CDREA President Summer Harrison announced on her blog yesterday that the federal Office for Civil Rights of the US Department of Health & Human Services has opened an investigation into whether Hawaii’s cuts in Medicaid home and community services are civil rights violations.
While we know that similar cuts in Medicaid services have been implemented in at least 39 other states, we would like to find out directly from parents whether their children are having services cut in a manner which would constitute a violation of their civil rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
We have prepared two surveys: one is for parents of children with disabilities who are under the age of 21 and already receiving Medicaid; the other is for the parents of children with disablities who are under the age of 21 and are NOT receiving Medicaid.
We have also uploaded two sets of documents: the first is the package for filing a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights. You can always do this on your own, or you can fill out the documents, send them to us and we will forward them on your behalf to the OCR.
If you would like us to help you with your civil right complaint, we have also uploaded a permission form. Please fill it out, initial it as you find appropriate, and either scan and email back to us, or fax it to us at (888) 511-0220.
