National Council on Disability Releases Latest Edition of the NCD Bulletin

6/2/2003

From: Mark S. Quigley of the National Council on Disability, 202-272-2004; E-mail: mquigley@ncd.gov

WASHINGTON, June 2 -- Following is the latest edition of the NCD Bulletin, a monthly publication of the National Council on Disability (NCD):

Reauthorization of Laws In January 2003, NCD began monitoring the 2003 reauthorization of five laws important to people with disabilities: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the Transportation Equity Act (TEA-21), and the Higher Education Act (HEA).

NCD published a paper, "TANF and Disability: Importance of Supports for Families with Disabilities in Welfare Reform" (http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/publications/familysupports.html), that was forwarded to the congressional committees handling TANF reauthorization.

NCD sent a letter to the congressional committees of jurisdiction regarding WIA reauthorization, particularly addressing reauthorization of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act (http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/correspondence/chair_04-16-03. html).

NCD sent a letter to the congressional committees of jurisdiction for IDEA reauthorization, including (1) NCD's responses to H.R.1350, the House version of IDEA reauthorization, and NCD's recommendations for IDEA reauthorization (http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/correspondence/chair_04-18-03. html); (2) a letter regarding the proposed use of vouchers for students with disabilities in the Parental Choice Act, along with NCD's voucher paper (http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/publications/vouchers.html); and (3) a letter about effective implementation and enforcement of IDEA (http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/correspondence/gregg_5-19-03.h tml).

NCD provided oral and written testimony at a joint hearing of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the House Committee on Education and the Workforce on "Coordination of Human Services Transportation" (http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/testimony/wenzel_05-01-03.html).

NCD contracted for a paper on access to higher education for people with disabilities, which will include recommendations for reauthorization of the HEA. The paper should be released this summer.

Air Travel Update The Department of Transportation's (DOT) third forum on "Working Together to Improve the Air Travel of Passengers with Disabilities" will take place on June 24, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Wyndham Washington Hotel, at 1400 M Street, NW, in Washington, D.C. This forum reflects DOT's continuing commitment to fostering the dialogue that began at the first forum on May 3, 2001. Representatives from the disability community, the airline industry, airport authorities, service contractors, and government will exchange ideas, with the goals of understanding the needs of travelers with disabilities and making air travel accessibility a reality for all. This third forum will focus on air carrier wheelchair service, DOT's Disability Hotline, a service for dealing with accessibility problems that need to be addressed in "real time," and the newly issued Service Animal Guidance document.

On May 9, DOT published guidance concerning the use of service animals in air transportation by people with disabilities. The document can be found at http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov. Questions about this guidance can be addressed to the Office of Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings, C-70, 400 7th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20590.

International Update On May 8, Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.) introduced H. Con. Res. 169, expressing the sense of Congress that the U.S. government should play a leading role in drafting a United Nations (UN) convention that affirms the rights of people with disabilities. The convention will be discussed before a UN ad hoc committee in June. The bill is co-sponsored by Henry J. Hyde (R-Ill.) and James R. Langevin (D-R.I.); it was referred to the House Committee on International Relations. For more information on the convention, please see NCD's Understanding the Role of an International Convention on the Human Rights of People with Disabilities: An Analysis of the Legal, Social, and Practical Implications for Policy Makers and Disability and Human Rights Advocates in the United States (http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/publications/unwhitepaper_05-2 3-02.html).

NCD Awards Contracts NCD awarded a contract to the Health and Disability Working Group of Boston University School of Public Health to conduct a study that will evaluate the extent and type(s) of evidence-based federal and state health care reforms and changes, in both the private and public sectors, that are needed to make health care for people with disabilities more consumer-driven. NCD will address consumer-oriented health care in the context of Medicare/Medicaid reform as it relates to Americans with disabilities. NCD will look at a range of practices and programs that represent the extent of best evidence to emerging evidence of effectiveness in terms of results or outcomes for consumers. NCD will issue its report in 2004.

NCD awarded a contract to Georgia Tech Applied Research Corporation, Georgia Institute of Technology, to evaluate the design, production, marketing, and sale of a number of technology products to determine whether the most commonly stated obstacles to technology accessibility (such as cost, difficulty, and timing of built-in accessibility features) are supported by research. This study will look at a range of technology products and examine cost-effectiveness, consumer input at the design stage, the development process, customer use and perceptions, idiosyncratic and standardized industry protocols, and current business and industry practices related to universal design, as well as barriers to implementation. The study will also examine the philosophical, economic, industry, and technological rationales that currently drive the development of universal design and will document examples of successful and unsuccessful practices. NCD will issue its report in 2004.

------ The Bulletin, which is free of charge and at NCD's award-winning Web site (htp://www.ncd.gov), brings the latest issues and news affecting people with disabilities. To subscribe or unsubscribe to the NCD listserv, send a blank e-mail to add-bulletin@list.ncd.gov or remove-bulletin@list.ncd.gov. No need to write anything in the subject line or body. To change a current e-mail address, first unsubscribe in one e-mail and then subscribe in another. Please send editorial comments to Bulletin editor Mark S. Quigley (mquigley@ncd.gov).