Legislative-Federal Page

LEGISLATIVE FACT SHEETS-FEDERAL

The ARC of the US Announces

LEGISLATIVE GOALS
FOR THE 110TH CONGRESS –

Working in partnership with the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD), American Network of Community Options and Resources (ANCOR) and Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD), The Arc of the United States and United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) are proud to announce that the Legislative Goals for the 110th Congress are completed and now available online. The legislative goals are the foundation for The Arc and UCP’s national legislative agenda, built on their mission statements, principles, core values, position statements and current policies and are used to guide federal advocacy efforts.

The Legislative Goals for the 110th Congress and a more concise summary version of the goals are available in PDF and MS Word formats. Visit The Arc’s Web site at http://www.thearc.org/ to download these documents from the “What’s New” section.

The Legislative Goals for the 110th Congress contain a three-tiered set of priorities for programmatic legislative goals, including critical goals, priority goals and additional important goals. A rationale for the tiered scheme is contained in the programmatic goals section of the legislative goals document.

Developmental Disabilities Bill of Rights and Assistance Act 2007: The DD Act is the federal legislation that created and supports Developmental Disability Councils, Protection and Advocacy Agencies, and University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities. This legislation is up for reauthorization in 2007. Fact Sheets created by the National Association of Developmental Disability Councils. Talking Points created by the National Association of Developmental Disability Councils.

Community Choice Act of 2007: The Community Choice Act of 2007 gives individuals who are eligible for nursing home services or other institutional care equal access to community-based services and supports. The legislation also provides enhanced federal matching funds to help states develop their long-term care infrastructure and grant funds to help states increase their ability to provide home and community-based services. Finally, this bill creates a demonstration project to evaluate service coordination and cost sharing approaches for those eligible for both Medicaid and Medicare services.

President Bush Signs Lifespan Respite Care Act into law Read Press Release
United Nations Adopts Protocol on Rights of Persons with Disabilities

The United Nations General Assembly adopted the first new human rights treaty of the twenty-first century on December 13, 2006. This marks a major shirt in the way the world views and treats individuals with disabilities. Read Text of Protocol

Summary of Lifespan Respite Care Act of 2003 (pdf) - The bill would authorize grant funds for development of lifespan respite programs to states and other entities to help families access quality, affordable respite care. Lifespan respite programs are defined in the bill “as coordinated systems of accessible, community-based respite care services for all caregivers of individuals regardless of the individual’s age, race, ethnicity or special need.” Specifically, funds would cover the development of respite programs based on best practices, evaluation of such programs; planned or emergency respite care services; training and recruitment of respite care workers and volunteers; and caregiver training.