Plans to end the census a month ahead of schedule may mean fewer people are counted and less funding is available over the next decade for disability services, advocates warn.

The U.S. Census Bureau was expected to collect responses from people across the nation through the end of October after making adjustments to its plan earlier this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. But this month, the agency announced that it would instead halt all collection activities Sept. 30.

Now, disability advocates are worried that the shortened timetable could have big implications for years to come. That’s because the once-a-decade national count determines how federal funding is allocated for Medicaid, education, housing vouchers, food assistance and other programs. It also decides how each part of the country is represented in Congress and the data collected influences state, local and private business decisions.

Governor Phil Murphy, Senate President Steve Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin announced the state will provide CARES Act funding for the reopening of 26 Sheltered Workshop programs throughout the state.

Sheltered Workshop programs provide employment, job, and skills training to people with disabilities. Statewide, there are 26 programs operating 28 sites. All have been closed since early March as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This is an important step in our recovery process,” said Governor Murphy. “Sheltered Workshops provide a positive and valuable service for our developmentally disabled community and their ability to reopen will allow those workers to regain a sense of normalcy.”

“This issue is close to my heart. This is crucial funding that will reopen the doors to workshops for individuals with developmental disabilities, providing a safe work environment that cultivates their skills and abilities at a time when it is needed most,” said Senate President Sweeney. “The COVID crisis and shutdown has been especially hard for those who relied on these workshops as

Those with developmental disabilities in Oklahoma will soon see $1.9 million in an effort to help.

The money was provided by Senate Bill 1932, to aid Oklahoma Human Services (OKDHS) in their mission to serve individuals on their waitlist. 

While the funds will be designated to 270 individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, the waitlist is over 5,500 names.

The Jackson family has waited over a decade for their state benefits, and said they are thankful after receiving a call this week that they were at the top of the list.

"This for me was the best thing that could ever happen for my daughter and myself," said Tarsha Jackson.

Tarsha's daughter, Kirah, has a learning disability. The family applied for Developmental Disabilities Services (DDS) in 2007.

However, the fight to help more Oklahomans isn't over.

As a disabled person who is bedridden when not in her wheelchair, Sharon Thorstenson depends on two personal care aides to see to her daily needs while keeping her safe from COVID-19.

Two months ago, she lost her father to the virus which has killed 4,468 state residents since March.

Thorstenson, a 55-year-old Southington resident, is concerned that a new directive issued by state officials that limits personal protective equipment (PPE) distribution will put her, her aides and the public in jeopardy.

“We’re less than two feet apart when they transfer me to my wheelchair, put me on the toilet or put me back in bed,” Thorstenson said. “There is no way they can stay six feet away from me.”

As some of Connecticut’s largest cities including Hartford are set to honor home care workers Friday, the state Department of Social Services has announced it will cut PPE to a request-only distribution system in the Community First Choice Medicaid program unless the client has symptoms of COVID-19 or has tested positive for the virus.

The directive will halt the regular shipment of gloves, gowns, surgical masks and face shields to consumers who have home care aides in favor of

In south Georgia, there's a safe haven for those with intellectual disabilities and their families that, despite the pandemic, vows to continue serving the community.

"It gives our folks a quality of life with their peers that they would not have with the public," said Dr. Harry Hamm, the executive director of The Lowndes Advocacy Resource Center.

In March, COVID-19 shut down another critical non-profit in Valdosta, The Lowndes Advocacy Resource Center or LARC, leaving more than 100 people with disabilities with nowhere to go, work or socialize.

"We were shocked at having to shut down because we weren't expecting that," Hamm said.

A grand jury has indicted Hacienda HealthCare’s former CEO Bill Timmons and former CFO Joseph O’Malley on several felony charges of fraud and racketeering after the facility allegedly overbilled the state millions of dollars between 2013 and 2018.

The healthcare facility first made headlines at the beginning of 2019 when a patient in a vegetative state was allegedly raped by a former nurse, then gave birth with no facility staff ever knowing she was pregnant.

According to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office (AGO), the Medicaid fraud investigation began around the same time in early 2019 after learning Hacienda failed to comply with terms of its contract with the state.

The Resource Center has implemented the latest initiative supporting its status as a national leader in the development of direct support professional career ladders with the launch of the NADSP E-Badge Academy.

For more than a decade, TRC has worked with the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals to provide opportunities for eligible employees to earn multiple levels of national certification. In 2014 The Resource Center received a Moving Mountains Award, which recognizes organizations that use best practices in direct support workforce development that result in improved outcomes for people with disabilities.

The traditional NADSP certification process has long been the gold standard as a demonstration of a direct support professional’s knowledge, values and skills in a selected set of competency expectations. Over the past decade, the NADSP has realized a need to respond to the many time demands that can impede upon the ability of DSP certification candidates to develop a robust portfolio for submission at the end of their credentialing journey. Also influential when considering change was a commitment to the reality that today’s DSP is guided by a code of ethics and a need to possess a greater range of skills and knowledge than ever before to help people reach positive outcomes and live quality lives in the communities of their choice.

Toward that end, NADSP retired the traditional certification process in January to make way for the launch of the NADSP E-Badge Academy.