NCCI has received action alerts on two important disability issues, Electronic Visit Verification, which affects the functioning and rights of home care users and aides … and Source Of Income Discrimination, focused on an effort in New York State to prohibit discrimination on the basis of your source of income, which greatly affects lower income people’s ability to rent housing. Details and action steps are below, taken directly from the two action alerts:
Electronic Visit Verification
We expect Congress may consider a delay as a
standalone bill early next week, so we’re asking you to take action now.
Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) is a tracking system that requires electronic verification of when a person receives Medicaid-funded personal care or home health services.
EVV has the potential to invade the privacy of people with disabilities, limit their independence and community access, and lead to cuts in services.
A delay is an important first step and will give advocates more time to work with Congress, CMS, and the states to address the significant concerns with EVV and its potential impact on people with disabilities.
Action:
As a first step, Congress should pass an at least one year delay for implementation of EVV. Please contact your House Members today!
Call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 or (202) 224-3091 (TTY) and ask to be connected to your Representative. Ask your House Member to pass an at-least-one-year delay for implementation of EVV.
Message to House Members:
Please support a delay to Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) implementation.
Too much is at stake to rush the process: the independence, privacy and quality of life of people with disabilities who rely on these services, as well as the stability of disability supports and services. There has been little stakeholder input, despite EVV affecting personal aspects of peoples' lives. EVV will impact the privacy and independence of people receiving services, as well as the workforce that delivers those services—but the extent of these impacts remains unclear. A delay will give us more time to address problems.
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Source Of Income Discrimination
NYS Assembly Leadership must hear from you ASAP in order to bring
A.10610 to the Assembly floor for a vote! We need every coalition member to CALL, EMAIL, and TWEET at Speaker Heastie, Majority Leader Morelle, Chairwoman Peoples-Stokes (Government Operations Committee), and Assemblyman Weprin (Bill Sponsor) TODAY!
Contact information, talking points, a draft email, and social media posts are included below that you are welcome to use.
With the passage of
A.10610, it will be unlawful to deny housing to elderly citizens, persons with disabilities, domestic violence survivors, homeless individuals, children, ethnic and racial minorities, veterans and others, when they attempt to use some form of government assistance or non-wage income to pay their rent.
Additional Actions:
Like us on
Facebook and follow us on
Twitter, and then share and retweet our posts and tweets! Forward this email to any other groups that you think would be interested in supporting A.10610. Thank you for action on this important matter! Please let me know if you have any questions.
Best,
Aliya Brown
Phone: 212.284.7214
Email: banincomebiasny@gmail.com
LEADERSHIP CONTACTS
Speaker Carl Heastie, 718-654-6539, heastic@nyassembly.gov, @CarlHeastie (Twitter) Majority Leader Joseph Morelle, 585-467-0410, morellej@nyassembly.gov, @JoeMorelle (Facebook), @JoeMorelle (Twitter) Chairwoman Crystal Peoples-Stokes, 716-897-9714, peoplec@nyassembly.gov, @CPeoplesStokes (Facebook), @CPeoplesStokes (Twitter) Assembly Member David Weprin, 518-455-5806, WeprinD@nyassembly.gov, @DavidWeprin (Facebook), @DavidWeprin (Twitter)
TALKING POINTS
My name is [Insert Your Name] from [Insert Your Organization] and I am a member of the BanIncomeBiasNY coalition. I am calling to urge [Insert Assembly Member] to bring bill A.10610 up for debate and to vote on it by June 20th. A.10610 would make it illegal for landlords to deny housing to individuals who use non-wage income to pay for their housing. This bill is a huge priority for myself and my organization, and is an important step towards ending source of income discrimination in New York for elderly citizens, persons with disabilities, domestic violence survivors, veterans and others.
DRAFT EMAIL
Dear Assembly Member,
As a member of #BanIncomeBiasNY, a coalition working to end source of income discrimination in housing, I am reaching out to encourage you to bring bill A.10610 up for debate and to vote on it by June 20th.
With the passage of A.10610, it will be unlawful to deny housing to elderly citizens, persons with disabilities, domestic violence survivors, homeless individuals, children, ethnic and racial minorities, veterans and others, when they attempt to use some form of government assistance or non-wage income to pay their rent. This is critical to create statewide protections for individuals and families who need rely on housing and/or income assistance. To learn more about this source of income discrimination,
please click here.
Thank you for your consideration of this important issue.
[INSERT SIGNATURE BLOCK]
DRAFT SOCIAL MEDIA
The lack of source of income protections in New York restricts #housing choice, concentrates poverty, stifles mobility, & drives inequities in other areas of our lives. It's time to #BanIncomeBiasNY & pass A.10610 today! [INSERT ASSEMBLY MEMBER HANDLE]
576k NY seniors, persons with disabilities, domestic violence survivors, veterans, & others are at risk of #housing discrimination because of their source of income. Please fix this today & pass A.10610! #BanIncomeBiasNY [INSERT ASSEMBLY MEMBER HANDLE]
Protect some of our most marginalized populations, including the elderly, ethnic & racial minorities, & veterans, by passing A.10610 & making source of income discrimination in #housing illegal! #BanIncomeBiasNY [INSERT ASSEMBLY MEMBER HANDLE]
We've made huge strides in protecting people from #discrimination when they are renting, buying, or securing financing for any housing. However, we still have some work to do before we have #FairHousing for all. Pass A.10610 & #BanIncomeBiasNY today! [INSERT ASSEMBLY MEMBER HANDLE]
Source of income #housing discrimination is a civil rights issue throughout NYS! It concentrates poverty & reinforces residential segregation among our most vulnerable communities. It's time to BanIncomeBiasNY! Pass A.10610 today! [INSERT ASSEMBLY MEMBER HANDLE]
