Editor's Column
by
Tim Benjamin
ADA Minnesota pulled
off, in my opinion, Minnesota’s best
ADA celebration ever! It was a great time. There were exhibitors
from every corner of the disability community. Many exhibitors that
had no previous connection to disabilities were there because, they
said, being part of the disability community is just good business!
Cindy Held Tarshish and all the committee members have much to be
proud of. Thank you for all your hard work and dedication; it was
well worth it. We will bring you much more of an expanded article
and photos of the fabulous day in the September issue.
John Tschida has written an update of the successes of the Minnesota
Consortium of Citizen with Disability (MN-CCD). As most of you
know, the MN-CCD staged a tremendous effort early in this year’s
legislative session by submitting a disability agenda bill to the
state legislators. I believe this was a first try at this style
of action by MN-CCD. With excellent leadership and an incredible
follow—up push by the many other members the action was far
more effective or successful than most could have ever imagined.
There was a lot of work put into writing this Disability Bill before
it was completed and ready for the step that where need to be taking
for it to be considered by the legislative for authoring. We all
have to be thankful for these efforts by the Legislators and members
of MN-CCD. They all did a great job. Thank you and congratulations.
Last month we printed an article about MA-EPD. There were several
inaccuracies in the article that were brought to my attention by
readers and by some of the professionals who support the Medical
Assistance for Employed Persons with Disabilities. I take full
responsibility for the accuracy of everything published in Access
Press and mistakes at this level are completely unacceptable. The
Department of Human Services, in cooperation with the Work Incentive
Connection has written an article addressing the inaccuracies and
explaining some of the policies more completely. But I’ve
also decided we can make a learning opportunity out of this blunder.
Our mistake identified a problem: many people, including many of
us very involved with MA-EPD, misunderstand the program and how
all the policies related to this program work. So test your own
knowledge. If you read the first article, you might want to go
back and see if you can find the inaccuracies and correct them.
Then be sure to read the new article below. This incident was a
reminder of how many complex governmental policies people with
disabilities depend on, and how much effort is required to understand
and stay clear about all their details. The MA-EPD program is intended
to be a positive step to independence, and it’s one that’s
helped me. I want to be sure it’s well publicized and well
understood.
On page 17 you will find a nomination form for this year’s
up coming annual Charlie Smith Award. The award dinner will be
November 4 at Como Park’s, Black Bear Crossing. Please send
in your nomination soon. And we will see you at the party!
Congratulations to our own Terri Ricci, her article in July’s
Access Press entitled “Access Press Makes Russian Connection” is
being reprinted on the Open World Leadership Center website, www.openworld.gov.
The Center was established by Congress in 2000 and is located at
the Library of Congress.
