Dear DD Council Network

Please see the information below and attached from the NACDD All Call for January 6, 2021.

• Policy update, Erin Prangley – NACDD Director of Public Policy. (Attached)

• Social Media Survey, https://forms.gle/o4FjD3qYAM2W4Fk3A - “NACDD has created a quick social media survey to ensure that what NACDD posts online is relevant to you, our audience! Please take a minute, fill out the survey & share with everyone!”
• Martin Luther King Day is January 18, 2021… “If you and your DD Council and planning an event for that day, we would love to hear about it and highlight in on our social media and website. If possible, we would also love to have guest blogs by you, a member of the Council or someone you would recommend we should reach out to directly. Our goal again is to highlight the day of service and ways DD Councils and communities take action. Please feel free to reach  xxxxxx@nacdd.org with any questions.”

Important Reports, Resources and Opportunities to Participate

Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) has released a new report highlighting the root of vaccine distrust among communities of color and tribal nations: "Building Trust in and Access to a COVID-19 Vaccine Among People of Color and Tribal Nations.” "This policy brief calls for building vaccine acceptance through data transparency, tailored communications via trusted messengers, ensuring ease of vaccine access and zero out-of-pocket costs.

In late December, the COVID Collaborative and its partners Duke-Margolis, Resolve to Save Lives, The Rockefeller Foundation, Johns Hopkins, American Public Health Association, and Trust for America’s Health will be issuing Responding to the Winter COVID-19 Surge: What Governors Can Do. This resource was requested by a number of Governors and is a follow-on to the Call to Action to Defeat COVID-19.

The Johns Hopkins Centers for Health Security, Health Equity, American Indian Health, and Public Health and Human Rights has put out a call for papers on systemic racism and health security during COVID-19. In its May/June 2021 issue, Health Security will be devoting an open access special feature to examining how systemic racism is manifested in the practice of health security in the United States and how it has affected preparedness for, responses to, and recovery from COVID-19. The deadline to submit an article is January 31st, 2021.

The Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum (APIAHF) has launched a crowd sourcing project to collect Asian American and Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander in-language COVID-19 resources. APIAHF will gather all of the responses and organize them by language here, so that people can see the variety of available resources. Please fill out the form here to submit a resource.

Nursing homes are invited join a new, virtual learning community of practice to help nursing homes with COVID-19 preparedness, safety, and infection control. The AHRQ ECHO National Nursing Home COVID-19 Action Network aims to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in nursing homes by engaging staff in a program of case-based learning, peer-to-peer sharing and mentoring from national experts. Nursing homes that complete 16-session curriculum will receive $6,000 through the Provider Relief Fund, and participating staff will earn CEU credits. Programs are launching now, so enroll today.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is seeking public comment on a proposal to collect data on the challenges and unique opportunities of administering human services programs in rural contexts. Case studies of 12 communities, in combination with analysis of administrative data and qualitative comparative analysis of the qualitative data, will provide ACF with a rich description of human services programs in rural contexts and provide ACF opportunities for strengthening human services programs' capacity to promote the economic and social wellbeing of individuals, families, and communities in rural contexts. Comments are due January 29th.

National Survey of DSPs During COVID-19 Pandemic - Please share widely!

The NIDILRR-funded Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Community Living and Participation is conducting a national survey on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on direct support professionals (DSPs). The survey is open to DSPs and frontline supervisors anywhere in the United States. Through this survey, researchers will learn how DSPs are doing nine months into the pandemic and will identify the most effective ways to protect DSPs and the people with disabilities that they support. The survey closes January 15th.

REMINDER: NACDD’S SA Discussion Series January 21, 2021 at 4:00 pm Eastern. Topic – The Future of Online Health Care. For more information, contact Angela directly.

If you have any trouble with the links, please let me know. I am happy to help.

Happy New Year everyone and please stay well.

Angela

Angela Castillo-Epps

NACDD

Nacdd.org