An Arizona program that teaches participants how to spot and respond to individuals in a mental health crisis will continue after receiving a $250,000 appropriation. Mental Health First Aid was established following the January 2011 shooting that killed six people and seriously wounded former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Part of the training would be to first address the stigma associated with mental health disorders. Read more.
The Social Security Disability Insurance trust fund is projected to be depleted in 2016. If Congress does not act on Social Security reform, it would translate into a 20 percent cut in benefits to 9 million disabled people plus another 2 million dependents, according to Reuters columnist Mark Miller.
To shore up the SSDI, Congress could reallocate a portion of payroll tax revenues from the Social Security retirement program. However, the disability program has been the topic of heated debate in Washington, with many accusing the SSDI of falling victim to fraud and out-of-work baby boomers taking advantage of the system. Read more.
Disabled thrill-seekers are finding “liberation through technology,” according to NPR. Eric Whitney with “All Things Considered” profiled companies producing innovative prosthetics that allow amputees and those with other disabilities to rock climb, kayak, mountain bike and more.
The NFL agreed to shell out $765 million Thursday to settle a lawsuit brought by thousands of retired players accusing the league of hiding the dangers of brain injury. The settlement may be perceived as a win for the league, which makes nearly $10 billion in annual revenue, as terms do not require the NFL to admit guilt.
The national unemployment rate for disabled workers is nearly 15 percent, almost double the rate for the general public. New rules announced by the Labor Department this week could help disabled workers land more jobs, according to the Associated Press.
Under the new requirements, most government contractors will have to meet certain employment standards, having disabled workers make up at least 7 percent of their workforce.
Despite a growing backlog of disability claims and appeals, the Department of Veterans Affairs gave workers millions in bonuses through a system that values quantity over quality, according to an investigative report from the Carnegie-Knight News21 program.
VA claims processors said they were encouraged to avoid complex claims that needed extra work to verify veterans’ injuries and disabilities in order to meet performance standards. As of September 2012, veterans injured on duty waited more than 429 days on average for their claims to be handled while those appealing decisions often waited for years to receive help.
Some employees at Goodwill stores around the country are being paid well below minimum wage — as little as 22 cents per hour, according to a report this summer from NBC. Those most likely to earn such small amounts are those with disabilities.
As host Brian Williams and correspondent Harry Smith explain in this video for NBC Rock Center, there are legal loopholes that allow for such practices. Smith talks with employees and company representatives to help better understand the issue.
Tony Coelho, former U.S. congressman from California and primary author and sponsor of the Americans with Disabilities Act, will serve as one of five judges for the inaugural Katherine Schneider Journalism Award for Excellence in Reporting on Disability, a new national journalism awards program that focuses exclusively on disability coverage.
Coelho will join four other judges who will review entries for the contest and select winners. The other judges are:
Leon Dash, Swanlund Chair Professor of Journalism and director of the Center for Advanced Study at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dash is a former Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for The Washington Post and a member of the NCDJ board.
Cyndi Jones, an expert on disability issues who formerly directed The Center for an Accessible Society, funded by the National Institute of Disability and Rehabilitation Research to disseminate information about independent living and disability research to the media.
Jennifer Longdon, who was paralyzed in a random shooting incident and now uses a wheelchair. She has been an active speaker on disability issues in the Phoenix metropolitan area and the subject of numerous articles about disability.
Tim McGuire, the Frank Russell Chair for the Business of Journalism at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. He is the former editor and senior vice president of the Minneapolis Star Tribune newspaper and a member of the NCDJ board.
Applications are now being accepted for the Katherine Schneider Journalism Award for Excellence in Reporting on Disability, a new national journalism awards program that focuses exclusively on disability coverage.
Print, radio, television and online entries are all eligible. The first-place winner will be given an award of $5,000 and receive an invitation to speak at the Cronkite School, and the second-place winner will receive a $1,500 award. Additional honorable mention awards of $500 may be given at the discretion of the judges.
Entries are being accepted until Aug. 1, 2013. For more information, visit our awards page at https://ncdj.org/contest/.
May 29, 2013, is the 23rd anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. To celebrate, the U.S. Census Bureau has released a “Facts for Features” document that breaks down disability information from the 2010 U.S. Census into easily digestible nuggets perfect for journalists working on stories related to disability.
Some highlights include that 56.7 million people in the United States lived with a disability, that West Virginia had the highest percentage of people with non-institutionalized disabilities and that 23 percent of people with a disability lived in poverty.
