http://www.nad.org/news/2010/2/nad-participates-jfaan-coalition
NAD Participates in JFAAN Coalition
The Justice for All Action Network (JFAAN), established in 2008, is a
coalition of disability-led organizations and allies. The coalition was
formed to build a strong and unified cross-disability movement so that
individuals with disabilities have the power to shape national policies,
politics, media, and culture. The NAD participates as a member of and on
the 13-member steering committee of JFAAN.
JFAAN is guided by its values of self-determination, participation, choice,
involvement, consumer control and voice. The coalition has developed a
disability policy agenda for the new administration and a mutually
beneficial rapport with White House officials. Here is the current list of
JFAAN policy priorities and a summary of recent JFAAN actions.
*JFAAN Agenda*
JFAAN has also developed a joint campaign agenda – a list of policy priorities to be achieved by the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in July 2010.
- Pass the Community Choice Act (S 683/HR 1670) and work with the Administration to bring at least five significant cases to enforce the ADA’s integration mandate as interpreted in the Olmstead v. L.C. Supreme Court decision.
- Pass the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2008 (HR 5734).
- Amend the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act to establish and fund self advocate-led peer support and advocacy organizations in every state.
- Pass legislation aimed at eliminating the use of aversives, seclusion and restraints in schools, including strong, comprehensive national standards, an effective enforcement mechanism and the involvement of the self-advocate community in technical assistance. Update: Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in Schools Act (HR 4247/S 2860) introduced December 9, 2009.
- Create a bipartisan Congressional Task Force on Human Genetic Technologies and Disability Rights.
- Pass a national health care reform bill that eliminates preexisting condition exclusions, addresses the institutional bias, and includes a benefits package that contains coverage for habilitative and rehabilitative services, durable medical equipment and assistive technology devices and services so that people with disabilities can participate fully in the lives of their communities.
- Pass the Twenty-first Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (HR 3101) to ensure that individuals with disabilities have access to emerging Internet Protocol-based communication and video programming technologies in the 21st century.
- Engage with Secretaries Sebelius and Commissioner Astrue to ensure that advisory groups to the following agencies be required to include at least two persons with lived experience of recovery from mental illness as the authentic, national voice of mental health consumer/survivors: SAMHSA, SSA, CMS, NIMH, VA, HHS, and NIDRR.
- Pass the Hearing Aid Tax Credit Bill (HR 1646/S 1019) to amend the IRS Code to allow a credit against income tax for the purchase of hearing aids; and ensure that any health care reform bill includes a benefits package that contains coverage for hearing aids and related services for children and adults.
- Pass the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Act (EHDI) (HR 1246) to amend the Public Health Service Act regarding early detection, diagnosis, and treatment of hearing loss. Reauthorization to maintain and build on success of EHDI programs, improve follow-up on infants referred for evaluation after hearing screening, increase qualified personnel and health care providers, and establish and foster family-to-family support systems.
Recent JFAAN Actions
Sent letter to President Obama on December 12, 2009, with a proposed Executive Order establishing a Commission on People with Disabilities, Employment, Economic Empowerment and Social Security.
Sent letter on January 8, 2010, urging inclusion of certain health care reform provisions including coverage in the House bill that specifically identifies “hearing services, equipment, and supplies for children under 21 years of age" as essential benefits. The legislation passed in the Senate does not. We support the House version and urge its inclusion in final legislation. We also support including language that would encourage similar coverage for about 36 million adults with hearing loss.
Sent letter on January 19, 2010, expressing strong support and appreciation for the introduction of the Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in Schools Act (HR 4247/S 2860).
Ongoing Action
The NAD continues to work with the JFAAN coalition and others with the federal government – the White House and all federal agencies – to ensure equal opportunity and equal access to education, employment, health care, justice, technology, and transportation for people who are deaf, hard of hearing, late-deafened, and deaf-blind.
Michael K. Berger
Region II Representative
National Association of the Deaf
Invest in Our Future!
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50th Biennial NAD Conference
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July 7-11, 2010
Philadelphia Marriott-Downtown
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