Group items tagged

Click here to register!What:Please Join the Southwest ADA Center and the Texas Governor's Committee for People with Disabilities for another ADA Virtual Round Tables webinar.   Attorney Deborah A. Green with the Law Offices of Deborah Green, and Attorney Tom Ruffner, Court Investigator with Travis County Probate Court in Austin, Texas will discuss a range of financial and legal tools for planning for a lifetime of support. When:Monday, December 5, 2011 12:00 PM Mountain  Contact:Phone: (713) 520-0232Email: ilru@ilru.org

What:Join us for a presentation on "Special Needs Planning Solutions" by Michael Ray, parent of a child with disabilities and a partner at Yellowstone Financial Services.You'll learn vital information and important steps in planning for a secure future for your child, when you're no longer here to care for him or her.When:Thursday, February 2, 20126:30 pm - 8:00 pmWhere:Easter-Seals Goodwill1537 Ave D, Suite 115Billings, MTContact:Kelly MeliusPhone: (406)657-9728

An effort by the Obama administration to overhaul the troubled federal agency that is responsible for the education of tens of thousands of American Indian children is getting major pushback from some tribal leaders and educators, who see the plan as an infringement on their sovereignty and a one-size-fits-all approach that will fail to improve student achievement in Indian Country. As Barack Obama makes his first visit to Indian Country as president this week, the federal Bureau of Indian Education—which directly operates 57 schools for Native Americans and oversees 126 others run by tribes under contract with the agency—is moving ahead with plans to remake itself into an entity akin to a state department of education that would focus on improving services for tribally operated schools. A revamped BIE, as envisioned in the proposal, would eventually give up direct operations of schools and push for a menu of education reforms that is strikingly similar to some championed in initiatives such as Race to the Top, including competitive-grant funding to entice tribal schools to adopt teacher-evaluation systems that are linked to student performance. The proposed reorganization of the BIE comes after years of scathing reports from watchdog groups, including the U.S. Government Accountability Office, and chronic complaints from tribal educators about the agency’s financial and academic mismanagement and failure to advocate more effectively for the needs of schools that serve Native American students. It also comes a year after U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell called the federally funded Indian education system “an embarrassment.” The BIE is overseen by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which is housed within the U.S. Interior Department. Pushback From Tribes The proposal, released in April, was drafted by a seven-person “study group” appointed jointly by Ms. Jewell and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. Five of the panel’s members currently serve in the Obama administration. Some of the nation’s largest tribes, however, are staunchly opposed to the proposal, including the 16 tribes that make up the Great Plains Tribal Chairmans Association, which represents tribal leaders in South Dakota, North Dakota, and Nebraska. “It’s time for us to decide what our children will learn and how they will learn it because [BIE] has been a failure so far,” Bryan V. Brewer, the chairman of the 40,000-member Oglala Sioux tribe in Pine Ridge, S.D., said last month in a congressional hearing on the BIE. In the same hearing before the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, Charles M. Roessel, the director of the BIE and a member of the panel that drafted the plan, said the agency’s reorganization “would allow the BIE to achieve improved results in the form of higher student scores, improved school operations, and increased tribal control over schools.” (Despite multiple requests from Education Week, the BIE did not make Mr. Roessel or any other agency official available for an interview.)

Click here to download the registration form for this event (PDF) What: People with disabilities, especially developmental disabilities, are outliving their parents (their main caregivers) for the first time in history. Future Care Planning Services was launched in Rochester, NY in 2002 as a unique collaborative service of two disability service providers and an aging service provider to encourage and help aging caregivers develop written health, housing, legal, financial and guardianship plans for the future care of their also aging dependent loved ones with disabilities. The panel will consist of: Doris Green, Evelyn Exman, Ginny Lyness and Margaret Lonnen. When: May 11, 2011 1:00-2:30pm Mountain

What:As families grow and age they reach many crossroads. Each crossroad generates more questions. Family Life Expo was designed to provide Billings families with answers to their many questions and direct families to local professionals and providers who can help.When you register to exhibit at the 2012 Family Life Expo, you will also be included in the network of professionals and providers on FamilyLifeExpo.com, fully launching to the public dare of the expo, February 4, 2012. At FamilyLifeExpo.com families can get the latest news and updates on just about any issue such as healthcare, financial planning, education, real estate, jobs, vacations, insurance, retirement, and more! Most importantly, families can link directly to one of our network professionals or providers that can help. When:February 4, 2012 Where:MetraPark PavilionBillings, MTContact:Phone: 406-294-9116Email: familylifeexpo.comProceeds to benefit the Special K Ranch.

Amanda and Jason Purnell know they will have to financially support their daughter, who has Down syndrome, for the rest of her life.

When: Oct 3-5, 2010 in Helena, MTWhat: The 2010 Youth in Transition Conference is a youth and parent centered event that will assist youth with disabilities and their teams to plan and develop plans for after high school. This venue will include: A “Real Life” Fair: participants can meet with a wide variety of community re-sources. Keynote Presenters: Fun, informative, youth centered! Workshops: information that supports what was learned at the Real Life Fair. Students, parents, and all relevant team members are encouraged to attend! Topics and Information: Transition to What? Information Available: Housing Transportation Food/Clothing Recreation Employment Education/Training Financial Aid Community Service Self-Advocacy

The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 required health plans that offer mental health and substance use disorder benefits to cover them to the same extent that they cover medical/surgical benefits. Among other things, it prohibits having treatment limits or financial coverage requirements such as copayments or deductibles that are more restrictive than a plan’s medical coverage. Interim regulations issued in 2010 clarified some issues about implementing the law.

Do you understand all the requirements, procedures and pitfalls of fiscal planning with supplemental needs trusts? This legal briefing will provide you with the specialized skills required to provide special needs beneficiaries with financial structure and stability. Offer your clients the guidance and peace of mind they so desperately need - register today!