Loud & Clear

The Arc Reacts to Startling New Bureau of Justice Statistics on Crimes against People with Cognitive and Other Disabilities

The Special Needs Alliance and The Arc collaborate on issues of mutual interest. The Arc promotes and protects the human rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and actively supports their full inclusion and participation in the community throughout their lifetimes. The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) recently released a report on Crime Against [...]

2024-05-13T15:55:24-04:00

Getting Out the Vote: Improving Access for Voters with Disabilities

By Sally L. Schoffstall, CELA During this mid-term election year, there are urgent issues at stake that directly affect the lives of people with disabilities. Budget battles at every level of government threaten Medicaid, SSDI, Medicare and other programs that are essential to their quality of life. Special education continues to face resource challenges. Yet [...]

2024-05-13T15:54:36-04:00

Choosing the Right Nursing Home

By Martha C. Brown, CELA When a loved one of any age requires the round-the-clock care of a nursing home, it’s important to select one that fulfills both their medical and social needs. Each facility has its own culture, and since this will be your family member’s home, the environment should be a welcoming fit. [...]

2024-05-13T15:54:04-04:00

Care Managers Can Reduce Family Pressures

By Franchelle C. Millender, CELA Working with a care manager can significantly lower family stress, providing reassurance that the right steps are being taken to ensure a loved one's quality of life. Care managers are often trained nurses, psychologists or social workers, and their familiarity with local services and supports can provide invaluable assistance to [...]

2024-05-13T15:53:34-04:00

Transferring Guardianship Between States

By Scott Suzuki, Esq. With the increasing mobility of American families, the need to transfer guardianships between states is on the upswing. A new job (or military assignment), supports that better meet the ward's needs, or even a more favorable climate are among the many motivations. Moving is one of the most stressful things that [...]

2024-05-13T15:52:42-04:00

Do Not Hospitalize Directives Often Confuse

By Elizabeth L. Gray, Esq. A recent article by Judith Graham, "The New Old Age, A Misunderstood Directive," (New York Times, 20 November, 2013) got me thinking about "Do Not Hospitalize" (DNH) orders. As attorneys, we routinely put such orders in our advance directives without a detailed explanation to our clients. What is a "Do [...]

2024-05-13T15:52:07-04:00

Young Artist with Autism Finds Critical Acclaim

His art has been exhibited throughout the U.S., in Kiev, Galapagos, Curacao and the Cayman Islands. He can compose music on a computer, without the benefit of sound. He's won medals for ballroom dancing. Yet a skills evaluation, conducted, when Seth Chwast - who has profound autism - was 18, indicated that he could look [...]

2024-05-13T15:51:43-04:00

End-of-Year Tax Considerations

By H. Amos Goodall, Jr., CELA Caring for a loved one with special needs can run into millions of dollars over the course of their lifetime, so the last thing families need is to pay unnecessary taxes. I'd estimate that before beginning to work with a special needs attorney, 30 percent of my clients had [...]

2024-05-13T15:49:40-04:00Tags: Finding Answers – Taxation|

Family Members Should Consider Trust Protector Role

By Robert B. Fleming, CELA, Tucson, AZ For family members wishing to participate in the care of a loved one with special needs, the role of trustee isn't always a good match. Family members may not be particularly familiar with investing, accounting and tax returns. They may not have time to handle ongoing disbursements, or [...]

2024-05-13T15:49:02-04:00

Reflections on Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month

By Reginald H. Turnbull, CELA March is Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month, a time to reflect on the truly dramatic advances made by the special needs community, as well as the challenges remaining before us. Families that have advocated on behalf of loved ones with disabilities are remarkable. They have consistently eschewed labels, fighting to eradicate [...]

2024-05-13T15:48:33-04:00

Mental Illness Awareness Month

A Largely Unaddressed Epidemic By Laurie Hanson, Esq. October is Mental Illness Awareness Month, almost an oxymoron. Do you realize that more people in the U.S. have mental illness than any other disability? That a quarter of all adults experience mental illness each year? And that over 50 percent of them will go without the [...]

2024-05-13T15:46:35-04:00

Tax Planning for Families With Special Needs

By Bradley J. Frigon, CELA As tax-paying season approaches, there are a number of tax obligations and deduction opportunities that families with special needs should bear in mind. It's important to realize that the investment income generated by funds deposited in a special needs trust (SNT) are taxable, yet the details differ, depending upon the [...]

2024-05-13T15:46:13-04:00Tags: Finding Answers – Taxation|

Structured Settlements and SNTs

Protecting Public Benefits By John F. Kearns III, CELA, West Hartford, Connecticut When settling a personal injury case, the value that public benefits will bring to the plaintiff's quality of life should be carefully assessed. Means-tested programs such as Medicaid and SSI will often play a central role in providing healthcare and maintaining financial security. [...]

2024-05-13T15:45:12-04:00

The Untapped Talent of Workers with Disabilities

By Jefferey Yussman, Esq. Unemployment for people with disabilities hit 16.8 percent last summer. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reports that in fiscal 2011, it received more complaints of disability-related employment discrimination than during the previous year. Much misunderstanding persists concerning the individual capabilities of people with special needs. Researchers at Cornell University, for instance, [...]

2024-05-13T15:44:14-04:00

March Is Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month

Advances and Setbacks By Robert B. Fleming, CELA In 1987 President Ronald Reagan proclaimed March “Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month.” The deinstitutionalization movement of the seventies and early eighties had laid the foundation for significant social change, and the presidential proclamation called upon Americans to provide the "encouragement and opportunities" necessary for people with developmental disabilities [...]

2024-05-13T15:43:50-04:00

Microboards and Guardianship

By Ann McGee Green, Esq. This past summer, one of my client families was successful in having – for the first time in Virginia – a microboard-named guardian for their foster daughter with special needs. A microboard is a formalized "circle of support," a non-profit corporation consisting of a small group of individuals who assist [...]

2024-05-13T15:43:27-04:00

Head Over Heart Moving to a Group Home

By Brian Rubin, Esq. Deciding whether or not an adult child with disabilities should move from the family home into a supported, community-based residence can be wrenching experience. Aside from a desire for their loved one to live as fulfilling and independent a life as possible, mom and dad must plan for the time when [...]

2024-05-13T15:42:38-04:00

Self-Advocacy’s Growing Momentum

By Martha C. Brown, CELA Today, the expectations of individuals with special needs are radically different from those of previous generations. They plan to participate in community life to the fullest extent possible, based upon their individual capabilities. And this attitude is mirrored by many family members. A growing self-advocacy movement stresses the intention of [...]

2024-05-13T15:41:53-04:00

Home Care for Alzheimer’s

By Ruth Courtney, Richard A. Courtney, CELA, & Morris Klein, CELA In the U.S., 70 percent of those diagnosed with Alzheimer's are cared for at home, creating a stressful balancing act for family members. Care needs differ dramatically, shaped by the course of the loved one's disease, as Alzheimer's affects people differently. The caregiver's personal [...]

2024-05-13T15:41:05-04:00

Preparation Pays at Special Ed Meetings

By Hyman Darling, Esq., Massachusetts With special ed spending down 11 percent since 2010, parents may find meetings with the local Committee on Special Education (CSE) increasingly tense. When negotiating with educational experts, families often feel intimidated and outgunned, so it's important to arrive prepared. Prior to your first meeting with the CSE, talk to [...]

2024-05-13T15:40:23-04:00

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