Easter Seals UCP has a clear stake in public policy. Children and adults with disabilities disproportionately rely on government programs in order to access education, health care, housing, transportation and employment services. In addition, Easter Seals UCP receives a majority of its funding from state and local government agencies and Medicaid reimbursements.
From the Easter Seals National website:
Happy birthday, ADA.
Known as the Emancipation Proclamation for people with disabilities, the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law on July 26, 1990. This landmark law extends civil rights protections to individuals with disabilities in five key areas: employment; services provided by state and local governments; public accommodations; telecommunications; and transportation. Easter Seals played a major role in the development and enactment of the ADA and continues to advocate for policies that empower people with disabilities to demonstrate their abilities rather than be limited by their disabilities.
From the NC Providers Council:
Your advocacy efforts have helped enact change in the NC budget
negotiations. We have made progress, but we still need your help.
It is critical that all of us — every staff, every
person we support and his/her family make known to our Senators and
Representatives the urgent need to raise enough taxes to prevent the
neglect of the health and safety of people with developmental
disabilities, mental illness and substance abuse in North Carolina, and
the loss of tens of thousands of jobs across North Carolina.
On Tuesday, July 14, 2009, at 8:30 a.m., please call the Senate and
House leadership and Appropriations Conferees Chairpersons and make
them hear the voices of the people losing services and losing their
jobs. Personalize your message, and include the county in which you
reside. Tell them to support raising at least $150 million in taxes for
DHHS to
- prevent neglecting the health and safety of people with
developmental disabilities, mental illness and substance abuse in North
Carolina
- avoid $1.4 billion in loss of payments for Medicaid services and
tens of thousands of jobs that provide these services, including
hundreds or thousands of jobs in your county.
Harming the most valuable North Carolinians is not an option.