September 2020 Edition - Access Press

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TWIN CITIES, MN PERMIT NO. 4766

Volume 31, Number 9

September 1, 2020

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As COVID-19 continues, know the rules

Doug Scharfe, LCDS

LeSueur County Developmental Services maintenance man Jon Johanneck operated the wheelchair lift on a new, wheelchair-accessible, 14-passenger bus in April 2015. LCDS is one of the service providers shutting down due to the pandemic.

LESUEUR COUNTY NEWS FILE PHOTO

Minnesotans with disabilities have endured several months of living under COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.

Many have missed their day-to-day activities, including work and social time with friends and family. Others struggle with isolation and associated mental health challenges.

Disability Hub continues to offer services and referrals to Minnesotans with disabilities at this time. Call 1-866-333-2466 or go to https:// disabilityhubmn.org/ The Minnesota Department of Health is posting daily updates about the pandemic, including statistical data, information about the virus, how people can cope information and how to protect oneself. Guidelines are regularly updated and posted for nursing homes and care facilities, public events and other places. Go to https://www.health.state.mn.us/ diseases/coronavirus/situation.html A state mandate on masks continues. Since late July, Minnesotans are required to wear masks or face coverings in public indoor spaces, unless alone.

Additionally, workers are required to wear a face covering when working outdoors in situations where social distancing cannot be maintained.

Types of face coverings allowed can include a paper or disposable mask, a cloth mask, a neck gaiter, a scarf, a bandanna, or a religious face covering. Some tests show that gaiters are less effective in preventing the spread of diseases.

A face covering must cover the nose and mouth completely. The covering should not be overly tight or restrictive and should feel comfortable to wear.

Any mask that incorporates a valve that is designed to facilitate easy exhaling, mesh masks, or masks with openings, holes, visible gaps in the design or material, or vents are not sufficient face coverings because they allow droplets to be released from the mask.

A face covering is not a substitute for social distancing, but is especially important in situations when maintaining at least a six-foot distance from other individuals who are not members of the same household is not possible.

Face shields, clear plastic barriers that cover the face, are an option if wearing a mask is problematic. Health officials caution that it’s not known whether face shields provide the same level of protection as masks. But the shields do provide an alternative for people who may have trouble wearing a mask.

Confusion continues over who should and should not wear masks, with government agencies and disability service and advocacy groups speaking out against false claims that people are simply exempt from mask regulations due to disabilities. The COVID-19 To page 5

"That's the hardest part. What are people going to do?"

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Aid for some service providers is simply too little, too late

by Jane McClure A $30 million relief package for Minnesota’s disability service providers will be a lifeline for many. But for others, it is too little, too late.

Gov. Tim Walz August 14 signed the funding bill into law, just days after it passed during a legislative special session.

The funding helps providers who had to shut down in the spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The shutdown created a dire financial situation for nonprofits that provide an array of employment, training, recreational and social services.

The $30 million package, which failed to pass during two previous special sessions and the regular session, is supported

Support our current fund drive! Details on page 5.

with federal assistance dollars tied to the pandemic.

“Third time’s the charm,” said Sen. Jim Abeler (R-Anoka). He has led the fight in the Senate to obtain the funding.

Walz quickly signed the legislation, after the special session. “The people most impacted by COVID-19 have been our most vulnerable populations — directing this funding to disability service providers will help ensure we don't leave anyone behind,” Walz said. “This bill will provide direct support to ensure Minnesotans with disabilities and older Minnesotans continue to receive critical services amid COVID-19.”

But around the state, some of the day services providers are already closing their doors. In rural areas where there aren’t a lot of options for people with disabilities to find AID To page 11

Questions? Call 651-6442133 or email access@ accesspress.org

Be vigilant and ready when voting absentee this fall While it’s fun to vote in person, see neighbors at the polls and watch a ballot swoosh into a machine, the COVID-19 pandemic means that voting in person can pose risks.

Absentee ballots and the availability of early voting are helpful for many Minnesotans with disabilities.

Not only is absentee voting important during the pandemic, it also is a needed service when many of the “rides to the polls” services no longer are in operation.

Cuts to the United States Postal Service, and the removal of mailboxes and postal equipment, have raised red flags about absentee voting as most people mail their ballots in.

Some cuts to mail service have been delayed until after November 3 Election Day. But voters should still be vigilant about making sure their absentee ballots get in on time and are counted.

How do I get an absentee ballot?

Apply through the Minnesota

THANK YOU

1-877-600-8683.

As Access Press went to press, most communities were in the process of preparing absentee ballots for the general election.

Absentee ballots will be mailed as soon as those are completed.

Minnesota no longer requires voters to state a reason for requesting an absentee ballot.

Secretary of State website or contact your local election officials. The state website is https://mnvotes.sos.state.mn.us/ ABRegistration/ABRegistrationStep1.aspx The forms must then be returned to a county election office by mail, fax or email.

Large-print absentee ballot applications are available. To request an application in an alternative format such as Braille, call

May I register by mail, too?

Yes, but Minnesotans may also register online or in person. To register, use one of three identifiers: a Minnesota driver’s license, Minnesota identification card number, or the last four numbers of a Social Security number.

Forms can be downloaded and printed out in English or other languages, and then mailed back to election officials.

Read instructions carefully.

Access Press thanks this month's issue sponsor!

VOTING To page 4

September 1, 2020 Volume 31, Number 9 Pg 2

TIM’S DESK

Tim Benjamin I’m writing this month’s column on what ordinarily would be the first day of the Minnesota State Fair, but it has been suspended in the year of COVID-19. The days are starting to get shorter and soon the temperatures will drop a little. While I’m not eager to have winter get here any time soon, I am looking forward to cool weather.

There’s been a lot of news and celebration in August recognizing that 100 years ago the 19th Amendment was passed and women were given the right to vote--at least some women. The local politics and repressions of the Jim Crow era prohibited African-American women from exercising their right to vote and for other reasons many white women were also discouraged from voting. Even Susan B. Anthony, the great champion and supporter of the 19th Amendment, never lived to see it ratified.

Did you realize, though, that people

First of all we have to get on the same starting page and acknowledge that there is racism in the United States of America, in our state and local community, and in disability culture.

with disabilities are also still not fully exercising their right to vote? The disability community votes at a much lower rate than the population in general, even though we could represent a huge voting bloc. There are almost 15 million disabled registered voters in the U.S. That surpasses the number of Latinos and is nearly as large a group as Black voters. Few politicians address us as a community of voters, though. Let’s show them we’re here. We have benefited from legislation in the 1960s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s meant to protect our access to voting. Let’s do it.

The Democratic and Republican conventions were both virtual this year. It didn’t seem to hinder them, though. Both conventions came off pretty well, despite COVID-19. We have to make sure the election comes off equally as well.

While I was watching one of the conventions I saw a message on Twitter

Did you realize, though, that people with disabilities are also still not fully exercising their right to vote?

from a young Black writer, Keah Brown, who posted a video addressed to white people in the disability community.

“It’s not true progress if only you’re the ones seen in the room; if we don’t acknowledge the fact that disability is on its face very white and we often dismiss and discount disabled people of color.”

As much as we have to work on eliminating the marginalizing of the disability community, we also have to stop marginalizing people of color within our community. Systemic racism is a long-standing problem and it is going to be a long haul to eliminate it in our society. But this year is full of reminders that we can’t just keep saying it’s a long haul as though we have decades and hundreds of years more. Our problems are too big now.

First of all we have to get on the same starting page and acknowledge that there is racism in the United States of America, in our state and local community, and in disability culture. There is a big segment of our society that doesn't want to believe we have a racism problem. There are many others in America who don't believe that there is white privilege. Before we can solve the problem we have to recognize the problem. Keah Brown said it very clearly: there is racism in the disability

community. So that's a place where you and I can get to work on solving problems.

The disability community is one of the largest minorities, and we need to be talking about racism during the ADA celebration, and on every occasion where we celebrate a disabled person on the back for doing good work. Have they done good work for African Americans and other people of color in our community? That's the question we need to start asking. Are we leaving our Black brothers and sisters to fend for themselves? We can stop that–let's make it a goal. Let's fight to end racism in the disability community.

Send in for your absentee ballot if you haven't already. No matter who you vote for, we have a responsibility as citizens and as the heirs of all the people who struggled to ensure and safeguard our right to vote.

From Susan B Anthony to Chuck Van Heuveln (who fought in the 1970s to make sure polling places would be accessible) to thousands of other activists and civil rights advocates, we received a gift. We are the ones they fought for.

Have a good month. Before you vote, study the issues in the presidential election.

Make sure you’re choosing the person you want to represent you for the next four years.

HISTORY NOTE

Social Security program marks 85 years of helping the nation “Security was attained in the earlier days through the interdependence of members of families upon each other and of the families within a small community upon each other.

The complexities of great communities and of organized industry make less real these simple means of security. Therefore, we are compelled to employ the active interest of the Nation as a whole through government in order to encourage a greater security for each individual who composes it . . . This seeking for a greater measure of welfare and happiness does not indicate a change in values. It is rather a return to values lost in the course of our economic development and expansion . . . “ - Franklin D. Roosevelt: Message of the President to Congress, June 8, 1934 Happy birthday, Social Security! The program celebrates 85 years in 2020.

Social Security got its start in 1934.

Then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in a message to the Congress, announced his intention to provide a program for

Social Security. Roosevelt created the Committee on Economic Security, which was composed of five top cabinet-level officials. The committee was instructed to study the entire problem of economic insecurity and to make recommendations that would serve as the basis for legislative consideration by the Congress.

In January 1935, the committee made its report to Roosevelt. The proposal began making its way through Congress.

The Social Security Act was signed into law by President Roosevelt on August 14, 1935. In addition to several provisions for general welfare, the new act created a social insurance program designed to pay retired workers age 65 or older a continuing income after retirement The Social Security Act did not quite achieve all the aspirations its supporters had hoped by way of providing a "comprehensive package of protection" against the "hazards and vicissitudes of life." Certain features of that package, notably disability

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coverage and medical benefits, would have to await future developments. But it did provide a wide range of programs to meet the nation's needs. In addition to the program we now think of as Social Security, it included unemployment insurance, oldage assistance, aid to dependent children and grants to the states to provide various forms of medical care.

The significance of the new social insurance program was that it sought to address the long-range problem of economic security for the aged through a contributory system in which the workers themselves contributed to their own future retirement benefit by making regular payments into a joint fund. As Roosevelt conceived of the Act, Title I was to be a temporary "relief" program that would eventually disappear as more people were able to obtain retirement income through the contributory system. The new social insurance system was also a very moderate alternative to the radical calls to ac-

tion that were so common in the America of the 1930s.

On August 1, 1956, then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed into law the 1956 amendments to the Social Security Act that set up the Social Security Disability Insurance program. At first the program provided monthly benefits only to disabled workers between the ages of 50 and 65 who met certain requirements for insured status. Even though the program later significantly expanded its coverage, its implementation in 1956 represented the historic culmination of an effort by Social Security planners that began in the 1930s.

Excerpted from a history by the Social Security Administration The History Note is a monthly column sponsored by the Minnesota Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities, www.mnddc.org

September 1, 2020 Volume 31, Number 9 Pg 3

CHARLIE SMITH AWARD DETAILS FORTHCOMING ISSUE SPONSOR | MRCI

At MRCI we believe DSPs deserve recognition, not just for a week or a month but every day of the year.

Celebrating Direct Support Professionals Caring, choice and compassion are just a few of the positive words we prefer to use that start with “C” instead of Covid-19 or Coronavirus at MRCI. A few other letters we especially enjoy during the month of September are D, S and P.

During the month of September, we are proud to celebrate the numerous individuals we call Direct Support Professionals, also known as DSPs, who work directly with people with a wide range of disabilities.

The DSP role is much more than being a caregiver. DSPs help the people they work with become integrated, interested and engaged members of the community. Heroes to each individual and family they support!

Direct Support Professional Recognition Week, September 13-19, 2020, provides a wonderful opportunity to highlight the dedicated, innovative direct support workforce that is the heart and soul of supports for people with disabilities. At MRCI we believe, DSPs deserve recognition, not just for a week or a month but every day of the year. If you are or ever were a MRCI DSP – thank you!

The care provided by MRCI DSPs across the state is positively impacting our fellow Minnesotans with disabilities. From Fergus Falls to Winona…Red Wing to Duluth as well as the more than 65 counties across Minnesota in-between, MRCI is proud to be involved in our client’s choice to self-direct their care and enabling us the opportunity to work with more than 4600 DSPs across the state. We are proud of all that we can do together.

With a mission of creating innovative and genuine opportunities for people with disabilities and disadvantages at home, at work and in the community, MRCI is one of Minnesota’s largest and most diverse providers of employment services, day services and in-home support services (Financial Management Service – FMS).

For more than 65 years, MRCI has taken pride in providing the best possible service to the clients and families we serve. The pandemic has brought extraordinary challenges for everyone, especially for people with intellectual and development disabilities. However, with a safetyfirst approach, MRCI, its staff and affiliated service providers have been closely following advice from state officials during the peacetime emergency tied to the pandemic and are committed to resuming programming for individuals at home, at work and in the community.

We look forward to continuing to support individuals such as Krista.

Krista’s mom, Lisa Taylor, shared, “We became acquainted with MRCI over three years ago. Krista attended their program, which she truly loved.

Krista is looking forward to the new community program starting! MRCI has also been a tremendous help in management of Krista's staff and

“My PCA takes me to practice,” said Michael Sheridan. “It’s really cool that he gets the supports he needs, but he meets a lot of friends in the process,” said Megan Washek, Michael’s sister.

services at home.

Melissa and all the staff have always made the hiring process so easy. We are very happy to have MRCI watching over our needs.”

Over the past few decades, as the needs of those served have changed, the roles of DSPs began to change. Their work is no longer about doing things for people. It is about helping individuals maintain as much independence as possible. If you have ever considered working as a DSP, many great employment opportunities are now available. DSP Jolene Greenwald says, “Working for MRCI provides me the opportunity and training to offer my client the active and fulfilling life she deserves.” To learn more about career opportunities visit mymrci.org.

Do you have a family member in need of caring and capable DSP assistance? Are you looking for in home support and would benefit from having a talented DSP by your side? Or you are a DSP looking for a rewarding and meaningful career, MRCI can help you meet your needs.

Want to learn more? Visit mymrci.org.

Direct Support Professional Recognition Week, September 13-19, 2020, provides a wonderful opportunity to highlight the dedicated, innovative direct support workforce that is the heart and soul of supports for people with disabilities.

FROM OUR COMMUNITY

September 1, 2020 Volume 31, Number 9 Pg 4

It happened as if it were yesterday. August 19, 1970, a Wednesday.

I was 18 years old fresh out of high school when I borrowed a co-worker’s motorcycle.

The motorcycle was a 250 Ducati and I got onto it as if I was late for a hot date.

From my father’s gas station on 11th and Hennepin Avenue in downtown Minneapolis, I sped down 10th Street to I-35W and then to Lake Street. Then I headed west.

But little did I know, two miles away heading east was a drunk driver.

As I crossed Hennepin Avenue and approached the intersection of Lake and James, my world turned upside down when the drunk driver turned into my lane.

With no time to stop, I squeezed the brakes and everything turned into slow motion.

It took me less than a second to hit his car, but it seemed like minutes, long enough for me to say, “I can’t believe this is happening to me!”

The impact threw me over the handlebars and headfirst into the car’s roofline, when everything went black, I saw stars, and heard nothing.

It was at this very moment my neck broke, completely severing my spinal cord and leaving me a quadriplegic paralyzed from the shoulders down.

Don Bania (Minnesota had a mandatory helmet law in 1970.)

Moments later, I woke up in the middle of the on his black, bushy mustache, as I’m sure he was saying to intersection flat on my back with the crowd of strangers himself, “Keep on talking kid, keep on talking!” standing around me. I heard myself saying, “Is my bike OK? There at General Hospital in downtown Minneapolis, Is my bike OK?” while a man kneeling down by my head a team of doctors and nurses were waiting. They was trying to take my helmet off. immediately cut off all my clothes and then shaved the The pain in my neck was excruciating. It felt like a hand hair off the top my head. grenade had just blown up inside.

Next, came a man in a white lab coat with an electric Minutes later, the ambulance arrived. The paramedics drill in his hand. Without a word, he started drilling a rolled me onto a backboard and then put me in the hole in the top of my head. That’s when I passed out and ambulance. I remember complimenting the paramedic woke up in the ICU with a Catholic priest giving me the

SUBMITTED PHOTO

Fifty years ago this summer, he began his life-changing journey Last Rites.

When he saw that my eyes were open, he walked up to me and said, “Donald, you’ve got a free ticket to Heaven.” To which I said, “Father, can I have a rain check?”

With a loss for words, the priest backed up and my 42-year-old father stepped into my view, when I said, “Well Dad, I got a haircut!” *** That Was the First Day of My 50Year Journey.

A journey filled with ups and downs and joys and sadness. But also, a journey filled with PEOPLE. Wonderful people, to whom I want to say, “THANK YOU” who came to my side to care for me, to cheer me up, and to be my arms and legs. Not to mention, Jesus Christ, my Savior and Lord, who gave me the ability to forgive the drunk driver.

“Sometimes, We Have to Go to The Place Most Resisted, To Discover That, Which We Never Thought Existed!”

(Don Bania) Paralyzed with Happiness, Don Bania

Editor’s note: Bania was the 10th resident to move into the Courage Center Residence in Golden Valley in March 1976.

He has since become an accomplished artist and community volunteer. One of Bania’s biggest projects is Wheels for the World, an organization that collects and refurbishes used wheelchairs and ships them overseas to people in developing countries. He lives in Rogers.

Despite many accomplishments, ADA’s promise isn’t fulfilled I would like to share my thoughts on the Americans With Disabilities Act. Former President George H. W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) into law on July 26, 1990. This law established the rights of more than 43 million Americans with disabilities in the areas of employment, transportation, public accommodations, communications and access to state and local government’ programs and services.

As I sat in my office this morning, I could not help but think about how far we’ve come with the rights of people with disabilities but how much more we need to do.

Too many people still have the idea that people with disabilities can’t be and shouldn’t be part of society or if they can be part of society they should only hang out on the sidelines. This is so wrong and the ADA says that people with disabilities are real people too and deserve all the rights that everyone else has.

The act has changed the lives of people with disabilities people in great ways, some of these are making public spaces more accessible via tactile warning surfaces, curb cuts, wheelchair ramps, and other aids. The ADA is a great thing, but we have a very long way to go. Let’s all

start changing our priorities by supporting people with all disabilities. People with disabilities matter.

Kurt Rutzen

VOTING

May I have someone else deliver my ballot?

What is called “agent delivery” is only allowed under certain circumstances in Minnesota. A voter may designate an agent to deliver, in person, the sealed absentee ballot envelope to the elections office. The agent may also be designated to put the sealed absentee ballot envelope in the mail.

To qualify for agent delivery, a voter must live in a: • nursing home • assisted living facility • residential treatment center • group home • battered women's shelter • or, be hospitalized or unable to go to the polling place due to incapacitating health reasons or a disability.

The agent must be at least 18 years old, have a preexisting relationship with the voter and cannot be a candidate for office. An individual cannot be an agent of more than three voters in an election.

Having an agent requires a request for agent delivery of absentee ballot form as well as the absentee ballot itself.

The agent must take both forms to the local elections office before the ballot can be received.

The agent can pick up a ballot and agent form starting seven days before the election, until 2 p.m. on election day. The agent or someone else designated must return the ballot by 3 p.m. on Election Day.

From page 1

To be eligible to vote Minnesotans must be at least 18 years old on Election Day, be U.S. citizens, and have resided in Minnesota for 20 days immediately preceding Election Day, Minnesotans must have any felony conviction record discharged, expired or completed.

What’s important for some people with disabilities to know is voters must not be under court-ordered guardianship where a court has revoked voting rights or not have been ruled legally incompetent by a court of law.

Voters can be otherwise under guardianship.

Register or update voter information, such as a change of address, as soon as possible. It’s better to register and then apply for an absentee ballot. Check online to see if voter registration status is current.

My ballot has arrived and I need to fill it out. What is next?

Carefully read and follow the instructions that come with the ballot. The ballot signature envelope may have a box for a witness to complete and sign. One change to note is that due to the pandemic, there is no witness signature requirement if a voter is registered.

Non-registered voters still need a witness signature, to indicate proof of residence.

Fill out the ballot and mail it back right away. Ballots must be postmarked no later than November 2 for the November 3 election. The ballot must be received by your county within the next seven calendar days, or by November 10.

I’m worried about my mailed ballot arriving at the election office in time. May I drop it off in person?

Yes, ballots can be filled out at home and then dropped off in person. Returning a ballot in person means following specific rules. Ballots are to be returned to the local election office, not to the voter’s polling place.

Ballots for an individual voter and up to three other voters can be dropped off in person no later than 3 p.m. on Election day. It’s best to drop off ballots as soon as possible, to help the election judges.

Ballots may also be delivered by FedEx or UPS, although there are charges for that service.

Editor’s note: Kurt Rutzen has worked as a disability advocate for Bethesda, has served as a public policy volunteer for The Arc Minnesota and worked in a part-time capacity at the Institute on Community Integration (University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities) at the University of Minnesota. He is a fixture at the capitol when the Minnesota Legislature is in session. He is also active with the Minnesotan Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities.

May I follow my ballot after it goes to election officials?

Ballots can be tracked though the Secretary of State website, to make sure it has been received. Or call county election officials.

For more assistance, go to https://www.sos.state.mn.us/ elections-voting/ (To clarify an article from the August issue, REV Up MN is a coalition of disability groups and not a state program. Go to www.facebook.com/REVUPMN/)

September 1, 2020 Volume 31, Number 9 Pg 5

Conclusion draws near for blue ribbon commission’s work Twenty-two strategies have emerged from the work of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Health and Human Services. The commission is to complete its work and finalize the report in October.

The commission was created by the Minnesota Legislature and Gov. Tim Walz in 2019 to develop an action plan “to advise and assist the legislature and governor in transforming the health and human services system to build greater efficiencies, savings, and better outcomes for Minnesotans.” Minnesotans with disabilities have been watching the commission’s work carefully as they are impacted by many of the recommendations.

Five issues called out by state lawmakers drove the work of the commission: health and human services expenditures (cost savings), health equity, administrative efficiencies and simplification, waste (including fraud and program integrity),

and system transformation.

Although much focus has been on the commission’s need to find $100 million in cost savings for the next biennium, its members also reviewed strategies focused on administrative simplification, reducing waste, and addressing health equity.

More savings might be needed as the state faces a budget crunch. Each of the 22 strategies has cost savings attached.

Give the COVID-19 pandemic, the commission has had its work cut out for it.

In-person participation has been curtailed, with virtual meetings held instead.

The Minnesota Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (MNCCD) is among the groups carefully following the commission’s work. MNCCD held a virtual forum about the report this summer.

Community members weighed in on the strategies and what those proposals could mean for their lives and the lives of family members and clients, outlining

both concerns and opportunities. A focus was on services and how they help people maintain some level of independence.

Some changes, such as reducing racial and ethnic disparities in aging and disabilities services and improvements to the MNCHOICES Program, won praise as well as calls for more attention. Other strategies raised red flags.

One strategy is to address the rising residential costs for disability waivers, to reduce use of high cost services. Other changes add clarification for existing programs, such as the “life sharing” shared living arrangements that allow families to share their homes with people with disabilities.

Other strategies are prompting questions and objections. One is to change Medicaid rates for some durable medical equipment (DME) to Medicare rates, which would reduce some costs. But this would also reduce the number of DME providers by

adopting a Medicaid competitive bidding program and hurt providers. Speakers at the MNCCD meeting said that would reduce choices and potentially force people with disabilities to use lower-cost, less desirable equipment and supplies, affecting their health.

Another potentially detrimental strategy would affect formulas for day and employment services, impacting services under disability waivers. It would reduce the absence and utilization factor and would be detrimental to a sector of the disability service system that is already struggling due to the pandemic.

Legislators and DHS Commissioner Jodi Harpstead praised the MNCCD event and the ability to hear from community members. Harpstead called the comments “particularly valuable.”

Read about the commission’s work, its draft report and other comments at https:// mn.gov/dhs/hhsbrc/

Minnesota looks back on three decades of HIV care Thousands of Minnesotans living with HIV receive federally funded health care, medication and services such as dental and mental health care, thanks to a landmark law signed 30 years ago in August.

The Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act serves as the cornerstone of HIV care in the United States, helping hundreds of thousands of Americans living with the human immunodeficiency virus since 1990. The anniversary of the law’s signing was August 18.

More than 4,700 Minnesotans receive Ryan White services today, about half the people living with HIV in the state.

“The Ryan White CARE Act has saved so many lives and improved living for so

many people who otherwise might have been lost,” said Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) Commissioner Jodi Harpstead. “It’s easy to forget how desperate the situation was in the late 1980s, and how little hope there was for people living with HIV, their families, and those at risk.”

Thirty years ago, HIV and AIDS were seen as a death sentences, with the country mired in an epidemic that would eventually kill 700,000 Americans.

Misinformation was rampant, services scarce, and discrimination common.

Today, Minnesota has a comprehensive system of high-quality care for people living with HIV. DHS and Hennepin County have a strong collaborative

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COVID-19 From page 9

Americans with Disabilities Act doesn’t exempt people from wearing masks.

There is recognition in the state’s mask mandate that people with some disabilities may struggle to wear a mask and may not be able to wear one. That can include people with respiratory, mental health, developmental or other types of disabilities. But Minnesotans need to be aware that not being able to wear a mask or face shield may mean being turned away from places.

Children under age 2 years must not wear face coverings. Children between the ages of 2 and 5 years old are not required to wear face coverings, but are encouraged to wear a face covering when in public if they can do so reliably.

Minnesotans with disabilities should also stay abreast of Department of

Human Services (DHS) regulatory changes. Under Gov. Tim Walz’ emergency executive order, DHS has temporary authority to waive or modify requirements so that Minnesotans can continue to access essential programs and services safely and without undue delay during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A state law that took effect on June 24, 2020, specifies when waivers and modifications will expire. Some are subject to federal authority. Others remain in effect until certain dates as determined by state law. DHS has flexibility to keep the remaining waivers in effect for no more than 60 days after the end of the peacetime emergency.

Read about the waivers, which are for an array of DHS programs and services, at https://mn.gov/dhs/waivers-andmodifications/

partnership, supplemented by the community planning activities of the Minnesota Council for HIV/AIDS Care and Prevention. Hennepin County receives federal funding to support medical services and more for the 13-county Twin Cities area, where 85 percent of the Minnesotans living with HIV reside.

“Our Ryan White program provides critical services to help eliminate HIVrelated health disparities, help residents sustain good health, and prevent new HIV infections at the center of Minnesota’s epidemic,” Hennepin County Public Health Director Susan Palchick said.

Looking ahead, a focus for Ryan White is undetectable = untransmittable (U=U),

an international campaign promoting universal access to HIV treatment so people can achieve viral suppression.

Once virally suppressed, they are unable to transmit HIV to sexual partners. In 2018, 87 percent of people receiving Ryan White services achieved viral suppression.

U=U is a foundation of Minnesota’s END HIV MN plan and Hennepin County’s HIV elimination plan Positively Hennepin.

Last year, 275 Minnesotans were diagnosed with HIV. At the end of 2019, 9,183 people were living with HIV/AIDS infection in the state.

(Source: Minnesota Department of Human Services)

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Thank you!

September 1, 2020 Volume 31, Number 9 Pg 6

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Direct Support Professional Recognition Week is September 1319. It is a time to honor the dedicated and hard-working direct support workforce that is the heart and soul of supports for people with disabilities.

Every year, MOHR honors dedicated direct support professionals (DSPs) from around the state. MOHR's 2020 Direct Support Professional Award winners are from two Twin Cities area service providers and one from westcentral Minnesota.

While the COVID-19 pandemic brings physical changes to how the Cassidy Sutton, CHOICE, Inc. award winners are honored this year, the heartfelt appreciation for the work of DSPs remains the same.

“DSPs are the lifeline to services and supports for people with disabilities and we thank them,” said award organizer and MOHR Board Member Lynne Megan. “There are amazing creative supports that are happening each and every day by DSPs across our state.”

At Functional Industries in Buffalo, Deb Ebner is a "tireless advocate" and job coach who always finds the positives, solves problems and defies the odds with moral backing for the people she supports on the job.

Ebner has worked at Functional industries for 12 years, spending the Deb Ebner, Functional Industries Katie Whiteford, RISE majority of her career providing job coaching services to individuals in competitive integrated employment Cassidy Sutton is with CHOICE, to be used in fundraising and in a settings. She is committed to person Inc. in Eden Prairie. She is an community-theater setting. centered services and has proven innovative art instructor who started In an article posted on the that time and time again. She makes new programs which have taken on foundation website, Sutton said that each individual feel as though he/ many forms. Creative, dedicated the project prompted even the most she is her top priority, and is a strong and supportive, she brings many bashful clients to open up and have advocate for her clients. opportunities to the people she serves. fun in front of the camera.

Ebner has a think outside of the One activity Sutton worked on The projects created new box approach and attitude which received a 2019 grant from the Eden opportunities for program allows her to succeed in supporting Prairie Community Foundation. participants to be seen and individuals on their jobs. She is The $2,000 grant was used to understood, Sutton added, and the praised by coworkers for always purchase filming gear and filmresult was magical: participants finding the positives even in situations editing software, enabling CHOICE beaming, laughing, and sharing highthat there seems to be none. participants to produce music videos fives while watching the end results.

The third honoree is Katie Whiteford, an 18-year employee of Rise. Whiteford is a devoted, person-centered problem solver who provides intensive job support. She knows each person well.

Whiteford supports four to five people in the data ability program. She has had the unique privilege of working with the same group her entire Rise career and describes her relationships with them as mutually beneficial.

Her day-to-day responsibilities include greeting people and supporting them throughout their day — getting settled in to work, answering questions, and solving computer and technical issues as well as attending to their personal care needs.

Her team works on a wide range of work projects for Rise business partners, Rise’s Transportation Department, and other Rise offices. Each computer, its hardware and software, require customization to meet the skills and abilities of each worker.

Learn more about past award winners at https:// mohrmn.org/awards/mohrawards

September 1, 2020 Volume 31, Number 9 Pg 7

PEOPLE & PLACES State appointments are set Governor Tim Walz and Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan have announced several appointments.

Appointments were announced to the Council on Disability. Andrew Christensen of Northfield was appointed, replacing Katherine MacDonald. Randy Sorensen of East Grand Forks replacing Kathleen Peterson. Belo Cipriani was appointed, replacing Joshua Melvin.

Hope Johnson of Waseca was appointed, replacing Nancy Fitzsimons.

Nichole Villavicencio of Maplewood was reappointed as acting chair.

Quinn Nystrom of Baxter was reappointed to the council.

Appointments were announced to the State Advisory Council on Mental Health. Rozenia Fuller of Minneapolis Gov. Tim Walz was appointed to replace Joseph DeBoer.

Cynthie Christensen of Rushford was appointed as registered nurse representative, replacing Tarloh Quiwonkpa. Samantha Hedden of Ham Lake is the representative of Minnesota Mental Health Association, replacing Shannah Mulvihill. Sam Smith, Minneapolis is the representative of National Alliance on Mental Illness, replacing John Yanish.

The Ombudsman Committee for Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities saw the reappointments of Immaculata Anyanwu of Woodbury as Medical Review Subcommittee member and Emanuel Oppong of St. Cloud as representative of psychology.

Several appointments were announced for the State Advisory Council on Mental Health. Dave Lislegard of Aurora is a legislative representative, replacing Rep. Robert Barrett. Amanda Larson of Elk River is a family

Accord makes office move It’s been a time of many changes for what is now Accord. Disability service providers ALLY People Solutions and Community Involvement Programs merged in 2019 to form Accord.

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member representative, replacing Steve Hansberry. Angela Bartolomeo of Alexandria is a family member representative, replacing Melissa Balitz. Amy Jones of Shoreview is also a family member representative, replacing Amoke Kubat.

Al Levin of Minneapolis is a consumer representative, replacing Jode FreyholtzLondon. Robert Bosl of Avon is a family physician representative, replacing Allison Stolz.

Rodney Peterson of Kasson is a representative of rural county commissioners, replacing Kenneth Moorman. Ashwak Hassan of Columbia Heights is a marriage and family therapist representative, replacing Stephen Palmer.

Beth Prewett of Grand Rapids was appointed as professional clinical counselors representative, replacing Emmanuel Oppong. David Nathan of St. Paul is representative of psychologists, replacing Ken Ujifusa.

Claudette Larson of New London is social workers, replacing Danielle Lien.

Mary Kjolsing of Willmar was reappointed as a parent representative.

Connie Rabideaux of Cloquet was appointed as a parent/ guardian member of the Minnesota Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities, replacing Randean Miller.

Kathryn Rose of Fergus Falls was appointed as Northwest Advisory Council representative for the Commission of the Deaf, DeafBlind, and Hard of Hearing, replacing Elizabeth Merz.

Park Drive will be home to Accord’s administrative operations as well as its employment services, Hennepin and Dakota case management teams, home health services, and family and community supports services.

Accord moved into this permanent location in late July, working with RSP Architects and Alliance Real Estate Services.

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September 1, 2020 Volume 31, Number 9 Pg 8

REGIONAL NEWS allow it to be used in hospitals outside clinical trials. But the FDA revoked that emergency use authorization June 15 saying large randomized trials found it had no benefit treating coronavirus patients.

The FDA has gone further in recent weeks, rejecting requests to further study the drug and warning it can cause heart problems in some patients. Some health care providers maintain the drug has been useful in preventing and treating coronavirus infections.

While hydroxychloroquine hasn’t turned out to be the game-changer Trump and others had hoped it might be, there are a growing number of treatments to help patients recover from coronavirus infections. Doctors have had success using antiviral drugs like remdesivir, steroids and putting patients on oxygen earlier in their care.

(Source: Pioneer Press)

Vehicles for hire come under scrutiny The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) has inconsistently enforced regulations for limousines, party buses, nursing home vans and other vehicles for hire. That’s according to the Office of the Legislative Auditor.

Minnesota’s study followed a 2018 limousine crash in New York State, which killed 20 people. That accident is still under investigation.

The legislative auditor launched a review following the New York tragedy and after receiving “questions about whether MnDOT was fully complying with state laws governing for-hire passenger transportation,” Joel Alter, the office’s director of Special Reviews, told the Star Tribune.

The report makes several recommendations to improve safety, including more frequent audits of vehicles and driver background checks.

MnDOT spokesman Jacob Loesch said the department takes the legislative auditor’s recommendations seriously and has already begun to implement some of the suggested changes.

Most people hear of the for-hire transportation industry and think of tour buses, airport and hotel vans, party buses and limousines. But the vehicles also transport the elderly and people with disabilities. As of mid-2019, there were 824 carriers authorized to operate in Minnesota.

A key component of MnDOT’s safety toolbox involves an audit checking whether drivers have a criminal background and making sure vehicles are insured properly. But the report notes the number of audits

Children’s behavioral facility cited

Investigators from two state agencies in August scrutinized a new behavioral health residential treatment facility for children, after it was cited twice for failing to report that a patient stabbed himself and for not following state clinical care regulations.

It isn’t known if the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) or the Department of Human Services (DHS) will take further action against Cambia Hills of East Bethel. The facility opened in March as a new type of treatment option for children who often cannot get intensive mental health care in the state, forcing placement in facilities hundreds of miles away.

Dave Hartford, chief operating officer of the 60-bed facility, told the Star Tribune that investigators were on site.

“We are still just moving along working with DHS and MDH in terms of fixing things that are being identified that need improvement,” he said. Since then Hartford has voluntarily resigned his post.

State officials are looking into safety concerns, self-harm, therapy, grievance procedures and other issues. There are also reports that some children have sent letters to news outlets asking for help.

Cambia Hills treats children ages 7 to 17 with severe mood disorders such as depression and anxiety, and neurological disabilities such as autism. Clients come to the facility if other options haven’t worked. Most patients go directly to the facility after being hospitalized, with many having a history of suicide attempts and self-injury.

Because COVID-19 has made it difficult to hire staff, the facility is only about half full, serving about 35 patients.

Mental health advocates have long pushed for this type of residential care. The city of Forest Lake rejected a proposal to build the facility on the site of a horse farm in 2018, forcing the parent company to move the project to East Bethel.

But last month the state threatened to cut off state and federal funding for Cambia Hills after it discovered that a child had used a pair of scissors to stab himself, according

conducted by MnDOT declined significantly between 2014 and 2018 and in some cases “fell short of what state regulations required.”

The legislative auditor’s review also found inconsistencies in the way MnDOT inspects vehicles for hire. For example, nearly half the limos authorized to operate in the state were not inspected in 2018.

“The absence of inspections for some vehicles could have placed passengers at risk if those vehicles had mechanical or other problems,” the report states.

Some safety regulations involving vans ferrying the elderly and people with disabilities and school buses were already tightened this legislative session, said Rep. Frank Hornstein (DFL-Minneapolis). He chairs the House Transportation and Policy Committee.

Hornstein said there’s bipartisan interest in safety issues at the capitol. “We will build on the successful work past session,” he said. “It’s on our radar.”

(Source: Star Tribune) to an investigative report released by the agency. The child obtained the scissors after taking part in a crafts group.

Under MDH regulations, the facility was required to report the incident to the state within 24 hours. Cambia Hills also did not file a report on a child whose arm was discovered to be bruised from the elbow to the wrist.

In a letter to the facility, the MDH said that it had satisfactorily changed its policies on incident reporting, which means that it won’t lose funding.

Last week, the DHS issued a correction order, requiring Cambia Hills to conduct weekly “clinical supervision” meetings, where the care teams discuss patients’ treatment plans.

(Source: Star Tribune)

Hydroxychloroquine limits are lifted

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has lifted restrictions set in March on how the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine is dispensed. Walz said a run on the drug is no longer feared because it has no proven benefit in treating COVID-19.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly promoted the drug as a coronavirus treatment, calling it a possible “gamechanger” and at one point saying he was taking it regularly to help prevent infection.

That led to some practitioners, nationwide and in Minnesota, prescribing large amounts of the drug to patients and themselves, risking shortages for people who relied on the drug for other chronic conditions including lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. Walz wanted to ensure that people with disabling conditions had access to the drug.

Cody Wiberg, executive director of the Minnesota Board of Pharmacy, said the governor’s executive order never restricted the use of hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine to treat COVID-19 patients if a doctor wanted to do so. The state allowed for “approved and appropriate” uses of the drug, which included studying it as a coronavirus treatment.

Early in the pandemic, some doctors and patients reported benefits from using hydroxychloroquine, prompting the Food and Drug Administration in March to

Outbreak of disabling disease predicted

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a call to action to warn of a potential outbreak between the end of this summer and winter of a rare, but potentially lethal disease that affects young children. Seeking medical attention right away could make all the difference in cases of acute flaccid myelitis (AFM).

The disease “is a medical emergency that requires immediate recognition and care,” said CDC director Robert Redfield. He spoke in a media conference call.

AFM is a rare, rapid onset neurological disease affecting the spinal cord leading to paralysis. Symptoms of AFM include sudden arm or leg weakness, difficulty walking, limb pain, back pain or neck pain. AFM can cause paralysis over the course of hours to days, which may require a ventilator for breathing.

It most commonly affects young children. Parents are being asked to seek medical care immediately if a child develops a sudden arm or leg weakness.

Most children with AFM will have a fever or respiratory illness about six days before weakness occurs. For this reason, AFM has been associated with viruses, and specifically one called Enterovirus D68. But why some children get AFM and some don't isn't yet clear.

In 2018, the United States experienced the third and largest outbreak of AFM with 238 cases in 42 states between August and November.

The average age was just 5 years old. At least 98 percent of those children were hospitalized, and over half were admitted to the intensive care unit, while 20 percent required a ventilator to breathe.

While many children will recover to their usual state of health after AFM, many will have permanent disability.

The same hygiene precautions for COVID-19 apply to viruses that cause AFM. As some of the symptoms of COVID-19 may overlap with AFM, parents should be on high alert this season.

(Source: KSTP-TV)

Mankato welcomes new center

The Christopher Center at Madison East Center in Mankato is the long-held dream of local educator Tanya Herbst. It is a safe and supportive space for families with children on the autism spectrum.

Named after Herbst’s late brother, the Christopher Center will provide a place where families can access services and classes and connect with other families for play time and support. She is starting with one-on-one consultations and very small groups during the pandemic and will expand once it is safe for more people to gather.

Elysian resident Herbst has worked with young children with autism for many years for multiple school districts as a teacher and early childhood parent educator. She currently works for Mankato Public Schools as an autism specialist with responsibilities including doing autism screening and advising other educators.

The Waseca native said her parents, Ralph and REGIONAL NEWS To page 9

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September 1, 2020 Volume 31, Number 9 Pg 9

ENJOY! Less to Enjoy!

gatherings are fully accessible. Anyone needing special accommodations should contact Andy at host organization Springboard for the Arts. FFI: 651294-0907, resources@springboardforthearts.org

Many of the museums, arts and theater groups that typically have listings in the Access Press Enjoy! calendar have suspended activities, moved to online services or are offering limited in-person services with social distancing and safety measures. Please check with a venue or organization before heading out.

NAMIWalks goes virtual

Plan to join NAMIWalks Minnesota’s DIT (Do It Together) Virtual Walk, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Sat, Sept.

26. FFI: To register, “see classes” at namimn. org or, contact Julia at directorofdevelopment@ namimn.org or 651-645-2948 x104.

Check what is available through the Minnesota Access Alliance and its calendar, at https://mnaccess.org/

Can Do Woofaroo

Can Do Canines’ Can Do Woofaroo fundraiser is Sat, Sept. 12. This year’s event is virtual. Form a team of walkers or runners and raise money to provide assistance dogs for people in need. Assistance dog demonstration, client presentation, dog costume contest, a very special piece featuring the prison inmate dog training program, cute puppies, and all kinds of fun surprises are planned. FFI: www. candowoofaroo.org

Great River Race

REGIONAL NEWS

From page 8 Audrey Keyes, and her older brother, Christopher Keyes, inspired her drive to work with special needs children. Christopher had multiple disabilities and died unexpectedly in his sleep in 1987. He was 17 years old and Herbst was 14.

The Keyes were educators. Her father was assistant superintendent of Waseca Public Schools. Herbst said they were dedicated advocates to giving their son access to a variety of opportunities.

Her family taught her that “kids can do anything when they have support,” she said.

She was drawn to children on the autism spectrum, she said, because she finds fulfillment in helping them “unlock” their unique abilities.

Donations are sought to support the center.

(Source: Free Press of Mankato)

Students plan career assistance

Bethel University senior Ben Hernes and his sister Anna Substad, a 2019 Bethel graduate, are preparing to launch a platform to help individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities jump-start their careers.

The online job board, called RecruitABLE, will offer individuals with disabilities creative ways to showcase their talents and expertise beyond a traditional resume or cover letter.

“In today’s market, there are a lot of obstacles to overcome for people with IDD to get a job, and to get a job that they like,” Substad said. “It’s risky to disclose if you have a disability, and from the employer’s side of things, sometimes it’s actually illegal to ask an employee directly if they have disabilities.”

In June, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported an employment-population ratio of 17.5 percent for persons with a disability, compared with an employment-population ratio for persons without a disability at 59.7 percent.

CAN DO CANINES

Wilderness Inquiry hosts the Great River Race, Sep. 7-16. For its tenth year, the traditional race down the Mississippi River is docked in favor of a virtual event. In the 10-day challenge, see who can post the most pictures of self-led adventures using the hashtag #MNGreatRiverRace. Each picture of an outdoor activity earns points for teams. Prizes include a trip to the Apostle Islands and a free The Can Do Woofaroo, Can Don Canines' annual fundraiser, is virtual Winnebago RV rental. Enjoy the fresh air, have fun Open Flow Forum this year. More details are in the Enjoy! listings. and help raise awareness for our mission. A virtual The Artists with Disabilities Alliance meets via Zoom celebration is 7-7:30 p.m. Thu, Sept. 17 with emcee 7-9 p.m. the first Thu of the month. Upcoming dates and artistic efforts or disability concerns. Facilitators are and teller of tales Kevin Kling. FFI: 612-676-9400, www.

Thu, Sept. 3 and Oct. 1. Virtually join artists with disabilities Tara Innmon, Kip Shane and Springboard for the Arts. The wildernessinquiry.org and supporters to share visual art, writing, music, theater RecruitABLE aims to combat these obstacles by offering employers a place to post jobs a candidate with a disability could thrive in, and offering candidates a curated list of potential job openings with the ability to filter their job searches by required accommodations.

RecruitABLE users will be able to create a profile similar to those on LinkedIn, featuring more interactive content like automated video interviews, photos and video of the candidate working and curated questions that reveal the candidate’s strengths, interests and personality.

Hernes and Substad have an aunt with Down syndrome, someone they say inspired their commitment to helping individuals with disabilities at an early age.

The siblings from Fairmont were involved in Bethel’s Inclusive Learning and Development program, a twoyear postsecondary and residential program that began in 2015 for students with intellectual disabilities.

In June, Hernes and Substad’s RecruitABLE pitch won the 2020 Destination Medical Center Assistive Tech Challenge through the Mayo Clinic. With the $5,000 prize, they plan to license the software for RecruitABLE and build a team.

Substad said the team hopes to launch the pilot program in late August or early September.

(Source: Pioneer Press)

Accessible rowing is goal

North Star Community Rowing provides options for an array of people wanting access to the Mississippi River.

"Before I joined this, I didn’t work out that much,” said18-year-old Austen Harris. "I sat on the couch all day."

North Star’s main goal is to expand the sport to people it is typically offered to, including war veterans, adults with disabilities, and youth from under-resourced communities.

Together, they continue to learn life lessons through both practices and trips to compete in regattas out of

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state. Often those visits double as opportunities to tour college campuses, meet other competitive rowers, and build community within the small team.

North Star’s main goal is to expand the sport to people it is typically offered to, including war veterans, adults with disabilities, and youth from under-resourced communities.

"It’s just beating the stigma that it’s a white person’s sport,” said 16-year-old Araya Pettiford. "It’s not a white person’s sport, it’s for everybody."

But with a reputation as an exclusive, expensive, privileged sport very few other rowers step into practice waters similar to like those along north Minneapolis shoreline, or walk around broken glass with every launch.

“As you can see that water is not at all clean, it’s slimy,” says Pettiford. That is why the non-profit just signed a lease to build a walkway and dock on the south side of the Upper Harbor Terminal Development.

“It’s really for the whole community to have that dock,” said Anne Hinrich, board member for North Star Community Rowing. “It would be the first place that if you use a wheelchair that you could access the Mississippi River."”

The rowing group needs $43,000 to make the launch happen. This summer a local film premiere of A Most Beautiful Thing doubled as a fundraiser. The chronicle of the first all-Black rowing team out of Chicago also served as the inspiration to start North Star Community Rowing five years ago.

“It almost brings me to tears to think about that. If it weren’t for North Star, I don’t know of any other outlet that would take us,” said adaptive rower Greg Torp.

(Source: KMSP-TV)

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September 1, 2020 Volume 31, Number 9 Pg 10

RADIO TALKING BOOK Retire those old devices Beginning Oct. 1, Radio Talking Book (RTB) will no longer be available via closed-circuit radio. Instead, listeners will have several options: using the Internet, the new RTB apps for iOS and Android, or a digital assistant like an Alexa-enabled smart speaker. To find out more call 1-800652-9000, or email ssb.info@state.mn.us.

There’s an app for that Access Radio Talking Book at any time and anywhere on a hand-held mobile device, for either iOS or Android. Just visit the Apple App Store for iOS, or Google Play for Android, and download the Minnesota Radio Talking Book app. It’s quick, it’s easy, and provides a convenient way to tune into RTB wherever and whenever.

Books available through library services Books broadcast on the Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network are available for loan 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.

Call the Minnesota Braille and Talking Book Library at 800-722-0550, Mon-Fri, 9 am-4 pm CST. Persons living outside of Minnesota may obtain books via an inter-library loan by contacting their home state’s Network Library for the National Library Service.

Learn more For information about Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network events go to the Facebook site, Minnesota Radio Talking Book. Audio information about the daily book listings is on the National Federation for the Blind (NFB) Newsline. Register for the NFB Newsline by calling 651-539-1424.

The NFB-NEWSLINE service provides access to more than 500 magazines and newspapers, plus information on COVID-19 in the “Breaking News” section. To learn more, visit www.nfb.org/ programs-services/nfb-newsline.

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 Listen to RTB’s live or archived programs online at www.mnssb.org/rtb Chautauqua* Monday – Friday 6 a.m.

Homeplace, nonfiction by John Lingan, 2018. Winchester, Virginia is a small town

in transition, and its story reveals the ongoing changes in all of American life. Read

by Lannois Neely. 10 broadcasts; begins Thu, Sept. 3. - L Don’t Believe a Word, nonfiction by David Shariatmadari, 2019. Linguistics expert David Shariatmadari sets out to cast some light on prevailing beliefs about language.

Read by Pat Muir. 11 broadcasts; begins Thu, Sept. 17.

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

Accidental Presidents, nonfiction by Jared Cohen, 2019. The transition of eight US vice presidents, who took on the presidency upon the deaths of their predecessors. Read by Roger Sheldon. 22 broadcasts; begins Thu, Sept. 17.

Bookworm* Monday – Friday noon Polite Society, fiction by Mahesh Rao, 2019.

When Ania, a young New Delhi woman, plays matchmaker she discovers how things seldom go as planned in matters of the heart. Read by Kristi Fuller. 11 broadcasts; begins Mon, Sept. 14. – L Stray, fiction by Nancy J. Hedin, 2019.

Lorraine Tyler stays in the small town of Bend, Minnesota out of family loyalty. But she confronts prejudice and violence, and regains her path in life. Read by Holly Sylvester. Seven broadcasts; begins Tue, Sept. 29. – L The Writer’s Voice* Monday – Friday 1 p.m.

Barnum, nonfiction by Robert Wilson, 2019.

Before he became a flamboyant circus impresario, Phineas Taylor Barnum was already one of the most famous men in America. Read by Diane Ladenson. 12 broadcasts; begins Mon, Sept. 28.

Choice Reading* Monday – Friday 2 p.m.

A Door in the Earth, fiction by Amy Waldman, 2019. A young Afghan-American woman sets out to reconnect with her heritage, and sees how her idealism comes into contrast with the reality of war.

Read by Michele Potts. 13 broadcasts; begins Mon, Sept. 14.

The Longest Line on the Map, nonfiction

by Eric Rutkow, 2019. The Pan-American Highway is the longest road in the world, and its history is a tale of commerce, technology, and politics. Read by Robb Empson. 18 broadcasts; begins Tue, Sept.

22.

Night Journey* Monday – Friday 7 p.m.

Dead Man’s Mistress, fiction by Joseph Amoto, 1988. Minnesota detective Rushford “Mac” McKenzie is hired by an art collector to recover stolen paintings.

But when a suspect turns up dead, Mac searches for the killer. Read by Pat Muir. 11 broadcasts; begins Mon, Sept. 14. – V, L Hope Never Dies, fiction by Andrew Shaffer, 2018. Vice President Joe Biden comes out of retirement to solve the murder of a longtime friend, and is assisted by President Barack Obama.

Read by Neil Bright. Nine broadcasts; begins Tue, Sept. 29. – V, L Off the Shelf* Monday – Friday 8 p.m.

One Little Lie, fiction by Colleen Coble, 2020. Detective Jane Hardy takes over her father’s job as sheriff. But soon she must clear his name from a murder charge.

Read by Carol McPherson. 11 broadcasts; begins Tue, Sept. 15. – L, V All My Cats, nonfiction by Bohumil Hrabal, 2019. Czech author Bohumil Hrabal describes his house cats and the love, fear, and exasperation he feels for them. Read

by John Gunter. Three broadcasts; begins Wed, Sept. 30.

Potpourri* Monday – Friday 9 p.m.

How the Scots Invented the Modern World, nonfiction by Arthur Herman, 2001. From being Europe’s poorest land in 1700, Scotland progressed to exert a profound influence on the world’s industrial and historical development. Read by John Potts. 20 broadcasts; begins Thu, Sept. 10.

Afternoon Report* Monday – Friday 4 p.m.

Tightrope, nonfiction by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl Wudunn, 2020. Journalists Kristof and Wudunn send a clear message to everyone who wants working-class Americans to prosper. Read by Stevie Ray. 11 broadcasts; begins Mon, Sept. 7.

J. Martin (Marty) Carlson Janice Chevrette Dean Doering & Lisa Scribner Jim Gerlich Kathy & Hazen Graves Jane Larson Ronna Linroth Lynda Milne Paul Mueller John Schatzlein (In Memory of) Kay Willshire Ghita & Bill Worcester The Benevity Fund Central MN Community Foundation GHR Foundation Handi Medical Supply In Home Personal Care MN Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities MRCI Client-Directed Services Tamarack Prosthetics UCare

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Weekend Program Books Your Personal World, 1 p.m. Sat, presents Renia’s Diary: A Holocaust Journal

by Renia Spiegel and Elizabeth Bellak, read by Beverly Burchett (L). Rated R, 11 p.m. Sat, presents What We Did in Bed by Brian Fagan and Nadia Durrani, read by Scott McKinney (L, S). For the Younger Set, 11 a.m. Sun, presents Stay Sweet by Siobhan Vivian, read by Connie Jamison.

Poetic Reflections, noon Sun, presents Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver, read by Myrna Smith. The Great North, 4 p.m.. Sun, presents In Winter’s Kitchen by Beth Dooley, read by Michelle Juntunen.

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RTB After Hours* Monday – Friday 11 p.m.

The Nanny, fiction by Gilly Macmillan, 2019. One morning seven-year-old Jocelyn wakes up to find her beloved nanny Hannah is gone. Years later Jocelyn returns to the family home, and discovers a human skull. Read by Marylyn Burridge.

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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, Sept. 14. – L, V

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The Florist’s Daughter, nonfiction by Patricia Hampl, 2007. Minnesota author Patricia Hampl tells of her life growing up in St. Paul, and later as an adult taking care of elderly parents. Read by Therese Murray. Seven broadcasts; begins Thu, Sept. 3.

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September 1, 2020 Volume 31, Number 9 Pg 11

The Metropolitan Council is taking initial steps in a far-reaching plan to make its offices, treatment plants, transit facilities, garages, websites, and other digital media more accessible to people with disabilities.

The council is the regional unit of government for the Twin Cities area.

The actions grow out of a comprehensive evaluation conducted last year, as well as a follow-up plan developed in early 2020.

“It provides a clear picture of our situation … and where we need to go,” said Guthrie Byard, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Title VI Administrator.

“This is important work, and for many reasons,” Byard said. “An important one is that we need to fully comply with the federal ADA and other important standards. But beyond that requirement, we want to make our resources fully available, usable, and welcoming to everyone.”

One major goal is physical accessibility of Met Council facilities based on ADA requirements. The evaluation identified almost 3,000 barriers that need to be moved, modified or eliminated, based on criteria

METROPOLITAN COUNCIL

Access improvements in the works for regional facilities

What's wrong with this picture? The access paddle is blocked by the trash can. from the U.S. Access Board and Minnesota Accessibility Code. It was also found that only 2 percent of barriers found are the considered most serious.

“The remaining barriers can hamper access to programs or services,” Byard said,

“but they affect fewer customers and to a more limited extent.”

“We have made significant progress in making sure our facilities are accessible under the ADA and the Minnesota Building Code,” he said, “but there’s still work to be done.”

Examples include wastewater treatment plant tour routes, placement of automatic door buttons, accessible parking spots, and location of accessible parking signs, as well as movable objects in buildings, such as waste bins in entries and hallways.

Metro Transit operates and maintains a broad range of facilities that can pose accessibility issues for customers. Bus stops are critical access points for transit riders. Evaluation of all of those, including bus stops, is underway.

Several transit facilities will undergo continuing review for possible improvements, including the Heywood Garage, Transit Centers, park-and-ride lots, pedestrian ramps and signs. A digital database of assets was prepared.

At wastewater treatment facilities, most accessibility issues involve building entrances.

Some underground corridors have low head

clearance, narrow walkways, and tripping hazards underfoot. Public tours are not being conducted at this time. That provides an opportunity to fully review how to improve accessibility, possibly including virtual tours and accessible maps.

Another area eyed for accessibility improvements is Metropolitan Council digital communications.

“We brought two companies on board that specialize in digital accessibility,” Byard said.

“One assesses how well our websites work for people of all abilities. The other created a plan to enable employees, regardless of ability, to access and master our internal accessibility practices for digital media.”

Byard said council staff may explore further action beyond compliance with existing requirements, at least in the future, with the possibility of implementing Universal Design principles.

“The principles are, in essence, accessibility for all, regardless of ability, age, size, or other factors,” he said.

“They would be a major action, one that would need extensive thought and careful consideration.”

OPPORTUNITIES CHILDREN AND FAMILIES PACER offers workshops PACER Center offers many useful free or low-cost workshops and other resources for families of children with any disabilities.

Workshops are online at this time. Advance registration is required for all workshops.

At least 48 hours’ notice is needed for interpretation. Many workshops are livestreamed. Check website and link to the newsletter of statewide workshops allows participants to pick and choose sessions designed for their needs. FFI: PACER, 952838-9000, 800-537-2237, www.pacer.org

INFO & ASSISTANCE

Helping employees live in a pandemic NAMI Minnesota (National Alliance on Mental Illness) has developed an online mental health program for employers to offer their employees to help them manage their stress, coping skills and resiliency during this unprecedented time. The new program is called HELP – Helping Employees Live in a Pandemic. HELP classes include: Minding Your Mental Health During COVID-19, Keeping in Touch: Staying Connected During COVID-19, Coping with Kids, Self-Care and Mindfulness, Physical Activity, Nutrition, Positive Psychology, and Question, Persuade and Refer, which teaches the three steps anyone can take to help prevent a suicide. Classes are one hour long.

Employers can choose one or all classes to be offered through Zoom or another online

AID

From page 1 meaningful work and social activities, the closings hit especially hard.

Those day service and employment providers say they were simply unable any longer to wait for state aid. Many had already laid off staff, but had to continue to maintain facilities and bare-bones operations.

One nonprofit that closed its doors is LeSueur County Developmental Services (LCDS). Based in Waterville, the private nonprofit provided light manufacturing, office and janitorial services and operated Potential unlimited. The shutdown puts about 20 employees and 50 clients out of work.

Executive Director Doug Scharfe worked at LCDS for 17 years, and has 37 years’ experience in the disability services field.

He and others now have the difficult task of selling assets and handling closing details. A closing sale was held in July.

Closing the doors when the pandemic began brought great uncertainty for LCDS, its staff and clients. “I’m not sure where our clients are going to go,” Scharfe said. There isn’t another day program in the area. “That’s the hardest part. What are people going to do?”

The Waterville and LeSueur County communities have been very supportive of LCDS, Scharfe said. The nonprofit began in 1966. “It’s a sad time for the community.”

Other programs have met a similar fate. In July Kandi Works Development and Activities Center in Kandiyohi shut down. By midAugust, its website was taken down.

Harlan Madsen, chairman of the nonprofit’s board of directors, told KSTP-TV that the board voted to dissolve the nonprofit.

platform. NAMI Minnesota appreciates, but does not require, an honorarium for classes.

Contact NAMI to schedule a class. FFI: namihelps@namimn.org MCIL is online The Metropolitan Center for Independent Living provides classes and activities, currently in a virtual format. Check the website, www.mcil-mn.org. Click on “Classes Groups and Sessions” for updated information or to print their calendar. Give two weeks’ notice if the alternative format or other accommodations are needed. Events are free, accessible and mostly scent-free.

The People of Color with disabilities group meets 5:30-8 p.m. the third Thu of each month. FFI: 651-603-2030 Centers for independent living statewide Minnesota centers typically offer an array of classes, training programs and other services tied to independent living. Centers providing PCA, homemaker and other staffing for clients continue to do that in person. Most services aren’t provided at facilities. Facilities not open to the public at all or on a limited basis, varying by center.

Freedom Resource Center, which serves parts of Minnesota and North Dakota, is only providing services by phone or email.

Independent Lifestyles, which serves the Sauk Rapids area, is providing a mix of virtual, off-site and in-person services.

Access North staff are remotely and any office meetings by appointment only. Some services are available in-person.

“We feel, and felt, very strongly after intensive conversations as a board that it is irresponsible of us to continue to use our resources and reserves and just simply burn them up," Madsen said. "It is a very gutwrenching decision.”

The provider shutdowns have affected more than 300 day services programs, with about 6,000 clients total.

Advocates argued that the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) should have filed for retainer payments with the centers for Medicare and Medicaid, as other states had done. They and leaders of disability service organizations also argued that the nonprofits should be allowed increased flexibility to open for longer hours and greater capacity. One point providers made is that they have proper safety protocols in place, to not spread COVID-19.

Human Services Commissioner Jodi Harpstead contended that Minnesota didn’t have the power to obtain funding, and that it was up to state lawmakers to pass legislation to do so. Walz has been operating state government under formal declarations of emergency since the spring.

In July DHS began allowing providers to open for some employment and social activities, under new guidelines. Providers had to have a COVID-19 preparedness plan in place and to follow other state licensing requirements related to hours and capacity.

People who have, or who live with someone, with COVID-19 or who have had exposure within two weeks cannot attend programs.

“Recent decreases in COVID-19 cases in group homes across the state, as well as Minnesota Department of Health guidance, helped us decide that this is the right time to reopen services for all,” said Harpstead.

Options Interstate Resource Center staff have met people car to car, outside, and in ways they can insure social distancing.

Staff is also using technology and phone to provide service.

Online mental health support NAMI Minnesota offers free online peer support groups for adults and young adults living with a mental illness, their families, friends, spouses/partners, and parents of children and teens. Led by trained peer facilitators, support groups help individuals and families learn coping skills and find strength through sharing their experiences.

The groups are specifically for those individuals suggested by the group’s title. For example, Family Support Group is only for family members and NAMI Connection is only for those who live with a mental illness and are over 18 years old, etc. Go to namimn. org and clic on “Support Groups”. FFI: https://namimn.org/support/nami-minnesotasupport-groups/ Minnesota STAR program Saff is working to provide services and keep clients safe. The equipment lending library has specific procedures and only no-contact loans are offered. All equipment is tested and sanitized prior to shipping. STAR staff wears proper PPE (personal protective equipment) during the process. Device loans continue to

be for 30 days. After equipment is returned to STAR it is quarantine for five days. After the quarantine period equipment is once again sanitized, inspected and tested. Virtual demonstrations are done on as needed. FFI: 651-201-2640, star.program@state.mn.us Southwest and Southeast Centers for Independent Living and SMILES Independent Living have stayed open and are providing service by phone, video conference, and some in-person services based on the need for this, the needs of the individual, and with proper protocols in place.

Centers serve every area of the state. FFI: www.macil.org Vision loss group offers activities Vision Loss Resources has opened with safety protocols in place. Some services are offered virtually. Low vision assessments are available by phone. Ask about virtual support groups, distance learning, and no-contact grocery shopping and reading support.

Events and activities offered virtually through the community center. The rehabilitation center is open both in-person and remotely.

DeafBlind Services Minnesota provides one-to-one services to adults and children with deafblindness. No deafblind community activities are scheduled at this time. FFI: 612871-2222, info@visionlossresources.org

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September 1, 2020 Volume 31, Number 9 Pg 12

...BECAUSE

Connect with us for these statewide services: Self-Directed Services

everyone has a right to choose their own caregiver.

• Consumer Directed Community Supports (CDCS) • Consumer Support Grant (CSG) • PCA Choice • Personal Support and Respite (245D) • Veterans Directed - VD-HCBS

Resources for Individuals, Families and Employers.

800.829.7110 MyMRCI.org

We’re for the people living in group homes.

Nursing homes.

Single family homes.

Section 8 homes.

People and service dogs lined up during for public testimony.

Any homes.

UCare has health plans for everyone.

Get started at ucare.org Call 1-866-457-7144 | TTY 1-800-688-2534 No English 1-800-688-2534