AJE Advocacy & Leadership Resources & Information

Children with Special Needs, need Parents with Special Skills!

December 2020

Welcome to the AJE Advocacy & Leadership Newsletter!

This newsletter is written specifically for parents and caregivers that have gone through our advocacy and leadership training series. In these newsletters, you will find information about leadership and advocacy opportunities, trainings to further advance your skills, as well as information and resources from our partners. We hope that you find this information useful and helpful no matter where you are in your advocacy journey, but if you have suggestions for things that should be included please contact Jazmone Wilkerson, Director of Advocacy at jazmone.wilkerson@aje-dc.org.

U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs Update

OSEP has lots of updates and guidance that help to clarify the federal requirements of special education during COVID-19. This update includes-

IDEA Part B Services for school-aged students (3-21)
IDEA Part B Dispute Resolution for school-aged students (3-21)
IDEA Part C Dispute Resolution for early intervention-aged children (0-3)
IDEA Part C Evaluations & Timelines for early intervention-aged children (0-3)
In Pursuit of an Equitable Start: Leveraging and Expanding Public Funding to Support a More Equitable Recovery for Young Children, Families, and Child Care Worker

You can also click on the OSEP logo above to access to entire updates bulletin.

GAO Report: Challenges Providing Services to K-12 English Learners and Students with Disabilities during COVID-19

COVID-19 forced schools to rapidly shift to distance learning. The Government Accounting Office (GAO) investigated the impact of this shift and found that it presented logistical and instructional challenges, especially for English learners and students with disabilities-both of whom have persistent achievement gaps compared to other student subgroups. Find out what those challenges were for each group by clicking here.

Policing Resources for Students

AJE is happy to share these resources around policing in DC that might be relevant to young people and families we work with.

Black Swan Academy has a toolkit for activists about police-free schools.
DC Area Educators for Social Justice also have a toolkit and information on police-free schools from an educator's point of view.
AJE is part of the Dignity in Schools Campaign and their Counselors not Cops Campaign contains numerous resources that might be helpful to DC residents who are interested in this work, and especially if they are interested in a national context.
ACLU-DC also has good resources on police stops in DC, demonstrating in DC, and other contacts with law enforcement.
This AJE memo details when and why young people can be handcuffed in DC and it is available in Spanish as well.

Testimony Interest

As you know, with the pandemic and various protests that have occurred throughout the District of Columbia, the District has exceeded its' budget for the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). Because of this, the Mayor has to make tough decisions as to what programs to cut funding to in order to balance the budget.

Some of the programs that will face potential cuts include "human services programs". Human service programs includes: education, early intervention, home visiting programs, etc. With the budget season and over-site hearings rapidly approaching, we wanted to get a list of parents together who might be interested in testifying on particular issues, whether written or oral testimony.

We will reach out to you as these hearings come up to help you prepare for them so don't worry about not knowing the process. Testimony is just about telling YOUR story, as you are your child's best and very first advocate. This survey takes five minutes. Your interest does not require you to testify. For questions please contact Jazmone Wilkerson, Director of Advocacy at jazmone.wilkerson@aje-dc.org or (202) 678-8060 ext. 206

Blog Post: "Practical Way for Stress Management"

If it's been said once it's been repeated thousands of times, we are living in unprecedented and uncertain times. Many people during this period are dealing with great losses, whether those losses are family, jobs, free time, etc. It can all feel so overwhelming. Operating day-to-day with this amount of stress can affect our bodies and relationships in various ways. Here we hope you will find healthy ways of dealing with stress that will not only help improve your overall mood and well-being but also strengthen the relationships you have with the people you care about and your community.

Step 1: Identity the cause of the stress.

Are you stressed because distance learning is frustrating, or is it because working for home is much more difficult than you expected, or is it just the general stress caused by the times? Whatever it is, it's important to know and understand what's causing it because then it becomes easier to deal with it.

Step 2: Plan it out.

Identifying the things that are within your control and focusing on that what you can control even when everything around you seems unmanageable has a positive effect on stress levels. Planning out your day and figuring out what is important helps put things in perspective and gives you a game plan on how to handle your day. Once you've completed those things, that feeling of accomplishing your goal will help reduce stress and improve your overall mood.

Step 3: Get moving.

"Move your body, change your mood." When you move your body or exercise, it has the power to improve your emotions and wellbeing. Whether it's running, walking, jumping, dancing, etc. get that body moving.

Step 4: Make time for you.

The final step is to make time for yourself. Yes, life can be crazy and you're probably juggling more now than ever before, but in all of that you have to find some time for yourself. Whether that's 5 minutes or an hour, making time to rest and relax is important to our health.

Parts of this write up was adapted from https://seenthemagazine.com/move-your-body-move-your-mood/

Resources available on AJE's website: Mental Health, Housing, Food, Workers Rights

Our website www.aje-dc.org is a great resource for families. For example, we link to many Mental Health Resources, both local and national, on our blog.

Do you have a concern about your experiences with a Department of Behavior Health provider? The DBH Ombudsman might be able to help you or answer your questions.

Want to better support your student that's leaving high school? This article might help.

Do you want to know what resources are available during this pandemic as it relates to legal, social and health services. Check out this blog post about the services that The LawHelp.org is highlighting.

Finally, do you want to have a say in the plans for the future and goals of the District of Columbia Developmental Disabilities Council (DDC). Here's a blog post about how you can be involved in shaping that future with a link to a survey.

Who is Michelle Parrish?

Michelle is an inaugural member of our Parent Ambassadors Program (PAP). AJE's PAP trains and mobilizes parents to engage in systems advocacy work. The Parent Ambassadors are currently focused on a Birth-to-Three Campaign in which they are focused on organizing families who have developmental concerns for their little ones to: 1) provide a safe and supportive network of like-minded parents/guardians to talk about their experiences; 2) to engage families in telling their stories to policy-makers around early intervention; 3) to create an early intervention system that works for all families; and 4) to advocate for programs and policies that support families of young children such as the Birth-to-Three Act. For more information and resources around this campaign please click here.

A primary goal of the program is to make sure that the needs of all families within the District are being met in addition to providing access to quality early childhood services and resources.

If you are a parent/guardian of a child who is aged birth-three and have some concerns about your child's development, please consider contacting us to join our Early Intervention Cafes as mentioned below.

Coming soon to your ward - Early Intervention Cafes!

Holiday Resources by The Parent Center Hub

Playtime's Guide to Activities Families Can Do Together

(Available in English and Spanish) | Does the pandemic have you looking for fun activities to do with your children? Look no further! The Homeless Children's Playtime Project offers creative tip sheets for parents and families.

Tip Sheets 1- 4 are available in English. Tip Sheets 5 and 6 are available in both English and Spanish. There are also fun videos for children on the project's YouTube channel.

Self-Care in the Time of Coronavirus (Also available in Spanish)

Self-Care is an important practice to maintain especially during the time of COVID-19. Here are some tips for parents to help make sure they are prioritizing their own well-being.

Holidays During the Pandemic (Also available in Spanish)

The holidays can be a stress time in general, but navigating them during a pandemic can prove to be much more challenging. For tips in reducing stress, managing expectations of children, and making new traditions this article can prove to be useful.

About AJE:

Advocates for Justice and Education is the federally designated Parent Training and Information Center and the Health Information Center for DC. AJE seeks to empower families, youth, and the community to be effective advocates to ensure that children and youth, particularly those who have special needs, receive access to appropriate education and health services.

Our passion is empowering families by equipping parents and students with disabilities with the tools they need to be their own advocates.

Have questions? We are here to educate, advocate and empower. Contact us today!

Advocates for Justice and Education, Inc.| (P) 202.678.8060 | (F) 202.678.8062 |

Email: information@aje-dc.org | Website: www.aje-dc.org

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