It's March already and this month is a big one for our GRASSROOTS and the disability community. Our bills are gonna be hot out of the gate this week (and month), so we’ll need tons and tons of support to gather some momentum and clear these first hurdles. So check out this week’s updates on ways to plug in, and let’s do our GRASSROOTS thing!

Since the passage of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1990, students with disabilities have experienced a dramatic increase in the quality of their educational experience in public schools. However, a stubborn, persistent gap remains, in part due to the unrealized promise of IDEA for students with behavioral health needs. In Tennessee, this disparity for students with behavior needs, and its underlying causes, is often misunderstood or entirely unacknowledged. 

So, that wasn’t so bad – the supposed “worst week of the year” was just sort of a regular one (if not a tad busy). Maybe that is in part because a lot of top priority bills are still waiting their turns to hit their respective calendars. Or maybe it’s because Cordell Hull is thawing out from its cold war/middle school ethos (lol). But if all our elected official friends are still writing mean things in their slam books and feeling angsty, they’re gonna feel much better by Wednesday, because that is DISABILITY DAY ON THE HILL!!!

This year we have another chance to support the establishment of a new Department of Aging and Disability.  Governor Lee has recognized the importance of putting “aging” in a cabinet- level department and coordinating and integrating services for people with disabilities.  The proposal merges the Commission on Aging and Disability and the Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities into a new Department.  A Department that will be able to do more strategic planning and coordination of services across age and disabilities.  We

Last week was a bit slow and our stuff is in a bit of a holding pattern, but that doesn’t mean we (lookin’ at you GRASSROOTS) should even be thinking about PTO. DDH 2024 – which will be awesome – is coming up fast, it’s getting (perhaps past) time that we get our bills moving and we’ll need to be ready to play defense when some of the uglier legislation starts rolling.

So sorry to keep you waiting for this little dispatch – our intrepid Communications Director Tom and I spent Friday in beautiful Chattanooga working with some GRASSROOTS to get some media buzz around TennCare for Working Adults. However, excuses aside, I’ve got some stuff for you, so I’ll get it served up hot and fast!