If you are part of a Lutheran church or are affiliated with a social ministry organization and are interested in learning about and acting on issues that impact people with developmental disabilities, this site is for you! Check out the information below on our priority issues, participate in our poll or leave a comment on one of our articles. Everything you need to become an advocate is right here!

With the renewal of efforts to reform health care, LSA-DN believes that access to community-based services and supports must be addressed. Efforts to include the Community Choice Act (H.R. 1670/S. 683) in health care reform are now focused on the Community First Choice Option. The option, which includes the core elements of the Community Choice Act, would allow states through a Medicaid state plan amendment to provide community-based attendant services and supports to people with disabilities who are Medicaid eligible and require an institutional level of care. For more information, click here.

Not sure about the impact of a waiting list on a person with a developmental disability? To read an article from the St. Louis Post Dispatch on the Community Choice Act and waiting lists, click here. To read an editorial written by Bishop Craig E. Johnson, Minneapolis Area Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, that appeared in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, click here.

The Frank Melville Supportive Housing Investment Act of 2009 would increase the number of adequate and accessible housing units for low-income people with disabilities through reform of the Section 811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities program. On July 21, Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Senator Mike Johanns (R-NE) introduced this legislation in the Senate, S. 1481. On October 29, the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation and Community Development held a hearing on modernizing affordable housing for seniors and people with disabilities. To take action, please click here. For more information on the critical housing needs of people with disabilities, click here.

Not sure what housing funded by the 811 program is like? Click here to watch a video. The video features Bill Nolan, CEO of KenCrest Centers. If you would like to learn how to start a conversation about housing needs, please click here.

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