Wed, February 21, 2018
Last Tuesday, 33 people from across YAI went to Albany to join the New York Alliance for Inclusion and Innovation in their lobbying efforts. With such wide representation from the agency, we were able to meet with 40 different elected officials or their chiefs of staff! The group was able to thank their elected officials for supporting a living wage for Direct Support Professionals. YAI's representatives advocated for our elected officials continue to support the #bFair2DirectCare Campaign and...
Sat, February 13, 2016
From the Poughkeepsie Journal, an opinion piece by officials from several service providers -- Jeffery Fox, Ph.D., Abilities First; Neil Pollack, Anderson Center for Autism; Gerard Dohrenwend, Cerebral Palsy of Ulster County; Vicki Sylvester, Ph.D., Community Based Services; Samuel Laganaro, New Horizons Resources, and Crys McCuin, The Arc of Dutchess. Gov. Andrew Cuomo's plans to increase the minimum wage across New York State to $15 an hour incrementally by 2021 are well-known, and we commend...
Thu, February 11, 2016
Advocacy in action in Connecticut . Families and self-advocates are critical to gaining support of state lawmakers. Keep up the good fight Nutmeggers! Hoping Josh Kovner the Hartford Courant continues to focus on this key issue. HARTFORD — The signs of influence were there: About 30 legislators showed up at a rallying point Wednesday as dozens of parents of children with intellectual disabilities prepared to fan out through the Capitol complex and press lawmakers to resist $47 million in...
Wed, February 03, 2016
New Yorkers with intellectual and developmental disabilities, their families and our field needs to speak up. Contact Gov. Andrew Cuomo 's office and your NYS legislators. We need to ensure our voices are heard. Sharing NYSARC Executives' op-ed from Albany Times Union. Gov. Andrew Cuomo's proposed $15 minimum wage contains a serious flaw that threatens the financial viability of an entire field of caregivers and the people and families those caregivers support.While the governor has...
Mon, January 04, 2016
Bonnie Schinagle, a special education attorney, shares her advice to parents of children with disabilities. Learn more by attending our upcoming Autism Family Support Series on Jan. 14, 2016.
Sun, January 15, 2012
"A right delayed is a right denied." Today I am thinking about my grandfather and father gathered around a radio listening to Dr. King saying these words as he fought for the inclusion of people like my family. How odd that 50 years later I am in Amman, Jordan with a group of people who hold the same belief and are working to ensure that people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (I/DD) are included in society. I am here with my colleagues Perry Samowitz and Fawzi Abu Hassish as...
Wed, January 25, 2012
We make our voices heard as loud as we can. We visit lawmakers in Albany, telling them we vote and we have a message. We have been able to keep the legislators from making some budget cuts by telling them our personal stories. We advocate by going in the community and showing people our abilities. We've volunteered at the New York League for Early Learning's Harry Gordon School to work with children with disabilities and serve as role models. We show community members that people with...
