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Advocacy

Daily COVID-19 Disability Rights and Disasters Calls:

The Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies has been hosting daily COVID-19 Disability Rights and Disasters Calls since February 28, 2020 where partners across the nation come together to share good and promising practices, systematic rising issues, and community-wide advocacy engagement related to the rights and needs of people with disabilities during the COVID-19 public health emergency and concurrent disasters. To be added to the daily email distribution list for the COVID-19 Disability Rights and Disasters Calls please contact us at directors@disasterstrategies.org 

National Disability Rights Call To Action

On March 3rd, 2020 The Partnership, along with World Institute on Disability, National Council on Independent Living, and nationwide disability rights leaders and inclusive emergency management experts released a statement identifying the urgent need for immediate strategies and solutions from the federal government and governments at every level, including local, state, tribal and territorial, to address the specific needs of people with disabilities, older adults, and people with access and functional needs throughout the COVID-19 outbreak and all public health emergencies.

Letter to the White House COVID-19 Task Force:

On March 9th 2020, The Partnership sent the National Call To Action with at the time 64 organizations and has since grown to 183 organizations signed on, to the White House COVID-19 Task Force with the following letter addressing specific questions for immediate action at all government and non-government levels.

Recommendations for Personal Assistance Services (PAS):

On March 12th, 2020 The Partnership, along with World Institute on Disability, National Council on Independent Living, and nationwide disability leaders and inclusive emergency management experts released initial recommendations for government at all levels to take into consideration for immediate action to ensure continuity of operations and services for people with disabilities, older adults, and people with access and functional needs who use personal assistance services and supports.

Community-Wide Take Action Alert:

On March 22, 2020 The Partnership amplified the disability communities priorities for the third COVID-19 Stimulus Package. Urging Congress to pay attention to our collective voice and make sure the third bill included people with disabilities. 

Legislative Recommendations

On March 30th, 2020 The Partnership alongside the disability community released Legislative Recommendations for Public Health Emergencies and Disasters that address the need to meet the urgent and immediate needs of people with disabilities, including multiply-marginalized people, throughout the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency, Presidential Disaster Declarations, concurrent disasters and in preparation for future disasters and public health emergencies.

COVID-19 Disability Community-Wide Resource List:

Since the release of our community-wide National Disability Rights Call To Action on March 3rd, 2020 there has been a lot of great disability and emergency focused advocacy work from disability-led and disability-focused organizations, groups, and advocates from all over the nation and the world.

We have been cataloging a COVID-19 disability-focused Community-Wide Resource List of all the great systems advocacy tools, templates, call to actions, information, media coverage, webinars, and more that are being published and released by and throughout the community.

See below an evolving, community-wide resource document that is updated continuously, and share your COVID and disability-related resources to be added with us at directors@disasterstrategies.org

Open Letter to Rachel Maddow RE: Nursing Home Challenge:
Participants from the Daily COVID-19 Disability Rights and Disasters Call drafted and sent a letter to Rachel Maddow challenging her to connect the untold story about the institutionalization of people with disabilities in previous disasters to the thousands of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes.

National Survey on Institutionalization in the Wake of COVID-19:
Between April 20 - May 1, 2020 The Partnership sent a survey to Centers for Independent Living, Protection and Advocacy agencies, advocates and organizations to obtain a national snapshot about disability advocacy and congregate settings during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Report from Daily COVID-19 Disability Rights and Disasters Call [From Feb 28, 2020 - July 31, 2020]:
The Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies released a report documenting the pandemic over 154 consecutive daily calls with disability and older adult stakeholder across the country. The Report: COVID-19 & Disability Rights Daily Calls: February 28 – July 31, 2020 identifies patterns showing the failure of the pandemic response to prioritize the lives of people with disabilities and older adults, despite making up over 42% of COVID-19 deaths. It also shows the disability and older adults stakeholders’ initiatives to anticipate and mitigate the unfolding crisis.

THANK YOU TO ALL

We are incredibly thankful to our partners and supporters who have been involved and joined us in the fight for systematic advocacy on the rights and needs of people with disabilities, older adults, and people with access and functional needs throughout all phases of COVID-19 planning and response, and all public health emergencies.

Our voices are the strongest when we amplify our unified message. Community resilience is only possible when planning, response and recovery is accessible to all and includes people with disabilities and others with access and functional needs as key members of community preparedness and resilience initiatives, before, during and after disasters.

People with disabilities are 2-4 times more likely to die or be injured in a disaster, and our community can anticipate to be disproportionately impacted throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic. We must be ready to respond, together.

We thank you for your support and efforts to educate, advocate, and make a difference for people with disabilities in your community before, during and after the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak and all public health emergencies and disasters.

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