We believe that all children and youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) must receive a free and appropriate public education that includes:

• fair evaluation
• ambitious goals that support students’ personal and academic growth
• the right to progress
• individualized supports and services
• high-quality instruction
• access to general education classrooms and school-based programming in age-appropriate, inclusive settings
• environments where students are free from abuse, bullying, and ableist practices

School systems must adopt inclusive, restorative practices that build on students’ strengths with the   goal of supporting their individualized success and fostering belonging in community.

Students who have IDD face many barriers in their education. Many students with IDD remain segregated in self-contained classrooms or separate schools. This provides few or no opportunities for academic achievement or social engagement in inclusive settings.

Some school systems’ constant reliance on exclusionary practices and punishment fosters punitive, ableist, and racist environments that fail students who have disabilities – especially those who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.

We must end exclusionary practices and punishment that perpetuate racism and ableism in school systems. The strength, skills, wisdom, and capacity of students who have disabilities must be honored, and they must be welcomed in inclusive classrooms that help them grow in learning along with everyone.

Issue

People who have intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) face many barriers in their education. Outdated, inaccurate beliefs about students with IDD lead to:

• low expectations
• segregated classrooms
• harsh, punitive practices

Many students with IDD remain segregated in self-contained classrooms or separate schools. This provides few or no opportunities for academic achievement or social engagement in inclusive settings. Students with IDD frequently do not have:

• personalized goals that help them grow individually and academically
• challenging objectives
• high quality instruction
• individualized transition planning
• related services and supports necessary to engage as full members of their school learning communities

Because of this, many students with IDD are not ready for further education, employment, or life in homes of their own after school.

Many parents, families, and students are excluded from the process of evaluating student’s strengths and limitations. They are not included in developing Individualized Education Programs (IEPs).

Many schools have policies and practices that push youth with IDD out of school and into the juvenile justice system (known as the “school to prison pipeline”). Some school systems’ constant reliance on punishment fosters punitive, ableist, and racist environments that fail students who have disabilities–especially those who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.

Some school punishment practices of concern include:

• suspension
• expulsion
• physical restraint
• isolation
• medical restraint
• involvement in family regulation system
• withholding recess, play opportunities, and in-school breaks
• criminalization of disability, blackness, gender, and other intersecting identities

The graphics below reflect data from the Minnesota Department of Education’s Disciplinary Incident Reporting System. Data shows that disabled students, as well as those who identify as Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color, are disproportionately impacted by disciplinary practices.

Exclusionary practices and punishment in schools leads to long-term harm. This continues the cycle of trauma many disabled students experience – especially BIPOC students.

Administrators, educators, and support staff too often lack sufficient training and knowledge about the legal rights, learning needs, and abilities of these students. School districts struggle to identify, recruit, and retain qualified special education personnel. Paraprofessionals providing support in inclusive classrooms are often poorly paid and do not always receive or seek professional development relevant to students’ learning needs.

In some communities, an unexamined focus on student performance has led to a false conclusion that students with IDD:

• lower overall test scores
• to blame when schools and school systems do not achieve adequate progress and
• take away from resources for students who do not have disabilities

These harmful perceptions lead to negative stereotypes about students with disabilities. Because of these stereotypes, some people advocate to put students with disabilities in separate schools, rather than include them in schools alongside classmates without disabilities.

Position

We believe that all children and youth with IDD must receive a free and appropriate public education that includes:

• fair evaluation
• ambitious goals that support students’ personal and academic growth
• the right to progress
• individualized supports and services
• high-quality instruction
• access to general education classrooms and school-based programming in age-appropriate, inclusive settings
• environments where students are free from abuse, bullying, and ableist practices

School systems must adopt inclusive, restorative practices that build on students’ strengths with the goal of supporting their individualized success and fostering belonging in community.

The strength, skills, wisdom, and capacity of students who have disabilities must be honored, and they must be welcomed in inclusive classrooms that help them grow in learning along with everyone.

In order to do this, we must end exclusionary practices and punishment that perpetuate racism and ableism in school systems. Our current framework needs to shift from a focus on punishment, to supporting students in individualized ways. The emphasis should be on helping students build tools to deal with overwhelming emotions before they occur, rather than punishing them after they have lost control.

As Minnesota schools work to end exclusionary practices and punishment, the following methods should be used:

• promote non-exclusionary alternatives
• ban physical and chemical restraints by school staff or contracted staff, including school resource officers
• ban all restrictive and deprivation procedures
• maintain the prohibition on suspensions and limitations on expulsions for students in Preschool through Kindergarten
• prohibit suspensions and limit expulsions for students in Kindergarten through 3^rd grade
• for all other students, prohibit student removal unless related to willful, violent activity that endangers the student, other students, and/or school staff
• require non-exclusionary disciplinary practices to be used prior to dismissal, except where there is an immediate threat of violence
• require immediate notice to parents about suspensions and expulsions, including non- exclusionary practices that were used before removal
• ensure students who are suspended have the academic support and opportunity to make up their work, require alternative learning services for students who are suspended for 5 or more days, and ensure students receive full credit for their work while suspended
• enhance re-admission plans to include what support systems can help students build skills and avoid future instances that resulted in dismissal or punishment
• define in-school suspension as missing a half day or more of in class instruction
• require that pupil withdrawal agreements be reported to the Minnesota Department of Education
• require districts to outline a procedure for public input on discipline issues
• define a framework for anti-racist Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS)
• add racial disparities data to information to be reviewed by restrictive procedure oversight committees

Federal and state education guidance should focus on proactive strategies to prevent and end use of exclusionary practices and punishment. This should include guidance that:

• educates schools about implicit bias against racial differences and disability
• promotes de-escalation strategies
• uses principles of universal design in physical and sensory accessibility, learning, and differentiation
• teaches staff about sensory regulation and strategies to ensure sensory accessibility to support students’ physiological regulation and avoid “behavior” that may result in exclusionary disciplinary practices
• teaches staff about communication differences
• teaches staff about collaborative problem solving
• teaches staff about natural student-to-student peer supports

We believe the most promising practices are those that help school staff identify their own biases towards students of color and students with disabilities. There are a number of evidence-based tools that can help reduce the use of exclusionary practices and punishment, which help build connection and skills. These include:

• collaborative problem solving
• understanding sensory processing differences
• understanding alternative means of communication
• de-escalation strategies
• implicit bias training for teachers and staff, especially concerning implicit bias against race or disability

Training for teaching professionals must include:

• dual licensure so all teachers can support students with disabilities in inclusive classrooms
• co-teaching, team teaching, wrap around services and collaboration
• trauma-informed practices
• anti-ableism and disability studies, framed in disability justice, that honor intersectional lived experience
• cultural respect and responsiveness
• social-emotional learning

We encourage schools to engage in conversation with adults who have disabilities about long-term effects of exclusionary practices and punishment

It is critical to assess school structures on a systemic level, and identify the root of disparities that follow students who have disabilities – especially those who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color – into adulthood.

Approved by The Arc Minnesota Public Policy Committee on November 29, 2021.

Download this position statement.

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The Arc Minnesota believes disability and racial justice efforts must be connected to all movements for freedom and justice. These movements must be focused on ending ableism, discrimination, and oppression of disabled people.

We all have a role to play in disability and racial justice. We must work together to end ableism and racism. We must build a world where all bodyminds are respected, valued, and equal.

Many Queer, Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color with disabilities have been, and still are:

• believed to be less than human
• considered not worthy of living
• excluded from society
• killed because of their identities

Because of negative, harmful, and oppressive beliefs about race and disability, disabled people are not given equal rights.

Disabled people with intersecting identities have been subject to the greatest violence and oppression of ableism. They have the most at stake in ending ableism and racism.

We urge everyone to learn with us about how to support justice movements that are led by QBIPOC who have disabilities. As we all continue to learn, we will create a more inclusive society that aligns with the principles of disability and racial justice.

Issue

The history of disability in the United States is connected to white supremacy.

When Western Europeans created colonies on this continent, they killed many of the Indigenous people who lived here. They also enslaved People of Color. Indigenous and enslaved people were believed to be less worthy, less smart, and less capable. People who were Queer, Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (QBIPOC) were treated as less than human.

This is true for disabled people throughout history, too. Many people with disabilities have, and still are:

• believed to be less than human
• believed to be unable to make decisions or communicate what is important to them
• considered not worthy of living
• excluded from society
• killed because of their identities

These are just some of the types of harm that disabled QBIPOC experience. There are many others. Because of negative, harmful, and oppressive beliefs about race and disability, disabled people are not given equal rights. Society and legal systems have prevented people with disabilities from having power. Too often, people who do not have disabilities make important decisions about disabled people, without their consent.

Many movements for rights and justice do not include people with disabilities. Even the disability rights movement has been based on a competitive access model, in which people constantly prove their need for support. These movements have not valued nor included people who identify as disabled and:

• People of Color
• People who have had their ancestral lands stolen
• Immigrants
• Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual, and people with other gender and sexuality identities (2SLGBTQIA+)
• People living in poverty
• People who are without shelter
• People who have been in prison or jail

Disabled people with intersecting identities have been subject to the greatest violence and oppression of ableism. They have the most at stake in ending ableism and racism.

Position

The Arc Minnesota believes disability and racial justice efforts must be connected to all movements for freedom and justice. These movements must be focused on ending:

• ableism, or beliefs and systems that favor people who do not have disabilities
• discrimination, or unfair treatment because of someone’s identity
• oppression, or unjust treatment that gives some people more power and control than others

Systems and social change must be led by disabled people because they have power and know what is best for themselves. When people who have disabilities lead and share their own stories, others understand it is possible for them, too.

The disability justice movement values and includes all people. It reflects the relational worldview held by Indigenous people throughout the Americas, in which every person is valued and included.

The Arc Minnesota is being informed by the principles of the disability justice movement. Diverse leaders of the disability justice group, Sins Invalid, created these principles. They made the principles to guide their work. We use these definitions to inform us:

• Intersectionality
  • The lives of people who have disabilities are shaped by:
    • race
    • gender expression
    • where they live
    • time in history
    • and more
  • All of these parts of a person’s life make up their identity.
  • Sometimes, people are treated unjustly because of their identities.
  • Intersectionality is a word to explain the ways that people are oppressed because of their different identities. Everyone has their own unique experience with privilege and oppression. Kimberlé Crenshaw was the first person to use that word.
• Leadership of those most impacted
  • Being led by and learning from diverse disabled people is critical. Those who are most impacted by the violence and oppression of ableism have lived experience that must guide all efforts toward systems and social change.
  • Together, these leaders can learn from each other, build community, and break down barriers.
• Anti-capitalist politics
  • Anti-capitalist politics is a term to explain a world that respects the power, value, and worth of people who have disabilities.
  • Some people have more money than others. Having more money often gives people more power.
  • Many people who have disabilities do not have much money. Our system is set up in a way that does not value who they are and what they can do. This leads to low wages and less opportunity for people who have disabilities.
  • The value and worth of people who have disabilities is not connected to how much money they make, whether they work, and how much they can “get done.”
• Commitment to cross-movement solidarity
  • People who have disabilities need to be included as leaders of all justice movements
  • Cross-movement solidarity is a term to explain that disability justice must include all other types of work to create positive change in society.
  • Movements have to be intersectional to make sure that all parts of people’s lives are honored and respected.
  • We must work to change many systems at the same time to end all challenges and barriers.
  • White people who have disabilities need to:
    • work to end ableism and racism
    • advocate for freedom for all people
• Recognizing wholeness
  • It is important to accept everyone for who they are on the inside and outside, without judgement.
  • People who have disabilities must be respected and valued for everything that makes them who they are. It is important to honor and embrace disability as part of a person’s identity that gives them power.
  • Bodymind is a word used by leaders in the disability justice movement as a way to show the connection between our bodies and our minds. Our body and our mind cannot be separated. The bodyminds of people who have disabilities are whole and valued.
• Sustainability
  • Advocating for ourselves and others helps create real change in our communities. Change can be hard and does not happen overnight. It can take a long time.
  • Sustainability is a word to explain that we must have energy, drive, and patience. We must work for change and advocate for disability justice, no matter how long it takes.
• Commitment to cross-disability solidarity
  • Commitment to cross-disability solidarity is a term to show that all people who have disabilities must work together to make change.
  • Each person, no matter their disability, must have the option to be part of the disability justice movement.
  • When people who have different disabilities work together, nothing can stop us from creating change.
• Interdependence
  • Interdependence is a word to explain that everyone needs support sometimes.
  • We must work together to meet each other’s needs. We must create a community that supports one another.
  • People who have disabilities must be able to choose from lots of options for how they get support from their communities.
  • Government and disability services are only part of this support network.
• Collective access
  • Each person’s bodymind works differently, and access needs are part of life for everyone that must be respected.
  • Collective access is a term to explain that communities must be built so everyone is included in ways that are accessible for them. Information must be shared in ways that are accessible to everyone, too.
• Collective liberation
  • Collective liberation is a term to explain that leaders of the disability justice movement are working to build a world where every bodymind is free, respected, and valued.
  • It is our responsibility to make sure everyone has a chance to live the life they want. We must make sure that no one is left behind.

We all have a role to play in disability and racial justice. We must work together to end ableism and racism. We must build a world where all bodyminds are respected, valued, and equal.

As The Arc Minnesota aligns with the disability and racial justice movements, we will:

• Learn from people who have diverse lived experience in ways that feel accessible to them, and value their expertise, time, and capacity
• create welcoming environments where all people and their specific access needs and accommodations are met
• use our platform in ways that help elevate the leadership of those most impacted and distribute power
  challenge ourselves and others to confront racism and ableism by assessing the ways we have perpetuated white supremacy internally and externally
• support disability & racial justice leaders by fighting for systems and social change through public policy, legislative and grassroots advocacy, and allyship in broader justice movements

Disability and racial justice work is ongoing and will change often. The Arc Minnesota will include actions to align with disability and racial justice in our organization’s strategic plan, yearly organizational goals, and team and individual workplans. As we learn from people with lived experience and grow as an organization, we will change how we do this work to better reflect what is needed.

We urge everyone to learn with us about how to support justice movements that are led by QBIPOC who have disabilities. As we all continue to learn, we will create a more inclusive society that aligns with the principles of disability and racial justice.

Approved by The Arc Minnesota Public Policy Committee on November 29, 2021

Download this position statement.

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Position Statement

The Arc Minnesota believes that government should not provide direct care services to individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities. The Arc Minnesota believes in inclusion in the community as envisioned by the U.S. Supreme Court’s Olmstead decision and the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Minnesota Olmstead Plan seeks to provide full supports for full inclusion so that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities receive community-based supports, not government run supports.

Until government no longer provides direct services, it must ensure that the conflicts of interest inherent in that role are minimized and that the rights of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities are protected. It should also meet operational requirements commensurate with community-based licensing requirements.

Outside monitoring by a non-governmental entity is an essential check and balance to maintain appropriate services and asset allocation, as well as to protect the rights of the individual and evaluate the ongoing quality of services provided.

The Arc Minnesota supports the creation of a new statewide quality assurance program to provide this monitoring, as well as general monitoring of all statewide services and supports provided by private entities.

Private case managers or service coordinators should be appointed when a person needs assistance to advocate for his/her preferences and to ensure that his/her individual needs are being met.

Public guardianship should be replaced with a system that uses family members, relatives, friends, and private guardians, with appropriate monitoring.

Direct services provided by the government must comply with all laws and regulations that apply to non-governmental entities providing the same or similar services, including limitations on aversive and deprivation procedures and funding rules. The same entity should not provide services for any individual for twenty-four hours per day. (See The Arc Minnesota’s Position Statement on the Provision of Twenty-Four Hour Services to Persons With Intellectual and Other Developmental Disabilities.)

Issue

In the past, the State of Minnesota cared for the majority of individuals with intellectual and other developmental disabilities in government-operated state hospitals. Today, most individuals are living in the community, and the State of Minnesota allocates and provides the funding for the care but generally does not provide direct care services.

However, some individuals with intellectual and other developmental disabilities live in the community in state-operated, community-based programs funded by state and federal Medicaid dollars and staffed by state employees. As with the state hospitals, there are inherent conflicts of interest when the same entity pays for and provides the care. The government role in ensuring that the needs of individuals with disabilities are met is in conflict with the government’s interest in containing costs and with the government’s role as the entity that allocates the resources available to provide the care. These conflicts loom larger when the government is also the guardian of the person using the services. It is these conflicting roles affecting the quality of care provided to individuals with intellectual and other developmental disabilities that are of concern to The Arc Minnesota.

Approved by The Arc Minnesota Position Statements Task Force on July 29, 2014.

Approved by The Arc Minnesota Public Policy Committee on August 20, 2014.

Approved by The Arc Minnesota Board of Directors on September 13, 2014.

Approved by delegates at The Arc Minnesota Annual Business Meeting, November 14, 2014.

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Through nonpartisan legislative advocacy, we support public policies founded in the principles of human and civil rights, autonomy and self-determination, inclusion and individualization, to advance systems change that promotes equity for Minnesotans with disabilities.

These principles act as a framework for our legislative advocacy efforts, informing our stakeholders, policymakers, elected officials, and the public at large of our fundamental view on key issues – acting as a guidepost in our decision-making.

By upholding these principles and positions in our public policy advocacy, The Arc Minnesota aims to address critical problems affecting people with I/DD and their family members, while identifying solutions that promote choice, advance equity and inclusion, and increase access to opportunity.

Human & Civil Rights

All people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) are entitled to human and civil rights. These rights include the rights to autonomy, dignity, family, justice, life, liberty, equality, self-determination, community participation, property, health, well-being, access to voting, and equality of opportunity

We believe that all people with I/DD are entitled to human and civil rights regardless of:

–      age, gender, race/ethnicity,

–      sexual orientation,

–      cultural, linguistic, geographic, and spiritual diversity, economic status,

–      severity of disability/intensity of needed supports, or

–      other factors that expose them to increased risk of rights violations.

The human and civil rights of all people with I/DD must be honored, protected, communicated, and enforced – and thus be central to all advocacy efforts.

Autonomy & Self-Determination

Many individuals with I/DD have not had the opportunity or the support to make choices and decisions about important aspects of their lives. Instead, they are often overprotected and involuntarily segregated, with others making decisions about key elements of their lives.

People with I/DD have the same right to, and responsibilities that accompany, self- determination as everyone else. They must have opportunities, respectful support, and the authority to exert control in their lives, to self-direct their services to the extent they choose, and to advocate on their own behalf.

Inclusion & Individualization

Individuals with I/DD often are not treated equally. They have been labeled by their disability and separated from the community. For many years they were relegated to sterile, dehumanizing institutions and even now, the services they receive frequently segregate, isolate, and focus on an individual’s deficits rather than their strengths and lifestyle choices. They continue experiencing exclusion in schools, jobs, and in their social lives.

The Arc Minnesota supports public policies that maximize inclusion and individualization for people with I/DD of all ages, in all areas of life.

February, 2019

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All children and youth with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities¹ (I/DD) must receive a free appropriate public education that includes fair evaluation, ambitious goals, challenging objectives, the right to progress, individualized supports and services, high quality instruction, and access to the general education curriculum in age-appropriate inclusive settings. These are essential for achieving the nation’s four policy goals of equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency (the four policy goals). Parents and families must be supported as essential partners in the education and transition to adult life of their sons and daughters.

Issue

People with I/DD continue to face numerous barriers in their education. Lifelong education is essential for all individuals with I/DD to achieve the four policy goals of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and to pursue opportunities for rich lives and contribute to the public good. “Disability is a natural part of the human experience and in no way diminishes the right of individuals to participate in or contribute to society. Improving educational results for children with disabilities is an essential element of our national policy of ensuring equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency for individuals with disabilities.” (IDEA, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act).

Many students with I/DD remain segregated in self-contained classrooms or separate schools, with few or no opportunities for academic achievement or social engagement in inclusive settings. Students with I/DD frequently do not have appropriately ambitious² and personalized goals, challenging objectives, high quality instruction, individualized transition planning, and related services and supports necessary to engage as full members of their school learning communities. Consequently, many students with I/DD leave school unprepared for further education, employment, and independent living in the community.

Many schools have policies and practices that push youth with I/DD out of school and into the juvenile justice system (known as the “school to prison pipeline”). Further, many of those in detention facilities with qualifying disabilities are not provided special education and related services.

Many parents, families, and students themselves are excluded from systemic participation as essential partners in the evaluation of the student’s strengths and limitations, as well as the development and implementation of their Individualized Education Programs (IEPs).

Administrators, educators, and support staff too often lack sufficient training and knowledge about the legal rights, learning needs, and abilities of these students. School districts struggle to identify, recruit, and retain qualified special education personnel. Paraprofessionals providing support in inclusive classrooms are often poorly paid and do not always receive or seek professional development relevant to students’ learning needs.

Outdated, inaccurate beliefs about students with I/DD persist, leading to low expectations, segregated classrooms, inappropriate disciplinary practices, and diminished accountability for these students. In some communities, an unexamined sole focus on student performance has led to an erroneous conclusion that students with I/DD are “bringing down” test scores and are to blame when schools and school systems do not achieve adequate progress.

Position

To ensure students with I/DD receive the education to which they are legally entitled, all those involved in the education of these students must work to fully implement our nation’s civil rights and education laws and accomplish the following actions.

All Means All: Zero Reject

• Assure timely evaluation, identification, and provision of education and related services to all students with I/DD, incorporating all aspects of the students’ diversity, including age, gender, ethnicity, culture, language, socio-economic circumstances, sexual orientation, and family environment.
• Disciplinary actions (suspension, expulsion, segregation) and alternate placements should not exclude the student from access to appropriate education and related services.

Non-Discriminatory and Comprehensive Eligibility Evaluations and Appropriate Assessments

• Assure that the needs of the individual are considered fairly and comprehensively, including cognitive, emotional, functional, and developmental needs, as well as all areas of suspected disability and mental health needs.
• Assure that multiple assessments, including those that identify a student’s strengths and abilities, are used and that IQ is not the sole measure of human functioning, nor does IQ alone determine placement or access to the general curriculum.
• Exercise clinical judgment that is built upon respect for the person and emerges from specialized training and experience in I/DD, specific knowledge of the person and his/her environments, extensive data, and use of critical thinking skills.
• Assure that any predictions about a student’s potential learning are evidence-based and founded in high expectations for further education, employment, and independent living.
• Assure that all educators implement appropriately ambitious goals and challenging objectives and use measurements of progress that are aligned to the unique ways that students with I/DD learn. Develop adaptations for assessment and grading, when necessary, that accurately capture the strengths and limitations of students with I/DD.

High Expectations and Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE)

• Develop and implement IEPs with high expectations that include appropriately ambitious personalized goals and challenging objectives and that build on a student’s strengths; meet the student’s learning, employment, and independent living needs; and offer related services and supplementary services necessary and likely, based on evidence, to ensure the student will make progress toward achieving the nation’s four policy goals.
• Ensure that all students have access to the general education curriculum. General education includes the academic curriculum, extracurricular activities, and other school activities.
• Incorporate evidence-based, peer-reviewed instructional strategies and interventions, provided by professionally qualified teachers, related services personnel, and other staff, all of whom receive the training, preparation, and supports they need to be effective professionals.
• Ensure that a range of appropriate technology options are made available in a timely and culturally and linguistically appropriate manner to all students who could benefit from them, and that the necessary training for use of the technology is provided immediately and consistently.

Autonomy, Self-Determination, and Decision-Making Supports

• Incorporate and support the development of autonomy, self-determination, self-advocacy, and leadership skills throughout students’ educational experiences, including meaningful participation in the student’s IEP.
• Assure that school policy and semi-annual in-service training emphasizes autonomy, self-determination, and decision-making supports, and that teachers and other non-lawyers do not give families legal advice related to guardianship.

Inclusion and the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)

• To the maximum extent appropriate, every student has a right to be educated in their inclusive neighborhood school and in the general education curriculum in that school. Any exception should be rare and considered only when education in the general education classroom cannot be satisfactorily achieved. Each student has a right to the related services, supplementary aids and services, accommodations, and modifications needed to learn alongside students without disabilities.
• Assure that the student is integrated in academic and social aspects of the general curriculum.
• Include an explicit written plan to achieve more integration in both academic and social aspects of the general curriculum when the student is currently in a restricted setting.
• Foster the development of peer relationships and membership in the school community to create a receptive, welcoming atmosphere, including extracurricular activities and school trips.
• Avoid the long-term costs of segregating students with I/DD, including the reduced opportunities for learning, employment, independent living, and social engagement.
• Ensure that all teachers and related services personnel are trained, prepared, and supported to teach and support students effectively in the general education curriculum and in inclusive settings.

Safe and Supportive Education Environments

• Ensure safe school environments that provide mental health supports and protection against bullying.
• Ensure that all students with I/DD have effective culturally and linguistically appropriate communication systems and technology that reduces the need to use behavior to communicate and maximize educational engagement.
• Assure development and ongoing use of school-wide and system-wide intervention models, including school-wide positive behavioral supports and using the principles of universal design for learning (UDL) in designing curricula, materials, instruction, and assessments to create maximum access to learning environments for students with diverse abilities and learning styles.
• Avoid harsh policies and procedures, such as “zero tolerance”, that lead to exclusion, injury, loss of education, or involvement with the criminal justice system by implementing school-wide positive behavior support that includes students with disabilities to prevent or eliminate such situations. Assure appropriate evaluations and IEPs, and avoid the criminalization of behaviors that are the manifestation of the student’s disabilities.
• Prohibit the use of mechanical or chemical restraint, isolation, or aversives. Emergency, time-limited, monitored restraint may be used only by trained personnel and only when the student’s behavior presents an imminent danger of serious physical harm to the student or others and less restrictive interventions are insufficient to mitigate the imminent danger of serious physical harm. Physical restraint which restricts airflow, including prone restraint, and mechanical restraint must be prohibited.
• Ensure that supports and strategies are planned and implemented to successfully reintegrate a student who has been restrained or secluded back into the school or classroom environment.
• Assure that students are not disciplined for the manifestation of their disabilities.
• Assure safe school transportation for all students with disabilities, provided by trained and monitored drivers with background checks, in order to avoid abuse and maltreatment of students. Schools must assure the sufficient allocation of transportation resources such that transportation is not used to justify early departures, late arrivals, or excessive travel times.

School Choice

• Charter schools and private schools that accept public funds through a voucher or voucher-like system must comply with IDEA, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (Section 504). Specifically, they must provide zero reject and free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment, including nondiscriminatory evaluation, individualized appropriate education plan, access to the general curriculum (academic, extracurricular, and other school activities), procedural safeguards, and parent participation.
• Ensure that school choice efforts do not diminish the resources and effectiveness of public school systems in which they operate.

Family and Student Participation

• Ensure the meaningful participation of students, families, and their chosen advisors in the evaluation of students and the design and monitoring of the students’ IEPs.
• Assure that parents with special needs, including those with disabilities or language or cultural differences, receive the information, supports, services, and full ADA/504 rights to effectively exercise their rights to partner in the education of their children.
• Expeditiously connect students and families with information, resources, and training that help them understand and exercise their rights under the IDEA, Section 504, the ADA, Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), and the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).
• Assure that school personnel provide timely explanations that are understandable and use functional descriptive language for special education and related services being proposed for the student.

Lifelong Education, Transition, and Post-Secondary Education

• Provide early intervention and preschool services to infants, toddlers, and preschool-age children with disabilities alongside their typical peers and provide transition planning for children to ensure access to the general education curriculum and full integration in neighborhood schools as they move to kindergarten or first grade.
• Develop and implement transition plans based on student strengths, preferences, and interests to facilitate each student’s successful movement from school to adult life, including postsecondary and vocational education, competitive integrated employment, independent living, and community participation.
• Develop an individualized postsecondary and/or pre-employment program, including choices and creative career exploration through apprenticeships and internships, in coordination with IDEA and the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA).
• Ensure that all students receive meaningful evidence of their school achievements including diplomas.

System Capacity Development, Funding, Oversight, and Accountability

• Assure that the training, preparation, compensation, supports, and accountability systems needed to build a cadre of effective professional teachers, other education personnel such as school principals, related services personnel, paraprofessionals, and other staff are evidence-based and effective to meet the child’s specific needs.
• Assure a cadre of effective lay and legal advocates to assist families and individuals to exercise their rights.
• Increase active monitoring and enforcement through local, state, and federal agencies to ensure that the IDEA, ADA, Section 504, and state special education laws and mandates are met.
• Fulfill the federal commitment to fully fund the IDEA.
• Ensure that all students with disabilities, including those with the most significant cognitive disabilities, continue to be included in public school, district, and state level accountability systems. Ensure that states are not allowed to exempt more than 1% of students (that is, exempt only those students that the state determines have the most significant cognitive disabilities up to 1%) from their general accountability data.

Rev’d 2018
Joint Statement with the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD).

¹ “People with intellectual disability (ID)” refers to those with “significant limitations both in intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior as expressed in conceptual, social, and practical adaptive skills. This disability originates before age 18”, as defined by the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD) in its manual, Intellectual Disability: Definition, Classification, and Systems of Supports (Schalock et al., 2010), and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5), published by the American Psychiatric Association (APA, 2013). “People with developmental disabilities (DD)” refers to those with “a severe, chronic disability of an individual that- (i) is attributable to a mental or physical impairment or combination of mental and physical impairments; (ii) is manifested before the individual attains age 22; (iii) is likely to continue indefinitely; (iv) results in substantial functional limitations in 3 or more of the following areas of major life activity: (I) Self-care, (II) Receptive and expressive language, (III) Learning, (IV) Mobility, (V) Self-direction, (VI) Capacity for independent living, (VII) Economic self-sufficiency; and (v) reflects the individual’s need for a combination and sequence of special, interdisciplinary, or generic services, individualized supports, or other forms of assistance that are of lifelong or extended duration and are individually planned and coordinated,” as defined by the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act 2000. In everyday language people with ID and/or DD are frequently referred to as people with cognitive, intellectual and/or developmental disabilities.

² In March 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District RE-1 clarifying the test for determining whether school districts have met their obligation to provide a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to students with disabilities guaranteed by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The Court ruled that a child’s educational program must be “appropriately ambitious in light of his circumstances,” a more demanding standard than the “merely more than de minimis” test applied by the Tenth Circuit.

The post Position Statement — Education first appeared on The Arc Minnesota.

The post Position Statement — Education appeared first on The Arc Minnesota.

WHEREAS the personal stories of people who lived in Minnesota state institutions were largely untold and were at risk of being lost forever as people died;

WHEREAS more than thirteen thousand individuals with disabilities died in state institutions between the years 1866 and 1997 and were buried in unmarked or numbered graves;

WHEREAS the Remembering With Dignity Initiative secured a legislative appropriation and marked eight thousand graves in Minnesota’s state institution cemeteries;

WHEREAS the state issued a formal apology for burying individuals with disabilities in unmarked and numbered graves.

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED

The Arc Minnesota honors the lives of the Minnesotans with disabilities who lived and died in state institutions, and were memorialized in the Remembering With Dignity Initiative.

Resolution approved by the Delegate Body at The Arc Minnesota Annual Meeting on October 28, 2007.
Revised Resolution Drafted by The Arc Minnesota Position Statements Task Force, June 18, 2013.
Revised Statement Again Edited and Then Approved by The Arc Minnesota Position Statements Task Force, June 22, 2013.
This statement was approved by The Arc Minnesota Public Policy Committee on August 21, 2013.
This statement was approved by The Arc Minnesota Board of Directors on September 23, 2013.
This statement was approved by delegates at The Arc Minnesota Annual Business Meeting, November 2, 2013.
Resolution Revised by The Arc Minnesota Position Statements Work Group on October 17, 2019.
Revised Resolution Again Edited on October 30, 2019.
This Resolution Was Approved by The Arc Minnesota Public Policy Committee on October 30, 2019.

The post Resolution to Honoring the Remembering With Dignity Initiative first appeared on The Arc Minnesota.

The post Resolution to Honoring the Remembering With Dignity Initiative appeared first on The Arc Minnesota.

Position Statement

• All individuals with intellectual and/or development disabilities and their families must have the option to exercise consumer control, self-determination, and self-advocacy in the person-centered planning and delivery of services and should not be penalized for choosing self-directed services by funding cuts made only in self-directed options.
• Every individual and their family must know what the budget for or the cost of their individual services are.
• Individuals must be allowed to direct the hiring, training, and termination of their staff and have their choice of providers for services. Technical services such as fiscal agents, payroll services, employer of record services and support planners must be available to assist consumers and their families at a reasonable cost.
• A meaningful quality assurance process must exist to measure outcomes and consumer satisfaction guided by principles of self-determination. These principles include greater control over one’s living situation, meaningful work opportunities without termination of needed services which cannot be obtained elsewhere, facilitating the individual’s participation and membership in the community and facilitating meaningful relationships with people who are not paid staff or family members. (See www.centerforself-determination.com).
• Self-directed services must be available to all who wish to use them across the state with ongoing training and technical assistance provided to individuals and families under state programs.
• Sufficient funding must be available for individual needs while agencies, individuals and families work together to achieve cost efficiencies when possible. Contingency funds from the county or state should also be made available for unanticipated expenses due to acute care or crisis.
• Funding and support must be made available for individuals with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities to connect with and participate in local, state, and national self-advocacy movements. For additional information, see The Arc of the U.S. statement on Self-Advocacy.

Issue

Self-directed services are growing across the country because of a federal mandate to provide options for community based long-term care. It is a cost-efficient way to manage a finite budget for care while respecting each person’s individual preferences. Individuals can live the life they prefer and achieve positive outcomes. It can strengthen the quality of services received and reduce caregiver burnout. Self-directed services allow individuals to maximize the use of natural supports rather than more expensive formal services. The Consumer Directed Community Supports option and other self-directed service options used in Minnesota have demonstrated that individuals and their families can be successful in administering individualized budgets, and that the programs are both accountable and transparent. The Arc Minnesota is committed to self-directed services and consumer control to achieve meaningful lives in the community for all persons with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities, which is consistent with the goals set forth in Minnesota’s Olmstead Plan.

Approved by The Arc Minnesota Position Statements Task Force, July 18, 2016.

Approved by The Arc Minnesota Public Policy Committee, July 20, 2016.

Approved by The Arc Minnesota Board of Directors, August 13, 2016.

Approved by delegates at The Arc Minnesota Annual Meeting, September 23, 2016.

The post Position Statement — Self-Directed Services first appeared on The Arc Minnesota.

The post Position Statement — Self-Directed Services appeared first on The Arc Minnesota.

Issue

Thousands of Minnesotans with intellectual and developmental disabilities receive needed assistance using Home and Community-Based Services. A survey by the Best Life Alliance1 found that for residential, day and home services there are thousands of unfilled positions for Direct Support Professionals, “DSPs”, across Minnesota. Many areas, especially in rural Minnesota, have huge unmet needs due to lack of staffing. Providers cannot take on new clients because they lack staffing to do so.

DSPs provide direct assistance with daily care, medical protocols, and medication administration. They also help to promote choice, independence, and involvement in community life for the people they serve. They are advocates for those they serve and help them to navigate through health care systems.

Minnesota has a low unemployment rate. Employers of all types are competitively pursuing quality workers by offering higher wages. The average hourly salary for DSPs in Minnesota has been low for many years. Imminent demographic changes will bring huge growth in the number of seniors and others who need and want care in the community. A study by the Minnesota Demographic Center projects that demand for DSPs and other support services will grow ten times faster every year until 2022 than the labor force needed to provide the services. Individuals on the Minnesota Waiver waiting list may finally qualify for services only to be unable to find DSPs to provide the care they need. Future Olmstead goals for person-centered support services cannot be realized without DSPs to do the work.

Minnesota DEED predicts that population growth and the increase in the number of people who want care and support in the community will require almost sixty thousand additional DSP positions in Minnesota over the next few years.

DSPs work with the most vulnerable Minnesotans. Their job responsibilities and required skills are not reflected in their continued low wages. This leads to staff turnover, which has a negative impact on those whom DSPs support. Many DSPs must work other jobs to support their families. More than 60% of DSPs work less than full time.2 Many DSPs in Minnesota are forced to use SNAP food assistance and other public services for their families.3

Compensation and benefit increases are the first and most effective way to attract workers to these jobs and move toward a living wage. To accomplish this, the Minnesota Legislature must increase reimbursement rates for Medicaid providers to allow salaries more in keeping with the competitive job market that exists in Minnesota. This is the most effective first step to deal with this shortage.

Since demand for services will exceed the number of potential DSPs available in the near future and the funds needed for a living wage may outstrip the Legislature’s tolerance for funding increases, additional ways must be created to attract and, more importantly, retain as many workers in this field as possible. Providers in this industry must find new ways to reach out to as many potential workers as possible to meet staffing needs. This should include an increase in the use of self-directed services, which can reduce turnover and provide the opportunity to pay higher staff wages. In addition, use of assistive technology, monitoring technology, and service animals should be explored as a means of addressing staffing shortages when appropriate to help the person achieve and maintain independence. Policies to foster retention will be crucial as well as increased recognition of employee contributions to quality care and their continued service.

The National Alliance of Direct Support Professionals states that to have a qualified, competent and stable Direct Support Workforce “…it is critical that DSPs have the competence, confidence and ethical decision-making skills with the guidance necessary to provide quality support, receive compensation that is commensurate with job responsibilities and have access to a career path aligned with ongoing professional development.”4

DSPs need sufficient, high quality training and paid professional development to document and promote skill development. Credentialing for DSPs must be considered to create a more professional workforce that is stable and valued for their documented skills to provide quality care. Minnesota must provide statewide training guidelines and opportunities beyond those required by licensing. Online and classroom training and development must be available for all DSPs, including those who in work in consumer directed services. Paid professional development opportunities for all DSPs must be increased. Specific training in the use of person-centered services must be continued so DSPs can effectively assist people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to realize the promise of Olmstead to be fully included in their communities and reach personal goals. Service providers must foster an organizational culture that promotes and values quality services and supports person-centered goals for their clients and staff.

Approved by The Arc Minnesota Position Statements Task Force, 7/18/16.

Approved by The Arc Minnesota Public Policy Committee, July 20, 2016.

Approved by The Arc Minnesota Board of Directors, August 13, 2016.

Approved by delegates at The Arc Minnesota Annual Meeting, September 23, 2016.

1 The Best Life Alliance is made up of families, self-advocates, advocacy organizations and over 130 providers of Home and Community-Based Services in Minnesota. 2 PHI State Data Center 2014

3 PHI State Data Center 2014

4 National Alliance of Direct Support Professionals, See www.nadsp.org

The post Position Statement — Direct Support Professional Workforce Shortage in Minnesota first appeared on The Arc Minnesota.

The post Position Statement — Direct Support Professional Workforce Shortage in Minnesota appeared first on The Arc Minnesota.

Why Parental Fees Should Be Reduced

• Parental fees that families pay for their in-home supports and medical services through Medical Assistance have often been unaffordable for families.  
• Families with children with disabilities often pay more of their income on medical care than families without. They pay for medical care for their child with disabilities, plus private insurance coverage for the rest of the family.  
• High fees can cause great financial stress to families and even prevent them from applying for crucial services that would meet their children’s needs.  
• Minnesota has made a substantial commitment to support children with disabilities in their family homes. Parental fees can create an obstacle to meeting this commitment.

Background

Parents whose incomes would normally be too high to quality for Medical Assistance (MA) can receive coverage for in-home supports and medical services though MA. These services and supports are available through programs that are technically called TEFRA and waivered services. Families accessing these programs pay a fee on a sliding scale.

To help balance past state budgets, lawmakers at times increased parental fees and made fees unaffordable for many Minnesota families. In some cases, fees equaled a family’s mortgage payment or the amount of state taxes it paid. Some families drained their savings accounts or drew down retirement accounts. For more on the impact of these fees on families, watch Lisa Juliar’s testimony and Kelly Kausel’s statement at the 2017 Day at the Capitol.  

Legislative Action

There has been some progress over the past decade in providing parental fee relief, including the 2017 Legislative Session, when legislation was passed that lowered fees by 13%. However, many families still face fees that are unaffordable. These families and their children need further relief, and The Arc Minnesota supports not only further reduction, but the eventual elimination of all parental fees.

Updated December 2017.

The post Position Statement — Lower Parental Fees, Provide Relief to Families first appeared on The Arc Minnesota.

The post Position Statement — Lower Parental Fees, Provide Relief to Families appeared first on The Arc Minnesota.

Issue

Nearly 12,000 Minnesotans with disabilities and older Minnesotans are subject to income “spend down” rules that require them to live in life-long poverty in order to access community services they need. In Minnesota, an individual with a disability who has income above the federal poverty level of $990 per month must spend down to 80% of poverty or $792 per month in order to remain eligible for Medical Assistance. This is the total amount of income the person is allowed to have to pay for all expenses. After paying the monthly cost of rent, food, utilities, medicine, and other bare essentials, people do not have enough income to live in dignity. There is no public policy justification for forcing these people to live below the poverty level in order to receive the services they need. The income standard of 80% of poverty level was raised in Minnesota in 2015 from the prior standard of 75% of poverty. Prior to that, there had not been a change to the income standard since the 1990s.

Not only are these individuals with disabilities forced to live in poverty, the $3,000 limit on assets has not changed since the 1980s. This leaves little incentive or funds to save for emergencies, future goals, or retirement.

Because of their disability, some people cannot work. Others would like to do some work but cannot find employment. Minnesota’s income and asset rules discussed above apply only to individuals with disabilities who do not have income from employment. There are higher asset limitations (MA-EPD Program) for people with disabilities who earn some wages, and they are also not subject to the spend down. Spend down rules also do not apply to single adults without disabilities and parents, who qualify for public health insurance programs at 138% of poverty thanks to the Affordable Care Act. People with disabilities who cannot work are treated unfairly and unequally.

There are numerous unintended consequences when people are forced to live in poverty their whole lives so they can receive home and community-based services. Many families have disinherited individuals with disabilities so as not to jeopardize the services they have need even with a small inheritance. In order to ensure that people with disabilities remain impoverished, millions of dollars are spent to monitor their income and assets through various government agencies. By requiring the spend down, Minnesota is taking a substantial percentage of SSI or SSDI income intended by the federal government for the support the person and uses it to cut state expenditures instead.

Approved by The Arc Minnesota Position Statements Task Force, July 18, 2016.

Approved by The Arc Minnesota Public Policy Committee, July 20, 2016.

Approved by The Arc Minnesota Board of Directors, August 13, 2016.

Approved by delegates at The Arc Minnesota Annual Meeting, September 23, 2016.

The post Position Statement — Minnesota Income and Assets Limitations first appeared on The Arc Minnesota.

The post Position Statement — Minnesota Income and Assets Limitations appeared first on The Arc Minnesota.