Patti's Blog - Advocate for Elders, People with Disabilities and Their Families

Army and Agency Will Study Rising Suicide Rate Among Soldiers

Patti's Comments:   I find the fact that there is an increase in the number of suicides by soldiers very sad. I am glad to see someone is trying to do something about it.

From The New York Times:  (click for entire article)

Conceding it needed outside help in figuring out why the suicide rate among service members was rising, the Army announced plans on Wednesday to collaborate with the National Institute of Mental Health in an ambitious five-year project to identify the causes and risk factors of suicide.

The Army will make thousands of soldiers available to researchers for interviews and will provide access to its many databases, including those with medical, personnel, criminal and deployment histories. Researchers will draw from a cross section of the Army and will include soldiers who have just joined the service or are training for war and those who have returned from war.

Rather than wait until the study is completed, the National Institute of Mental Health will provide the Army with new information as researchers find it in the hopes of preventing soldier suicides.

Move Over, My Pretty, Ugly is Here

Patti's Comments:  So - how many of you out there, like my girls and I, would rather be wearing green tonight than pink??  Wicked is a wonderful musical and if you have not seen it yet, you should.  In the meantime: HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

PS: Read the following article - it is very interesting!

From The New York Times:  (click for entire article)

IT would be close to impossible to tally all the magazine articles, scholarly treatises and philosophical works, reality shows and Internet sites, college courses, lectures and books devoted to the subject of beauty.

But what about ugliness?

It is an awkward topic, a wretched concept, really, and, of course, a terrible insult when flung in your direction.

When a woman once told Winston Churchill he was drunk, he is said to have replied: “And you, madam, are ugly. But I shall be sober tomorrow, whereas you will still be ugly.”

Ugliness is associated with evil and fear, with villains and monsters: the Wicked Witch of the West, Freddy Krueger and Harry Potter’s arch-meanie, Lord Voldemort, with his veiny skull, creepy slits in his nose for nostrils and rotten teeth.

There are the gentle souls, too, plagued through no fault of their own by their disturbing appearance: Dr. Frankenstein’s monster, the Elephant Man and Shrek, who is ugly and green but in a cute way.

Looking for Simpler Life, Lawyer Burns Harvard Law Diploma

Patti's Comments:   I find this article rather funny. This lawyer wants a simpler life and in an a simple but profound act he burns his degree to start the new life. This reminded me of my similar simple act years ago.

Let me put this in perspective. I love my law degree (I am getting it re-issued with MSU on it as now my law school DCL has merged with my true love Michigan State University).  I also love my vocation as an advocate for people with disabilities of all ages and their families.

I also love books. However, I never loved the dry, boring and sometimes overly competitive aspects of the law. My simple act was at a party celebrating the end of law school. I burned a “horn book” (a book, usually in a green cover, written by the best law professors on a topic of law). I even have a picture of this someplace. It was a simple, yet profound act for me. It has reminded me that I love books that tell an important story, take me away or inspire me. Horn books rarely do that.

I also love the practice of law as it allows me to meet important folks, help them tell their stories, and to use their real life experiences to inspire others and to improve the law and public policy for people with disabilities of all ages and their families. It has not really lead to a simpler life for me (at least not one that this Harvard educated lawyer seems to be searching for) but it has lead to a rewarding, purpose driven and fulfilled professional life.

My wish for you all is that you find a simple yet profound act that allows you to find rewarding outcome.  I am glad to see that folks are looking for more than the traditional example of a successful professional life. I hope this lawyer finds what he is searching for...

From ABA Journal: (click for entire article)

Ever want to ditch the rat race? Burn your diploma and take a vow of simplicity?

If you thought about it, but could never quite muster the courage to strike a match, you can live vicariously through "Jack," a Washington, D.C., a 30-something lawyer who announced on his blog in June that he is giving up his $300,000-plus annual salary and opting for a simpler life.

In Adventures in Voluntary Simplicity, Jack blogs about his excesses and exit strategies. Then on Oct. 27, he took a key symbolic step in that direction. He burned his Harvard law diploma and posted a video on YouTube for all the world to bear witness.

"I’ve been thinking about doing this, in one way or another, for a while now. But I was never really sure if I would be doing it for the right reasons. Not to mention how silly it sounded whenever I brought it up to people. But this weekend it all came together: the weather was beautiful, the trails were inviting and freedom seemed just around the corner. So I went for it," Jack writes.

"This is NOT a knock against Harvard. Or a calculated criticism of legal education. Or even a rejection of elitism, per se. Sometimes you just need to say goodbye to your past in order to move forward."

In the end, he concludes, "it was just a piece of paper."

Palin Promotes Special Needs Agenda

Patti's Comments:   This article responds to Govenor Palin's claim that Senator Obama's tax plan will unfairly tax special needs trusts.

From ABC News: (click for entire article)

Palin Promotes Special Needs Agenda...But Obama Camp Also Backs Funding Proposal, Disputes Tax Claim

"The tax is only payable by trusts that have income they don't use that's in excess of $8,000 a year," said Harry Margolis, a Boston attorney and founder of the Academy of Special Needs Planners. "The vast majority of special needs trusts don't produce very much income, and whatever income they do produce, they have to use for the beneficiary."  The Obama campaign also pointed to several votes by Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in the Senate against funding for special education.

State, two annuity firms settle

Patti's Comments: Congratulations to Minnesota.  Now if we can get the rest of the states to follow suit!

From The Star Tribune: (click for entire article)

The Minnesota Attorney General's office settled a lawsuit Wednesday with two insurance companies it had alleged sold problem annuities to seniors.  Terms of the settlement provide refunds to any wronged customer. The suit, filed in February in Hennepin County District Court, had alleged both deception and sale of unsuitable annuities to Minnesota customers. Some of the annuities wouldn't give people in their 70s and 80s access to their investments without sizable penalties for at least 12 years.

Trying times: Soft economy means hard rowing for poor, nonprofits

Patti's Comments: This is a sad commentary on the state of things, but I love the last line, “Make an investment in your fellow man.” In my opinion, the return will be better than most investments right now!

From The Salt Lake Tribune: (click for entire article)

The ARC of Utah, a lifeboat for the state's disabled population, is sinking. Donations are down, and the ARC is deep in debt. As a result, the charitable organization that serves the developmentally disabled through training programs and ardent advocacy is celebrating its 50th anniversary by laying off staff and struggling to survive.

At food pantries, demand is up as much as 40 percent over last year, and some cupboards are dangerously close to bare. Donations, while increasing, aren't keeping pace. Utah Food Bank Services, which supplies a network of 75 food banks in the Beehive State, has been forced to dip into its emergency supply to feed the hungry.

Medicaid HMOs reduce access to medications

Patti's Comments:  I laughed when I read that they did not think the providers would create barriers to access to prescriptions. That person needs to meet some of my clients!

From Crain's Detroit News: (click for entire article)

Employers and government payers could end up spending more for health benefits if patients cannot afford prescription drugs or face barriers to getting the right medications and become sicker because of it.

That is one possible conclusion that can be drawn from a new survey in Michigan on access to prescription drugs in the commercial and Medicaid HMO market.

The good news is that the survey indicated there was an 8.8 percentage point average increase in access to prescription medications for patients in Michigan with commercial HMO insurance from June to December 2007, according to the Grand Rapids African American Health Institute.

The bad news is Medicaid HMOs reduced access to prescription medications for patients by an average of 2 percentage points, the health institute said.

Community Housing Network

Patti's Comments:  Great housing information for folks seeking affordable housing, or roommates to share staff with.

From Community Housing Network

Loking for a service or program that might help you or someone you love? Community Housing Network has developed affordable housing programs throughout Oakland and Macomb counties that have helped many formerly homeless persons with disabilities and other low-income families find a place to call home. Our Supportive Housing Leasing Assistance programs, our Shelter Plus Care program, and our Home Buyer program all provide long-term opportunities for individuals and families. We help them to break away from the despair of homelessness, poverty, and living poorly with a disability; to forge new lives of hope and renewal.

The CHN Housing Resource Center (HRC) offers another means of assistance. The HRC is an entry point for many consumers, their families and support personnel, who are looking for information and referrals about affordable housing, homelessness, and living with disabilities. The HRC provides a wide variety of informative and helpful services throughout the Oakland and Macomb communities.

Caring for Aging Loved Ones Can Be a Catch 22

Patti's Comments:  This article sounds all too familiar to me - very real. I just want you all to know that the same stressful situations arise in advocating for a loved one or friend of any age. It even happened to me after my accident! We are ready, willing and prepared to help make things less stressful for folks.

From U.S. News and World Report (click for entire article)

In her long struggle to care for her gravely ill husband, journalist and Passages author Gail Sheehy recalls one defining moment.  More than a year ago, her husband, publisher Clay Felker, was being discharged from a New York City rehabilitation facility after spending several months there in his long battle with throat cancer. As always, Sheehy was at his side.

"So, he has to come home now, and we've run out of benefits," Sheehy recalled at a recent media briefing in New York City. "We're coming out, and there's also nobody telling me what I have to do. He has a feeding tube, he has a tracheotomy, he has medications. I don't know where to start."

Desperate, she sought out and hired a "geriatric care manager" -- at $125 an hour -- to advise them. Their insurance might still pay for an at-home nurse, she found out, but only if it's a Medicare-approved nurse -- and there aren't any available in the city.

There are home health-care aides, of course, "but they cannot do medical services like giving a shot, taking care of a trach, changing a feeding tube," Sheehy said.

Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act

Patti's Comments:  A summary of the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act passed by Congress to generate improvements to the nation’s child welfare system can be found here:

H.R. 6983

Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 - Amends Part E (Federal Payments for Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSA) to give state plans the option of providing for the state to enter into agreements to provide kinship guardianship assistance payments to grandparents and other relatives who have assumed legal guardianship of children for whom they have: (1) cared as foster parents; and (2) committed to care on a permanent basis.