Breaking Barriers… Bridging Paths to Independence
Posted in Advocacy, Group, Public Awareness, and Training
Posted in Advocacy, Disability, Public Awareness, and Training
The WV Youth Leadership Forum (YLF) is a statewide training and leadership development event for students (Delegates) with all types of disabilities, high school juniors & seniors and college freshmen, who are transitioning to adulthood. The YLF will be held on the campus of West Virginia State University in Institute, WV on June 22-25, 2020.
The YLF will provide a variety of activities, learning opportunities, and a chance to make new friends.
Learn about the history of disability and the disability rights movement in America, national leaders, and your place in the movement and disability culture. Be a part of something much bigger than yourself!
Twenty-five youth (Delegates) will be selected to attend the YLF – at no cost – make sure you are one of them!
For more information call 304-766-4624 or toll free at 855-855-9743. You may also visit our website at www.wvsilc.org.
Posted in Disability, Public Awareness, and Uncategorized
HUNTINGTON — Marshall University has received a five-year grant totaling more than $1 million from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs for a program that will develop qualified special educators and mental health providers to assist students with disabilities that may have been caused by prenatal substance exposure, complex traumatic stress, adverse childhood experiences and/or adverse community environments.
Dr. Lanai Jennings, assistant professor and director of the school psychology program at Marshall, said the program, called “PREPaRED to CARE,” will give evidence-based training to graduate students who will receive a master’s or specialist degree in special education, school counseling or school psychology. She is leading a team of interdisciplinary faculty from the school psychology, psychology, special education and counseling areas. Included are Drs. Debra Lockwood, Carol Smith, Conrae-Lucas Adkins, Jennifer McFarland-Whisman, Sandra Stroebel, Jonathan Lent, Jennifer Tiano and Marianna Footo-Linz. Amy Saunders represents the Marshall University Center of Excellence for Recovery.
Read the entire article at: https://www.herald-dispatch.com/news/marshall-receives-grant-to-assist-students-with-disabilities/article_b0d67da1-14ab-511d-a96e-8989b148f341.html
Posted in Advocacy, Outreach, and Public Awareness
From Community Advancement and Development; A Division of the West Virginia Development Office:
We would like to remind you of upcoming public hearings that will be conducted in November for the 2020-2024 Consolidated Plan and FY2020 Annual Action Plan. The public hearings will be held at five locations throughout the state to gather public input for the assessment phase of the Consolidated Plan and Annual Action Plan process. Information on public hearing notices, updates, and specific locations can be found below:
Notice_of_Public_Hearings-2020-2024_Consolidated_Plan_and_FY_2020-Annual_Action_Plan_Fall_2019These meetings are an opportunity to gain highly valued input from the public as part of the State’s housing and community development needs.
Every five years the West Virginia Development Office (WVDO), an agency of the West Virginia Department of Commerce, along with the West Virginia Housing Development Fund (WVHDF) develops a 5-year plan Consolidated Plan to guide the use of federal funds received from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
The 2020-2024 plan will be submitted to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) within 60 days after the date 2020 allocations are announced, but no later than August 16, 2020 and will guide the expenditure of funds for housing and community development in non-entitlement areas for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and the entire state for Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG), Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS (HOPWA), the HOME Investment Partnership and Housing Trust Fund (HTF) programs. The 2020 Annual Action Plan which is the first year of the 2020-2024 5-year Consolidated Plan will also be submitted.
The Community Needs Assessment Survey is available at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WVCAD until close of business, Monday March 23, 2020.
The 2015-2019 5-Year Consolidated Plan, 2019 Annual Action Plan (AAP), 2018 Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER) and the Citizen Participation Plan are available on the West Virginia Community Advancement and Development webpage at https://wvcad.org/resources.
Any questions regarding the 2020-2024 Consolidated Plan can be directed to Sherry Risk. Please feel free to share this information or if you know of someone to add to the stakeholder email or mailing list in order to receive updates, public notices and the survey, please email:
Sherry Risk, CDBG Project Manager
West Virginia Development Office
1900 Kanawha Boulevard, Suite 700
Charleston, WV 25301
Sherry.L.Risk@wv.gov
(304)957-2068
Posted in Group, Outreach, and Public Awareness
Posted in Disability, and Group
In 2020, approximately 23% of the American electorate — over 35 million individuals — will be people with disabilities. As people with disabilities, we want to live independent lives and contribute our talent and energy to the future success of our great nation. There are over 60 million Americans with disabilities who make remarkable and valuable contributions to our communities.
In an effort to inform the disability community of the presidential candidate’s disability policy positions, initiatives, and priorities, the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL), and the REV UP Campaign have developed a presidential candidate questionnaire. Click here to download a copy of the questionnaire (plain text version). So far, the following candidates have completed the questionnaire: Steve Bullock, Pete Buttigieg, Tim Ryan, Bernie Sanders, Joe Sestak, and Marianne Williamson.
Please visit aapd.com for full responses.
Posted in Uncategorized
Posted in Advocacy, Public Awareness, and Research
The Vera Institute of Justice’s Center on Victimization and Safety works to ensure that traditionally under-served victims of crime have equal access to victim services and criminal justice interventions. We do this by fostering collaboration among and building the capacity of victim service organizations, population and/or culturally specific service providers, and the criminal justice system. The Center combines research, technical assistance, and training to help policymakers and practitioners’ close gaps in systems and ensure that all survivors of violence have access to the services and support they need and want.
Working in partnership with the Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime, the Center on Victimization and Safety is currently creating an online toolkit for a range of audiences. One part of the toolkit is looking at the experiences of people with disabilities with the disability service system. We are looking to include some short quotes from those who use these systems to help others learn.
If you are interested in sharing and are willing for us to use your first name and where you are from (city/state) we would really like to include your words. Here are some things we would like to know:
1. How easy is it for you to find disability services where you live? (please indicate whether you are in an urban or rural area) Do you have a lot of choices or is it more limited?
2. How easy is it for you to travel to disability services where you live? Are services accessible via public transportation? Do you have public transportation? What would be a typical travel time to get to the services?
3. Is there anything unique about the disability services in your area? Something that is specific to you community.
4. What are some of the things you really like about the services? What are things that you might not like?
5. Are there any barriers you face getting disability services in your area?
6. If you have lived and received services from multiple places (if you have lived in other states, or counties or countries), how would you compare them?
I know this is short notice but please reply to me by September 6th.
Please feel free to share with others.
Leslie Myers, MS, CRC, CCDVC
Senior Program Associate
Vera Center on Victimization + Safety
1111 14th St NW, Suite 920
Washington, DC 20005
T: (630) 486-3367
C: (646) 530-3523
Fax: (202) 941-9407
E-mail: lmyers@vera.org
AIM: Leslie at Vera
Posted in Group
