INSPIRE Arts Week

Looking for something to do with the family now that school's out? Check out INSPIRE Arts Week in Lakewood!

This is a 10-day annual event running from May 30 - June 8, featuring free and discounted arts and cultural events through more than 15 Lakewood partner organizations. There are many interactive activities planned for the whole family including Band Art where teens can create their own unique band or music inspired piece of original art, a Dino Sculpture Hunt where you and your children can pick up a treasure map and search for the roaming dinosaur herd along the Alameda Corridor and finishing off with the Rockin' Block party that will have: games, live music, affordable food options and a family-friendly movie under the stars. 

Click here to explore the upcoming events and activities!
A Fashion Event for Everyone

You’re invited to Rockin’ the Runway Together—an exciting community event bringing people of ALL abilities together to celebrate the joy of fashion side by side. This show is being brought to life through a collaboration of our chapter of The Arc, DDRC, and Colorado Miss Amazing, and we aim to make it unforgettable!

When: Saturday, June 8th 5-7 PM
Where: Belmar Plaza in Lakewood at 464 S. Teller St.

Our goal is always to foster inclusion of people with intellectual & developmental disabilities in the community, and what better way to accomplish this goal than with fashion, food, and fun! Models of all abilities will be strutting the runway, and many of them will be wearing fashion from arc Thrift Stores, where you never know what treasures you might find. Community partners like Paul Mitchell-The School, Colorado Media School, and Belmar are helping us make this truly inclusive event one of a kind. 

Everyone is welcome, so come and join us as we highlight abilities and strengthen community connections. There will be music and giveaways, and even the mayor of Lakewood is coming to kick-off the event. See you on June 8th and dress to impress!
Urgent Action Alert about Competitive Integrated Employment

ACTION ALERT: Comment Today to Support Equal Pay for People with Disabilities!

This week the Department of Labor announced its new website, “ the Section 14(c) National Online Dialogue.” The purpose of the website is to collect comments from the public about the impact of paying subminimum wages to people with disabilities under section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Employers with 14(c) certificates can legally pay people with disabilities less than the federal minimum wage, often times pennies on the dollar. Section 14(c) certificates are typically used in “sheltered workshops,” where people with disabilities are segregated from the broader community. Disability advocates view Section 14(c), which was created in 1938, as outdated, discriminatory, and reinforcing a life of poverty, segregation, and dependency on public support for people with disabilities.  It is critical that you make your voice heard!   

Input from people with disabilities, families, employment providers and employers is important. Share your perspective online here before Friday, June 14th.  

Ideas to include in your comments are:

  • If you are a person with a disability or a family member, talk about why a community job at fair pay is important to you/your family. Think about relationships with co-workers, how you/your family member have grown in your job, and opportunities to go into the broader community. If you/your family member have ever been paid subminimum wages, talk about how that made you feel and about your transition from sheltered work to CIE.
  • If you are an employment provider, talk about how you support people with disabilities in competitive integrated employment. If you are a provider who has transitioned away from using 14(c) certificates, talk about that experience.
  • If you are an employer, talk about your experience with employees with disabilities. Think about their contributions to your workplace and how you have been able to ensure their success.
  • If you are an advocate familiar with disability employment trends in your state, share information about that progress. Think about what policies have advanced CIE and how your state may be moving away from using sheltered workshops.

Disability advocates have made significant progress towards eliminating Section 14(c) and establishing the legal right of people with disabilities to be paid the same as everyone else. In 2014, Congress passed the bipartisan Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), which made competitive integrated employment (CIE) a priority, limited the use of subminimum wages for youth with disabilities, and required people currently being paid subminimum wages to be given other employment options. In 2016, the Federal Advisory Committee for Increasing Competitive Integrated Employment for Individuals with Disabilities recommended to Congress and the Labor Secretary that Section 14(c) be phased-out, together with capacity building for competitive integrated employment. In 2019, Congress introduced bipartisan legislation, the Transformation to Competitive Employment Act, to phase-out 14(c) and help providers transform their models to CIE. Numerous states have already prohibited the use of subminimum wages, and other states are currently considering legislation.  It is very important that we urge the Department of Labor to continue the progress towards ending this outdated and discriminatory practice.

Remember, you only have until June 14th to make your voice heard here !
Successful Early Intervention Transitions Webinar Series Presented by JFK Partners and Early Intervention Colorado

FREE Webinar! Part C to Part B is on Thursday, June 27.

Transition from the NICU to Early Intervention (EI) and from Part C EI to Part B School Services can be particularly complex for children with developmental delay or disability. This 3-part Webinar Series will provide information about Colorado’s current processes for transitions within the Early Intervention system, parent’s experiences when going through transition and ideas for how Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) staff, Service Coordinators (SC), EI providers, Primary Care Providers (PCP), Parents or Caregivers and others involved in the transition process can work together to best support the children going through transition.

  • Feb 7, 2019 – 10-11:30 AM – Webinar 1: Transition from the NICU to Early Intervention Archived Recording (Speakers: Abigail Angulo, MD, MPH and Marnie Bryson, Part C NICU Project and Beth Cole, EI Colorado)
  • Apr 25, 2019 – 10-11:30 AM – Webinar 2: Reflections from Parents and Medical Providers on Early Intervention Transitions (Speakers: Abigail Angulo, MD, MPH, Laura Merrill, EI Colorado, and Parent Provider Panel) - No Archived Recording has been posted yet
  • Jun 27, 2019 – 10-11:30 AM – Webinar 3: Part C Early Intervention Transition to Part B Preschool Special Education or other settings (Speakers: Laura Merrill, EI Colorado and Chris Miller, CDE, Child Find Specialist)

To register for these FREE webinars, click here and click on EVENTS. 

Questions can be directed to JFK Partners Training Coordinator [email protected]. 
Experience of Adult Siblings of Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities Study

Are you 18 years of age or older? 

Are you a sibling of an individual with one of these intellectual disabilities?:

• Down syndrome
• Fragile X syndrome
• Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
• Williams syndrome
• Angelman syndrome
• Prader-Willi syndrome
• Smith-Magenis syndrome
• Cri-du-Chat syndrome
• DiGeorge syndrome

Have you had recent contact with your sibling within the past 4 weeks? *Recent contact can include speaking over the phone, meeting face to face, or interacting over the internet. 

If you answered YES to all of these questions, you may be eligible to participate in a psychology research study.

The purpose of this research study is to understand the experience of adult siblings of individuals with intellectual disabilities. The study is conducted primarily online and will take 30-45 minutes to complete. After completing the study, participants can choose to be entered into a drawing to receive one of two Amazon gift cards worth $25 each.

If you are interested in participating or for more information, please click here.

This study is being conducted through Texas Woman’s University. If you have any questions, please contact the primary investigator, Natasha Shukla at [email protected]. 
Webinar: Toilet Training for Individuals with Disabilities

AdvocacyDenver and Trumpet Behavioral Health are proud to partner in order to provide easy tips and tricks to make toilet training more manageable for you and your child.

You can watch a recording of the webinar in English and Spanish.

Or download a PDF of the slides in English or Spanish below:
 
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Want to be even more connected? Check out our website here!