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FY 2011 Priorities and Objectives

*Acronyms after Objectives indicate funding source and targeted populations. See explanation of Programs.

  • Priority 1: Children and Youth with Disabilities Receive a Free and Appropriate Public Education in the Least Restrictive Environment.

    Objectives:

    1. WVA will represent up to four (4) students in due process proceedings, if necessary, in cases that meet WVA’s case selection criteria (see footnote 1). (PADD 2, PAIMI 1 (see footnote 6), PAIR 1)
    2. WVA will provide five (5) trainings to students, parents, and other interested parties to increase their knowledge of self-advocacy related to student’s rights under WV Department of Education Policy 2419. (PADD, PAIR, PATBI, PAAT)
    3. WVA staff will provide two (2) trainings to students, parents, and other interested parties to increase their knowledge of student’s rights under IDEA with a focus on transition services. (PADD, PAIR, PATBI, PABSS, CAP, PAAT)
    4. WVA will provide direct advocacy services on behalf of students with disabilities relative to suspensions, expulsions, out-of-school environment and alternative education placements for up to fifteen (15) (see footnote 1) individuals. (PADD 5, PAIMI 5 (see footnote 6), PAIR 4, PATBI 1)
    5. WVA will maintain and facilitate a special education electronic communication network to ensure that parents and students have access to up to date information and technical assistance regarding special education issues. (PADD, PAIR, PATBI, PAAT)
    6. WVA will provide three (3) Individualized Education Plan (IEP) clinics. (PADD, PAIR, PATBI )
    7. WVA will sponsor a Wrightslaw Boot Camp training related to student’s rights under IDEA. (PADD, PAIR, PATBI, PAAT, PABSS )

  • Priority 2: People with Disabilities are Able to Live in the Community Setting of Their Choice with Individualized Supports, Services, and Protections as Ordered in the Olmstead Decision

    Objectives:

    1. WVA will advocate systemically for citizens of West Virginia to access ventilator care services within West Virginia by educating the Legislature on the fiscal impact of the current legislation. (PAAT, PAIR, PADD, PATBI)
    2. WVA will, as co-counsel in E.H., et al., v. MATIN, et al. (also known as the Hartley case), continue to advocate and litigate for sufficient, appropriate state-wide community based services for individuals with mental illness in order to decrease institutionalization and increase the availability of accessible and affordable community based. (PAIMI)
    3. WVA will systemically monitor and advocate for West Virginia Bureau of Medical Services’ (BMS) compliance with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) assurances for the Title XIX MR/DD Home and Community Based Waiver program in West Virginia. (PADD, PATBI)
    4. WVA will provide statewide outreach regarding services for veterans with Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). (PATBI, PAIMI)
    5. WVA will advocate for the rights of individuals being discharged by Title XIX MR/DD Home and Community Based Waiver service providers and advocate for oversight of the discharge process by the West Virginia Bureau of Medical Services (BMS). (PADD)

  • Priority 3: People with Disabilities Who Are Institutionalized in State Psychiatric Hospitals are Aware of and Able to Exercise Their Rights.

    Objectives:

    1. WVA will conduct a minimum of forty-eight (48) monitoring visits to the two (2) State Psychiatric Hospitals (see footnote 5). (PAIMI)
    2. WVA will open a service request for all individuals from state psychiatric hospitals who request advocacy services (see footnote 4). (PAIMI)
    3. WVA will provide five (5) self-advocacy trainings to residents of the state psychiatric hospitals relative to their rights. (PAIMI)

  • Priority 4: People with Disabilities are Free From Abuse and Neglect.

    Objectives:

    1. WVA will investigate all allegations of abuse or neglect that are reported to or discovered by WVA in which there is a possibility of death or serious injury. (see footnotes 1, 3) (PADD 3, PAIMI 2, PAIR 1)
    2. WVA will investigate and monitor alleged abuse/neglect during acts of seclusion, restraint, use of aversive techniques, excessive force and other punitive methods of controlling individuals with disabilities at state and private facilities, and WV schools that are reported to or discovered by WVA. (see footnote 1). (PADD 4, PAIMI 3, PAIR 1)
    3. WVA will advocate for disability related medical/psychiatric treatment, including properly prescribed and administered medication to be available to incarcerated individuals of all ages that come to the attention of WVA. (see footnote 1) (PAIMI 2, PAIR 6, PATBI 1)
    4. WVA will provide direct advocacy services to individuals who meet WVA’s case selection criteria and are at risk of abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation when requested by the individual or their legal representative. (see footnote 1) (PADD 6, PAIMI 3, PAIR 3, PATBI 1)
    5. WVA will collaborate to provide public education about the prevalence and prevention of abuse of individuals with disabilities. (PADD, PAIMI, PAIR, PATBI)

  • Priority 5: People with Disabilities Have Equal Access to Programs, Services and the Physical Environment as Required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as Amended, and the Fair Housing Act.

    Objectives:

    1. WVA will advocate for up to twenty-five (25) people with disabilities who meet WVA’s case selection criteria (see footnote 1). (PADD 9, PAIMI 5 (see footnote 6), PAIR 10, PATBI 1)
    2. WVA will coordinate with the West Virginia Fair Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP) to conduct education and outreach throughout the state on housing rights issues. (PADD, PAIMI, PAIR, PATBI)

  • Priority 6: People with Disabilities Who Require Assistive Technology Have Access to It.

    Objectives:

    1. WVA will provide advocacy for up to twenty-five (25) (see footnote 1) people with disabilities to gain or maintain access to assistive technology and related supports (see footnote 4). (PAAT)
    2. WVA will provide training and outreach to increase awareness of the right to access assistive technology. (PAAT)

  • Priority 7: People with Disabilities Have Equal Access to Employment and Employment-Related Services.

    Objectives:

    1. WVA will provide services to all individuals requesting assistance who are receiving/applying/eligible for services from the West Virginia Division of Rehabilitation Services (WVDRS), a Center for Independent Living, supported employment programs and other programs funded under the Rehabilitation Act, as amended (see footnote 4). (CAP)
    2. WVA will provide services to all individuals requesting assistance who are Supplemental Security Insurance/Social Security Disability Insurance (SSI/SSDI) beneficiaries and who want to work but are encountering barriers per the priorities established by the Social Security Administration (SSA) (see footnote 4). (PABSS)
    3. WVA will provide ongoing outreach and self advocacy training for individuals eligible under the CAP and PABSS programs related to obtaining, maintaining, or regaining employment. (CAP, PABSS)
    4. WVA will offer a continuing education training for attorneys in the area of disability employment law. (PADD, PAIR, PAIMI, PATBI)

  • Priority 8: People with Disabilities are Able to Exercise Their Right to Vote (see footnote 4).

    Objectives:

    1. WVA will act to increase equal access for all eligible individuals with disabilities requesting assistance to participate in the voting process, including polling places, voting equipment, and voter registration. (PAVA)
    2. WVA will educate at least twenty-five (25) people with disabilities about the voting process and their right to vote. (PAVA)
    3. WVA will work in conjunction with the Secretary of State’s office to educate at least twenty-five (25) public election officials about the rights of people with disabilities to register and vote. (PAVA)

  • Priority 9: WVA Will Collaborate With Existing Grassroots Networks in Conducting Education and Outreach on Disability Related Self-Advocacy.

    Objectives:

    1. WVA will actively participate on various committees, coalitions, and other types of groups with grassroots advocacy missions. (PADD, PAIMI, PAIR, PATBI, PAAT, PAVA)
    2. WVA will develop and conduct outreach to educate underserved populations, including people who are homeless, people who are deaf/hard of hearing, and members of other protected classes, about their disability rights. (PAIMI, PADD, PAIR, PATBI)
    3. WVA will develop and conduct outreach to increase public awareness of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) in at-risk populations. (PATBI)

Footnotes

  1.  Criteria used to select cases for direct representation are:  

    1. in agreement with the WVA’s mission;
    2. the vulnerability of the client or the potential to effect policy or systemic change;
    3. consistent with ethical standards;
    4. possesses sufficient legal merit;
    5. funds/resources must be available.

    In complaints where abuse or neglect are currently being investigated by law enforcement, WVA will delay its investigation pending the outcome of an investigation completed by law enforcement.

    Non-priority case compelling - These service requests may raise issues that meet federal funding eligibility and that WVA may want to address, but which do not fall within the agency’s priorities and objectives. These service requests may include emerging issues.

    Numbers used in objectives are solely for the purpose of reporting outcomes to federal funders. They do not limit the number of individuals actually served. Actual numbers served beyond the targeted number will depend upon agency resources.

  2.  Technical Assistance = Information and assistance specific to a particular problem such as coaching a person with a disability in self-advocacy.

    Short Term Assistance = Time limited advice and assistance which may include: reviewing information/records; counseling a person with a disability on actions one may take; and/or assisting a person with a disability in preparing letters or other documents, or making calls to resolve their issue.

  3.  “Serious injury” is defined as physical harm, injury or death to an individual with disabilities and includes, but is not limited to acts such as: rape or sexual assault; striking; the use of excessive force when placing an individual with disabilities in bodily restraints; or use of restraints not in compliance with state and federal laws.

  4.  This objective is based on the requirements of WVA’s federal funders and the Authorizing Acts:

    • PADD: Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights (DD) Act of 2000
    • CAP: Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, Title I, Part B, Sec. 112; 29 U.S.C. 732
    • PAIMI: Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness (PAIMI) Act, as amended in 2000
    • PAIR: Protection and Advocacy for Individual Rights (PAIR) Program of the Rehabilitation Act
    • PAAT: Public Law 108-364: The Assistive Technology Act of 2004
    • PABSS: Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999, as amended (“TWWIIA”), 42 U.S.C. § 1320b-21
    • PATBI: Title XIII of the Traumatic Brain Injury Act, as part of the Children’s Health Act of 2000 (Public Law 106-310)
    • PAVA: Protection and Advocacy for Voting Access program of the Help America Vote Act

  5.  Monitoring is defined as having a visible, consistent, long-term presence in the state hospitals to increase the clients’ confidence and trust, to be responsive to all concerns and to act on those that fit within WVA’s statutory mandate and chosen priorities. Monitoring also includes the systematic process for addressing areas of likely rights violations.

  6.  The issue must be directly related to an individual’s mental illness in order to qualify for services.

Additional notes about WVA:

Outcomes of all priorities and objectives will be measured by documentation maintained in WVA’s database and reported on the annual program performance reports for each of WVA’s Federal programs.

Priorities are based on a three (3) year cycle. Objectives may or may not be carried into the next fiscal year.

WVA Outreach/Training - WVA provides general and targeted outreach and educational presentations to people with disabilities, professionals and the community at large with preference given to un-served and under-served populations.

Information and Referral (I&R) - WVA provides Information and Referral to all callers related to disability rights issues.

Individual program budgets determine availability of services.