Posted on: , Nic Lindh
Suit seeks to stop cuts in home care for disabled people
Advocates for people with disabilities have filed a federal class-action lawsuit seeking to block the state from cutting in-home care services to 4,000 low-income individuals who need extensive assistance to remain at home and out of an institution.
Posted on: , Nic Lindh
Mental health programs suffering from budget cuts
Reporting from Reno— The woman slouched on the steps of the rundown motel, her hair mussed, her pinkish outfit rumpled, her expression perplexed. Health officials were combing the brick-facade building where she lived for bed bugs as part of a multi-agency raid, while police banged on door after door, hunting for ex-felons.
Posted on: , Nic Lindh
200 high-risk patients locked out of mental health treatment
Between April 2010 and March 2011, about 200 people across the state who were so mentally ill they posed a threat of serious harm to themselves or others were turned out on the street because no private psychiatric facility was willing to admit them, according to a new report.
Posted on: , Nic Lindh
Student Recognized for Academic Excellence Despite Disability
When someone hears that a child has a disability they may think of down syndrome or being physically disabled. But imagine having a disability that no one can see and others thinking you’re just plain difficult.
Posted on: , Nic Lindh
Broward files its first emotional disability pet lawsuit
The senior citizen in Deerfield Beach’s Century Village is so incensed over her condo’s refusal to honor her doctor’s “prescription’’ that she live with her dog, Sweetie, for emotional support, and the retaliation she says she suffered over her request, she’s made a federal case out of it, literally. Broward County government has taken her cause to the courthouse, and the public is paying for it.
Posted on: , Nic Lindh
Sen. Tom Coburn worries disability program being used for unemployment benefits
Sen. Tom Coburn wants a meeting with the top Social Security Administration investigator to discuss the increase in people receiving disability payments, saying he’s concerned that some may be using the program as “an extension of unemployment benefits.”
Posted on: , Nic Lindh
Mislabeling kids as ADHD? Investigate federal rules
GOOD INTENTIONS have gone awry in the federal program that gives cash benefits to families of disabled children, and a comprehensive assessment of the program’s weaknesses is the first step toward fixing it. Given the strong possibility that children are being misclassified as disabled to make their families eligible for checks of up to $700 a month, Congress should happily pay the $10 million or so needed to fund a study of the program by the well-regarded Institute of Medicine. And then it should quickly implement any changes based on the institute’s findings before more children are misclassified.
Posted on: , Nic Lindh
West grad does not let disability slow him down
West High School graduate Christian Johnson was born with Cerebral Palsy. It’s a condition caused by brain injuries usually within the womb. While the severity varies, Johnson has had limited use of his legs for most of his life.
Posted on: , Nic Lindh
Firefighters rally behind colleague with prosthesis
The 4-foot fall from a rock-climbing wall in 2005 shattered Mase Mattingly’s right ankle, which bent at a 90-degree angle.
Posted on: , Nic Lindh
Activists seek more from Americans with Disabilities Act
For Karen Foran Dempsey, efforts to provide equal opportunities for people with disabilities have not slowed since last year’s 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
