Lift Secrecy From Adult Death Cases
Editorial 1
May 13, 2013

Four years after the deaths of two severely disabled Kentucky men in state care, the public is no closer to understanding the circumstances of those deaths.

Nor do the public and advocates who care about the welfare of vulnerable adults have any assurance the men were well-treated and their deaths, while supposedly from natural causes, have been fully investigated by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services.

That’s because the cabinet — which managed the lives and affairs of both men — has complete control over all the records of their lives and deaths in state care and has doggedly refused to release them, citing confidentiality and a desire not to “offend the dignity of the private individuals.”

In doing so, the cabinet exhibits the same stubborn persistence it has displayed in seeking to keep secret details of child abuse deaths and injuries, despite repeated court rulings that such information relating to children must be disclosed under state open records law.

(Full Article)

In The NewsCALL TO ACTIONHealth Care ReformGuide For AdvocatesMedicaid Timeline

Kentucky cabinet’s withholding of disabled men’s death records upheld by court ~ Group asked about disabled men’s deaths ~ Courier Journal

State Blasted on Girl’s Slaying ~ Courier Journal

Update: 10/08/2012
The KY Dept of Education has withdrawn the regulation. You made a difference!
Check back in November for a status update.

IT’S TIME FOR ACTION!

703 KAR 5:070: Special Populations in State-Required Assessment & Accountability Programs

Make a difference, and call to tell your child’s story.

THIS PROPOSED REGULATION SHOULD BE REJECTED!

Use the talking points below as a script when you call.

Governor Beshear, please reject this proposed regulation which will change the rules regarding accommodations for our ECE students. Some of these children, who have learned with readers and calculators for years, could now see them taken away at a crucial assessment time.

KDE was unable to produce research-based evidence to support their proposal.

KDE officials who recently testified had no idea how kids are doing in other states that have taken away accommodations – KDE has not checked into it.

Suddenly removing learning tools that have been allowed by KDE for years sets up students for failure and is discriminatory.

The proposed change is hasty and ill-prepared, with many unanswered questions. KDE officials recently said, “some details are yet to come”. No one knows what that means.

The proposed change by KDE puts the best interest of ECE students last.

ECE students and teachers have followed the learning system set up by KDE, and now may be penalized by it.

It doesn’t make sense for readers and calculators to be allowed for teaching and learning but removed for the moment of truth: testing. It makes the whole learning system invalid. What if the Olympic sprinter, Oscar Pistorius, had been allowed t train to be an Olympic runner with his artificial legs, but then been forced to remove them for the Olympics?

The Council on Developmental Disabilities, the ECE Caucus, the Pritchard Committee on Academic Excellence, the Special Education Panel for Exceptional Children, and the Kentucky Council for Execptional Children have all argued against this KDE proposal.

On August 14th, the legislators on the Education Assessment & Accountability Review Subcommittee deemed the proposed KDE regulation “deficient”. Some of their comments:”Lack of evidence.”; “Poor preparation.”; “Lack of appeal process.”

Ask him to “postpone the decision, look at the evidence, and make a rational, informed decision. that will help our students attain their scholastic potential – rather than one that seems designed to ensure their failure.

CALL NOW

CALL share your concerns with Sec. Joseph Meyer, ask him to pass the messages to the school board.

(502) 564-0372

or email him at JoeU.Meyer@ky.gov!

You have a voice in this issue; let your voice be known!

Please call today!

(502) 564-0372

or email.

Why Should I be Interested

The Affordable Care Act marks an enormous shift in health policy and funding in America, the largest change since the passage of Medicare in the 1960s. In politics and in health care the biggest, most prevalent symbol is the $. And while the $ is certainly front and center, the biggest symbol in health reform is the ?. Will it work? Can we afford it? Will health care be rationed? Can States manage these new health insurance exchanges? (More)

 

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