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

Homeless man seeks to return diamond ring accidentally given to him by Pontiac woman

Excerpt from mlive.com: (click for entire article)

A homeless man who has lived on the streets around Pontiac for nearly two years is trying to track down a woman he thinks accidentally gave him a gold ring with small diamonds when she handed him a handful of change.

Michael Secaur said he was standing at a Woodward Avenue intersection on Monday asking for spare change when a woman in a vehicle handed him money. He said he cleaned the ring and it appears to be part of a wedding set.

Hope For Patients Following Huntington's Disease Breakthrough

Excerpt from Medical News Today: (click for entire article)

A huge leap forward in understanding Huntington's disease may give patients hope for a cure.

Laboratory tests on skin cells and post-mortem brain tissue of Huntington's disease patients determined that an overactive protein triggers a chain reaction that causes brain nerve cells to die. Toning down the activity of that protein, known as DRP1, prevented the chain reaction and kept those cells alive, according to the research team led by University of Central Florida Professor Ella Bossy-Wetzel.

Huntington's is an inherited, incurable neurodegenerative disease affecting 35,000 people annually. The disease gradually kills nerve cells in the brain, stripping away a person's physical abilities and causing hallucinations, antisocial behavior and paranoia.

Homeless Man Daniel Morales Finds Daughter Through Twitter

Excerpt from The Huffington Post: (click for entire article)

A New York City homeless man has been reunited with his daughter after 11 years – thanks to Twitter.

Daniel Morales was given a prepaid cell phone to create a Twitter account as part of a project on homeless people called Underheard in New York.

Three weeks into the project, the 58-year-old decided to use the social networking tool to find his 27-year-old daughter, Sarah Rivera.

The New York Daily News says on Wednesday he posted his cell phone number, her name and a photo of her at age 16. She called him the next day.

Another HIPAA Privacy Case

Excerpt from Home Care Blog: (click for entire article)

The Boston Globe and other new papers ran a story about Massachusetts General Hospital agreeing to settle a HIPAA privacy case with OCR and to pay $1,000,000.  According to OCR:

The impermissible disclosure of PHI involved the loss of documents consisting of a patient schedule containing names and medical record numbers for a group of 192 patients, and billing encounter forms containing the name, date of birth, medical record number, health insurer and policy number, diagnosis and name of providers for 66 of those patients. These documents were lost on March 9, 2009, when a Mass General employee, while commuting to work, left the documents on the subway train that were never recovered.

School lobbied to stop electric shock ban

Excerpt from Boston.com: (click for entire article)

The Judge Rotenberg Educational Center, a special-needs school in Canton that disciplines students with electric shocks, used a sophisticated lobbying campaign in Congress last year to help defeat a ban of its controversial techniques, according to recently released public documents.

Although the center declined to discuss its strategy for 2011, the legislative battle is expected to be rekindled this year.

The center, the only school in the country that uses electric shocks to modify behavior, launched its Capitol Hill campaign after the House approved a measure last year outlawing the use of restraints and some other devices to control students. The bill did not explicitly reference shock devices, but lawmakers said the ban would have applied to the Judge Rotenberg Center’s practices.

University Housing and the Fair Housing Act

Excerpt from Disability Blog: (click for entire article)

I am back with you today to talk about the recent settlement reached in United States of America v. Millikin University, an important case concerning university housing and a student with disabilities. In my previous Disability.Blog posts on May 3, 2010 and January 19, 2011, I discussed in some detail reasonable accommodations under the federal Fair Housing Act (FHAct). While I did not address university housing in those posts, the Millikin case makes clear that the fair housing protections of persons with disabilities do not end at the university gates.

The Millikin Case

The Millikin case involves a student with legal blindness and epilepsy who was accepted to Millikin University, a coed, independent four-year university in Decatur, Ill., for the fall semester of 2004. On her freshman housing application, the student requested a “quiet” dormitory, because noisy environments worsened her epileptic seizures. She also informed the housing supervisor that she planned on obtaining a specially-trained, seizure-alert dog that would live with her on campus, to which no objection was raised.

62 Years in a Wheelchair Just Part of Judy’s Life

Patti's Comments:  LOVE THIS!!!

Excerpt from Northwest Disability Connections: (click for entire article)

In March of 1978, life kind of overwhelmed Judy Hoit.

She had two young boys, 10 and 12, who required a lot of her time.

Her rocky marriage would soon end in divorce after her husband quit school in Des Moines.

She lost her job because she no longer had a ride to work.

Then a caller had the nerve to ask if she’d be interested in working at the University of Iowa.

“Someone in Iowa City,” Judy recalls, “wanted a secretary with a visible disability.”

Judy was 32. She lived in Guthrie Center. She had been in a wheelchair since polio struck at age 4.

“I didn’t want a job just because somebody was interested in somebody with a disability,” she says.

But Bill Shanhouse, the vice president of administrative services, didn’t give up. He was in charge of handicapped services at the university. He wanted Judy because he knew she could handle being in the front lines. She’d done well for three years at Easter Seals.

Wiger's Proposal to Benefit Parents of Children With Disabilities to be Considered for Omnibus Bill

Patti's Comments:  This is what I like to see - support for the families!!  We should build partnerships, not punish families!

Excerpt from Oakdale Patch: (click for entire article)

A bill authored by Sen. Chuck Wiger that would fund a pilot project seeking to improve the outcomes of at-home care for children with disabilities is going to be considered for inclusion in the omnibus health and human services bill, Wiger said, following a hearing in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee Feb. 16.

A North St. Paul family with a quadriplegic daughter inspired the bill, said Wiger (DFL—District 55), of Maplewood. Dave and JoAnn McKenzie are keeping their 27-year-old daughter, who has cerebral palsy, at home.

“What a great story of love, hope and courage,” Wiger said of the McKenzies, who he said ought to get assistance in their efforts to keep their daughter at home, in part, because their decision is saving the state money.

Celebrate Social Work Month 2011

Excerpt from NASW: (click for entire article)

This outreach toolkit is designed to help social workers across the country choose an activity that increases public awareness of the social work profession in March.  Each section of the Social Work Month 2011 toolkit is dedicated to one of 10 core action areas, and includes links to resources and examples to help you plan and implement your chosen activity.  We hope you find the information useful, and encourage you to email socialworkmonth@naswdc.org if you have questions or suggestions.

Michigan Campaign for Quality Care Newsletter

Excerpt from the attached newsletter:

Governor Snyder’s Budget Safeguards Many Medicaid Program But Proposes Harsh Cuts to the Home Help Program—On Feb. 17th, Governor Rick Snyder released his budget proposal for FY 2012 and FY 2013.  Medicaid -- the joint federal and state program that provides health care to a rapidly increasing number of low income Michiganians and many long term care consumers – accounts for approximately a quarter of the state budget. Despite the state’s continuing fiscal crisis, Gov. Snyder did not propose cutting reimbursement rates to health care facilities and professionals who serve Medicaid beneficiaries.  The Campaign applauds this decision because Medicaid rates in Michigan are already among the lowest in the country and create real access problems for Medicaid beneficiaries seeking health care.  The Governor also decided against tightening eligibility requirements for Medicaid programs or eliminating Medicaid services like prescription drugs or dental care. 

In addition, Gov. Snyder recommended stable funding for the MI Choice home and community based care program. However, the Governor did propose a devastating cut to another important and cost-effective program that keeps low income seniors and people with disabilities in their homes: the Home Help Program.  Currently, Home Help pays for approximately 60,000 individuals each year to get help with both activities of daily living like bathing, toileting, and eating, and with “instrumental” activities of daily living like shopping, laundry, cleaning, and meal preparation.  The Governor proposed terminating services for all individuals who require help only with instrumental activities of daily living (beneficiaries who need help with both kinds of care will continue to receive it).   Although the Administration has alleged that Home Help beneficiaries who need help only with instrumental activities of daily living are less needy than beneficiaries who also need help with basic activities, some individuals who cannot do chores, meal preparation, and errands for themselves will likely be forced to seek institutional care, a much more expensive option than the very inexpensive and cost-effective Home Help program.

In addition, the Governor proposed eliminating funding for the Michigan Quality Community Care Council (MQCCC), a small agency that helps to match Home Help beneficiaries with providers (workers) who can meet their needs, and that provides training, screening, and support for both workers and beneficiaries.  MQCCC serves a vital function in the Home Help program and the Campaign has long supported it.

Call to Action:   The Campaign urges members to call their State Senators and Representatives to ask them to maintain all Home Help services for low income seniors and people with disabilities and to preserve funding for the Michigan Quality Community Care Council!  Because the Governor is urging the Legislature to move quickly on finalizing a budget, please contact your Senator and Representative as soon as possible!  And please join us at the Campaign Day at the Capitol—more information will be forthcoming about that event!

Download Michigan Campaign for Quality Care Newsletter