Empower: Update on Coronavirus Relief Bill, Convention, and more!

Update on Coronavirus Relief Bill

Disability rights advocates must continue mounting the pressure on Congress. Senators returned home to their districts until September 8 for summer recess without passing coronavirus relief legislation to address the dire needs of people with disabilities, their families, and the direct support workforce. The Senate must take up the House bill and provide solutions. Congress must pass a bill that includes dedicated funding for Medicaid home and community-based services, personal protective equipment (PPE), paid leave for all caregivers, and economic impact payments for all people with disabilities. Please join us and urge the Senate to act now.

The Census Must Go On: Complete Yours TODAY!

As we approach the end of the 2020 Census—originally October 30—The Arc is distressed that the U.S. Census Bureau is cutting short efforts. Ending the self-response phase and critical door-knocking efforts of the census one month early on September 30 risks severely undercounting already hard-to-count populations like people with disabilities, immigrants, people of color, those who are low-income or experiencing homelessness, and other communities. An undercount means the loss of important federal funding for programs like Medicaid, food assistance, housing vouchers, education services, and more across communities in every state. The census is a critical tool to bring political power and resources to people with disabilities and their families. We can’t wait another 10 years to be counted! It only takes a few minutes to respond. Complete yours online today.

Legal Advocacy Successes in COVID Complaints, Education Cases

Since March, The Arc, with its chapters and other partners, has filed 11 complaints with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, challenging COVID-19 medical discrimination, including: Crisis standard of care plans, No-visitor policies, and Inaccessible COVID-19 testing sites. Resolutions have been reached with Utah, Alabama, Connecticut, and Tennessee leading to critical revisions to policies to prevent discrimination. This work has received extensive coverage in outlets including The New York Times, The Atlantic, Vox, Forbes, and the Washington Post. Federal judges have recently denied motions to dismiss The Arc’s class action lawsuits in Georgia and West Virginia on behalf of students with disabilities, allowing these lawsuits to proceed. Sign up for more legal updates.

As COVID-19 Continues to Devastate, We Continue to Fight The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted people with disabilities. Since the beginning of the pandemic, The Arc has been leading the charge to support people with disabilities, their families, service providers, and direct support professionals so that we aren’t left behind in addressing this crisis. Our priorities—additional home and community-based services (HCBS) funding, increased access to personal protective equipment for direct support professionals, and an expansion of paid leave for family caregivers—are ESSENTIAL to our ability to sustain in this crisis. Our advocacy work, grassroots organizing, and legal work on behalf of millions of people with disabilities, their families, and support network is critical. How can you contribute? Please support our work today as we weather the storm of this pandemic. Can we count on you?

2020 National Convention Update

Wondering what’s happening with our upcoming National Convention? As COVID-19 continues to cause safety concerns with large in-person events, this year’s Convention will be virtual. Stay tuned and sign up for updates at convention.thearc.org!

Coca Cola Foundation Pledges Support for Education Advocacy The Arc@School is excited to announce that we have been awarded a grant from The Coca-Cola Foundation. The funding will allow us to develop new resources for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families to ensure they receive the benefits of public education in the least restrictive setting possible. We are hopeful the funding and new resources will help students and families become empowered during uncertain and challenging times in education, whether they are learning virtually or in the classroom.

For people with intellectual and developmental disabilities The Arc promotes and protects the human rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and actively supports their full inclusion and participation in the community throughout their lifetimes.