Ground-breaking conference set for October 1st

August 24th, 2009 by John Dickerson

The news is filled with town hall meetings where the dialogue is hot and at times a bit frightening for people.  It is clear that health care reform has touched a nerve with those who both want it and those that are against it.  Few topics have generated such intensity in recent times.  Many more feel that finding common ground on many of the challenges facing us is getting more difficult.

 

Many feel this intensity reflects the great uncertainty many people are feeling every day.  Jobs are gone, retirement accounts have been devastated, and people caught in the middle worry about their aging parents, their children and their own security.

 

Rather than raising our voices, The Arc believes we can use technology to help us find what really is important.   

 

On October 1, 2009, The Arc is going to do something we have never done before.  We are going to ask people to use the state-of-the-art technology to ask families, self-advocates, and professionals the 60 most critical questions that we could fashion.  Covering every area from these critical questions will be answered by every attendee, breaking out the responses and sharing with everyone who attends, how people really feel about the critical choices people need to make.

 

Topics will include early childhood, education, health care, employment, family support, living in the community, future planning and guardianship, cultural competency, post-secondary education and training all will be covered.  We have had a group of families professionals, and self advocates working all summer to ask the right questions.

 

Nothing has ever been done to ask so many, such critical questions and provide near instant feedback.  And its affordable.

 

The registration for this ground-breaking event is just $15 for self-advocates, $19 for families, and $35 for professionals and that includes free parking at The Indianapolis Zoo with shuttle service.   That also includes lunch with special guest Tom Pomeranz!

 

Make your voice heard.  We hope to have the largest gathering of consumers, families and professional together for this incredible event. For more information go to www.arcind.org.  

 

Be there for something unlike anything we have ever done.  This is not the time for yelling at each other, but forging some common ground on what is important and where we need to go  I hope to see you October 1st.

 

 

 

 

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Traveling across country - impact of government cutbacks felt

July 5th, 2009 by John Dickerson

This Fourth of July holiday had found us traveling across the midwest to see family in South Dakota.  Each state we have spent time in, Illinois, Minnesota and South Dakota are all facing very tough decisions regarding state funding.  A common theme in each is that they must cut spending with human services and education heading the list. 

In Illinois, a budget impasse - which we avoided  in Indiana - is leaving many families and community organizations wondering what will happen.  In Minnesota, the Governor is using his authority to reduce the budget and people with disabilities will face real cuts.

There is no doubt that our future ability to educate and support people with disabilities in Indiana will depend on how quickly our economy responds to federal and state initiatives.  Many believe we have not hit bottom yet, others see signs that it the economy is responding to these initiatives. 

It is going to be a tough two years as the budget passed by the General Assembly will force some difficult choices.  The state budget combined with the reduced county revenue adds to the problem.  Some of our county leaders are working hard to continue their support of programs for people with disabilities while others have already targeted eliminating county funding for programs for people with disabilities, will put tremendous pressure on agencies and families. 

Our work is just beginning as we look toward the future.  It will again come back to how well we organize, find new answers to these challenging problems and pull together.   We have done it before and will again.

One of the values of traveling is realizing how good home looks.  Seeing what is happening in other states makes me realize how very good it is to be from Indiana - because of you.  Thanks for all you do.

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Special Session Debate On Three Critical Issues: How do you feel?

June 17th, 2009 by John Dickerson

I am often asked by people why members of the General Assembly just can’t get together and work things out.  The divide we face today on the Special Session underscores some of the fundamental differences people have about three key issues.

 

Public Education:  How much money should we put into public education, k-12 including special education and how should we treat stimulus dollars for special education?  How many new charter schools should be allowed in each district and what does that mean for the children left behind?  Public Education makes up about 50% of the state budget so what decide is critical.

 

The CIB – the Marion County entity that manages the Convention Center, Lucas Oil Stadium and Conseco Field House: Should the rest of the state help solve this problem and at what cost?

 

Gambling:  The gambling industry wants help, they are losing money and recently one of the race track/casinos said they may have to file for bankruptcy.

 

People across the state feel very strongly about these issues and their voices are heard and represented by our legislators.  How do you feel about these?

 

While these are being debated, we are working hard to make sure these issues don’t overshadow the issues that are important for people with disabilities and their families.  Please keep checking our website for the latest information, we need your help to be successful in not getting lost in the debate.

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