EDITORIAL: Ten Commandments of Single Parenting
Advocacy News: ACTION ALERTS! Immediate Grassroots Action Needed on Family Opportunity Act
SMOD FEATURE: What is SSI?
Single Mothers of Disabled Poll
Recall News: 2001 Recalls Archive
DOL911: U.S. Managed Care Poll
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I. Give thyself credit for being a worthy, important, competent person.

II. Congratulate thyself for making the best decisions you could under very difficult, stressful conditions.

III. Compliment thyself for trying hard to overcome great hurles placed in your path.

IV. Bless thy children for the challenges they present so you will grow stronger and even more competent.

V. Bless thy children for the moments of unadulterated joy they will sprinkle in thy life and for loving you undconditionally.

VI. Open thyself to new, rewarding adult relationships, because to devote all thy energies and time to your children is unhealthy for both them and you.

VII. Look toward new and increased responsibilities as an opportunity to include thy children in family planning and tasks so you can watch them become more amture and more capable.

VIII. Offer thyself for some neighborhood and/or community efforts because it will help you grow and more importantly will be an important model for your children to follow.

IX. Always remember that harsh, sharp words huled at thy ex-partner in anger are like painful barbs that, more often than not, wound and sear the innocent children more deeply and for a longer time than they do the one for who they are intended.

X. Look into the mirror at least once a day and say to that inportant, competent, relevant person looking back, "I am okay, I can do it."

ACTION ALERTS!
SMOD COALITION joins ADA Watch to oppose the U.S. Senate confirmation of Jeffrey Sutton - Through the coordination of ADA Watch, disability rights organizations across the United States are joining together to oppose the U.S. Senate confirmation of Jeffrey Sutton who has been nominated by President Bush to become a federal court judge in the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. Sutton is known for his work towards weakening the Americans with Disabilities Act and other civil rights laws in several recent Supreme Court cases. For more information go to www.ncil.org/sutton.htm.

As of July 3, 2001, 59 National Organizations and 229 Local, State and Regional Organizations from 43 States, Territories and the District of Columbia have united in opposition to Sutton!

Representative Jan Schakowsky to NCIL on Sutton, ADA, Vote

President Bush likes to brag about the fact that his father signed the ADA into law. Can we let him get away with appointing Jeffrey Sutton to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th District? This is a man who, in arguing the Garrett case for Alabama, said that the ADA is "NOT NEEDED." He argued that we should just rely on state laws. But it is the state of Alabama that discriminated in the Garrett case.

Jeffrey Sutton is not just an enemy of the ADA. He successfully argued against the Age Discrimination Act before the Supreme Court. He also just won a case that, unless overturned by the Supreme Court, will prevent people from using the federal courts to sue states that refuse to provide Medicaid benefits.

Jeffrey Sutton is not a friend of people with disabilities, older Americans, children, women or anyone else. It is a disgrace that he has been nominated and, together, we will prevent him from ever sitting on a federal bench. We can accomplish these goals but we will not accomplish those goals without you. Just as you led the fight for the ADA eleven years ago, you need to lead the fight now. You all know how to make your voices heard in the streets, in the halls of Congress, and in the voting booth.

As a member of the House Democratic Caucus Special Committee on Election Reform, I am working with my colleagues to make sure that every person is able to vote and that every vote cast is actually counted. During the last election, some people were kept away from the polls because of roadblocks, intimidation or election officials who refused to honor voting cards. People with disabilities are routinely kept away because of physical obstacles, the lack of accessible transportation to the poll, outdated voting machines, and failure to guarantee privacy in voting. If we tear down the barriers to voter participation, it will go a long way to tearing down the other barriers that face us.

We are living in the 21st century. It is long past time that we guarantee full and equal rights to every single person in our country.

We passed the Ticket to Work and the Work Incentive Improvement Act last Congress. Now we have to implement meaningful work opportunities in every state.

It is time to close the door on policies that force people with disabilities into institutions, instead of helping them to live at home and in the community. We must expand Medicaid to include personal assistance services. We must increase funding for centers for independent living.

Adults with disabilities face an enormous challenge even finding accessible housing. When they do, it is likely to be unaffordable. If we can put people on the moon and uncover the secrets of the human genome, we can build housing that is accessible and affordable. Congress just passed a budget resolution that does not include the money for MiCASSA or more housing.

The ADA is one of the most important civil rights laws of our generation. Last year, we celebrated its 10th anniversary. This year, we continue to face assaults, whether from inadequate resources for enforcement or bills like the ADA Notification Act.

Connie Panzarino of Jamaica Plain Massachusetts, born November 26, 1947 in Brooklyn, New York, passed away July 4, 2001. Ms. Panzarino was an author, artist, activist, and psychotherapist with spinal muscular atrophy type II which by adulthood allowed only movement of her right thumb and facial muscles.

Connie was an advocate for the rights of people with disabilities and lesbians, and active in the peace movement. As a Registered Art Therapist she worked for over 18 years with both men and women survivors of physical and sexual abuse. She lectured nationwide on the subjects of disability, homophobia, sexism, and the ethics of genetic engineering; and was a professional artist.

Connie was director of the Boston Self Help Center from 1986 to 1989, and served on the board following her health-related resignation. She also sat on the boards of the Disability Law Center, the Project on Women and Disability, the Boston Center for Independent Living, the editorial board of "Access Expressed" of Very Special Arts, and was a supporter of the disability group Not Dead Yet.

Daily full-time attendant care allowed her to run her household, write, paint, garden, and cook in the Italian gourmet style that she loved. Her autobiography, The Me in the Mirror (Seal Press, 1994), serves to educate persons with and without disabling conditions. She authored books for children with spinal cord injuries and spinal cord diseases, and wrote numerous short stories, essays, and magazine articles on the topic of people with disabilities, and gays and lesbians.

She received numerous awards and helped set legal precedents for the rights of people with disabilities, and was recently featured on the Primary Focus series "Life Worth Living." Her autobiography was staged as a full theatre production as part of the annual Women on Top Festival at the Centa Stage and Underground Railway Theatre in Boston in February 2000.

Connie is survived by her Mother and Father, Anne and Frank Panzarino of Moriches, New York; her brother Frank and sister Patty Healey, and by a community of friends, lovers and allies throughout the world. Funeral from Wesche Funeral Home in Center Moriches, New York.

A memorial service will be held on July 22 in the Boston area; for information contact Kristin Schneider, 617-501-0530. A fund is being established to continue Connie's work; for information contact Cyndy Miller, 617-731-6228.

is Supplemental Security Income, a Federal income supplement program funded by general tax revenues (not Social Security taxes):

It is designed to help aged, blind, and disabled people, who have little or no income.

It provides cash to meet basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter.

Am I eligible for SSI Quiz?

Is my child eligible for SSI? The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 changed the definition of disability for children under the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program.

The definition of disability for children:

requires a child to have a physical or mental condition or conditions that can be medically proven and which result in marked and severe functional limitations;

requires that the medically proven physical or mental condition or conditions must last or be expected to last at least 12 months or be expected to result in death;

says that a child may not be considered disabled if he or she is working at a job that we consider to be substantial work. However, the law did not change the rules which allow certain children already on the rolls to continue to receive SSI even though they are working.

The law also changes the way certain behavior problems caused by a child's condition or conditions.

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at least every three years for recipients under age 18 whose conditions are likely to improve; and

not later than 12 months after birth for babies whose disability is based on their low birth weight.

SSI also may do CDRs for recipients under age 18 whose conditions are not likely to improve.

What is a Representative Payees Duties? A Representative Payee Must Provide Evidence Of Treatment.

At the time of a CDR, the representative payee must present evidence that the child is and has been receiving treatment considered medically necessary and available for his or her disabling condition. This is true in every case unless SSI determines that requiring such evidence would be inappropriate or unnecessary.

If the child's representative payee refuses without good cause to provide such evidence when requested, we will suspend payment of benefits to the representative payee and select another representative payee if it is in the best interest of the child. Or, SSI may pay the child directly if he or she is old enough.

Once my child starts receiving SSI will that award continue for the rest of his/her life? The Law Requires A Disability Redetermination At Age 18.

Any individual who was eligible as a child in the month before he or she attained age 18 must have his or her eligibility redetermined.

The redetermination will be done during the one year period beginning on the individual's 18th birthday.

SSI will use the rules for adults filing new claims to do the redetermination.