September 2024

The Arc of New Jersey Health Care Advocacy Program promotes quality health care for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities throughout New Jersey.



The Arc of NJ Healthcare Symposium this October!

The Arc of New Jersey is excited to announce a one-day conference focusing on training and education for current and future healthcare professionals to better understand and meet the health and medical needs of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The 2024 Beverly Roberts Memorial Healthcare Symposium will take place on Tuesday, October 15th at the New Jersey Law Center in New Brunswick. The event will be offered in a hybrid format, allowing attendees to participate in person or virtually. For additional details, please click the flyer. If you have questions related to the event, email Connor Griffin, Director of Health Care Advocacy, at healthcareadvocacy@arcnj.org.

To register for the event, click here.

It's Not Too Late to Support The Arc of New Jersey!

Thank you to everyone who supported The Arc of New Jersey through our 75th Anniversary Gala and Ad Journal. The funds raised enable us to make tremendous progress as we continue to grow and expand our advocacy and support services for people with IDD and their families. But the need still exists.

From now until December 31, 2024, The Arc of New Jersey's 75th Anniversary Campaign is looking to raise $75,000 to support our information, resources and advocacy for individuals with IDD and their families. Your donation, no matter the size, will contribute greatly to our ability to help the increasing numbers of individuals and families who call upon us for assistance. Click here to donate today and thank you for your support!

Share your Healthcare Story

Do you have a story about your experiences with your child with disability and/or medical complexity in healthcare?

Have you ever wished you could use that story to teach medical students and residents?

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is partnering with the Bluebird Way Foundation to host and produce quarterly, virtual Family-Led Academic Grand “FLAG” Rounds focused on Ableism (discrimination toward children and adults with disabilities) in Pediatrics. FLAG Rounds flips the traditional model of Grand Rounds and adopts families as educators.

Who can submit a story?

A parent, guardian, sibling, or other family member who:

• is or has been a caregiver for a child with disability

and/or medical complexity

• lives in the U.S. or Canada

• has a story (positive or negative) about disability that

either you or your child with disability and/or medical

complexity have experienced in healthcare

Submissions are due by October 1, 2024

Social Security Updates Coming September 30th

1. Expanding the Definition of a Public Assistance Household

To include households where one or more residents receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and households where not all residents receive public assistance.

This change will help to allow more people to qualify for SSI, increase some SSI payment amounts, and reduce reporting burden...

Read more

2. Removing Food from In-Kind Support and Maintenance (ISM) Calculations

SSI recipients will no longer have to report food/groceries, will not be penalized if receiving food assistance from families and friends, and see less month to month variability in their SSI checks.

More people will qualify for a higher monthly SSI benefit and the burden of reporting food will be eliminated...

Read more

3. Expanding SSI Rental Subsidy Policy

Now extends to all states that if a person pays rent equal to or greater than "Presumed Maximum Value," (PMV) SSA assumes the rent is under a business arrangement and will not reduce the SSI benefit.

The SSI recipient is not considered to be receiving ISM when the amount of monthly required rent for the property equals or exceeds PMV...

Read more

"Medicaid Monday"

The Arc of New Jersey Family Institute, NJ FamilyCare/Medicaid, and The Arc of Monmouth will host tables at the event where you can learn more about our programs.

Connor Griffin, The Arc of New Jersey's Director of Health Care Advocacy, will present on SSI and Medicaid.

We encourage you to join us and share your Medicaid stories!

When:

Monday, September 30, 2024

6:30pm - 8:30pm

Where:

The Arc of Monmouth, 1158 Wayside Rd

Tinton Falls, NJ 07712

New Jersey Disability Information Virtual Hub

The Department of Human Services announced the launch of the NJ Disability Information Hub, an accessible website that brings together resources from across state government into one place for New Jersey residents with disabilities and their families, caregivers, and advocates. The announcement commemorates Disability Pride Month and the 34^th anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Click here to visit the website.

NJ Department of Human Services Awards Grants to Support Community-based Housing for Individuals with IDD



On September 4th, 2024, Department of Human Services (DHS) Commissioner Sarah Adelman announced that the department has awarded over $3.4 million in grants to develop community-based housing to meet the needs of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) who are transitioning out of nursing homes and other qualified institutions.

Grants were provided to a number of community-based service providers, including ArcMorris and The Arc of Somerset. To read the full press release, click here.

Social Security Moves To Streamline SSI

The Social Security Administration (SSA) announced on August 27th that they have begun a multi-year effort to streamline the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) application process to simplify the application and ease the burden on families.

Beginning this December, SSA will start to offer a new, online streamlined application for first time SSI applicants between the ages of 18-65 who are not married and applying for benefits.

The new "iClaim expansion," seeks to simplify the application, reduce time spent filling out an application, and speed up the processing of initial claim decisions.

SSA seeks to expand the rollout during a "second phase," in late 2025. Read the full press release, here.

NJ Legislative Disability Caucus

Since 2020, the New Jersey Legislative Disability Caucus has served as a bipartisan forum within the New Jersey Legislature for lawmakers and their staff to consider the impact on the disability community when shaping all public policies in the Garden State through increased awareness and a greater understanding of the complexities of the disabilities service system and issues affecting individuals with disabilities and their families.People with disabilities, their families, and organizations that serve, support, and advocate for people with disabilities in New Jersey act as a resource to the Caucus, providing education and programming as needed.

Please view past Caucus meetings by clicking here. The previous meeting in July highlighted Access to Dental Care, with a presentation by Dr. Evan Spivack.     

The next meeting begins at noon on Tuesday, October 22nd.

Get in Touch

The Arc of New Jersey Health Care Advocacy

732-246-2567

www.thearcnjhealthcareadvocacy.org

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