President Obama signs Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law

By now, you have probably heard a lot about health care reform. The Arc of the United States posted a short summary of the health care legislation on their website. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R.3590) would expand health care coverage to most Americans, preventing insurance companies from excluding people with pre-existing conditions, expanding Medicaid to cover more people, and eliminating caps in private insurance policies.

This legislation would prevent insurance companies from denying coverage, giving individuals with disabilities better access to health care. 

Click here to read more. OpenCongress.org also has more detailed information regarding the bill and an official summary covering each section.

Protecting students against abuse in schools

COPAA (Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, Inc.) posted their position on the congressional bills H.R. 4247 and S. 2860 regarding the use of seclusion and physical restraint in schools. It gives a great overview of the bills that were introduced to Congress last month.

This legislation would provide students with and without disabilities protection against abuse in schools.

It is well-documented that the use of restraint and seclusion in schools is neither effective nor therapeutic. Instead, it is mentally and physically abusive. Despite this, thousands of cases of restraint and seclusion occur in our nation’s schools annually, often with tragic results, including the death of children.
For years, schools’ use of restraint, seclusion, and aversive interventions was unpublicized and little-known, despite their widespread use. However, recent reports by COPAA [1] and the National Disability Rights Network (NDRN)[2], and Congressional testimony by the U.S. Government Accountability Office [3] have served to shine a spotlight on these abusive practices. In their findings sections, H.R. 4247 and S. 2860 recognize that "physical restraint and seclusion have resulted in physical injury, psychological trauma, and death to children in public and private schools," as described in these reports. The reports also note that existing laws alone have not protected students against such abuse and injury, though many do offer important protections. The bills, therefore, include a critically important savings clause that preserves existing additional rights under state and federal law.
COPAA is a national organization of parents, advocates and attorneys dedicated to protecting the civil and educational rights of children with disabilities, whose members represent families in 48 States and the District of Columbia. As such, COPAA believes this legislation is a crucial first step toward the ultimate goals of eliminating abuse and restraint in schools, limiting use of restraint and seclusion to true emergencies, and assuring that children who exhibit challenging behaviors obtain appropriate, safe, and effective educational services.

You can read more here.