November 2019 Edition - Access Press

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TWIN CITIES, MN PERMIT NO. 4766

Volume 30, Number 11

November 10, 2019

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It seems these days that more often than not, network evening news closes with a feel-good story about someone with a disability - usually young overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds. A mascot for the rest of us.

Scant attention is paid to the life circumstances which leave people with disabilities isolated with opportunities for a fully realized life severely diminished.

For nearly 30 years Access Press has provided a platform for telling our stories and a forum for the creation of what Martin Luther King described as "the beloved community." Now we need the community to step up. The Friends of Access Press has extended its offer to match donations up to $10,000 through the end of December.

The money you give is doubled.

In the October edition of Access Press, our board member Mohammed Alfash drew a distressing statistical portrait of people with disabilities as the most disadvantaged group in nearly all quality of life issues.

From the Emancipation Proclamation to women's suffrage and the Supreme Court gay marriage ruling, American history is a story of expanding civil rights and more widely shared prosperity. Seminal moments in the history of civil rights for people with disabilities include the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Olmstead decision.

Since 1990 Access Press has been the lodestone for those of us with disabilities. Through the pages of Access Press, we create and re-create a sense of community. The stories provide depth, nuance and above all context.

Collectively, as a community we hold ourselves to standards of virtue as we cocreate lives of integrity and contribution.

The personal is political. When we share with each other, we enrich our sense of who we are and who we might become. We find common cause and identify allies. We are moved to action. We understand how better to effect change.

When I was three years old, doctors told my parents that for my own good I needed to be institutionalized. My parents said no. That was in the 1950s.

With the advocacy of my parents, I was mainstreamed. With the help of vocational rehabilitation, I earned a

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Since 1990 Access Press has been the lodestone for those of us with disabilities.

The stories provide depth, nuance and above all context.

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Editor’s note: Access Press board members are writing guest articles to highlight the newspaper’s matching grant campaign, which goes on until year’s end.

This article is by John Clark.

Paying for parking can be a stretch for people who use wheelchairs or scooters.

Paying for a parking spot?

Meters, kiosks must change

by Access Press staff There’s kale and then there’s Cale. One is a green, leafy vegetable. The other is a type of “smart technology” parking meter or pay parking kiosk that could cost the cites of Minneapolis and St. Paul some green.

The kiosks take credit/debit cards, coins or bills. They also can be paid via a smartphone app. But the meters don’t meet the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards for accessible design and must be retrofitted in order to settle litigation against the two cities. A settlement conference on the legal action was held in October.

Many people with disabilities have struggled to use the parking meter pay stations in in downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul, especially since the Cale

system was installed several years ago.

The biggest complaint is that for people who use wheelchairs or scooters, the buttons to punch to indicate parking space number and the pay slots for card or cards are too high to reach.

Some meters in the two cities meet ADA standards but others do not. When it’s considered that Minneapolis alone has 8,000 parking meters, any change can be a big task.

St. Paul plans to spend about $200,000 in 2020 to retrofit its existing meter pay stations, called kiosks, and adjust its coinonly meters to meet the operable parts heights limit requirements of the ADA standards for accessible design. The funds will come out of the city’s parking fund,

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Oversight pledged for troubled opioid program

by Access Press staff Reform is underway at the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS), which is stepping up efforts to address oversight problems, including one that led to $29 million in overpayments for treatment of substance abuse disorders.

New DHS Commissioner Jodi Harpstead told state lawmakers October 30 that her department is acting swiftly to put in new controls and address problems.

The fear in the disability community, and among groups served by DHS, is that the ongoing problems could make it more difficult to get additional funding for needed services of all kinds during the 2020 legislative session.

Some state lawmakers have expressed unhappiness with how DHS operates.

One idea that is emerging is that of splitting the state department, which has been roiled for months over claims of retaliation against whistleblower employees and clashes among leadership. Harpstead is the third person to lead the agency during the past year.

Harpstead spoke before a Senate committee October 30, during a lengthy hearing. The hearing came just after the Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor issued a very critical report on DHS overpayment of Medicaid and of the opioid treatment funds to the Native American bands of the White Earth Nation and the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe.

Legislative Auditor James Nobles told state lawmakers that the lack of documentation is “disturbing.”

“The dysfunction we found at DHS has created serious financial and legal problems for the state, the White Earth Nation, and the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe; those problems will be difficult to resolve,” the legislative auditor’s report said.

Tribal leaders have objected to the idea of repaying the funds.

The overpayments now could force the tribes to make difficult cuts to their social services offerings.

"Even during the interviews we conducted, DHS officials could not recall who was responsible. In addition, none of the DHS officials we interviewed could offer a credible rationale for paying health care providers for their clients taking medications at home,” the report stated. “While some DHS officials took actions that led to the overpayments, there were other DHS officials who could have stopped the payments but did not.”

Harpstead and her staff have started

PROGRAM To page 5

November 10, 2019 Volume 30, Number 11

EDITOR’S DESK

Tim Benjamin The Department of Human Services seems to be in the news on a pretty regular basis lately. Most recently, the Department is getting nailed for overpayment of Medicaid funds to tribal governments; this was in addition to news last summer that DHS had overpaid about $48 million for drug treatment services throughout the state. Since last spring, there have been investigations on the department’s ability to prevent child care fraud. DHS also faces ongoing criticism of the management of group home facilities. Their own website shows that they receive about 500 complaints of maltreatment every month in the 10,000 or more licensed programs in the state.

Just last week, a TV news channel ran pictures of a mistreated client with blood all over his face and lacerations on his

forehead. They reported that initially the caregiver was not disciplined, but he was later dismissed.

After all of these allegations and misappropriations, I'm very concerned about what the Legislature is going to do as far as funding DHS programs. I would be very hesitant to be budgeting more money for DHS if I was a legislator.

We and the legislators have to put our confidence in the new commissioner, Jodi Harpstead, and hope that she can get the major problems ironed out and recover any misappropriated money. I don’t know how you can overpay about $77 million from your accounts without knowing it.

I did once pay my credit card bill twice in one month without realizing it, but the company sent the money back to me. I guess things just aren’t that simple

(DHS) website shows that they receive about 500 complaints of maltreatment every month in the 10,000 or more licensed programs in the state.

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Although I may sound critical of DHS, I also recognize that it is the funding source for all our independent living programs to promote and sustain independence. when you’re talking millions. These overpayments include federal Medicaid funds, though. I don’t think the feds will say, oh sure, just keep the change.

In the middle of what’s going to be a very difficult session for DHS, I worry that the state’s PCA program and other positive, working programs funded

by DHS are going to continue to be underfunded. We all know there's a huge shortage of caregivers. (That's probably why the caregiver in the group home mistreatment incident was not dismissed immediately.) But without increased wages and benefits for PCAs and other direct support professionals doing home care, there's going to be a lot more people moving into group homes and nursing homes. For the first time in my memory, I know people who are moving to nursing homes and rationalizing it as an easier, less stressful way. They would rather give up their rights to home-based care than not have a PCA or direct support professional available to put them to bed, get them up in the morning, and do their daily cares.

Although I may sound critical of DHS, I also recognize that it is the funding source for all our independent living programs, and over the years it has done a very good job of developing programs to promote and sustain independence. To join in with

public criticism of DHS is only shooting ourselves in the foot. It’s an agency we need, and maybe the only state agency that comes close to understanding our needs. We need to find ways to support DHS while it works to stop fraud and demand the return of any overpayments that have happened. We need to help each legislator we talk to realize that DHS is not just a huge portion of the state budget. It is, for the most part, spending that money wisely to serve Minnesota’s families to get medical care, support services, and care for our elderly and people with disabilities.

There is good legislation on PCA funding, already written last session and with strong support from multiple lawmakers. We just need the Legislature to prioritize this financial need before it takes on other more controversial, timeconsuming and expensive issues like the assisted suicide legislation. They should spend their time on fraud prevention but not forget that they still need to focus on the real needs in the community and fund those needs.

I hope everyone has a safe and filling Thanksgiving holiday with lots of family and friends. ■

HISTORY NOTE

ProAct celebrates 50 years of revolutionizing rehabilitation services Editor’s note: First of two parts, adapted from the Red Wing Republican Eagle Red Wing leaders had a vision in the late 1960s to bring a new nonprofit program to the historic rivertown that would serve individuals with disabilities with employment, training and life enrichment. Interstate Rehabilitation Center (IRC), which became ProAct, opened in September 1969. It celebrated 50 years of service at events this fall.

In 1968, Red Wing Jaycees and special education teacher Joel Steging began efforts to develop a “sheltered workshop.”

William Ogren was hired as IRC’s first executive director, said Sally Ogren, director of ProAct in Red Wing. She is William Ogren’s wife.

In the spring of 1969, he raised money and scouted out locations for the fledgling agency. Red Wing Shoe Co., other businesses and United Fund, which later became the United Way, put up the needed funding.

IRC’s first home was in in the administrator’s house and laundry buildings of old City Hospital. Sally Ogren said IRC was initially seen as a way to save taxpayer dollars by serving individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Red Wing, rather than at an institution. The move toward community-based services was on.

People who wanted what IRC had to offer in its early days also needed places to live. Initially, foster homes were established. Area families rented rooms to participants.

By 1970, 32 individuals were served by the nonprofit and a system of boarding homes had been developed. Early participants came from Goodhue and Wabasha counties. Others came from the former state institution in Faribault.

IRC was growing, and soon moved to the Towerview campus for production space. It continued to produce aprons, wooden toys and other craft items near

Co-Founder/Publisher............................................................................................................Wm. A. Smith, Jr. (1990-96) Co-Founder/Publisher/ Editor-in-Chief.............................................................................. Charles F. Smith (1990-2001) Board of Directors.......Mohamed Alfash, Brigid Alseth, Stephen Anderson, John Clark, Jane Larson, Julius Williams, .....................................................................................................................................................................Kay Willshire, Mark Zangara Advertising Sales......... Michelle Hegarty, 612-807-1078 Cartoonist......................................................Scott Adams Executive Director.....................................Tim Benjamin Production........................................................ In-Fin Tuan Managing Editor........................................ Jane McClure Distribution............................................ S. C. Distribution Business Manager/Webmaster......... Dawn Frederick EDITORIAL: Editorial submissions and news releases on topics of interest to persons with disabilities, or persons serving those with disabilities, are welcomed. We reserve the right to edit all submissions. Editorial material and advertising do not necessarily reflect the view of the editor/publisher of Access Press.

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City Hospital. IRC also opened a downtown store to sell leather items, craft supplies and other products.

IRC served 60 participants by the summer of 1974. A 40,000 square-foot structure opened up in Red Wing’s industrial park. “The location was a big factor, because we were performing work for other businesses and had capable individuals ready to work in the community,” Ogren said. “Though there was opposition, the logic of the situation won out.”

IRC purchased the building and moved in July 1975. After many expansions and upgrades, it continues to operate there.

In September 1976, a new executive director, Roger Stensland, came on board. IRC had four distinct work areas: packaging and assembly, a leather shop, wood shop and upholstery. A third of its participants were engaged in recreational activities, which included softball, Frisbee, horseshoes, basketball, bowling, bingo and library visits. Full-time staffers

now numbered 20, serving 80 participants. Sick leave and vacation benefits were first offered in the following year.

Stensland also led efforts to build an addition that would house the Goodhue County DAC. It became a separate nonprofit. But as 1980 began, tragedy struck when Stensland died unexpectedly at the age of 42.

That same year IRC helped develop a new community education program for adults with disabilities and received a two-year certification from the Minnesota Division of Vocational Rehabilitation.

In September, David Leiseth was hired as the third executive director. He would serve until his retirement in 2002.

The History Note is a monthly column sponsored by the Minnesota Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities, www.mnddc.org or www.mncdd.org and www.partnersinpolicymaking.com.

November 10, 2019 Volume 30, Number 11

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Clearing key corners: Is it an issue of access or equity?

by Jane McClure As snowflakes start to fly, St. Paul is gearing up for winter snow events. One small program, which began as a pilot effort in winter 2018-2019, could continue make a big difference for people with disabilities. The St. Paul Department of Public Works plans to again have the Minneapolis-based nonprofit Better Futures Network clear snow at 15 selected intersections.

But that public-private partnership is being scrutinized by some St. Paul City Council members. While applauding the goal of maintaining access for people with disabilities, they also wonder if the city is providing a service private property owner are supposed to deliver. St. Paul requires that all property owners clear sidewalks of snow and ice within 24 hours after the end of a snowfall. Public sidewalks on all sides of a property are to be shoveled, the full width of the sidewalk to the bare pavement, including corners.

The proposed 2020 Public Works budget includes an additional $75,000 toward a corner snow removal program meant to clear snow and ice and improve accessibility. The change would bring the winter street maintenance budget up to $4,384,045. The additional money comes from the city’s parking fund, which is derived from parking ramp revenues.

The program began in winter 2018-2019 with a $50,00 allocation, said Public Works Director Kathy Lantry.

Public Under the agreement with Better Futures, snow is shoveled at 15 intersections or 60 corners twice during each snow event. The funds for the coming winter would continue the program for 2020. The 2019 funds have been exhausted, after heavy snows earlier this year.

The 15 intersections are at West 7th and Maynard streets, Rice Street and Wheelock Parkway, Dale Street and University Avenue, the East Side’s SunRay Transit Center, Robert and Isabel streets, the Ford-Finn bus station, Rice Street and Maryland Avenue, Rice and

PARKING

From page 1 which is derived from meter and ramp payments. The city will spend another $150,00 modernizing meters in the capitol area.

Much of St. Paul’s parking meter system isn’t compliant with the current ADA design standards, said Department of Public Works Director Kathy Lantry.

Coin-operated meters have never met the standard until now. “They’ve been the way they’ve been since time immemorial,” she said.

Some of the Cale or Flowbird kiosks are accessible but others are not.

City Council members questioned how the city had inaccessible technology. Rebecca Noecker, who represents downtown St. Paul, asked, “How did we not know that this was a height requirement?”

In St. Paul, Minneapolis and other cities, people with a disability parking placard can usually park for free if they meet the time requirement posted. For example, two hours of parking is free at a two-hour metered space. Some cities even have programs where people with a placard can park for free near a workplace, if no other parking option is available.

Anyone with a smart phone can also use that to pay for a metered space, Lantry said. So, there are options.

“It was not a conscious choice for us to say, oooh, let’s get the higher (meters),” she said.

The question of whether por not a meter or pay kiosk is accessible under the ADA can be a matter of inches.

Because the standards for accessibility have changed

University, 5th and Market streets, 6th and Jackson/ Robert, Snelling and University avenues, University and Pascal Street, 7th Street and Maria Avenue, White Bear and Larpenteur avenues, and Maryland and Clarence avenues. The intersections were in the program for 20182019 and will be targeted again in 2019-2020.

The idea for the shoveling project was from the city’s innovation team, which includes staff from several departments. Intersections were selected in collaboration with Metro Mobility, the paratransit service overseen by Metro Transit and Metropolitan Council.

The program allows the city to partner with a community organization that provides jobs, said Lantry. It also provides hand shoveling and more attention to intersections than the city provide with its equipment.

Better Futures Network works with men who have had a history of issues including incarceration, homelessness, poverty and mental and physical health challenges. The program has the goals of providing jobs and protecting the over time as meters are installed, that can add to the confusion.

Other cities around the nation have also struggled with parking issues. Indianapolis had a debate over meter heights in 2013. Sacramento and Tucson had to lower their meters in 2015. Durango ran into the same issue two years later.

Most cities allow motorists with disability placards or stickers to park for free for a time. Hartford, Conn. in fall 2017 dropped its longstanding practice of allowing motorists with placards to park for free. City officials there contended that the change was made to combat fraud.

At the time the policy change was made, the Hartford Courant newspaper staff and New England ADA Center found that the bottom row of buttons on that city’s parking kiosks were about 50 inches from the ground.

That's two inches higher than the ADA's required 15-to48-inch "unobstructed reach range," for parking meters and other kiosks.

City officials argued that the kiosks were grandfathered in from a 54-inch standard.

Meters and kiosks are meant to be operable by people with limited manual abilities. Height is one issue. The Cale meters have also drawn complaints for having buttons that are hard to activate in cold weather.

Questions about parking? The Minnesota Council on Disability provides detailed information on parking for motorists with disability placards or stickers, and for places wanting to provide parking for motorists with disabilities. Find this information at www.disability.state. mn.us/information-and-assistance/disability-parking/ ■

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environment. Better Futures runs a building deconstruction and materials reuse program, with a warehouse on Minnehaha Avenue in Minneapolis.

P.J. Hubbard, vice president of operations for Better Futures Network, said the program not only helps people with mobility issues, it also provides jobs for men who struggle to find employment and build an employment record. “It’s an important program on two levels,” he said.

St. Paul is the only city Better Futures Network does shoveling for. The nonprofit maintains more than 200 properties so shoveling is nothing new.

Lantry said the shoveling at the corners isn’t tied to snow emergencies but is based on need. “When one of the intersections needs to be shoveled, we call Better Futures and they do it,” she said.

Ward Two Council Member Rebecca Noecker said that while she understands the need to get walks cleared, she asked if the city is taking on a burden that should be borne by private property owners. “I question the fairness of asking us to pay,” she said.

Lantry responded that the intent is not to take the burden off of private property owners, but to have an outcome that helps people with mobility issues get to transit. She also said that working with a nonprofit that provides jobs and opportunities is consistent with the city’s focus on racial and economic equity. “Working with Better futures helps us meet a lot of goals we have as a city,’ she said.

Ward Four Council Member Mitra Jalali Nelson also expressed mixed feelings about the program, saying that why she applauds the goals, she does question whether it is equitable. She has the Seal Hi-Rise in her ward, a South St. Anthony Park Public Housing Agency apartment building that houses many people with disabilities. Residents may be able to get out of their building, but then struggle with snow removal issues along Raymond Avenue and Territorial Road.

This online picture from New York City was captioned Fuggaedaboutit, in reference to trying to pay for parking.

November 10, 2019 Volume 30, Number 11

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FROM OUR COMMUNITY

Assisted suicide is a dangerous threat to people with disabilities

by Katheryn J. Ware The community of people with disabilities has considered the “End of Life Options Act” otherwise known as physician and nurse-prescribed suicide. We have thoroughly studied and vetted the effect of prescribing suicide on our community.

The National Council on Disability is, “An independent federal agency making recommendations to the President and Congress to enhance the quality of life for all Americans with disabilities and their families”.

The Council on Disability came out with a report on October 9 about the dangers of assisted suicide laws for people with disabilities. The council clearly opposes medical assisted suicide in this extensive report. There are many national disability rights groups that oppose prescribing suicide including but not limited to ADAPT, American Association of People with Disabilities, Autistic Self Advocacy Network, Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund, National Council on Independent Living, TASH and Arc of the United States.

My 25-year-old son, Kylen and I also testified at the recent Minnesota hearing on prescribed suicide. Kylen has quadriplegic cerebral palsy, profound cognitive disabilities, intractable epilepsy, chronic pain, and multiple other medical disabilities. I have been a registered nurse for 20 years. I have been a disability rights activist for 25 years. I am vehemently opposed to doctor and nurse-prescribed suicide.

The End of Life Options Act was based on “Death with Dignity” in Oregon. These are the top five reasons people ask their doctors to help them commit suicide: loss of autonomy, being unable to participate in activities that make life enjoyable, loss of dignity, loss of bodily functions and becoming a burden on family and friends and caregivers. The statistics kept for

Kylen Ware more than 20 years proves fear of pain or inadequate pain control is not mentioned in the top five reasons.

The top five rationale are descriptions of my son and other Minnesotans with disabilities. Able-bodied people cannot tolerate the prospect of becoming a person with a disability and developing dependencies on another person. They are so appalled at the loss of “dignity” this dependency brings that suicide is preferable to disability. It goes like this, “I would rather

From the larger view, assisted suicide is simply too dangerous

by John B. Kelly Marianne Turnbull, who is seriously ill with ovarian cancer, testified in September for the legalization of assisted suicide in Minnesota.

To follow-up on the significant opposition testimony of disabled people, she made a direct appeal to the readership of Access Press, in the October 2019 issue.

Assisted suicide looks good when considered from a sympathetic individual like Marianne, but looking at the larger picture, it becomes clear that assisted suicide is too dangerous.

Assisted suicide inevitably takes the lives of non-dying people: 12 to 15 percent of "terminal" people admitted to hospice outlive their six-month prognosis, sometimes by years and decades.

Actress Valerie Harper, who died last month, was given mere months to live 6 ½ years ago.

Doctors make mistakes!

Assisted suicide proponents like Marianne frame the issue as one of autonomy and personal choice, but in our vastly unequal society, choice is terribly constrained.

For example, more than half of Oregon program deaths in 2018 were reported by their doctors to “feel like a burden” on family and caregivers. In the absence of funded home care for all, it’s hardly a choice when the alternative to being a burden is either impoverishment and a nursing home, or assisted suicide.

The other top four reasons reported for Oregon deaths all have to do with negative reactions to disability. It’s clear that people feel grief and shame in the face of loss of autonomy, loss of abilities, loss of “dignity,” and incontinence.

Adding assisted suicide to our broken, discriminatory health system makes for a deadly mix. As the cheapest “treatment” for serious illness, assisted suicide fattens insurers’ profits and crowds out more expensive treatment.

In Nevada, Dr. Brian Callister has reported that two of his patients were denied an often curative but costly therapy.

Medical directors of the health insurance companies told him that they would only cover hospice and assisted suicide.

Elder and disability abuse is rampant.

It is estimated that 1 in 10 people over the age of 60 are abused every year.

Because no disinterested witness is required, heirs and abusers can engineer deaths without worry.

For these reasons and others, every leading national disability rights organization that has taken a position on assisted suicide has come out against it. The National Council On Disability (NCD), an independent federal agency, just released a comprehensive report, Assisted Suicide Laws and their Danger to People with Disabilities.

The NCD found that “the lives of people with disabilities are routinely devalued” in medical settings, where “biases can have serious and even deadly consequences.” For example, it found suicide contagion and depressed people getting the drugs in states where assisted suicide is legal.

Palliative care doctors know how to let people die gently, so it’s inexcusable that anyone die in uncontrolled pain. Everyone has the right to reject any treatment, including food and water, and palliative sedation is available as a last resort.

The Minnesota Legislature should demand excellent palliative care, not put everyone in danger of premature death due to mistakes, abuse and insurers’ bottom lines.

John B. Kelly is a longtime disability rights advocate and writer in Boston. He is the New England regional director for Not Dead Yet, and the director of its Massachusetts state affiliate, Second Thoughts MA: Disability Rights Advocates against Assisted Suicide.

die right now by a prescription for suicide than to lose all dignity and turn into one of those people with disabilities for six months or less.” Doctor and nurse-prescribed suicide for these rationale supports the doctrine of better off dead than disabled. The assisted suicide bills devalue the life of my son and his peers.

We must continue to advocate for reliable and competent care in the community. We must continue to advocate for full inclusion of people with disabilities.

We must continue to lobby our elected officials for allocating the money needed to help provide for and empower people with disabilities. The assisted suicide legislation is the antithesis to the ADA, Olmstead vs L.C. & E.W., integration, inclusion, community living and Minnesota’s very own Olmstead Plan. People with disabilities do not have equal rights, equal access, equal respect, or the caregiver support that they need.

Minnesota has a staffing crisis for people that require personal care attendants or 1:1 physical care. How can we allow people prescription suicide because they feel like a burden during a clear and dangerous staffing crisis. The Assisted Suicide laws are a judgement on the quality of life of my son and all people with disabilities.

I would encourage people with disabilities to read the National Council’s report to Congress. Please watch a movie called Fatal Flaws and listen as Professor William Peace PhD describes his encounter with doctors in the hospital as a man with physical disabilities. I would ask you to go to NotDeadYet.org and read the articles there. I would also encourage people to watch The Long Goodbye, The Kara Tippetts Story. Let’s provide high quality care and support to people across the continuum of their lives.

There are no safeguards against social and medical bigotry toward a person with significant disabilities. Doctors and Nurses openly declare that people like my son Kylen have no quality of life. They want to know during a dental procedure if Kylen is DNR/DNI, yet they don’t ask me that about my able-bodied, National Honor Society, basketball playing 18-year-old son. People find it amusing to say that they are going to tattoo DNR/ DNI on their chests, so they don’t have to ever end up like Kylen and his peers.

I agree with the National Council on Disability, “… the council does not believe that added safeguards, modified safeguards, or indeed safeguards of any kind, will remove the inherent dangers in assisted suicide laws. Also, such a message can be readily confused with the idea that legalized assisted suicide is acceptable as long as its rules are stronger, which is not true. On the contrary, the basic dangers of legalizing assisted suicide are inherent and cannot be eradicated.”

The National Council on Disability goes on to recommend that, “Congress should pass a resolution to express the sense of the Congress that assisted suicide puts everyone, particularly people with disabilities at risk of deadly harm.” I want to thank Access Press for allowing my opinion to be shared with its readers.

I wonder if Compassion and Choices would allow my opinion piece to be shared with their readers to persuade their membership of the dangers their advocacy presents to my son and Minnesotans with disabilities.

Ware is an RN, PHN and disability rights activist from South St. Paul.

Educate yourself on end-of-life options, consider level of support

by Bobbi Jacobsen November 1st marked five years since 29 year-old Brittany Maynard peacefully and legally ended her own life.

You may remember Brittany’s story, published in People magazine, which put a face on a very personal decision of someone so young taking charge of their right to end to their intolerable suffering from terminal brain cancer. Brittany and her family had moved to Oregon, so she could utilize its Medical-Aid-In-Dying law because California did not have such a law.

People magazine just published an article on her life and legacy, which you can read on their website here: People.com/ human-interest/brittany-maynard-husband5-years-after-her-death/. It is accompanied by a five-minute Compassion & Choices video recounting her decision to leave her home in California to establish residency in Oregon, where Medical-Aid-In-Dying was authorized.

As of now, there are now 10 jurisdictions that authorize this end-of-life care option, representing more than one out

of five people (22 percent) nationwide: Oregon, Washington, Montana, Vermont, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. A few years ago, the Minnesota House and Senate independently took a survey at the Minnesota State Fair on Medical-Aid-In-Dying. Results revealed by the House were 67 percent and in the Senate 68 percent in favor of having the option to receive a prescription from their doctor if they were suffering with a terminal illness at the end of their life.

A third survey was independently conducted in September 2016, by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research and stated, “Majority support for medical aid in dying exists in each region of the state. A legal option for Medical-Aid-In-Dying earns 74 percent support in the Minneapolis and St. Paul metropolitan area and 72 percent support in Greater Minnesota.”

I have long been advocating for legislation here in Minnesota for Medical-Aid-In-Dying and encourage you

OPTIONS To page 5

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November 10, 2019 Volume 30, Number 11

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FROM OUR COMMUNITY

Loss of access to e-books a barrier to library access for many One of the promises of a public library is to offer free access to ideas and information for all. Macmillan Publishers is about to make that more difficult.

For years, library budgets have been challenged to meet the growing demand for materials in print, e-books, e-audio and audio books. Publishers charge public libraries up to four times the price they charge individual customers, already putting a squeeze on public budgets as we try to meet the demand for e-books. The popularity of digital content continues to rise and, for many of our patrons, it is their only access to books.

Beginning on November 1, Macmillan will make it even more difficult for us to supply you with the books you love to read in e-format. Whether you use Hennepin County Library or East Grand Forks Library, Macmillan will soon limit your library to purchasing only one copy of each new e-book title for the first eight weeks after a book’s release. Those with financial ability to buy new releases will be able to do so. Those who cannot or do not want to buy the newest e-books will be forced to wait.

Most of us cannot afford to buy every book that interests us. The library is a place of limitless learning opportunities for all, not just for those with the money or the inclination to buy books. For people with some physical disabilities, who depend on e-books and readers who love them, Macmillan’s plan jeopardizes timely access to popular titles and will push the waiting lists for some titles to well over a year.

We believe Macmillan’s policy not only hurts readers and libraries, but also authors and booksellers.

Libraries bring readers together with authors and pub-

OPTIONS From page 4

read the Bills HF 2152 or the companion, SF 2286, and understand for yourself, that this is not assisted suicide, as the opposition likes to reference it. There are so many safeguards in this legislation, that it could never be imposed on the unknowing or unwilling. Like Brittany, I have a passion to speak up for terminally ill individuals, who maybe don’t have a voice or a platform.

As Americans, we tend to avoid end-of-life conversations. Death is inevitable. Why are we so afraid to talk about it? Family gatherings around the upcoming holidays provide the perfect opportunity to bring up the subject.

To start the discussion, every adult should have a healthcare directive. You can obtain copies from your health care provider, or online at: https://www.pdffiller.com/ jsfiller-desk11/?projectId=352513678&expId=5727&expBranch=1#09d745dc9953ebba39cab3df057fad89 Let’s start the conversation.

Bobbi Jacobsen, Living with ALS Richfield

PROGRAM From page 1

work on a plan for new internal controls at DHS. "I am as tired as all of you about reading about problems with the Department of Human Services," Harpstead said.

She added that the agency has in the past relied too much on institutional memory. A thorough review of practices is planned, as are tighter controls.

Senators worry that more revelations are to come. “I am concerned that this is just the tip of the iceberg,” said Sen. Jerry Relph (R-St. Cloud).

Lack of paper trails is a troublesome issue raised by the legislative auditor’s report. The auditor found that no one at the state could identify who was responsible for the overpayment to the tribes. The billing method that caused the problem was also held up for criticism. Yet another problem raised in the report is placed on DHS’s decentralized management stem, and how health care payment rates weren’t consistent from division to division.

Medicaid serves the health care needs of more than 1.1 million people in Minnesota. The report indicated that review and approval has not been needed of how DHS staff decides to spend Medicaid funds. Another red flag raised is that no policy is in place requiring approvals from federal officials before spending decisions tied to Medicaid are made.

The opioid overpayment issue is complex. For several years the bands were allowed to bill Medicaid for $455 per day for the medication Suboxone, which is used to combat opioid addiction. DHS decided to reimburse opioid treatment providers the same price for medications taken at home as they did for treatments provided in a clinic. But those needing medication were allowed to take it home without consulting medical staff. The report found that the decision to allow that practice was never documented. That in turn is a violation of the state’s Official Records Act. Harpstead has pledged a new system with multiple approvals before Medicaid funds are allocated. She has called for a “triple-checked, permanently documented, accountable process.” ■

lishers for the purpose of boosting knowledge, creativity, literacy, ideas and imagination. Public libraries provide an opportunity for authors to have their work exposed and marketed directly to readers in communities across the country. Countless public libraries host author and illustrator events as they market their latest materials, providing an opportunity for additional sales. The vast majority of authors view public libraries as their natural allies and partners.

Booksellers will also be negatively impacted by this embargo. People who check a book out of the library often end up going to a bookstore to buy the book either for themselves or to give as gifts.

We understand the economics of e-books are challenging, but limiting basic access is unacceptable. Libraries must remain vigilant about ensuring fair access to all people, which is why we’re joining libraries from across the country in asking Macmillan to reverse its new policy. Undermining the longstanding relationship between libraries, authors, publishers and readers with this embargo benefits no one.

The American Library Association has started a petition at eBooksForAll.org. We invite you to read more

about the situation, sign and join the tens of thousands of readers who have already added their names asking Macmillan to reverse the policy.

Public libraries are proud to help create and cultivate generations of readers. In doing so we create stronger communities, a better equipped workforce and a vibrant democracy. Equitable access to e-books is a modern cornerstone of that work.

This commentary was submitted on behalf of Maggie Snow, director, Anoka County Library; Heidi Hoks, director, Carver County Library; Margaret Stone, director, Dakota County Library; Janet Mills, interim director, Hennepin County Library; Jill Boldenow, director, Ramsey County Library; Catherine Penkert, director, St. Paul Public Library; Jake Grussing, director, Scott County Public Library; Amy Stenftenagel, acting director, Washington County Public Library; and Scott Vrieze, executive director, Metropolitan Library Service Agency. It originally appeared in the Star Tribune.

November 10, 2019 Volume 30, Number 11

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REGIONAL NEWS Faking disability leads to guilty plea

More than 1,600 lose Medicaid More than 1,600 Minnesotans have lost Medicaid coverage after they failed to turn in a form that is required by a new federal rule. The form is designed to help states make sure that certain people, including elderly and people with disabilities, meet income requirements of the Medicaid program. Advocates have worried that letters notifying people about the change would be thrown away.

People were given 30 days to return the forms, which give the state permission to check their bank accounts to make sure they qualified for coverage.

Chuck Johnson, deputy commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Human Services, told Minnesota Public Radio that people often fall off the rolls when new paperwork is required.

“These in particular, of course, are seniors, people with disabilities, people who have ongoing and immediate needs in many cases, so the impact in many cases is always a concern,” he said.

He said his department notified county case managers and other providers in anticipation of the new requirement so that they could help make sure people returned the forms on time.

States sometimes use paperwork or other requirements as a way to cut Medicaid rolls. But Ezra Golberstein, who studies health insurance at the University of

Suicide among farmers is tracked

Twenty miles from the Canadian border, just outside Hallock, Minnesota, you’ll find the bean fields that surround the Gillie home. Theresia and her husband farmed the land together for 30 years. These days she is alone on the farm; Keith took his own life two and half years ago. Just as the couple refinanced and bought more land, soybean prices took a dive, then there were a couple years of bad weather. Many farmers find it difficult adjusting to a new economic reality beyond their control. They might even convince themselves they’re doing their family a favor by dying.

“He’d be up at night and I’d say come to bed. He’d be looking something up on the internet or sitting in the dark, and that was a pretty big sign,” Gillie said. “Hindsight’s a lot easier 20/20 than when you’re living it.”

Gillie was bringing in extra income as a Kittson County Commissioner and president of the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association, but the farm debt weighed on Keith. But he took his own life and she was left with questions.

Ted Matthews, a mental health counselor with the Department of Agriculture works with farmers across Minnesota at no cost. “Almost always they’re shocked that I answer my phone. I talk to them, sometimes it’s a few minutes, sometimes it’s a couple of hours,” he said.

Matthews was the only one doing this kind of work in Minnesota for years. However, the Minnesota Legislature recently approved funding a second counselor to help farmers. She began her duties October 1.

“You get into this negative thinking. ‘I have life insurance, then they can pay off the farm.’ One of the things I stress all the time is: how would you feel if your wife committed suicide, is that what you would say, oh good,” Matthews said.

There is a timeless question the counselor will ask that reframes most problems. “You say to people, 'what’s the most important thing in your life?' People say ‘family’ and I say, ‘what have you done to strengthen your family?’ They look at me like, 'what are you

Minnesota, doesn't think that's the case here.

“What's important is that we have as many mechanisms as possible to make sure that those people are being reached out to and that they are getting back on coverage as quickly as possible,” Golberstein said.

Minnesota will pay three months of insurance retroactively if qualified people reapply. Johnson said counties are reaching out to people who lost coverage.

About 175,000 people who get Medicaid in Minnesota will have to return the form to continue their coverage. The state is sending the forms out in several waves. The second batch was just sent out in late September. People who were included in that round have until the end of this month to return them.

(Source: Minnesota Public Radio) talking about,'” he said.

It is challenging to track suicides by farmers and producers. But calls to the Farm Aid hotline, the national group that helps farmers with a variety of issues, have increased 109 percent in 2018 versus 2017. The group told FOX 9 the pace of calls this year is similar to 2018.

The Minnesota Department of Agriculture works on educating farmers, their families and others to identify and manage stress on the farm. The Minnesota Farm and Rural Helpline is a 24-7 phone line farmers can call to get mental health support and get directed to financial and legal assistance. The number is 1-833-600-2670. MDA also has other helpful information on its website at www. minnesotafarmstress.com (Source: KMSP-TV)

Lawsuit filed over e-scooters

An advocate for people with disabilities is suing the city of Minneapolis and the electric scooter sharing companies Lime and Bird, alleging the vehicles have made sidewalks inaccessible. Noah McCourt, who has autism and a coordination disorder that slows his reaction time, said he's constantly dodging scooters on the sidewalk, and was left with a large bruise on his leg after tripping over a scooter at a light rail station.

He said the vehicles are also an impediment to people who use wheelchairs. He claims in a federal lawsuit filed in October that the city and scooter companies are violating the Americans with Disabilities Act. “Cities always act like this is no big deal,” McCourt said. “They pooh pooh you. But this is a big deal for people with disabilities."

Minneapolis officials aren’t commenting on the lawsuit. E-scooter company Lime said in a statement that it has “engaged disability advocates,” and is working to “educate riders and the community about proper riding and parking etiquette to ensure scooters are parked in an orderly, respectful way.”

Bird ended operations in Minneapolis in late 2018.

(Source: Minnesota Public Radio)

A Glenwood woman has pleaded guilty in U.S District Court in St. Paul to stealing $108,490 in federal disability benefits. Lisa Ann Schafer, 57, entered the plea in October, admitting that she received federal benefits after falsely claiming that a work-related injury prevented her from working in a full-time capacity at her job with the U.S. Postal Service.

She was convicted of one count of theft of government funds. Court documents indicate that Schafer received benefits through the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act from September 18, 2015, through May 3, 2019. Schafer reported to her doctor that her medical condition required her to rest most of the day and that she could tolerate only sedentary work. Her doctor accordingly limited her to no more than two hours of office work a day, enabling Schafer to collect FECA benefits due to her purported work-related injury.

However, during this time period, Schafer was observed participating in 30 to 40 dog-agility competitions where she was seen running, bending quickly at the waist, and using large arm movements to navigate dogs through a variety of exercises, according to court documents.

“The American public trusts that U.S. Postal Service employees will obey the law,” said John Masters, special agent with the USPS Office of the Inspector General.

“When an employee of the postal service violates that trust, the Postal Service Office of Inspector General investigates those matters. Today’s plea sends a clear message that workers' compensation fraud is a federal crime, which carries serious consequences.”

(Source: Duluth News-Tribune)

Grants help provide opportunities

The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) has awarded 42 grants statewide totaling $10,940,160 under the Minnesota Pathways to Prosperity program. Some of the programs will serve Minnesotans with disabilities.

DEED received nearly $21 million dollars in funding requests and $10,940,160 was available for Pathways to Prosperity grant awards in the 2020-21 funding cycle.

Pathways to Prosperity plays an essential role in reducing economic disparities across the state. These competitive grants fund programs and services that provide workforce development and training opportunities to adults in Minnesota experiencing barriers to employment.

Programs by grantees help job seekers develop increased career awareness, participate in education training and skills-training programs, obtain certificates, industry recognized credentials and post-secondary credits, and connect to employment in high growth, high demand industries with long-term opportunities.

In addition, each program includes wraparound services – such as access to childcare, transportation, or food assistance – that help Minnesotans in finding and keeping jobs.

As part of the competitive grant improvement process rolled out earlier this year, the teams of reviewers, who represented both DEED and community organizations, read and scored every single proposal. Another change was to allocate more funding across the state; include new service providers, who target their services to individuals with multiple barriers to employment; and as part of an equity goal, ensure services are available to serve communities of color and new immigrants. Deputy Commissioner Hamse Warfa outlined the changes made.

One program receiving a grant is Community Action Center of Northfield, Inc. A $63,000 grant for health care training will serve persons of color and those with disabilities.

Goodwill-Easter Seals Minnesota received $305,847.

Training in business services will be provided to com-

REGIONAL NEWS To page 15

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November 10, 2019 Volume 30, Number 11

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PEOPLE & PLACES Providing jobs for people with disabilities brings kudos To recognize the important role that organizations play in employing people with disabilities, the Minnesota Organization for Habilitation and Rehabilitation (MOHR) has chosen recipients for the Third Annual Outstanding Disability Employer Awards in 2019. The awards coincide with National Disability Employment Awareness Month in October, a tradition that dates back to a Congressional proclamation in 1945.

“We applaud organizations in Minnesota that employ individuals with disabilities,” said Julie Johnson, president of MOHR. “They are pillars of the community who recognize the value of this largely untapped workforce."

MOHR represents more than 100 disability service providers across the state. Member organizations work with award winners.

The winners are: Arby’s Twin Cities. Arby’s restaurants challenge their employees from Opportunity Partners by adding job responsibilities and promoting them when merited, said Ben Kopnick, Together Works Better coordinator with Opportunity Medtronic Brunson's Pub Partners in Minnetonka. “They welcome people with disabilities as employees right away, working to integrate them in their workplace culture.”

Rexanne Mullihan, area supervisor for Arby’s Restaurant Group, said the support from Opportunity Partners has been awesome. “They are here frequently in the beginning, helping out as needed and making sure that the new team member not only fits our needs, but that we fit their needs as well.

Individuals from Opportunity Partners clean tables in dining rooms, greet and thank guests and engage them in conversation as they become more comfortable. Beverage, condiment and napkin areas are cleaned. Team members from the nonprofit also fill orders, work with slicers and fryers.

Brunson's Pub, St. Paul, is a neighborhood gathering place where the community comes to enjoy delicious food and drink, said Jim Freeman, RDO Equipment, Ada employment services director for TSE, Inc. They employ eight people with disabilities, many Pub co-owner Tom LaFleche helps push supported by Options. A former high school teacher, individual staff members supported by TSE to their limits, she previously worked with special ed students in the because he understands what their limits are, said Freeman. classroom.

“They know they are part of the team and Tom and his staff Individuals work in all areas of the pizza and fried have a good relationship with our job coach, as well.” chicken establishment, said Bonine. There’s the “front TSE supports three individuals at the pub, two in of the house,” bussing, food service and dishwashing. cleaning positions and one as a dishwasher. A job coach Pizza Ranch Elk River She said the restaurant is very good at training, stops in daily to check on their progress and coordinate display a passion unrivaled for their jobs and for shoppers. identifying people’s strengths and areas of growth, with managers and staff.

“They come to work every day to make Target a better communication, problem solving and natural supports. The Even before the establishment opened in 2017, experience for the guest through helping ensure the store is latter refers to assistance from Pizza Ranch staff apart from LaFleche was exploring how he might employ people with stocked, as well as helping guests find items.” job coaches and other help provided by Options. disabilities. “It’s been a lifelong dream, not just to open a PRI calls the Target partnership a “competitive and Pizza Ranch, Monticello. “Pizza Ranch has been a restaurant and be successful, but to impact people’s lives integrated setting,” which means PRI team members are leader in taking on individuals with disabilities in terms in a positive way,” he said. hired directly by Target and work alongside other staff. PRI of hire and for different work experiences,” said Ashley Medtronic, Twin Cities. In providing community-based job coaches provide support. Raises are given annually, and Nordlie, placement services manager with Functional services to individuals with disabilities Rise has partnered the PRI team members all make considerably more than Industries, Buffalo. Nordlie said the restaurant does an with Medtronic for almost 40 years, said Nancy Hoff, Rise minimum wage. “impeccable” job of providing a successful environment senior sales and marketing representative. for individuals to thrive.

Dozens of individuals have served Medtronic in roles The restaurant has received many positive comments including office specialists, component assemblers, about staff members from Functional via its customer shipping, receiving and warehouse clerks, equipment reporting system, said General Manager Allison Swartzer. sterilizers and mini-truck delivery staff.

“The community rapport and positives from staff are out “Medtronic counts on Rise workers and considers us as of control. It’s been a great experience,” she said. “We never a ‘preferred/labor resource,’” said Hoff. The Fortune 500 thought about it, but (determined) we could totally do this. company also sends contract work to production locations It makes you think outside the box.” operated by Rise. Its teams build material return kits, The restaurant recently celebrated the retirement of a collate and assemble training kits and assemble mailings. staff member placed by Functional Industries who was Janice Grendahl has worked for more than 30 years in with them since they opened, for eight years. Another several different departments at Medtronic. “I am never person from Functional has a fan base of customers who bored and have loved my work, no matter where they ask ask for him regularly when they come in. me to work or what my job duties are,” said Grendahl. “I RDO Equipment, Ada. The Norman County DAC have learned a lot and know they like my work.” has worked with RDO equipment for seven years. Eight Mille Lacs Wild Rice Corporation. “Mille Lacs Wild individuals with disabilities currently work shifts at the Rice embodies a work environment of acceptance business. “RDO has made the lives of the people with and appreciation,” said Tammy Jo Johnson, executive disabilities we support more full, because they feel director of Aitkin County DAC. “All staff who work included, important, and part of a bigger purpose,” said there are treated equally.” The nearly 100-year-old Hiliary Chisholm, DAC executive director. business has a crew of six supported by the DAC. “When working at RDO, they are not a ‘client’ doing The group fills and weighs rice sacks, packs cases, ‘cleaning’ for the company. They are a friend, helping to labels items by hand and with equipment, heat seals, get a job done.” sorts and stacks product. They also assemble display RDO sells, maintains and repairs farm equipment and cases with rice box contents and handle cleaning duties. has customers from around the world. Located about 40 Aitkin County DAC provides a job coach for the crew Professionals who can assist minutes north of Fargo in the Red River Valley, the Ada who has taught members to be dedicated, focused and proud dealership is a medium-sized facility that is part of a larger of the work, Johnson said. There is fun and competition you in selection: company, said Store Manager Chris Willison. in the workday to exceed packaging goals. The supportive “We’ve had the same crew (from the DAC) for a while nonprofit also handles transportation for the crew. and they do a very good job,” said Willison. They clean the Mille Lacs Wild Rice staff and owners are in regular Mobility entire RDO facility, organize products on shelves, tidy up contact with team members to promote learning and Respiratory Care offices and perform other tasks. express appreciation for them.

Target, Edina.

Partnership Resources Inc. (PRI) has had Pizza Ranch, Elk River. “Pizza Ranch provides a very Specialty Beds & Mattresses teams of four individuals with disabilities and a job coach supportive and family-like atmosphere,” said Denel Bonine, at the Edina Target store since 1997. Terri Bauernfeind, PRI Bathroom Safety an employment specialist with Options in Big Lake. Pizza program director, said, “The PRI team has seniority and Ranch has employed many individuals with disabilities over Catheters & Continence longevity that is not usually found in retail. Every day, PRI its eight-year relationship with the nonprofit. team members know they are wanted and appreciated.”

“These guys are awesome,” said Denise McDonald, the Target Store Manager Richard Dean said PRI workers who owns the restaurant franchise with her husband, Rob.

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November 10, 2019 Volume 30, Number 11

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PEOPLE & PLACES New approach counters direct care shortage

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It’s 7:30 a.m. Enrique Castaùo, direct support professional at MSS St. Paul, an organization providing programs and support to people with intellectual and physical disabilities, is already hard at work, prepping for the day.

Today is a “programming day,â€? a new idea implemented by MSS to allow DSPs like CastaĂąo to break from their regular routine and join different clients in alternative activities or design their own programming for clients.

Staff retention is a huge challenge for organizations like MSS. Partly due to rising demand and stagnant wages, as well as the common perception that this kind of work is temporary, organizations providing care and programming for adults with developmental disabilities experience high rates of staff turnover.

CastaĂąo came to MSS through a fellowship program with Cow Tipping Press, a Twin Cities-based organization publishing work by authors with developmental disabilities and aspiring to change the way society views disability. “Among the disability community and disability services, it’s well known that there’s a workforce shortage,â€? said Bryan Boyce, the founder and executive director of Cow Tipping Press. “Getting people to even to apply for positions can be tough.â€?

Yet Cow Tipping Press might have the solution, or at least part of it.

In 2018, the Minnesota State Department of Human Services Direct Care/Support Workforce Initiative created a “strategic vision for tackling the crisis in the direct care and support workforce� with seven

Cow Tipping Fellows gather at Five Watt Coffee to discuss experiences and readings from the month. Fellows pictured from Left to Right: Ally Kann, Christina Brewer, Sohini Ghosh, Aarohi Narain, Enrique CastaĂąo. major recommendations. Recommendations include increasing wages, expanding the work pool, improving training, building job satisfaction, raising public awareness, better utilizing technological solutions and enhancing data collection.

Boyce took a more creative approach. He recently launched the Cow Tipping Fellowship, aiming to solve the problem by “reframing the role.�

It’s similar to an AmeriCorps model, recruiting employees by tapping into ideals of diversity and social justice, rather than hours and salary. Boyce finds this allows organizations to begin to attract a different profile of applicants.

In this first year of the program, Boyce successfully hired and coached five fellows - recent graduates from

SUBMITTED PHOTO

by Rachel Lieberman

the University of Minnesota, Macalester College in St. Paul and Grinnell College in Iowa. Fellows work full time as employees of Cow Tipping Press partners MSS, Lutheran Social Services, and Rise, and meet monthly to discuss assigned readings on disability history and justice.

By providing an environment of support and camaraderie, Boyce hopes to fill in some of the gaps behind the low retention rates in the field. “I’m continuing to figure out how to partner with management at the sites to help them do an even better job leveraging the skills and talents the fellows bring to the table,� he said.

The five inaugural Cow Tipping Fellows found great value in the program. “I’ve met fabulous people—both staff and the people we

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Minnesota DEED leaders and honorees celebrated employment of people with disabilities

Employers honored for hiring efforts Minnesota employers who have made exceptional efforts in hiring and retaining people with disabilities were honored at an Employers Hiring People with Disabilities Month event in October. The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) recognized the employers below for their efforts and invited them to share their hiring and

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November 10, 2019 Volume 30, Number 11

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Peavey Plaza

Peavey Plaza wins award for design The Cultural Landscape Foundation announced that the City of Minneapolis received the Foundation’s 2019 Stewardship Excellence Award for the rehabilitation of the modernist icon Peavey Plaza. The downtown plaza was originally designed by landscape architect M. Paul Friedberg. The award was given to Mayor Jacob Frey at an evening reception last month.

Peavey Plaza’s rehabilitation by Minneapolis-based landscape architecture firm Coen+Partners resulted in an innovative and sympathetic renewal of character-defining features of the revolutionary “park/plaza,” a term coined by its original designer, along with the introduction of new design elements, such as those needed to address accessibility. The plaza as originally designed lacked features for access for people with disabilities.

…because everyone has the right to enjoy life.

First conferred in 2001, the Stewardship Excellence Award is bestowed on a person, group, or agency that shares TCLF's mission of “connecting people to places.”

Past recipients of the Stewardship Excellence Award include individuals, nonprofit organizations, historic property stewards, and local and state municipalities.

The aim of the award is to highlight stewardship stories that will educate and inspire future generations of cultural landscape stewards.

The process toward the happy ending for Peavey Plaza came about after a 2012 lawsuit by TCLF and Rethos (formerly the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota) resulted in a settlement that halted demolition of the plaza. As part of the settlement, rehabilitation plans had to meet the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. The city hired Miller Dunwiddie Architecture and landscape architects Damon Farber to complete a Historic Structures Report documenting existing conditions.

This informed the $10 million rehabilitation project, funded by $4 million from the city, $2 million of state bonds, and $4 million from private donors.

Peavey Plaza was the first work by Friedberg listed in the National Register of Historic Places, an honor that was bestowed in 2013 when the plaza was only 38 years old—qualifying it as an “exceptionally important” site, a requirement for properties younger than 50 years.

“The successful rehabilitation of M. Paul Friedberg’s Peavey Plaza emphatically demonstrates how sympathetic change can be managed through sitespecific design solutions that insure both continuity of expression and wise stewardship,” said Charles A. Birnbaum, TCLF's president and CEO. Green Minneapolis is the non-profit conservancy that anchored the public-private partnership that made the rehabilitation effort possible. Green Minneapolis raised $4 million from the private sector that, when paired by funding from the City of Minneapolis and State of Minnesota, enabled the project to begin. Fundraising continues to raise the $2 million needed to fund an operating reserve. Green Minneapolis now operates and programs Peavey Plaza under contract with the City of Minneapolis.

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We want people with disabilities to live their best life. The vision of the Minnesota Olmstead Plan is that people with disabilities are living, learning, working and enjoying life in the most integrated setting.

Annually, people with disabilities, their families, and the public are invited to provide input on the Minnesota Olmstead Plan.

We want to know what you think is working well in our state and how we can make things better.

We are gathering comments by phone 651.296.9844, email: mnolmsteadplan@state.mn.us and at community listening sessions. For listening session dates, locations, and to learn about the Minnesota Olmstead Plan, visit: www.mn.gov/olmstead.

Deadline for providing comments for this initial round of public input is November 29, 2019.

November 10, 2019 Volume 30, Number 11 Pg 10

ENJOY! Changing of the guard Looking for a play, concert or musical with accommodations?

Although VSA Minnesota has closed its doors, other resources are available to plan that arts outing. Minnesota Access Alliance, which is affiliated with the Minnesota State Arts Board, has an online calendar listing online activities. Find the calendar and other resources at www.mnaccess.org Minnesota Access Alliance was formed after a group of arts and cultural administrators met through attendance at a Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disability (LEAD) conference put on by the Kennedy Center. After an initial information session at the Bell Museum drew more than 20 organizations- it was clear that there was interest in sharing knowledge and resources about accessibility. In the spring of 2017 a formal steering committee was formed, articles of incorporation drafted – and the group settled on a name: Minnesota Access Alliance.

Other programs have been rehomed. Services for artists with disabilities, including the Open Flow Forum gatherings, will be provided by Springboard for the Arts. Andy Sturdevant will be the contact, at 651-294-0907 or www.springboardforthearts.org School arts residencies for students with disabilities and teaching artists will be handled by Julie Strand at COMPAS, www.compas.org, 651-292-3249, 651-292-3254 Access Improvement Grants are now in the hands of the Metro Regional Arts Council: www.mrac.org, 651-645-0402; or Scott Artley, Accessibility Program Director, 651-523-6384.Accessibility assistance can be found through the Minnesota State Arts Board (www.arts. state.mn.us, 651-215-1600 or 800-866-2787), regional arts councils and disability organizations such as the Minnesota Council on Disabilities (www.disability.state.mn.us, 651-361-7800, 800-945-8913).

The Enjoy! Calendar will be evolving. Questions can be directed to Managing Editor Jane McClure at jane@accesspress.org A few tips Here’s a few tips for arts lovers with disabilities, especially as some families plan to attend holiday shows. Make reservations as early as possible and confirm that the accommodation needed is available at the time and date desired. Ask about the run time of a show, so that transportation or a pickup time may be scheduled.

Plan for parking and any walking distance to and from the venue if plans are made to drive there.

It’s always OK to ask if an accommodation can be offered, if one has not been advertised. Again, it’s best to make a request as far in advance as possible.

Sensory Friendly Sundays at the Walker Walker Art Center, 725 Vineland Place, Mpls, hosts Sensory Friendly Sundays, 8-11 a.m. Sun, Nov. 10 and Dec. 8. It is a monthly, free event for kids, teens and adults with autism spectrum disorder or sensory sensitivities and their families, offering the opportunity to make art together, explore the galleries, watch a short film, or just hang out in a different setting. The galleries will be closed to all other visitors, allowing guests to enjoy the museum in a safe environment where accommodations such as quiet spaces, headphones and fidgets can be provided. In order to ensure an optimal experience and avoid crowds, reserve space ahead of time online. This program was created in consultation with AuSM and the University of Minnesota’s Occupational Therapy Program. Upcoming dates Nov. 10 and Dec. 8.

FFI: 612-375-7610, www.walkerart.org Bakken Museum Sensory Friendly Sunday Bakken Museum, 3537 Zenith Ave S, Mpls. offers Sensory Friendly Sundays, 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. the second Sun of every month. Next dates are Nov. 10 and Dec. 8. The days allow people with autism spectrum disorders and sensory processing differences to have an enjoyable and interactive learning experience in a comfortable and accepting environment. Events will include modified programming for diverse sensory needs and specialized staff training. Bakken Museum is the world's only library and museum devoted to medical electricity. Its SF program was developed in consultation with AuSM. The museum will continue be open to the general public from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sun. Activities are free with museum admission, which starts at $10 for adults and includes discounts for children and seniors. FFI: www.thebakken.org Gallery tours in ASL Walker Art Center, 725 Vineland Place, Mpls, offers free gallery tours in ASL. Next dates are 6 p.m. Thu, Nov. 21. No reservations required. A different exhibit is viewed each time. FFI: 612-375-7564, www.walkerart.org/calendar/2019/gallery-tours-in-asl Science Museum Sensory Friendly Sundays Science Museum of Minnesota, 120 Kellogg Blvd. W., St. Paul, hosts Sensory Friendly Sundays, 9 a.m. Sun, Nov. 17. Early access to galleries, and a lights-up, sounds-down Omnitheater show, which starts at 9 a.m. Tickets $8.95 to $24.95. Discounts for individuals, families and groups with limited incomes and free for working direct support staff when visiting with a client. Other tools for making a museum visit successful for visitors with autism and other sensory processing issues include pre-visit social narratives available for download online, SF companion scripts for Omnitheater films, noisedampening headphones, SF visitors’ guide, and a renovated wellness room designed to give visitors a private, out-of-the-way space to nurse a child, pray or simply recharge away from the hustle and bustle of a busy museum. Located on Level 4 near the Native American exhibition, the room is outfitted with soft lighting, a door that locks, a changing table, rocking chair, and other seating. Ask at the exhibits entrance for sound dampening headphones, a timer, or a kit containing headphones, fidgets, gloves, and sunglasses. It is available to visitors on a first-come, first-served basis. The program was created in consultation with the Autism Society of Minnesota (AusM). FFI: 651221-9444 or 800-221-9444, www.smm.org A Christmas Carol Guthrie Theater presents the beloved Christmas story, at Guthrie Theater, Guthrie Theater, Wurtele Thrust Stage, 818 2nd St. S., Mpls.

A Christmas Carol is back at Guthrie theater. Information about accommodations is on this page.

ASL offered 1 p.m. Sat, Nov. 23 and 7:30 p.m. Wed, Dec. 4. Ad offered 1 p.m. Sat, Nov. 23 and 7:30 p.m. Wed, Dec. 4. OC offered 7 p.m. Sun, Dec. 1. Tickets reduced for accessible performance (regular $15-93).

FFI: 612-377-2224, www.guthrietheater.org Tour for People with Memory Loss At 10 a.m. on the first Tue of every month the historic James J. Hill House, 240 Summit Ave., St. Paul, offers a sensory-based tour designed for people with memory loss and their caregivers. Each themed tour, usually an hour or less, highlights three rooms and is followed by an optional social time until 11:30 a.m. with pastries and coffee. Private group tours available for care facilities. Next tour Tue, Dec. 3. Free but reservations required. FFI: 651-297-2555, www.mnhs.org Open Flow Forum The Artists with Disabilities Alliance meets the first Thu of the month, 7-9 p.m. at Walker Community Church, 3104 16th Ave. S., Mpls. Upcoming dates Thu, Dec. 5. Join artists with disabilities and supporters to share visual art, writing, music, theater and artistic efforts or disability concerns. Informal, fragrance-free, with shared refreshments. Facilitators are Dan Reiva, Tara Innmon, Andy Sturdevant and Kip Shane. The church is fully accessible. Anyone needing special accommodations should contact Springboard for the Arts, 651-2940907. Springboard is taking over the forum from VSA Minnesota and will be distributing the Open Flow notices and Artists’ Pipeline newsletter this fall. Current subscribers will still get information. There may be some small format changes to the look of the newsletter, but otherwise, it will cover the same news and information about artists with disabilities and making the arts accessible to people with disabilities. Submit listings via the Springboard for the Arts website, or by emailing resources@springboardforthearts.org Cinderella Children’s Theatre Company presents the classic fairy tale, Children’s Theatre Company, United Health Group Stage, 2400 3rd Ave. S., Minneapolis. AD and ASL offered 7 p.m. Friday, December 6 and 5 p.m.

Sun, Dec. 15. SF offered 7 p.m. Fri, Jan. 3. SF performances provide a supportive and welcoming environment for children and families affected by autism spectrum disorders and other sensory, social, and cognitive disabilities. Features include reduction of loud or jarring sounds, reductions in flashing or strobe lights, modification of the house lights, audience members are free to talk or move during the show, extra staff and volunteer support, designated quiet room and take a break space, and guidance and sensory supports (fidgets, earplugs, noise cancelling ear-muffs) available in the lobby before the show.

Audience members are welcome to bring their own manipulatives, seat cushions, comfort objects and extra support items to the show.

Families may select their own seats. If special assistance or a buffer seat is needed, call 612-874-0400 or email access@childrenstheatre. org. For pre-visit resources, go to www.childrenstheatre.org/plan/ sensory-friendly-programming. Children’s Theatre Company uses dynamic ticket pricing. To reserve ASL/AD seating, visit: https:// my.childrenstheatre.org and click on the ASL or AD link at the bottom of the page. Assistive listening devices, induction loop system, Braille programs and sensory tours available upon request. Discounts available. FFI: 612-874-0400, www.childrenstheatre.org Snow White Children’s Theatre Company presents a unique adaptation of the classic fairy tale, at Children’s Theatre Company, Cargill Stage, 2400 3rd Ave. S., Mpls. AD and ASL offered 7 p.m. Fri, Nov. 1. SF offered 7 p.m. Fri, Dec. 6. SF performances provide a supportive and welcoming environment for children and families affected by autism spectrum disorders and other sensory, social, and cognitive disabilities. Features include reduction of loud or jarring sounds, reductions in flashing or strobe lights, modification of the house lights, audience members are free to talk or move during the show, extra staff and volunteer support, designated quiet room and take a break space, and guidance and sensory supports (fidgets, earplugs, noise cancelling ear-muffs) available in the lobby before the show. Audience members are welcome to bring their own manipulatives, seat cushions, comfort objects and extra support items to the show. Families may select their own seats.

If special assistance or a buffer seat is needed, call 612-874-0400 or email access@childrenstheatre.org. For pre-visit resources, go to www. childrenstheatre.org/plan/sensory-friendly-programming. Children’s Theatre Company uses dynamic ticket pricing. To reserve ASL/AD seating, visit: https://my.childrenstheatre.org and click on the ASL or AD link at the bottom of the page. Assistive listening devices, induction loop system, Braille programs and sensory tours available upon request.

Discounts available. FFI: 612-874-0400, www.childrenstheatre.org Sanders Family Christmas Commonweal Theatre Company presents a musical about Christmas Eve 194 in small-town North Carolina, at Commonweal Theatre, 208 Parkway Ave. N., Lanesboro. AD offered 1:30 p.m. Sun, Dec. 8. Ask for a noon pre-show tactile tour, pre-show at 1:10 p.m. Two-week notice requested for a Braille program. Five-week notice requested for ASL interpreting. Assistive listening devices available at the box office; special seating available for persons with mobility issues. Tickets reduced to $15 for AD and ASL patrons (regular $35). Other discounts available. FFI: 507-467-2525, www.commonwealtheatre.org Ever After An Ordway original musical and modern take on the Cinderella story is presented at Ordway Music Theater, 345 Washington, St. Paul. ASL and AD offered 2 p.m. Sat, Dec. 14. OC offered 7:30 p.m. Thu, Dec. 19.

Braille, large-print programs and infrared listening systems available at Patron Services in Ordway’s first level lobby. If using ASL or OC, recommended seating locations (subject to availability) are ORCH-RGT G 307-310, ORCH-RGT H 308-311, ORCH-RGT J 309-312. FFI: 651-2244222, www.ordway.org Abbreviations: AD is audio described, ASL is American Sign Language, OC is open captioning and SF is sensory friendly.

Steel Magnolias Now – Dec 15

by ROBERT HARLING directed by LISA ROTHE Sponsored by

A Christmas Carol Nov 12 – Dec 29

by CHARLES DICKENS adapted by CRISPIN WHITTELL directed by LAUREN KEATING

612.377.2224 • accessibility@guthrietheater.org www.guthrietheater.org/access

November 10, 2019 Volume 30, Number 11 Pg 11

OPPORTUNITIES Changes for Social Security, Medicare Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for nearly 69 million Americans will increase 1.6 percent in 2020, the Social Security Administration has announced.

The 1.6 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will begin with benefits payable to more than 63 million Social Security beneficiaries in January 2020. Increased payments to more than 8 million SSI beneficiaries will begin on December 31.

(Some people receive both Social Security and SSI benefits). The Social Security Act ties the annual COLA to the increase in the Consumer Price Index as determined by the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Some other adjustments that take effect in January of each year are based on the increase in average wages. Based on that increase, the maximum amount of earnings subject to the Social Security tax (taxable maximum) will increase to $137,700 from $132,900.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Apply for scholarship Get Up Stand Up to Cure Paralysis is offering two adaptive fitness scholarships, of $2,500 each. Applications are due Nov. 30 for these first-time awards. The two scholarships will be awarded in January 2020. Individuals living with spinal cord injury in the Upper Midwest (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, North Dakota, and South Dakota) are eligible to apply. Additional eligibility requirements and scholarship details are within the application. The scholarship is offered thanks to generous donors. FFI: www.gusu2cure.org Networking and support The Autism Society of Minnesota (AuSM) Professional Networking Group meetings bring together mental health professionals who provide support to individuals on the autism spectrum together to learn. Each meeting will focus on a topic, such as therapeutic alliance, support services, or other problem-solving challenges.

An AuSM counseling and consulting services staff member will present a case example and then facilitate an open group discussion for sharing relevant cases. Troubleshoot challenges and learn from other professionals. All meetings are held from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at AuSM's office, 2380 Wycliff St. #102, St. Paul.

Upcoming dates include Nov. 18, Jan. 27 and March 23. RSVP. FFI: autismcounseling@ausm.org, 651-647-1083

CHILDREN AND FAMILIES Free Youth Mental Health First Aid Course in St. Paul NAMI Minnesota (National Alliance on Mental Illness) will hold a free Youth Mental Health First Aid training course 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Fri, Nov. 22 at NAMI Minnesota, 1919 University Ave. W., Suite 400, St. Paul. The course is designed to teach participants the risk factors and warning signs of mental health problems in adolescents, build understanding of the importance of early intervention, and teach individuals how to help a youth in crisis or experiencing a mental health or substance use challenge. Participants will also learn a five-step action plan to support an adolescent developing signs and symptoms of a mental illness or emotional crisis. Preregistration required. FFI: 651-645-2948, www.namimn.org PACER workshop sampling PACER Center offers many useful free or low-cost workshops and other resources for families of children with any disabilities.

Workshops are at PACER Center, 8161 Normandale Blvd., Bloomington, unless specified. Workshops are offered throughout the state, with some workshops available online. Advance registration is required for all workshops. At least 48 hours’ notice is needed for interpretation. Many workshops are live-streamed.

Check out PACER’s website and link to the newsletter of statewide workshops that allows participants to pick and choose sessions designed for their needs. FFI: FFI: 952-838-9000, www.pacer.org Preparing for your Loved One’s Future is offered 6:30-8:30 p.m. Thu, Nov. 14 at PACER Center. Guest Speaker Julie Sherman from Thrivent Financial, along with Cathryn Reher, Attorney with Long, Reher, Hanson, & Price, P.A., will discuss financial and legal strategies in light of available government benefits and the interplay

with special and supplemental needs trusts. A light dinner with the guest speakers will take place at 6 p.m. before the workshop.

Tech for Teens Club: Building Websites is offered 10 a.m.-noon Sat, Nov. 16 at PACER Center. The workshop will introduce teens with disabilities to the basics of coding for the internet. Students will create their own unique website and publish it online. This workshop is designed for students with basic computer skills, but no previous coding knowledge is required. Students of all abilities are encouraged to attend.

Planning for Transition to Adulthood Workshop Series: ABCs of the Individualized Education Program (IEP) for Transitionage Students and Their Parents is offered 6-8 p.m. Thu, Nov. 21 in Chanhassen. The workshop helps parents and students in 8th grade and above understand how to use the Individualized Education Program (IEP) to support the transition to adulthood. Students can register separately for their own workshop where they will have the opportunity to talk about what transition means to them, learn about the laws that support transition, get to know their IEP better, and create a self-advocacy tool.

INFO & ASSISTANCE Suicide Survivors' Club story portrait workshop The Suicide Survivors’ Club founders developed a workshop inspired by their Suicide Survivors’ Club book series. The workshop will help attendees get validation for the ups and downs of how life changes after the suicide of a family member; understand how visual storytelling can help families after their loss, and use images provided by the facilitator to tell your loss story and aid in the healing process. Attendees will also receive a copy of the book set to use as a healing tool on their own, with a therapist or in a support group. This workshop, for ages 18 and older, is 6:30-8:30 p.m. Mon, Nov. 11 at the FamilyMeans Center for Grief & Loss, 1129 Grand Ave, St. Paul. FFI: Cat or Hayley, 651-645-2948, www.namimn.org MCIL hosts classes and activities The Metropolitan Center for Independent Living provides many life skills classes as well as fun outings and events for people with disabilities. MCIL is at 530 N. Robert Street, St Paul and most activities are there or start there. Classes and events are listed on the website, www.mcil-mn.org. Click on “Classes Groups and Sessions” for updated information or to print their calendar.

Please give two weeks’ notice if the alternative format or other accommodations are needed. Events are free, accessible and mostly scent-free. FFI: 651-603-2030 Classes and support in Sauk Rapids Independent Lifestyles, Inc., 215 North Benton Dr., Sauk Rapids, offers many groups and classes, for free or a small fee. These include advocates for independence, post-polio and Parkinson’s support groups, and sports including bowling. Learn self-dense and improve fitness with adapted martial arts and Tae Guk Known Do. Wear loose clothing and bring a bottle of water. The classes are on Fridays unless there is a holiday. Scott Ridlon is instructor. FFI: 320267-7717, 320-281-2042 Mental health support offered NAMI Minnesota offers more than 500 free educational classes and

Prevention of abuse is focus The Ombudsman for Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities, with support from the Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities, announces a campaign to prevent abuse of people with disabilities. The Prevention of Abuse Campaign is available for review and can be accessed at treatpeoplelikepeople.org Abuse can take many forms, from disinterest to mistreatment and pain. Adults with disabilities are three times more likely to experience violent victimization. In 2018, vulnerable adults in Minnesota were subjected to 10,435 reported incidents of emotional abuse alone.

The Treat People Like People campaign was designed to raise awareness of abuse and neglect of people with disabilities and to educate people with disabilities and their families and guardians, and the general public on how to identify, report and respond to abuse of people with disabilities.

The campaign highlights the value and dignity of each person living with a disability. Materials were co-created with people with disabilities, their family members, advocates and professional in a policy and care provision. We thank them all for their generosity of time spent to make this campaign a reality.

Having a disability often means trusting those who provide their support and care. Too often, that trust can be violated with words or actions. It’s a real problem, with a real solution. One that begins with each of us. Together, Minnesotans can stop abuse. The website offers tools and resources for those providing care or support and to empower those with disabilities.

Social Security and SSI beneficiaries are normally notified by mail in early December about their new benefit amount. Most people who receive Social Security payments will be able to view their COLA notice online through their my Social Security account. People may create or access their my Social Security account online at www. socialsecurity.gov/myaccount.

Information about Medicare changes for 2020 are at www.medicare.gov. For Social Security beneficiaries receiving Medicare, Social Security will not be able to compute their new benefit amount until after the Medicare premium amounts for 2020 are announced. Final 2020 benefit amounts will be communicated to beneficiaries in December through the mailed COLA notice and my Social Security’s Message Center.

The Social Security Act provides for how the COLA is calculated. To read more, please visit www. socialsecurity.gov/cola.

presentations statewide each year, along with help in navigating the mental health system. NAMI also has more than 70 free support groups for people living with a mental illness and their families.

In the Twin Cities NAMI has about two dozen family support groups, more than 20 support groups for people living with a mental illness, anxiety support groups, groups for veterans and other groups. Led by trained facilitators, groups provide help and support. Parent resource groups are facilitated by a parent who has a child with a mental illness and who has been trained to lead support groups. A group meets 6:30-8 p.m. on the second and fourth Monday at Eagle Brook Church, 2401 East Buffalo St., White Bear Lake. FFI: Jody Lyons 651-645-2948 x109.

Family support groups help families who have a relative with a mental illness. A group meets at 6:30 p.m. the second and fourth Wed at Centennial United Methodist Church, 1524 Co. Rd. C-2 West, Roseville. FFI: Anne Mae. 651-484-0599.

Open Door Anxiety and Panic support groups help people cope with anxiety disorders. One group meets 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. the second and fourth Thu in Room 104, Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, 700 Snelling Ave. S., St. Paul. Another group meets 6:30-8 p.m. the first and third Thu at Woodland Hills Church, 1740 Van Dyke St., St. Paul.

A peer support group is offered for LGBTQ adults living with a mental illness. The group meets 1-2:30 p.m. Sat, Living Table United Church of Christ, 3805 E. 40th St, Mpls. FFI: David, 612-920-3925, 651-645-2948.

Young Adult NAMI Connection is a free support group for persons ages 16-20. One group meets 7-8:30 the first and third Thu at Friends Meeting House, 1725 Grand Ave., St. Paul. A group also meets 7-8:30 p.m. on the first and third Thu at Dental Office of Dr. Crandall & Associates, 2300 East Highway 96, White Bear Lake. The group is facilitated by young adults who live with mental illnesses and are doing well in recovery. A full calendar of all events is offered online. FFI: 651-645-2948, www.namihelps.org Vision loss group offers activities Vision Loss Resources provides free and low-cost activities in the Twin Cities for people who are blind or visually impaired. Check out the newly redone website, accessible on smartphones, tablets, and laptops. Life skills classes for those with low vision; card games, craft classes, book clubs, walking groups, dinners out, special outings and technology classes are among the offerings.

Participants need to RVSP to participate, at least three working days prior to an event. The calendar is also available on the Vision Loss Resources website and as a printable large-print PDF document for those who wish to print their own or additional copies.

FFI: RSVP hotline, 612-843-3439; activity line and audio calendar, 612-253-5155, www.visionlossresources.org St. Cloud Area Parkinson's Disease group St. Could Area Parkinson’s Disease Support Group typically meets 1-2 p.m. third Mon of each month at ILICIL Independent Lifestyles, 215 N. Benton Dr., Sauk Rapids. Meetings are open to those diagnosed with Parkinson’s, their families, caregivers and the general public. The free group provides support, education, and awareness about the disease. FFI: 320-529-9000

OPPORTUNITIES To page 15

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November 10, 2019 Volume 30, Number 11 Pg 12

Use MinnesotaCare or Medicare? Deadlines are approaching

SHORTAGE From page 8

serve—and developed really important and meaningful relationships with them,” said Sohini Ghosh, one of the fellows.

Fellow Ally Kann said, “This work has also been really humbling. I've been sitting behind a desk writing papers for four years. In this fellowship, you realize that this work is something school never could have prepared you for but is just as challenging and just as important.”

The fellows also said that entering into organizations that have certain established norms, and trying newer, perhaps more just approaches to working with people with disabilities, can be hard. Cow Tipping Press, said Castaño, teaches person-centered work, and then “gives places like MSS an opportunity to work with younger staff who can model more person-centered work:

DONATE From page 1

master's degree in social work. I helped many to realize their dreams of a vibrant and fulfilling life.

As our regular featured History Note documents, much has changed for the better. Our pages profile the lives and challenges of people instrumental in the movement of our community toward inclusion and civil rights. As advocates we are informed of events and resources.

But we live in a time of retrenchment. For increasing numbers of Americans, people with disabilities represent “canaries in the coal mine.” Hearing the telling of our stories is a gift to America at large.

Prevailing wisdom must be questioned. In The Wounded Storyteller, the Canadian anthropologist Arthur Frank cites Audre Lord, “My silence had not protected me, your

HIRING From page 8

openings at their companies. Some employers offer new employees a trial period in which to try different jobs and find the best fit. Others provide flexibility so that people can arrange work schedules to accommodate their transportation or other needs.

The companies were also asked to share their reflections on the intangible benefits their businesses have experienced as a result of hiring employees with disabilities. The employers noted that hiring people with disabilities has created a more diverse culture, with all employees learning to look at work and processes from a different perspective. One employer noted that people with disabilities have brought joy and kindness to the workplace.

They also shared how their businesses have reaped very tangible results of employing people with disabilities. One example: decreased employee turnover and increased company loyalty. One manufacturing employer at the event noted how his business saw the turnover rate in one department fall from 72 percent to 7% percent because of a

Minnesotans who rely on MinnesotaCare for affordable health care coverage should complete their annual renewal form by December 15 to ensure coverage into the New Year. The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) has mailed MinnesotaCare renewal forms to more than 54,000 households throughout the state. These members must verify their continued eligibility for the

allowing more choice and giving more voice to a person so they can have input in what’s going on.”

Managers at the partner organizations have been impressed with their fellows’ performance, praising their “energy and dependability,” their “integrity and work ethic,” and describing fellows as “dedicated, passionate, and industrious.”

Castaño plans to pursue a career in the field. “I’ve enjoyed doing exercise classes with the MSS clients,” he said, “and, in the future, I plan to go into physical therapy, and specialize in working with people with disabilities.”

At the start of this second year of the fellowship, Cow Tipping press has hired 11 fellows, more than doubling the program. “I don’t think we’re a silver bullet to the problem, but we’re part of the silver buckshot. Systems are made up of people. New people help create new systems,” said Boyce.

Enrique Castaño gathers items from around MSS that he plans to use in a game with clients, based on the TV Game show, ‘The Price is Right.’ By helping clients learn what everyday items cost, he teaches them about pricing and budgeting.

silence will not protect you.”

As a person with cerebral palsy, I find hope within the pages of Access Press. Nowhere else does one find detailed coverage of legislative action, an overview of regional events, editorial opinion and articles from diverse members of our community. Detailed accounts matter in the development and implementation of policy. The shortage of personal care attendants and proper medical care lead to life-threatening infections. Individual education plans without required measurable specific outcomes leave children with disabilities and their parents with a patchwork of empty promises. The role of the press is to hold institutions accountable.

The allocation of public resources diminishes with the rise in recent years of rugged individualism. Social Darwinism results in diminished opportunity and even death for those considered less fit.

Fear of economic and social marginalization animates

greater focus on hiring people with disabilities — and another employer stressed that the minimal costs of accessibility accommodations are far less expensive than turnover costs.

DEED Commissioner Steve Grove and Assistant Commissioner for Workforce Services Carol Pankow also asked the employers what DEED could do to better support businesses in hiring people with disabilities.

We’ll share feedback gathered at this event after we’ve had a chance to compile and analyze all the great input we received.

Honored employers are: American Engineering Testing, Inc., Boston Scientific, Caddie U, Children's Hospital and Clinics, Cub Foods, Delaware North, Ecolab, Enterprise, Fed Ex, Hyatt Hotel, HyVee Inc., JEM Technical, Kwik Trip, Larson Engineering, Inc., Mackin Educational Resources, Mayo Clinic, Medica, Minneapolis VA Health Care System, MN Department of Transportation, MnIT, Pitney Bowes, S & L Cleaning, Second Swing, Shutterfly, MN Attorney General’s Office, Touchstone Mental Health, Travelers Insurance.

health care program to continue their coverage in 2020.

After members return the renewal form, DHS will notify them by mail if their coverage is renewed, if they need to provide additional information or if they are no longer eligible for the program.

DHS wants to ensure a smooth renewal process for Minnesotans seeking affordable comprehensive coverage through MinnesotaCare, Commissioner Jodi Harpstead said.

“We need to remind the Minnesotans we serve of this important end-of-year deadline, so they continue to receive consistent care,” Harpstead said. “We ask MinnesotaCare members to return their renewal form for processing as quickly as possible to maintain their MinnesotaCare coverage without interruption.”

MinnesotaCare pays for a variety of services like doctor visits, prescriptions and hospital stays. MinnesotaCare members pay no more than $80 per person per month in premiums and have very low out-of-pocket costs. MinnesotaCare provides health care coverage to more than 83,000 Minnesotans who earn too much to qualify for Medical Assistance but whose annual incomes are at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty guidelines. (A family of three may have income up to $42,660 per year.)

Answers to frequently asked questions are available at mn.gov/dhs/health-care/renewal, which also features a video and a checklist to walk members through the renewal process. DHS has added temporary staff to handle calls to the MinnesotaCare help line, 800-657-3672 or 651-297-3862, which is answered from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Monday-Friday. Members should wait two weeks after returning their renewal form before calling DHS to find out the status of their renewal. This helps to ensure that DHS can answer their questions.

SUBMITTED PHOTO

For people who rely on MinnesotaCare or Medicare, two important deadlines are coming up.

Medicare open enrollment began October 15, and runs through Saturday, December 7. With it comes the opportunity for beneficiaries to make changes to their Medicare Advantage and Part D plans, if they choose to. The Minnesota Board on Aging’s Senior LinkAge Line can help Minnesotans on Medicare navigate changes and ensure they have a plan Jan. 1 that meets their needs.

Each year brings changes to Medicare rules and regulations and to the plans themselves. This year’s most notable change is the revamping of Medicare’s Plan Finder tool, which people use to enroll in or change Medicare plans. Medicare has completely revamped this online tool to provide a better, more personalized user experience. In most cases, users should create, and log in to, a MyMedicare account to do a personalized search. This allows the user to access their current coverage and compare that with other plans.

“Even if you’re happy with your current coverage, it’s still a good idea to review all of your options, said Kari Benson, executive director of the Minnesota Board on Aging.

“It’s important to make sure that things that are important to you, including your prescriptions, are still covered and that the plan is affordable and lets you access to the doctors, clinics and pharmacies you prefer.”

Minnesota has more than one million people on Medicare, and that number is growing. The Senior LinkAge Line helps Minnesotans understand Medicare and explore their options by providing unbiased, comprehensive Medicare counseling. Reach them by calling 1-800-333-2433 or go to SeniorLinkAgeLine.com, click on “contact us” and select “chat” Monday – Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

people across the political spectrum. Stories provide the possibility of creating resonance and common purpose and a reinvigoration of the American dream of inclusion and opportunity.

Adlai Stevenson described patriotism as the slow, steady dedication of a lifetime. The landscape of the media is changing. Your donations to Access Press help ensure that our voices continue to be taken seriously. To donate is to invest in ourselves.

John Clark is a member of the Access Press Board of Directors.

November 10, 2019 Volume 30, Number 11 Pg 13

PEOPLE & PLACES Companies are honored, see value of workers with disabilities opportunities for the people it serves. “We are grateful for their role in enhancing the quality of life for people with disabilities.”

Produce distributor H. Brooks of New Brighton is the other honoree. H. Brooks distributes produce using a ProAct crew for sorting, quality control and packaging at its facility. Manufacturing Manager Steve Elsberry said the crews are prompt and dependable.

ProAct also sends supervisors to assist.

On weekdays, individuals from ProAct quality check fresh fruits and vegetables, sort and shrink wrap them. ProAct Community Employment Manager Jessica Gruber said the lead person in the coolers area of the H. Brooks warehouse works closely with the individuals with disabilities.

The longer commute is worth it for the steady crew of three, Gruber. Individuals wear appropriate clothing for the cold environment and work side-by-side with H. Brooks employees.

Elsberry said that inclusion is important.

Some from ProAct may be working on their own tasks, but they are near other staff members from the company. Every precaution is taken for safety, the manager said.

ProAct also picks up some of the training responsibilities with its crew to handle food and comply with food safety rules, which saves the company time, said Elsberry. “The group is generally in high spirits, so smiles bring an uplift to the other workers as well.”

“They are a wonderful example of people who work closely with us to provide opportunities for the people we serve,” said Ditschler. “We are grateful for their role in enhancing the quality of life for people with disabilities.”

Mental health program receives grant

Resource book focuses on paralysis

Open Your Heart to the Hungry and Homeless has granted People Incorporated with $9,993 to serve more individuals experiencing homelessness and staying on the streets.

Funding from Open Your Heart will provide People Incorporated with street outreach supplies. People Incorporated is the largest non-profit organization in Minnesota specializing in community-based mental health services.

People Incorporated Outreach engages individuals with the highest barriers, and helps them access the appropriate services that fit their individualized needs. In 2018, People Incorporated staff made 1,572 total contacts and provided full case management for 81 total clients. With street outreach supplies, People Incorporated can help individuals experiencing homelessness with basic needs in the short term and help street outreach workers build relationships to provide more long-term services.

Open Your Heart looks for gaps in funding of services based on geographic or demographic considerations and reaches out to agencies serving those communities. They support programs in communities where many traditional funders do not reach – volunteer run domestic violence shelters, homeless programs in sparsely served remote corners of the state, inner city programs dedicated to serving the poorest among us, and hunger programs serving clientele with special needs. Their primary goal is to ensure that front line providers of crisis services have the tools, equipment, and infrastructure necessary to carry out their work.

Grants are awarded on a bi-monthly basis and are considered only through the application process.

MnDOT CAV Challenge wins top award

Minnesotans with disabilities who are interested in self-driving vehicles will be pleased to learn that the state has won national honors for its efforts toward transportation solutions. The National Association of State Procurement Officials awarded its Cronin Award to the Minnesota Department of Administration’s Office of State Procurement and the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) for their new and innovative procurement process for connected and automated vehicle technology.

Automated vehicles use technology to steer, accelerate, and brake with little to no human input. Connected vehicles use technology to either communicate with each other, connect with traffic signals, signs, and other road items, or obtain data from a cloud. This information exchange will help with safety and improve traffic flow.

The award winning Connected and Automatic Vehicle (CAV) Challenge streamlines the procurement process and allows vendors to easily submit the rapidly-evolving technologies associated with CAV. The new and innovative process ensures MnDOT can be a leader in testing and trying out the latest CAV technology.

“The CAV Challenge is a true collaboration amongst state agencies and is a model for other public organizations in the state,” noted Kristin White, Executive Director of MnDOT’s Office of Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAV-X). “By promoting these types of creative programs, the state is showing that through strategic

problem-solving, we can be responsive to the public’s needs, industry priorities and truly promote a safer and more equitable transportation system.”

The new and flexible CAV Challenge preserves the values of fair and open competition in the procurement process while fostering innovation as MnDOT procures CAV technology. The process is open for vendors to apply anytime and proposals are reviewed every month, removing many barriers in the process for vendors and state agencies.

“Collaborating with our partners and understanding their goals helps Admin develop creative solutions that help make our agency partners successful,” said Minnesota Department of Administration Commissioner Alice Roberts-Davis. “The CAV challenge allows us to rapidly adapt to changing technology while preserving the oversight and integrity Minnesotans expect in state purchasing.”

The Cronin Award recognizes outstanding state procurement initiatives that are innovative, reduce costs, promote continuous improvement, and can be used by other states or organizations. Cronin awardees and finalists share best practices and resources to improve contracting nationwide, promote public trust, cost savings, and collaboration.

To learn more about the Minnesota’s CAV program and benefits of the emerging technology: www.dot.state. mn.us/automated/index.html

SUBMITTED PHOTO

Two Minnesota companies were honored by Eagan-based ProAct, Inc. as Business Partners of the year. The awards highlight the importance of employer partnerships to improve the lives of people with disabilities. The winners are honored annually at recognition banquets.

Design n Bloom, a family-owned florist in Eagan, is one honoree. Design n Bloom has provided special flower arrangements for nearly 20 years. It hired several individuals from ProAct to help operate the shop that produces its decorative and aromatic creations.

Gayle Kenow is the owner. Her husband Steve, who assists with the business as well as working at his own job, spoke about the individuals from ProAct who work for the florist.

“There’s an enthusiasm for getting the job done, no matter what it is. We want to applaud all of you for that,” said Steve Kenow. “Finding employees who come to work on time, happy to be there and excited is rare these days. It’s just a joy to be able to be part of this and know that everyone has something to contribute. Thank you.”

Gayle Kenow said her home-based flower The owners of Design in Bloom celebrated their MOHR Award. business saw changes after flower shops in the area began closing. “We’ve been growing, that’s for sure,” she said. She began the business in 2001.

Anna Cahak said Kenow recognizes the strengths of Several individuals from ProAct help with cleaning, individuals from ProAct and supports them in their floral wrapping, and organization. There are job employment goals. “She provides continued partnership coaches, as well, and Steve Kenow sometimes assists and outstanding support of employment opportunities with deliveries in the evening. for individuals looking to gain community Gayle Kenow said treats others the way she wants employment,” said Cahak. to be treated. “We’re all a team here,” said Kenow.

ProAct President and CEO Steve Ditschler said “Those who come here are so considerate. We’ve never partners like Design n Bloom are wonderful examples had any worries.” who work closely with the nonprofit to provide ProAct Employment Development Manager

Get Up Stand Up to Cure Paralysis has published a resource book. The Upper Midwest Spinal Cord Injury Resource Guide is now available in digital form, at www.gusu2cure.org The book is almost 150 pages long. It provides a wealth of information about the array of organizations and services available, including the Minnesota Spinal Cord Injury Association, mental and physical health resources, a checklist for those leaving rehab, legal rights, sports programs and much more. The guide was edited by Sam Maddox.

Get Up Stand Up To Cure Paralysis (GUSU) is a nonprofit organization in Minnesota working to unite, educate and support those dealing with spinal cord injuries and to advocate for research and the restoration of function. The organization advocates for research, promotes community involvement, offers one-onone mentoring, promotes adaptive fitness and hosts monthly peer group meetings.

November 10, 2019 Volume 30, Number 11 Pg 14

Polar Plungers start time of chills, thrills

RADIO TALKING BOOK

Books available through library services Books available through library services Books broadcast on the Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network are available through the Minnesota Braille and Talking Book Library in Faribault. The catalog is online at www.mnbtbl.org, click on the link Search the Library Catalog. Persons living outside of Minnesota may obtain copies of books via an inter-library loan by contacting their home state’s Network Library for the National Library Service.

Listen to the Minnesota Radio Talking Book, either live or archived programs, on the Internet at www.mnssb. org/rtb or on handheld devices via the SERO app (iOS or Android). Call the Talking Book Library for a password to the site. To find more information about Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network events go to the Facebook site, Minnesota Radio Talking Book. Call 1-800-7220550, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mon through Fri with questions.

Audio information about the daily book listings is also on the National Federation for the Blind (NFB) Newsline.

Register for the NFB Newsline by calling 651-539-1424.

Access Press is featured on It Makes a Difference, 9 p.m. Sun. The sampling published monthly in Access Press doesn’t represent the full array of programming. Many more programs and books are available.

Donate to the State Services for the Blind at mn.gov/ deed/ssbdonate Chautauqua* Monday – Friday 6 a.m.

The Yugo, nonfiction by Jason Vuic, 2010. The story of the Yugo, an eastern European import car that gained an infamous reputation in the 1980s. Read by Jim Gregorich. Nine broadcasts; begins Thu, Nov. 14.

In Pursuit of Memory, nonfiction by Joseph Jebelli, 2017. Neuroscientist Joseph Jebelli theorizes that Alzheimer’s disease may be eradicated soon. Read by Pat Muir. 11 broadcasts; begins Wed, Nov. 27.

Past is Prologue* Monday – Friday 11 a.m.

Black Flags, Blue Waters, nonfiction by Eric Jay Dolin, 2018. Historian Eric Jay Dolin describes the Golden Age of Piracy in the 17th and 18th centuries. Read by Stevie Ray. 13 broadcasts; begins Wed, Nov. 20.

f

In Memoriam f

Turnbull was longtime administrator Charles “Charlie” Turnbull is remembered for his decades of work in service to people with disabilities and his pioneering efforts to start day activity centers. Turnbull, died of pancreatic cancer October 16. He was 86 and lived in St. Peter.

Turnbull spent his early years in Minneapolis before his family moved to Constance. He graduated from Anoka High School in 1951. He served in the United States Marine Corp before attending the University of Minnesota for his bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

He had a long career designing and implementing service delivery for persons with intellectual disabilities. Turnbull was the first person in Minnesota appointed to run a state hospital who was not a doctor.

He worked at Cambridge State Hospital as a unit director from 1962-1967, and then as the director of rehabilitation therapies from 1967-1968. In 1968, Turnbull accepted appointment to the position of program director of the Minnesota Valley Social Adaptation Center, a 400bed facility in St. Peter. There his team of professionals used a multidisciplinary approach in the design of therapies, supports, and day activity center services for residents over the period of 1968-1973.

During those years he also served as program consultant to the Rochester Social Adaptation Center, from 19701971, and program director at Cambridge State Hospital.

In 1974 he became chief executive officer at the 160-bed Faribault State Hospital, running that facility until 1984.

He left there to oversee the Minnesota Veterans Hospitals in Minneapolis and Hastings. After retiring from state service Turnbull and his family owned and operated a Faribault-based real estate firm.

He was a consultant to projects in other states. In Minnesota Turnbull is remembered as one of the people behind the creation of day activity centers, that provided full time training for people with disabilities.

Turnbull was active in DFL politics, unsuccessfully seeking election to the U.S. House of Representatives Second Congressional District seat in 1972 and 1974.

He had many civic involvements and helped establish the River Bend Nature Center in Faribault. He and his wife Gloria “Marlene” Tilley Turnbull also ran a resort for several years. The couple had four children, and also raised nine foster daughters.

The Turnbulls lived in Minnesota, Idaho and Florida before returning to Minnesota.

He was preceded in death by his wife. Turnbull is survived by his children and their spouses, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Services have been held.

Bookworm* Monday – Friday noon The Price of Time, fiction by Tim Tigner, 2019. Would it be a blessing or curse to find the Fountain of Youth?

While executives keep this discovery under wraps, investigator Zachary Chase becomes an unwitting threat to their secret. Read by Peter Danbury. 11 broadcasts; begins Mon, Nov. 18. - L The Writer’s Voice* Monday – Friday 1 p.m.

The Matriarch, nonfiction by Susan Page, 2019.

Barbara Bush’s personal story reveals her as a fascinating, down-to-earth woman who held her own in a man’s world. Read by Jan Anderson. 16 broadcasts; begins Tues, Nov. 19.

Choice Reading* Monday – Friday 2 p.m.

Swede Hollow, fiction by Ola Larsmo, 2019. Families emigrate from Sweden to a community in St. Paul, Minnesota in the late 19th century. Read by Carol McPherson. 15 broadcasts; begins Thu, Nov. 28.

Afternoon Report* Monday – Friday 4 p.m.

Fault Lines, nonfiction by Kevin M. Kruse and Julian E. Zelizer, 2019. Two history professors examine US politics from 1974, a watershed year marked by President Nixon’s resignation. Read by Greg Olson. 16 broadcasts; begins Mon, Nov. 18.

Night Journey* Monday – Friday 7 p.m.

Bark of Night, fiction by David Rosenfelt, 2019. A detective adopts a dog who was to be put down. Soon he learns that the dog belonged to a murder victim, and the man who ordered the dog’s death is the likely killer.

Read by Neil Bright. Eight broadcasts; begins Tue, Nov. 12. – V Off the Shelf* Monday – Friday 8 p.m.

This Tender Land, fiction by William Kent Krueger, 2019. Four orphans escape in a canoe down the Minnesota River, encountering both friends and foes along the way. Read by Tom Speich. 15 broadcasts; begins Mon, Nov. 18. – L, V

Potpourri* Monday – Friday 9 p.m.

Spying on the South, nonfiction by Tony Horwitz, 2019. Historian Tony Horwitz tells the story of 19th century journalist Frederick Law Olmsted, sent to report from the South during the Civil War. Read by Dan Sadoff. 19 broadcasts; begins Mon, Nov. 18. – L Good Night Owl* Monday – Friday 10 p.m.

Parking the Moose, nonfiction by Dave Hall, 2019. Born and raised in Cleveland, comedian Dave Hall sets out to embrace his one-quarter Canadian roots. Read by Scott McKinney. 18 broadcasts; begins Wed, Nov. 27. – L RTB After Hours* Tuesday – Saturday 11 p.m.

This Storm, fiction by James Ellroy, 2019. It’s Los Angeles in 1942. When a body is unearthed in a storm, four people set out to find the victim’s story. Read by David Zierott. 24 broadcasts; begins Mon, Nov. 18. – L, V, S Weekend Program Books Your Personal World, 1 p.m. Sat., presents Taking the Lead by Derek Hough (L); followed by More Than Enough by Elaine Welteroth (L), both read by Beverly Burchett.

For the Younger Set, 11 a.m. Sun, presents Crap Kingdom by D.C. Pierson (L), read by Jim Tarbox.

Poetic Reflections, noon Sun, presents Mourning Songs by Grace Shulman, read by Scott McKinney; followed by Perennial by Kelly Forsythe (L), read by Cintra Godfrey; followed by The Poetry Remedy by William Sieghart, read by Scott McKinney.

The Great North, 4 p.m. Sun, presents Diesel Heart

by Melvin Whitfield Carter Jr. (V, S, L, R), read by John Mandeville; followed by Iron and Water by Grant J. Merritt, read by Dan Sadoff Abbreviations: V – violent content, RE – racial epithets, L – strong language, G – gory descriptions, S – sexual situations

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November 10, 2019 Volume 30, Number 11 Pg 15

REGIONAL NEWS Nursing home complaints scrutinized The Minnesota Health Departtions,” said Eilon Caspi, a gerontolment (MDH) made improvements ogist and research associate at the in 2019 in acting on the most University of Minnesota School of serious nursing home complaints Nursing. “Each of those immediate but still failed to respond to 38 jeopardy complaints could be an percent of complaints on time. emotional or physical trauma or In an e-mail to legislators, state death.” officials, industry officials and In 2019, MDH did initiate more elder advocates obtained by the immediate jeopardy investigations Star Tribune, the department said on time compared to all similar it made the improvement amid complaints lodged in 2018, an a more than twofold increase in indication that its systems and complaints and reports that alworkforce became more robust to leged maltreatment so serious that handle significantly higher volit could present an ongoing risk umes. MDH has been working on to patients. The department sent improvements after an upswell of the e-mail after the Star Tribune criticism from the Legislature, the reported that in 2018 its compublic and a scathing 2018 audit plaints investigation unit missed by the Office of the Legislative federally mandated deadlines for Auditor. launching investigations in six out Yet of the 429 immediate Commissioner Jan Malcolm of 10 cases. jeopardy complaints in 2019, 164 Federal guidelines require a redid not meet the two-day federal sponse in serious maltreatment cases within two days. response standard.

Response times averaged 13 days in 2018 and went Malcolm said the department was continuing to down to four days on average in the federal fiscal year work on ways to better screen and track reports and that ended in September, the department said. was working with the federal government to meet “We remain confident we are on the right path federal timeline requirements. The department also and we are seeing increasing signs of improvement,” received additional funding from the legislature as Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm said in the e-mail. part of an effort to improve state oversight of the At issue are what are known as “immediate jeopelder care industry. ardy” complaints, which could include physical and “They are catching up, I get that,” said Caspi, who sexual assaults, systemic care issues like a pattern said he was supportive of the progress MDH has of medication errors or even cases in which nursing made so far. A co-founder of Elder Voice Family Adhome staff post pictures of residents on social media. vocates, Caspi said more needs to be done.

Not all of these complaints are substantiated, but the “Residents are waiting too long for this change and two-day response threshold is intended to stop and we’ve got to continue the pressure on MDH to be prevent any future maltreatment. very focused on improvement,” he said.

“There is a reason why there are federal regula(Source: Star Tribune)

From page 6

munities of color; those who speak English as a second language and English language learners; low-income individuals; and persons with disabilities.

Jewish Family and Children's Service of Minneapolis, Golden Valley received $350,000. Training in information technology will be given to communities of color, women, and individuals with disabilities.

(Source: Minnesota DEED) .

Hockey teams offer kits for fans with autism The Minnesota Wild and the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul are working to make the game experience a more accessible experience for everyone.

Starting this season, complimentary sensory kits will be available for fans. The kits can be checked out at Guest Services at Section 105 and will be available for all events at the Xcel Energy Center.

Made available through a partnership with the Autism Society of Minnesota, the sensory kits are designed to help fans with intellectual and developmental disabilities enjoy the game experience. Xcel Energy Center staff will also be trained by AuSM to better

OPPORTUNITIES

From page 11 Adult support groups offered AuSM offers free support groups for adults with autism spectrum disorder. Groups include those for adult family members, women with autism spectrum disorders and independent adults with autism. Check the website for upcoming groups. Groups meet at the AuSM offices at 2380 Wycliff St. FFI: 651-647-1083 ext. 10, www.ausm.org

VOLUNTEER

Book readers sought Volunteers are a valuable resource at Radio Talking Book, broadcasting local news and information programs to blind and print-impaired

cater to those with sensory needs.

Fans can personalize their kits with items suited for auditory, tactile, visual needs and more.

The Minnesota Wild has worked with AuSM before, including its "Into the Wild" event during which students with autism got to visit a Wild practice to get a feel for gameday operations.

(Source: KMSP-TV)

Swindler strikes again; defrauds nonprofit A Minneapolis woman was sentenced for swindling money from a nonprofit she worked at while she was on probation for defrauding a different nonprofit. The Hennepin County Attorney's Office announced last month that Cynthia Waight, 55, was sentenced to probation and one year at a workhouse. She had pleaded guilty to identity theft and theft-by-swindle in July.

She was also ordered to repay the money she stole.

According to a criminal complaint, Waight was investigated by a special agent with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) because most of the more than $80,000 she stole were federal funds.

Waight was hired by Vail Place in July 2014 as a housing manager where she oversaw the organization's work with the Crisis Housing Fund, which had a pool

listeners from sites around the state and at the Communication Center in St. Paul. The goal is to provide accurate and timely information to our thousands of listeners throughout Minnesota and across the nation. FFI: Roberta Kitlinski, 651-539-1423 Be a tutor Minnesota Reading Corps and Minnesota Math Corps are seeking 1,700 tutors for the 2019-20 school year by asking residents to Help Minnesota Be More. Give Your Time As A Tutor. Both full- and part-time tutors are being recruited to begin a year of paid service this fall. By joining Reading Corps or Math Corps, individuals will be helping more than 35,000 students statewide. Reading Corps and Math Corps are statewide initiatives to help every Minnesota student become a successful reader by the end of third grade, and proficient in math by the end of eighth grade. Tutors are being sought for three different levels of commitment: 35, 25 or 18 hours

CLASSIFIEDS

REGIONAL NEWS

For Rent Calvary Center Apts: 7650 Golden Valley Road, Golden Valley, MN. A Section 8 building now accepting applications for our waiting list. Call 9 am to 4 pm, Mon – Fri 763-546-4988 for an application. Equal Opportunity Housing.

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of public money designed to help people with mental health issues who could lose their home or apartment because of the illnesses.

The complaint states Vail Place would normally submit a handful of applications each year, but by 2016, Waight was submitting up to three per month, and instead of making checks out to the landlord or other companies, she began writing them out to cash by October 2015.

An analysis of Vail Place's bank account found that $96,270 in Crisis Housing funds were deposited into the account from October 2015 through January 2017.

During that time, $97,442 was withdrawn from the account through checks signed by Waight, and $81,901 of that was written out to cash, the complaint states.

The attorney's office said investigators seized records of Waight's personal bank accounts and revealed that between October 2015 and November 2016 she deposited more than $22,000 in cash in her accounts, and many of the deposits lined up exactly with times when she withdrew money from the Vail Place account.

She was charged with two counts of theft-by-swindle on May 25, 2016, in connection with her previous employment at Resource Inc., a nonprofit that helps underserved populations. The attorney's office said Waight used clients from Resource's Homeless Outreach project to embezzle over $25,000 from the nonprofit.

(Source: KSTP-TV)

United Work Coalition is announced

MDI, the light manufacturer that employs a workforce of nearly 50% people with disabilities, Medtronic and Special Olympics of Minnesota have launched the “Unified Work Coalition" The purpose of the organization, announced during October’s National Disability Employment Awareness Month, is to advance employment opportunities for people with disabilities.

“People with disabilities are continually left out of the diversity and inclusion conversation in the business community, and we aim to change that,” MDI CEO Peter McDermott said. “We know that our differences make us stronger. But it takes inclusion to make them matter. The formation of the Unified Work Coalition brings us one step closer to realizing true inclusion.”

In Minnesota, people with disabilities are nearly three times more likely to be unemployed than the general population among people ages 18 to 64, according to a 2017 report from the Minnesota State Demographic Center.

MDI, a nonprofit business that makes corrugated and custom-plastic packaging products, is in the vanguard of a movement to recognize the important workplace contributions of people with disabilities and highlight the opportunity for industry to hire more of them, particularly at a time of worker shortages.

The coalition includes 3M, Andersen Windows and Doors, Arc Minnesota, DPI Staffing and Opportunity Partners. They will work on sustainable employment models based on experience and assist businesses with hiring and support. Employees with disabilities tend to be dedicated workers, MDI’s experience shows.

Minneapolis-based MDI this year expanded its Northeast facility and grew it from 80 to 120 people.

Over the past couple of years, it has invested nearly $10 million to upgrade and expand plants, including in Hibbing, Grand Rapids and Cohasset. MDI employs more than 500. Plant worker are paid at least minimum wage, and wages can rise to $15 an hour.

(Source: Star Tribune)

a week. Tutors receive a stipend every two weeks and can earn up to an additional $4,200 for student loans or tuition, which can be gifted to a family member if the tutor is 55 or older. Many tutors also qualify for additional benefits like free health insurance and child care assistance. Sign up soon as tutors start work in August.

FFI: www.minnesotareadingcorps.org, www.minnesotamathcorps.org Open the door to education Help adults reach their educational goals and earn their GED. Tutor, teach or assist in a classroom with the Minnesota Literacy Council.

Give 2-3 hours a week and help people expand their opportunities and change their lives through education. Provides training and support and accommodations for volunteers with disabilities. FFI: Allison, 651-251- 9110, volunteer@mnliteracy.org, http://tinyurl.com/ adult-opportunities

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Access Press August 2019.pdf

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6/26/19

November 10, 2019 Volume 30, Number 11 Pg 16

9:28 PM

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