Nomination Deadline Nears -- Nominate One Hero to Honor All

Be sure to submit your nominee for the IDDD Hero of the Year award, which honors individuals who have shown commitment, dedication, and compassion in serving persons with intellectual or developmental disabilities and their families. These wonderful and caring people need to know how much management appreciates them. Nomination forms for the Hero award can be found here, and must be submitted to AHCA by May 23, 2016.

2016-2017 AHCA Elections and Solicitation for Candidates

The 2016-2017 election cycle has officially opened for AHCA members in good standing interested in running for the AHCA Board of Governors. The AHCA elections are for three officer positions (Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary/Treasurer), one Not-for-Profit Representative, one Multifacility Representative and three At-large Representatives. AHCA members interested in running for an AHCA Board position may obtain the necessary candidacy materials online. Applicants must complete and electronically submit the AHCA candidacy materials by close of business on June 6, 2016. Candidates will submit completed materials by sending an e-mail to Christy Sharp.

The AHCA elections will take place during the second Council of States meeting at the AHCA/NCAL 67th Annual Convention & Expo, October 16 - 19 in Nashville, TN. Once the application phase has ended, the AHCA/NCAL Credentialing Committee will hold an in-person meeting to conduct a certification process for each candidate. Once certification occurs, AHCA will announce the slate of candidates to the membership. If you have further questions, contact Christy Sharp.

Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Grassroots Advocacy

Holly Jarek, AHCA's ID/DD Committee Chair, encourages AHCA's ID/DD providers to participate in our grassroots advocacy efforts in 2016.  AHCA would like to help you get facility tours and in-district meetings set up over future recess days.  Please provide your name, facility address, and email address and we will craft the invite and send it to you to send to the Congressional office.  The four brief steps for a successful facility tour visit can be found here.  Please feel free to contact Matthew Smyth and Dana Halvorson who can help you with all of the logistics.

AHCA’s ID/DD Committee members, Renee Naylor (pictured to the left) and Kelly Head (pictured to the right), met with Representative Kurt Schrader (D-OR-5) last year, during AHCA’s ID/DD Residential Services Providers annual Hill Fly-In event. 

Congressional Briefing is Next Week!

Keynote Speaker Chuck Todd, NBC News Political Director and Host of Meet the Press and MTP Daily, will bring in current events in the context of politics and the upcoming election. More special guests will be announced shortly.

Join us in Washington, D.C.
May 23-24, 2016
Renaissance Washington, D.C. Downtown Hotel

Get all the details and register today. Congressional Briefing is a unique and critical opportunity to meet and discuss key issues in long term and post-acute care, and then take meaningful action by speaking directly to your Representatives.

• Earn 8.5 CEUs
• Find out all the latest news from Capitol Hill
• Discuss and plan around key talking points for Congressional visits
• Meet with your Members of Congress and their staff

The conference registration fee is complimentary to AHCA/NCAL Members and AHCA/NCAL Associate Business Members, and their spouses, and is accepted on a first-come basis. All registrations include continental breakfast, networking lunch, and cocktail reception.

Rooms fill fast in the spring time as D.C. is a popular destination. Make your hotel reservations today and register for Congressional Briefing.

See the complete agenda at cb.ahcancal.org.

U.S. Congressional Calendars

As you are planning your visits with members of Congress and their staff in Washington, D.C., or in your district, the Congressional calendars will be of assistance to you.  The U.S. House of Representatives calendar for the 114^th Congress, second session, can be found here.  The U.S. Senate schedule for 2016 can be found here. The dates in blue reference the times the U.S. Senate is in session.  The red dates represent when the U.S. Senate is in recess.

VOR Corner

VOR is a national nonprofit organization advocating for high quality care and human rights for all people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). VOR empowers its members to make and protect quality of life choices for individuals with developmental disabilities.  Founded in 1983, VOR is a national 501(c)(3) organization governed by a volunteer board of directors and funded solely by dues and donations.  VOR represents primarily individuals with intellectual disabilities and their families/guardians.  VOR advocates that the final determination of what is appropriate depends on the unique abilities and needs of the individual and desires of the family and guardians.  More information about VOR can be found here.

Save the Date for the Developmental Disabilities Nurses Association’s 25th Annual Education Conference

• Where: Dallas, Texas - Hyatt Regency Dallas
• When: April 7-10, 2017
• Target audience: Health care professionals working in the field of ID/DD.

Overall objectives: The goals and objectives of the conference are:

• To present cutting-edge education on the most up-to-date practice issues and research regarding the specialty of developmental disabilities nursing.
• To provide a forum for networking and to facilitate the sharing of information to improve nursing practice in the developmental disabilities field.
• To bring together leaders and experts in developmental disabilities to engender consensus that improves the health and lives of persons with developmental disabilities.

As the premiere resource for practicing ID/DD nurses, DDNA is committed to providing quality education programs that include cutting edge content with practical application.  Join us in 2017!  For more information, please visit: www.ddna.org or find us on Facebook/Twitter!