Date: January 20, 1995
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: HHS Press Office (202) 690-6343
SSA Press Office (410) 965-8904

Childhood Disability Commission Members Named

HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala has named 15 members of the new Childhood Disability Commission, which will review the assistance given to disabled children under the Supplemental Security Income program.

She had announced Jan. 9 that former Rep. Jim Slattery will serve as chair of the commission. The other members will include parents of children with disabilities, advocates for children, educators, psychologists, researchers, attorneys, program administrators, physicians, and others.

The 14 new members are:

• Polly Arango of Algondones, N.M., director, Family Voice
  
  
• Adrianne Asch, Ph.D., of Wellesley, Mass., professor in biology, ethics and the politics of human reproduction, Wellesley College
  
  
• Dolores Berkovsky of Fort Worth, Texas, director of children's services, St. Teresa's Home
  
  
• Anne Ford of New York, N.Y., chairman of the board of directors, National Center for Learning Disabilities
  
  
• Wade Horn, Ph.D., of Gaithersburg, Md., director, The National Fatherhood Initiative
  
  
• Jennifer Howse, Ph.D., of White Plains, N.Y., president, March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation
  
  
• Sharman Davis Jamison of Minneapolis, Minn., Parent Advocacy Coalition Educational Rights Center
  
  
• Dan Johnson of Madison, Wis., director, Office for Persons with Physical Disabilities, Wisconsin Department of Health and Social Services
  
  
• Paul Marchand of Washington, D.C., director, The Arc
  
  
• James Perrin, M.D., of Boston, Mass., associate professor of pediatrics, Massachusetts General Hospital
  
  
• M. Carmen S. Ramirez of El Paso, Texas, Schools Are for Everyone
  
  
• Carol Rank of Topeka, Kan., acting director, Disability Determination and Referral Service
  
  
• Rud Turnbull of Lawrence, Kan., co-director, Beach Center on Families and Disabilities, University of Kansas
  
  
• Barbara Wolfe, Ph.D., of Madison, Wis., professor and director, Institute for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin.

"We chose these people because of their extensive knowledge of programs for children with disabilities and, in many cases, lifelong careers serving children with disabilities and their families. They are among the nation's top experts in this policy area," Shalala said.

The new commission will examine SSI policies and the needs of disabled children, and report its findings and recommendations to Congress this year. The commission was mandated in the "Social Security Independence and Program Improvements Act," passed by Congress and signed by President Clinton last year.

###