Advocacy in Action Newsletter

The fall issue of NJCDD’s quarterly magazine, People & Families is available at www.njcdd.org.

This issue celebrates the 25^th anniversary of the Family Support Act. Readers will also be introduced to Paul Aronsohn, the states’ first ombudsman for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and more.

People & Families focuses on important issues for New Jersey’s developmental disabilities community. Published quarterly, the magazine provides current information for families and self advocates. It highlights organizations, programs, and individuals who make positive contributions for the developmental disabilities community. Newsworthy state and national stories are also featured.

The New Jersey Council on Developmental Disabilities’ Community Integration Projects (CIP) encourage new and innovative activities designed to bring meaningful change.

Grant funds support short-term projects of up to 12 months. Bidders can request up to $10,000.

Date/Time
Saturday, November 17, 2018
9:30 a.m.-3:00 p.m.Location
Hilton Garden Inn Hamilton
800 US Route 130
Hamilton Township, NJ 08690

“Great Expectations – Building on the Past, Envisioning the Future”Date/TimeFriday, December 7, 2018 8a.m.-4p.m.
Location
Renaissance Inn Woodbridge
515 US Highway 1 South, Iselin, NJ 08830

The Adminstration for Community Living (ACL) welcomed Julie Hocker as the Commissioner of the Administration on Disabilities. Hocker brings to the role extensive experience in operational process improvement, risk management, and effectiveness assessment.

Hocker joins ACL from the Charles Koch Foundation, where she served as a senior manager since 2016. In that role, she led several key initiatives to improve the foundation’s operations, including development of an integrated technology and data solution for fundraising, grantmaking and expenditures. Hoker led a redesigning process to improve investment tracking and enable better analysis of effectiveness. She was also instrumental in the creation and implementation of risk-management processes.

Previously, Hocker served in a variety of roles with The Vanguard Group and as an analyst for the Administration for Children and Families. In addition, she has been a senior policy fellow for the Center for Human Dignity at the American Conservative Union Foundation since 2015.

The New Jersey Council on Developmental Disabilities (NJCDD) awarded Columbia University’s National Center on Children in Poverty a $150,000 one-year grant to identify barriers to dental care for people with developmental disabilities in New Jersey.

“This project will further the work of the NJCDD and our comprehensive five-year advocacy plan for New Jersey that identifies how to improve statewide capacity to deliver dental services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD), “said Mercedes Witowsky, executive director, NJCDD.

Since October 1, 2018, Columbia University researchers and staff have been working with dental, medical and social services providers as well as consumers, caregivers and advocates to assess barriers to quality dental care. They will also develop recommendations to address those barriers.

Columbia University will assess the needs of people with I/DD and their caregivers through one-on-one interviews. Columbia will also develop a database of dental services.

Columbia University will partner with Rutgers School of Dental Medicine’s Special Needs Patients’ Clinic in Newark, New Jersey, and the American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry.

October 29 marked a day of events highlighting efforts to bridge the pay gaps for NJ residents including direct support professionals.

NJCDD representatives including Kevin Nunez, people with I/DD, advocates, and agencies converged on the NJ State House with the Coalition for a DSP Living Wage. Participants encouraged lawmakers to support increased wages for direct service professionals (DSPs). Statewide efforts continue to push for competitive wages for DSPs who provide essential hands-on support for 30,000 NJ residents with I/DD.

Related News…
NJCDD Chair, Paul Blaustein and Public Policy Coordinator, Bob Titus attended an evening event sponsored by the United Way’s Asset Limited, Income, Constrained, Employed (ALICE) Project. The ALICE Project is a nationwide effort to quantify and describe the number of households that struggle financially. The Project raises awareness about a large hidden segment of New Jersey’s population that struggles to afford basic necessities. Guest speakers included NJ Senate President Steve Sweeney and NJ Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin.