We will be having our Walk Kick Off meeting during the regularly scheduled support group on February 6th.  The 2012 Walk Committee Chairpersons will be sharing where we are in the planning process for the 2012 event and they will be recruiting volunteers to help complete their teams.  Are you a spreadsheet guru?  Do you know how to drive a car?  Are you a marketing genius?  Do you have community connections?  Are you an excellent envelope stuffer?  We need you!  All of you you!  We need all kinds of expertise so don’t be intimidated.  You don’t have to be able to donate hours of your time…we get it…we all have busy lives!  But if everyone pitches in a little bit that we can avoid having a handful of people experience the burn out that comes from planning such a big event.

If you are not able to attend the kick off meeting but you want to help serve your community please email us at omahasupportgroup@autismnebraska.org

We have a new update from the Nebraska Insurance Reform Steering Committee…

The hearing date for LB 1129 has been set. It is Tuesday, February 7th at 1:30pm. The hearing will be at the State Capitol in Lincoln, NE and will be in Room 1507. PLEASE PLAN TO ATTEND! It is so important that the autism community show up in support. Here’s what you need to know:

Let’s show our State Senators that we are UNITED, and we are ready for discrimination for our loved ones to END!!! THIS IS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY for us to be heard!!

LB 901:  A BILL FOR AN ACT relating to appropriations; to designate funds to be used for services for persons with developmental disabilities.

Currently there are 1,766 Nebraskans on the wait list for services.  This bill proposes to fund the services for those persons with developmental disabilities who are on the waiting list and past their date of need for services as of November 14, 2011.

A hearing has been scheduled on Monday, January 30th at 1:30pm in room 1524 at the Capitol.

We are being told that it is anticipated/expected that they will push to not fund wait list for people over 21 with disabilities needing services.

Several disability groups are coming together working to rally as many people as possible to attend the hearing.  If you’d like to speak that is fine but mostly they just need people to help fill the room.  Please contact Amy Svoboda at 402-742-4521 for more information!

We received this request from our friends at the Epilepsy community regarding the Nebraska Truancy Law.

We are meeting with Senators on Monday Jan 30th in preparation for the Feb 3rd Committee Meeting. Please, if you have a personal story you can send with us, we need to show the Committee members that this is indeed an issue.

They honestly do not believe it is, so let’s show them how many people it affects.  Even if you didn’t go to court and only received 5 day, 10 day, 12 day or 20 day letters, summarize your story and include the following; did you work closely with your school and they were aware of your child’s condition or special needs, did you go to truancy diversion, did you get shot down by a judge, attorney, school professional, did you miss work to attend meetings about Truancy, what is your school district, what is your city and state, how old is your child and what is their condition.

The Senator has asked us to “prove it”.  We plan to be there Monday morning in his office to do just that.  But we need your stories in order to do this. We will be checking email all weekend, feel free to attach letters you received from the state, even if you just re-print an email or letter that you already sent, that is good enough. Also email your stories to Stephanie Morgan at nebraskafamilyforum.com who will post the story to the blog they are keeping. This Blog is being followed by key school officials, state officials and county officials so the more we can post the better.

Thank you to those who have already posted your story. Now, take it a step further and place your story on your facebook, on your personal blog, on just a blanket email to close friends and family. Ask them to email their senators, just because it doesn’t effect them directly doesn’t mean it isn’t important to let their senators know that it is a broken law and can be fixed.

We know it is short notice, however it is important. Even if the law has not negatively impacted you today that doesn’t mean it won’t tomorrow.

Stacey Doty
Lifestyle Innovations For Epilepsy, Inc. aka LIFE
www.epilepsylife.org
sdoty77@hotmail.com

Stephanie Morgan
www.nebraskafamilyforum.com
nebraskafamilyforum@gmail.com

“Whenever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their own government.”

–Thomas Jefferson

Thank you to our friends at the ARC for forwarding a list of legislative bills that they felt would be of interest to families of children, adolescents, and adults with disabilities.   The bold text is the bill, who introduced it, and an official description of the bill.  The italicized words are the thoughts and concerns presented by the ARC representative and shared with us.  We would like to encourage our community to use this list as a reference for which bills to investigate and we’d also ask you to please form your own opinions.

LB 821 – Health and Human Services Committee – To create the Nebraska Children’s Commission and require legislation to create the Department of Children’s Services.

This bill attempts to address the Foster Care Crisis. It could add some structure and organization where it is really needed as well as provide oversight to service deliver in places it is significantly lacking in.  It would also focus all Kids programs and issues in one place: the Department of Children’s Services which could be a good thing.

LB 825 – Dubas – Establish local offices for access to public benefit programs. This bill was written to address the issues Individuals are having when they attempt to use Access Nebraska (an online process where people sign up for public benefits)  This would establish local offices where individuals can now go to register for public benefit programs if they cannot get Access NE. online  to work.  This would be a good thing.

LB 826 – Dubas – Change provisions relating to legislative consideration of proposed rules and regulations under the Medical Assistance Act. My interpretation of this bill is that it attempts to address the proposed Medicaid cuts by saying that Health and Human Services Medicaid program cannot just propose and make cuts without legislative approval first.  It is a step in the right direction but this bill in its entirety may not change the more immediate situation of the cuts– it seems to be looking more towards stopping cuts in the future without legislative approval.  I would support this bill but give more  of my support to LB 952 (see below )which does a better job of addressing the Medicaid cuts right NOW.

LB 900 – Lathrop – Requires a report concerning individuals in need of multiple division services from the Department of Health and Human Services. When an individual is receiving more than one service for example Medicaid, Developmental Disabilities services AND behavioral health services  all the different entities involved with this individual would need to  report on why the individual  is eligibile to receive their services. What is happening is that one department is passing the individual off to another department saying they are better served there… and individuals are not being served appropriately when this happens especially if they need a variety of services.

LB 901 – Lathrop – Designate funds to be used for services for persons with developmental disabilities. This bill is to fund the Wait List in Nebraska.  Important bill that should be supported.—Call your senators.

LB 952 – Nordquist – Change appropriation provisions relating to the medical assistance. This bill is very important!!!! It addresses the proposed cuts to Medicaid. It speaks to eliminating each proposed cut and it includes an E-Clause (Emergency Clause) which means that when this bill is passed it becomes effective immediately.—Call  your Senators with support for this bill.

LB 1113 – Flood – Adopt the Nebraska Uniform Power of Attorney Act. This bill speaks to one of the options you have concerning substituted judgment. It is a Bill to monitor and get more information on before deciding what position to take– although it looks like it might be a good bill.

LB 1129 – Coash – Provide requirements for insurance coverage of Autism Spectrum Disorders. This bill is a bill to support on behalf of individuals with Autism.

LB 1144 – Ashford – Provide for Career Academy Schools. Seems like this bill is about establishing Career oriented schools for students (7^th through 12^th grades) that know they are not going to attend  college and want to have hands on experience with non-college related careers.  Could this be something students with disabilities who are not going to college might be interested in??—We might want to get more information and monitor this bill.

Have you been wondering what was going on with the process for insurance reform here in Nebraska?  Be sure and check out the new web site so you can stay informed of the latest updates!

http://nebraskainsurancereform.org/

Come join us for a family sleepover at the Henry Doorly Zoo!  Families from the Autism Society as well as Lincoln’s Autism Family Network will be coming together to spend the night in the NEW aquarium center on Saturday, April 14th.   You don’t have to already be a member of one of our groups to join us!

This is a perfect event for everyone!  Send in your registration and plan a weekend in Omaha!  You’ve got your sleeping arrangements for Saturday already booked!  You get to spend the night at one of the nation’s top zoos!  Your camping fee even covers admission on Sunday so you can spend the entire day exploring!

The cost of the overnight stay is $30 per person.

Last year was a blast so don’t delay!  Register today!

Download a registration form HERE.

An Update from the Nebraska Insurance Reform Steering Committee…

Hi Everyone.  As you may have heard, today Senator Colby Coash introduce a bill requiring insurance companies cover individuals with Autism up to age 21.  Most of you are involved in organizations that will have special interest in this, so please copy and paste the following and send out to your list servs or contacts.  Thanks to you all for the support over the last couple of (grueling) weeks!

Nebraska’s LB 1129–Insurance Coverage for Individuals with Autism!!

Today, Senator Colby Coash introduced LB 1129 that requires insurance companies to cover individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders up to age 21.  The bill covers screening, diagnosis/evaluation and treatments, including evidence based behavior therapies such as ABA.  This has been a long time coming in Nebraska, and we are so grateful to Senator Coash for standing up for Nebraska’s families who are affected by autism! (To read a copy of the bill, go to www.nebraska.gov and search for LB 1129).

Currently, the bill reads that children up to age 9 will be covered up to $70,000 per year, and those from age 10-21 have a financial cap of $20,000.  However, Senator Coash has already agreed to introduce an amendment that would cover individuals for the first three years of treatment, up to $70,000 per year, regardless of age (up to age 21). After the first three years of treatment, each individual will be covered for up to $20,000 per year. The financial cap ONLY applies to treatment, and not to diagnosis or screening.

As you probably know, introducing the bill is just the beginning. We have a lot of work to do!!  Many have asked how you can help.  The Banking and Insurance Committee will be holding a hearing to discuss the bill, and your efforts are needed!  We don’t have a date yet, but as soon as we do, we will pass it along, and ask for you to send an email to your Senator, and if possible, attend the hearing.  We want to have lots of people in the audience representing our families, and showing our State Senators that we are unified!

PLEASE Like our Facebook page, Autism Insurance Reform in Nebraska, and continue to check email and our website for more updates.  Our website will go live soon, hopefully on Friday, and there you can get additional information.  (www.nebraskainsurancereform.org) .  If you have questions, please feel free to contact me at chrissy@neinsurance.com.

Thanks to everyone for all your support and hard work!  Those letters you wrote a month ago were great, and your voices were heard!!

Best Regards,

Chrissy McNair

Are you a guardian / conservator or expecting to become one soon? The guardianship landscape in Nebraska has changed. The reporting requirements for guardians/conservators has also changed resulting in significantly more information which must be provided to the court and other interested parties. Additionally, qualifying as a new guardian/conservator will be more difficult and will include extensive background checks and mandatory bonds. This educational event will focus on the forms and procedures arising from the new guardianship and conservatorship laws which became effective January 1st of this year. These laws were enacted by the Nebraska legislature in response to several widely publicized cases of fraud. A guest attorney will be speaking at each session.

Wednesday, January 25th
7:00 - 8:30 pm
The Andrew-Benjamin Group
10250 Regency Circle, Ste. 250
Omaha, NE 68114

Download a flyer HERE.

The Arc of Lincoln welcomes University of Nebraska Student-Athletes to our January Sibshop!!! These Huskers, who also have siblings with special needs, will join us for games, snacks, and to share the joys and struggles that may come with having brothers and sisters with special needs. Wear your Husker red, if you’d like, and join us for a fun night!

Download a flyer HERE.

Creighton University School of Dentistry will provide free dental exams, x-Rays, cleaning, fluoride and dental education plus some new services to more than 100 metro-area children on Saturday, February 4, from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. The University is working with several community groups, not only to offer additional health-related services, but to get the word out about the program.

Children between the ages of 3-14 years are eligible and must be accompanied by an adult. Each child will also receive a bag of dental supplies.

The event will be held at the Creighton University School of Dentistry, 2802 Webster St. To register, call Creighton’s Pediatric Dentistry Clinic at (402) 280-2863.

http://www.creighton.edu/dentalschool/givekidsasmile2012/index.php to learn more!

Are you a Nebraska parent of a child with special needs? Does your child have an IFSP or IEP? Then this conference is for you! Download a registration form and flyer HERE.

March 15-17, 2012
Midtown Holiday Inn
Grand Island, Nebraska

Sponsored by Nebraska Department of Education, Office of Special Education, & ESU 16

January 24, 2012

7pm

Bergen Mercy Medical Center
7500 Mercy Rd
6th Floor, Conference room

Download a flyer HERE.

The Arc of Lincoln welcomes former First Team All-Big 12 Husker linebacker Bo Ruud as well as representatives from Special Olympics to our January Family Connections/People First Junior meeting! Join us to hear about opportunities to participate in athletics with Special Olympics here in Nebraska, as well as to learn about the importance of teamwork and sportsmanship from the former Husker standout.

January 19th, 2012

6:30pm - 8:00 pm

Culler Middle School, 5201 Vine Street
Lincoln, NE

Registration required.  Contact Adam Feser at 402-421-8866 or by email at arcifss@windstream.net

Download a flyer HERE.

Thursday, February 9th

7pm - 9pm

Harrah’s Casino Ballroom

$8 admission per person

RSVP to Joann by 2/7/12

Download a flyer HERE.  This event is Sponsored by VODEC.  You can learn more about VODEC by visiting their web site at http://www.vodec.org/

Registration is now open for the 2012 State Autism Conference which will be held April 12-13th in Lincoln.

Download a flyer HERE.

Click HERE to register online.

Scholarships are available for Autism Society of Nebraska members.  Those applications will be made available in the next week.  Please keep an eye on our web site or look for the details in our next Newsgram!