the year 2040. As part of the LRTP process, the MTPO is seeking public input regarding potential regional transportation improvements and priorities, which will help the various governmental agencies evaluate and prioritize improvements throughout the region. (The survey will be available until Wednesday, February 1st)
Participants Needed for Paid Survey on Fitness Technology - The University at Buffalo is conducting a research study to improve the methods of communicating new research findings on Exercise Science / Fitness Environment / Technology to potential information users. If you are interested in learning more about the study or would like to participate, please send an email to: Sue Arnold, sphhp-kt4tt@buffalo.edu, Center on Knowledge Translation for Technology Transfer, University at Buffalo
SABE Self Determination Survey - Tell SABE if your local or statewide self advocacy organization's activities help its members to be more self-determined.
Autism Study Participants Needed! - The Neurocognitive Development of Autism Lab at KU is looking for families with boys between the ages of 2 and 5 with Autism to participate in research at their lab in Lawrence. If you are interested please contact the Neurocognitive Development of Autism Lab at 785.513.5345 or autismlab@ku.edu.
Access to 9-1-1 for People with Disabilities Survey
PECS Survey for Parents of Children with Autism - This survey askes asks parents to describe their children's Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) training, their children's PECS use, and their own attitudes towards PECS.
The Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (RERC) for Wireless Technologies Survey on Accessibility and Usability of Wireless Technology
Topeka ADA Advisory Council Members Needed!
SPREAD THE WORD TO END THE WORD! - Help eliminate the use of the R-word in everyday speech.