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Social Role Valorization

SOCIAL ROLE VALORIZATION WORKSHOP

Scheduled for
MAY 29, 30 & 31, 2013

Featuring
DARCY ELKS


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Legislative Action Alerts

Post Trial Brief Filed in Ian Ham Case

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CLICK HERE to read the post trial brief.

The Ian Ham trial was born out of the chaos and confusion that reigned at the Beatrice State Development Center (BSDC) from 2005 to 2008. It’s a tragic story of the failure of the State to provide for the safety, care and treatment of a vulnerable individual in their custody.

In August, 2009, Disability Rights Nebraska filed a damage action in the District Court of Gage County on behalf of Ian Ham by his Guardian Sandy Ham, against the Beatrice Community Hospital and the emergency room physician. The lawsuit was in response to the medical negligence and abuse suffered by Ian when the ER doctor attempted to replace Ian's feeding tube (G-Tube) without the use of pain medication, and while handcuffing him to a gurney, and then improperly failed to insert the feeding tube into his stomach. That case was settled.

At the same time, we filed a second lawsuit on behalf of Ian against the State. That action focused on the failure of State Officials and BSDC employees to meet the required standard of care in their duty to Ian, a resident of BSDC, by not implementing recommendations of physicians and speech therapists and nearly killing him through the mismanagement of his medical needs. The trial of that lawsuit was concluded on April 12, 2013. A decision is expected in June.


GIVE TO LINCOLN DAY - UPDATE

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THANK YOU TO OUR "GIVE TO LINCOLN DAY" SUPPORTERS!

Thank ALL of you for your gifts to Disability Rights Nebraska. We greatly appreciate your contribution to our advocacy efforts.

Our goal was to raise $3,000 and you put us well over the top! Your donations totaled $3,700!! That will help us secure a proportional match from the Lincoln Community Foundation commitment of a matching fund of $200,000.

With the help of your contributions, Disability Rights Nebraska can continue to reach out to help people who have disabilities, working with them to address situations where they have experienced barriers to doing things many of us take for granted.

Guiding all the work we do is the vision of Disability Rights Nebraska: Nebraskans with mental or physical disabilities are valued within their communities, have control over their own lives, and have the necessary resources available to experience a life of quality.

Thank you for helping us move one step closer to making that vision a reality.


LEGISLATIVE ACTION ALERT

Nebraska State Capitol Building

ACTION ALERTS FOR MAY 9, 2013

We will try to keep you posted on important action that needs to be taken on bills with importance to people with disabilities and their families through our Action Alerts.

CLICK on LEGISLATIVE ACTION ALERTS to see important information and timely information on developing state legislation.

If you are not sure who your state senator is, CLICK HERE to find out.

CLICK HERE to get more information about our High Priority Bills and track each bill's progress.




News/Events Headlines

  • Medicaid Expansion in Oregon

    Oregon experiment with expansion of Medicaid. Results - Medicaid works as health insurance: (1) folks on Medicaid received more care, reported better health (both physical and mental), and experienced fewer financial problems than the people who weren’t on Medicaid; (2) people who gained access to Medicaid used more health care so “We can eliminate the story that Medicaid is so lousy you can’t get in to see a doctor.” (3) didn’t see much improvement in some of the health indicators that were tracked - blood pressure, cholesterol, and diabetes - but in mental health: depression rates fell by 30 percent!!

  • $240 Million Judgement for 32 Workers with Disabilities

    In a decision that legal experts are calling "stunning," an Iowa jury this morning awarded $240 million to the 32 mentally disabled men who faced decades of discrimination and abuse while working for Henry's Turkey Service in Atalissa.

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