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- Media Release - Conversations on Aging
PRINCE WILLIAM AREA AGENCY ON AGING
7987 Ashton Avenue, Suite 231
Manassas, Virginia 20109MEDIA RELEASE
DATE: April 24, 2008 CONTACT: Daphne Van Tiem
For Immediate Release PHONE: (703) 792-7662CONVERSATIONS ON AGING
TO BE HELD THROUGHOUT PRINCE WILLIAM AREAThe Prince William Commission on Aging (COA) will host Conversations on Aging to be held in the Prince William area throughout the month of May. Also in attendance will be representatives from the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission (PRTC).
Conversations on Aging are opportunities for residents of all ages to listen, discuss and share ideas about issues concerning older adults and provide feedback as to the types of services needed that will assist older adults to live as independently as possible. The COA and PRTC seek public input about issues such as transportation, nutrition and wellness programs, affordable housing, centers for active older adults, in-home services and adult day care. Caregivers are encouraged to attend and present concerns that are unique to the caregiving experience. The Conversations on Aging are public forums where participants can share ideas as to what will make the Prince William area a community where everyone can empower, enhance and enjoy aging.
There are four opportunities to participate in the Conversations on Aging:
May 5 at 7:00 p.m. at the Lake Ridge Baptist Church located at 12450 Clipper Drive in Woodbridge;
May 6 at 10:00 a.m. at the Manassas Senior Center located at 9320 Mosby Street in Manassas;
May 8 at 7:00 p.m. at the Manassas City Hall located at 9027 Center Street in Manassas; and
May 14 at 10:00 a.m. at Dr. A. J. Ferlazzo Building located at 15941 Donald Curtis Drive in Woodbridge.
The month of May is traditionally celebrated in the Prince William area and throughout the United States as Older Americans Month. The Conversations on Aging will afford residents of all ages opportunities to participate in that celebration. For additional information, please call the Prince William Area Agency on Aging Office of Information and Assistance at 703-792-6374.
- Consumer Alert! Transition from Analog to Digital Television Looms
With just over 300 days left before most TV stations must switch from analog to digital television broadcasting, consumers should start paying attention to any choices they must make.
After February 17, 2009 all full-power television stations will broadcast only in digital. If you use rabbit ears or a rooftop antenna with your analog TV, you are going to need to take action to continue watching TV.
You have three options:
- Buy a converter box that will plug into you analog TV;
- Buy a TV with a digital tuner; or
-
Connect your analog TV to cable, satellite or other pay TV service.
If you decide to buy a converter box, the federal government will provide you with up to two $40 coupons to help pay for the cost of certified converter boxes. These certified TV converter boxes are available at participating retailers and are expected to cost between $40 and $70. They convert digital television signals back to analog so your analog TV will receive pictures and audio.
To request your coupons:
Toll free call 1-888-388-2009 or TTY 1-877-530-2634
Fax your request 1-877-388-4632
Go to the government website (or in Spanish)Coupons are in limited supply, with 9 million already mailed out of the total 33 million available. We encourage you to share this information with a friend who doesn’t know about this but who you know watches TV for free using rabbit ears. AAPD has also launched a Consumer Alert website with all this information and more.
So sign up, apply, and buy! Keep your old TV!
-Item provided by Jenifer Simpson, Telecommunications and Technology Policy Initiative, Justice For All
April 10, 2008
Consumer Alert! Transition from Analog to Digital Television Looms
With just over 300 days left before most TV stations must switch from analog to digital television broadcasting, consumers should start paying attention to any choices they must make.
After February 17, 2009 all full-power television stations will broadcast only in digital. If you use rabbit ears or a rooftop antenna with your analog TV, you are going to need to take action to continue watching TV.
You have three options:
- Buy a converter box that will plug into your analog TV;
- Buy a TV with a digital tuner; or
- Connect your analog TV to cable, satellite or other pay TV service.
If you decide to buy a converter box, the federal government will provide you with up to two $40 coupons to help pay for the cost of certified converter boxes. These certified TV converter boxes are available at participating retailers and are expected to cost between $40 and $70. They convert digital television signals back to analog so your analog TV will receive pictures and audio.
To request your coupons:
Toll free call 1-888-388-2009 or TTY 1-877-530-2634
Fax your request 1-877-388-4632
Go to the government website (or in Spanish)
Coupons are in limited supply, with 9 million already mailed out of the total 33 million available. We encourage you to share this information with a friend who doesn’t know about this but who you know watches TV for free using rabbit ears. AAPD has also launched a Consumer Alert website with all this information and more.
So sign up, apply, and buy! Keep your old TV!
~Item provided by Jenifer Simpson, Telecommunications and Technology Policy Initiative, Justice For All
Mary D. Lopez, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Independence Empowerment Center
9001 Digges Road, Suite 103Manassas, VA 20110
703-257-5400 V/TTY
703-257-5043 Fax
mlopez@ieccil.org
www.ieccil.org
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
Martin Luther King Jr.
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- Buy a converter box that will plug into your analog TV;
- ATLFA Has Changed Its Name
The Assistive Technology Loan Fund Authority (ATLFA) has changed its name to NewWell Fund. Check out their new look at www.atlfa.org.
- !!!SAVE THE DATE!!!
Come join us for our 2nd Annual ADA Fair on Saturday, July 19, 2008, from 10:00am to 2:00pm, at the Harris Pavilion in Manassas. Visitors and Vendors welcome. For more information, contact Stephanie George at 703-257-5400 (Voice/TTY) or sgeorge@ieccil.org.
- Jane Burnette, Co-Elderly or Disabled Consumer Directed Personal Assistant Services Facilitator
Jane Burnette is a new Service Facilitator for IEC, and she will be conducting IEC’s Housing and Transportation Alliance grant. Ms. Burnette has written and edited special education publications for more than 20 years. She worked with the Council for Exceptional Children for 13 years, collaborating with some of the best researchers and practitioners in the US to develop high quality publications to meet the needs of teachers, administrators, and others involved in the education of students with disabilities. Prior to working at CEC, Jane contributed her expertise to special education research projects at JWK International Corporation and at Nero & Associates, where, among other projects, she managed the White House Conference on Handicapped Individuals Follow-Up and contributed to early studies of mainstreaming that helped to shape the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975.
- IEC Represents You With the VA State Legislature by Jane Burnette
IEC provides a voice for its consumers with their Virginia legislators. IEC staff attended a Virginia State Budget hearing in Fairfax on January 3 and went to Richmond on January 28 to meet with state delegates and senators prior to the vote on the proposed budget. IEC’s Executive Director, Dr. Mary Lopez, made another trip to Richmond on February 5 to protest HB 1356, which would have diluted the Virginians with Disabilities Act.
At the budget hearing in Fairfax, members of the Virginia Senate Finance Committee and House Appropriations Committee listed as more than 100 citizens spoke, often quite eloquently, about why they believed state money should be spent to resolve their issues. This hearing was one of a series of local hearings designed to prepare the state delegates and senators to approve a new two year state budget.
Amidst the competing priorities, representatives from several Centers for Independent Living stood up to present the perspective of consumers with disabilities. Their speeches underscored the need for monies to fund supportive services for people with disabilities living in their home communities, including salaries for personal assistants and additional funding for Developmental Disabilities and Mental Retardation Waivers, among other items. The overall point of the speeches was that it makes no sense to send people to nursing homes and other institutions when they want to live in their own homes and communities.
In Richmond, IEC members met with legislators and their aides to emphasize the need for additional monies for community based care and personal assistants. More than 700 people in the IEC service area live in nursing homes. It has been shown that it is much more expensive for the state to pay for people to live in institutions, such as nursing homes, than to provide them with the supportive services they need to live in their home communities. The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) reports that Virginia’s nursing homes cost an average of $154 a day or about $4620 a month in 2006, an expensive proposition. Medicaid expenses for nursing home care are much less: Average national monthly spending per Medicaid covered nursing home resident was $2,426 in 1995. In comparison, providing personal assistance and other support services through “aged/disabled” home and community-based waivers averaged $485 per month across the nation in 1995. It is less expensive to provide people with the services they need to stay in their own homes, and for people who want to do so, it provides a better quality of life.
Dr. Lopez’ trip to Richmond in February also contributed to the quality of life for people with disabilities in our area. The trip was a successful effort to prevent the passage of HB 1356, which would have weakened the Virginians with Disabilities Act (VDA). In that Act, the Virginia State Government promises that it will not use businesses that discriminate against persons with disabilities. It promises to assure access to all of its programs, whether it operates them directly or operates them through private businesses. HB 1356 would have changed that by giving Virginia State agencies permission to do business with contractors and licensees that discriminate, starting by allowing lottery tickets to be sold at locations that are not accessible to persons with disabilities. HB 1356 would have removed Virginia’s assurance to make all of its programs accessible to people with disabilities. Thanks to Dr. Lopez and advocates like her, the bill was withdrawn “due to objections from the disability community.”
From Winter 2008 Newsletter
Volume 3, Issue 1- From the Executive Director Mary D. Lopez, PhD
While IEC’s consumers are aware of their rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act, many people don’t know a lot about some of the other legislation that has influenced their rights in more recent years. Do you? This article addresses an issue that is near and dear to the hearts of disability advocates - the Olmstead Decision. Here is a quiz about the Olmstead Decision, a landmark Supreme Court decision that affected our rights. Answers directly follow the questions.
- When was the Olmstead decision made?
- What people did it affect?
- What right did it convey?
- What did it require of each state, including Virginia?
Answers:
- 1999, in Olmstead v. L.C.
- persons with disabilities who live in, are “at risk” of living in, or are eligible for placement in facilities or institutions
- the right to live in the community, if they and their treatment teams agree that they can live successfully in the community; if they choose to do so. And if there are resources available to help them live in the community. (As you know, IEC is one of those resources, very much dedicated to community living!)
- like all states, Virginia must ensure that people with disabilities who meet these requirements can live in the community rather than in facilities or institutions. Many states have developed “Olmstead Plans,” which are policies and procedures detailing how they will meet the requirements of the Olmstead decision.
Virginia’s Olmstead Plan was developed by a task force created in 2002. The 70-member task force brought together individuals from all walks of life - consumers, family members, advocates, providers, and 15 state agencies having responsibility for providing services to individuals with disabilities in the Commonwealth. While the task force was led by government departments, it was in many ways a grassroots effort that allowed all interested parties to participate - no attempt was made to control content or team organization. The Task Force’s diverse composition allowed advocates to educate each other about their respective issues and challenges.
The task force submitted its final report to the governor in 2003. It presents recommendations in 10 issue areas: Consumer Choice; Consumer and Family Member Involvement; Consumer Rights; Health and Safety; Educating Consumers, Family Members and Providers; Educating the Public; Employment; Housing; Research and New Knowledge; Transportation; Workforce and Quality of Providers.
Implementation began in 2004 with several appointments by the governor that have since evolved into our Community Integration Advisory Commission. By August 31 of each year, updates to the plan are due to the governor. You can find the original Olmstead report online at http://olmsteadva.com/finalreport.htm. For updates on implementation, see http://www.olmsteadva.com/ciac.asp?showyear=2007.
In the next issue of Your Power, we will provide information about a new program coming to Virginia, the Money Follows the Person project. It’s designed to move people out of nursing homes and other institutions back into their home communities.
From Winter 2008 Newsletter
Volume 3, Issue 1- Introducing Jane Burnette
Please allow me to introduce myself. I am Jane Burnette, a new employee of IEC. I will spend two days a week as Service Facilitator for IEC consumers and the other three days a week working as Housing and Transportation Policy Facilitator on a grant to promote accessible housing and transportation in local jurisdictions.
As a Service Facilitator, I will be assisting our consumers in Fauquier County in using Medicaid to obtain services and supplies and employ personal assistants. I am also available to provide information and referrals for a broad array of other services available in our area.
For the Housing and Transportation grant, I will be working with community planners and housing development agencies in Fauquier and Prince William Counties, Manassas and Manassas Park. The grant will help our local jurisdictions prepare for the Money Follows the Person demonstration grant. In the future, the Money Follows the Person grant will help people who currently live in nursing homes and other institutions to “move back home” and live in their own communities.
I have worked in disability policy and special education for most of my career, most recently worked at the Council for Exceptional Children in the ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education. In addition to loving animals, I love art and have served on the Professional Advisory Council of the P. Buckley Moss Foundation for Children’s Education for the past eight years. I look forward to meeting you and working with you to promote the accessibility and livability of our community.
From Winter 2008 Newsletter
Volume 3, Issue 1- Come Join Us in Saying Goodbye To One of Our Favorites
We are sorry to have to say goodbye to Pat Scott. Most of you have called our office and chances are you were treated to a kind welcome from her. Some of you were lucky enough to meet her at our Holiday Open House or at one of our other social events. We are having a going away party. She has decided to return to her hometown in Tennessee to help care for aging family members. Please come and join us to visit and say goodbye. IEC will host a party in her honor on Thursday March 27th from 3:00 to 5:00. Please RSVP to Stephanie George.
From Winter 2008 Newsletter
Volume 3, Issue 1
