February 17, 2021
CP State News
We're here for you! 
Virtual Lobby Days begin Feb. 22
CP State and our colleagues (Alliance of Long Island Agencies/ALIA, Developmental Disabilities Alliance of Western New York/DDAWNY, Interagency Council/IAC and the NY Association of Emerging and Multicultural Providers/NYAEMP) will be conducting our annual Legislative Advocacy Days virtually during the weeks of February 22 and March 1. 
Make a difference in peoples' lives with just a couple of clicks. Use CP State’s online advocacy tool to tell your legislators and the Governor to reject cuts to supports and services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities!
CP State Training Series
Wednesday, Feb. 24:
Fitness and healthy eating for all abilities
Now, more than ever, it's important to keep ourselves physically fit!
Join SPIRIT Club at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, February 23, for a session on fitness for people with disabilities.
SPIRIT Club strives to foster a culture of support and encouragement for all members. They create this environment by hiring dual-certified trainers who are experts in fitness and have completed certifications to provide support for people of all abilities. Click the thumbnail to watch Mike's journey to being healthier.
Tuesday, Feb. 23:
Dating and relationships for people with I/DD
CP State is honored to host a series on navigating dating and relationships for people with disabilities. These FREE sessions will begin on February 23 and are presented by Kathy O'Connell, Director of Radiant Abilities. Radiant Abilities provides resources and products for people with disabilities in the areas of self-esteem, relationships, and personal empowerment.
CP State is offering these FREE sessions through its DDPC Rural Advocacy Grant.
If you would like to participate, please contact Tim Ferguson at TFerguson@cpstate.org or 518-436-0178.
HCBS advocacy with our partners at ANCOR
The HCBS program is essential to keeping people with disabilities safe at home during the pandemic and is stretched to the breaking point by the demands of COVID-19. With Congress moving forward on a new COVID-19 emergency funding package, ANCOR is joining a coalition of national disability organizations to show strong support for an increase in funding for the HCBS program. Use the ANCOR Amplifier advocacy tool to ask Congress to say YES to increased funding for the Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) program during the pandemic.
If you are active on social media, please amplify our efforts on those channels as well! Here is a sample message in which you can tag your members of Congress:
Please protect the vital #disability Medicaid HCBS program and the #ForgottenFaces it supports by giving it a temporary FMAP bump in any final COVID-19 bill. HCBS has preserved many lives during the pandemic but needs funding to outlast COVID-19.
Developmental disabilities and sexuality training for staff
The DDPC and ElevatUs Training will be hosting FREE online sexuality trainings for school and agency staff. Attendees will receive comprehensive training to implement these trainings in their community and will be required to sign a commitment form.
Anyone interested can sign up, however, priority will be given by region. Sign up links for each region are below:
- April 15-16 (Region 3): https://forms.gle/tAwCNmEyX7rhvxAF8
- April 20-21 (Region 4&5): https://forms.gle/UVys9TzZjYoXHDZE7
- May 6-7 (Region 2): https://forms.gle/9H1WFUJSN2mD9wVR9
- May 18-19 (Region 1): https://forms.gle/X9iqFNZdHQAvQZAX6
If you have any questions, please contact Kimberly Berg at Kimberly.Berg@ddpc.ny.gov
Get involved in Project Euphonia and help individuals with impaired speech use voice-activated tech
CP State is proud to partner with Google’s Project Euphonia, designed to improve how speech recognition systems recognize impaired speech. The project is designed to refine the speech recognition algorithms that drive devices like Google Home, Alexa, and other voice-activated technologies by introducing atypical speech patterns from individuals with disabilities.
On Tuesday, Feb. 16, we were joined the project's Katie Seaver and Marilyn Ladewig for an informational session on how the project works and how the individuals we serve can be part of it (and make some money in the process).
Click here to view the presentation and visit the links below to some of the videos and resources that were shared during the Feb.16 meeting:
Here are some links you'll need to get started with Project Euphonia:
If you have any questions about Project Euphonia, please contact Deb Williams at DWilliams@cpstate.org.
CP State and SAP Litmos have your training needs covered
CP State is proud to provide the SAP Litmos online learning platform to provide efficient and thorough training for Affiliate staff.
Whether you need to onboard staff more efficiently or are looking for a suite of COVID-19 related classes, we provide top-level professional development courses within our online learning library!
For more information contact:
Tim Ferguson
Director of Online Learning
CP of NYS | cpstate.org