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Protection & Advocacy Inc.

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Hot Topics in Disability News

Governor Schwarzenegger proposes deep cuts to In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS)

“The proposed cuts will endanger people who use the services and devastate those who provide them,” according to Deborah Doctor, legislative advocate at PAI. IHSS provides personal care and domestic services enabling 408,000 California seniors and people with disabilities to remain at home safely and avoid unnecessary, expensive and unwanted institutionalization. Read more here in the California Progress Report ...

Governor's May Revise cuts deeper

A quick summary of the cuts to Medi-Cal, SSI/SSP and IHSS ...

No easy access to compromise for disability litigation reform

SB 1608 by Senator Ellen Corbett, D-San Leandro, seeks to defuse anger between businesses that violate access laws and people with disabilities who still encounter barriers to access - 39 years after California passed laws requiring businesses to provide access for all. Supporters of the bill include the California Center for Independent Living Facilities and Protection and Advocacy. Both organizations want amendments that would include greater representation of people with disabilities on the commission. Read more in a Daily Journal article about the ongoing struggle to remove barriers ...

Boy's medical care imperiled by state budget crunch

Derek Longwell, 13, waits for his wheelchair to be brought to him after a CT scan Tuesday. The teen is unable to walk due to an incomplete spinal column. A proposed 10 percent cut in California Children's Services, a medical program for the state's sickest children, could threaten services to young patients such as Derek. Autumn Cruz / acruz@sacbee.com  California's ominous fiscal forecast is threatening to disrupt 13-year-old Derek Longwell's ability to see his doctors in a timely manner or get leg braces to fit his growing body. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed cutting 10 percent from the California Children's Services program, which funds part of Derek's care - a move that parents and advocates say would mean the state's sickest children will have to wait longer for care. Read more here about how budget cuts will affect children with disabilities ...

New Section 811 Supportive Housing Program legislation introduced in US Congress

Seal - US House of RepresentativesRepresentatives Christopher Murphy (D-CT) and Judy Biggert (R-IL) have introduced groundbreaking permanent supportive housing legislation – the Frank Melville Supportive Housing Investment Act of 2008 (HR 5772) – in the U.S. House of Representatives. This important legislation will help address the housing crisis faced by millions of low-income people with disabilities and will spur creation of thousands more new 811 units every year. Read more about the new Section 811 housing legislation and how it may help people with disabilities ...

Ellen Goldblatt receives 2007 Key Person Award

Deborah Callahan, Steering Committe CSLN, Director of Networx Supported Living services and Ellen Goldblatt, Senior Attorney, Protection & Advocacy Inc.At its annual conference, the California Supported Living Network presented its 2008 Key Person Award to Ellen Goldblatt, a senior attorney in PAI's Oakland office. She received the award for her years of tireless work on behalf of people with disabilities in California. Learn more here about the award ...

San Diego Open House FlyerSave the date - June 27, 5:00-7:00 p.m.

PAI's San Diego office invites you to an open house. Celebrate 30 years of advocacy and join us in honoring clients and community partners. Find out more here about San Diego's June 27th open house ...

More than 150 attend Oakland office open house to celebrate PAI’s 30th anniversary

CandlesPAI’s Bay Area office in downtown Oakland was brimming over with representatives of government agencies, and social justice, disability rights and community organizations. Speaker pro tem of the California State Assembly, Sally J. Lieber, presented a framed Assembly resolution recognizing the “tremendous value” of PAI’s work over the last three decades. Read more about the gala celebration and success stories from the Bay Area ...

Recommended reading:

Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary General of the United NationsGive people with disabilities access to information technology, Ban Ki-Moon, United Nations Secretary General, 5/15/08

Video pod cast: Overview of the ADAOverview of the ADA - debut video podcast in sign language, with voice narration and subtitles, ASL Disability Law Lowdown, 5/13/08

Katherine Dever may be going to the OlympicsPalomar athlete never let disability get in the way of her sport, The Telescope, 5/13/08

Visitors to Liz Spikol’s blog have also seen her joke about her condition. Photo by Shea Roggio for The New York Times 'Mad Pride' fights a stigma, The New York Times, 5/11/08

Harlan Hahn, 68; USC professor fought for disability rights and sued the university to improve access, Los Angeles Times, 5/10/08

Vincenzo Giammanco is a former Chartwell School student who has produced the award-winning film "bAd," which will be screened this weekend in Monterey. Giammanco wrote and directed the movie, and financed the project with a $25,000 loan. (VERN FISHER/The Herald)Dyslexic makes good 'bAd' movie, Monterey County Herald, 5/9/08

Painting of Frida Kahlo in a wheelchair, large text across painting says Disability Blog CarnivalDisability Blog Carnival #37 is up NOW, Disability Studies, Temple University, 5/8/08

Disabled residents sue Caltrans, ABC 7, 5/7/08

Mental health help hit by budget crunch, The Mercury News, 5/5/08

Editorial: The mentally ill deserve equal health coverage, The Mercury News, 5/2/08

New patient dumping cases investigated in Los Angeles, California Healthline, 5/6/08

Hot Topics Archive

Protection & Advocacy, Inc. is a nonprofit disability rights organization, working since 1978 to advance human and legal rights of Californians with disabilities. We strive to create a barrier-free, inclusive society that values diversity and each individual. PAI services are available throughout the state and we assist tens of thousands of people with disabilities each year. Click here for links to our offices. Additionally, hundreds of thousands of Californians with disabilities and their families benefit from PAI’s legislative advocacy, class-action court suits and collaboration with other groups.

The more than 200 PAI staff and Board members have a wide array of legal and advocacy expertise, and have developed innovative programs for Californians with developmental, psychiatric, sensory and physical disabilities. PAI collaborates on the state and federal levels with other advocacy groups throughout the U.S.

Link here to see the 10 services PAI provides free of charge.