This image shows a meter measuring the level of awareness from low, moderate, high, to maximum. The red dial appears to be moving quickly on maximum awareness.
March is disability awareness month in Indiana and Indiana Disability Justice realizes that awareness is a great first step to improve the lives of people with disabilities. Awareness is important because we need to acknowledge ableism and the discrimination that people with disabilities face so that we can reduce and eliminate them. The awareness that people with disabilities are just as human as anyone else is necessary in order to fully include people into our society, communities, workplaces, neighborhoods, and peer groups. Even though we need more than awareness, awareness is a factor in ending violence against people with disabilities. With all this in mind, IDJ will be publishing different kinds of artistic pieces that showcases the perspectives of disabled people. Some of these pieces will relate directly to disabilities. However, some of them will not have anything to do with disability. This is because some of our artists want to remind us that they are more than their disabilities. Please visit us often to grow your perspective!
Post credit: Jody Powers, IDJ Hub Coordinator and IDJ Leadership Action Team member and Cierra Olivia Thomas Williams, IDJ Co-Leader and IDJ Leadership Action Team member
If you’re like me, you’re already sick of political chatter this year. Extremism from both sides of the political aisle is the greatest I recall during my lifetime, and politics seems to be becoming less collegial. Yet, rather than work toward compromise, partisans are turning inward to isolate themselves or “canceling” those of whom they are critical. I have always enjoyed browsing the marketplace of ideas and considering all potential policy solutions to resolve an issue. And Lord knows, I have a lot of issues!
I am not alone; the disability community, too, could be specifically affected by a number of bills introduced in this year’s session of the General Assembly. This blog post is a curated list of some of the bills that I hope will be passed, as well as the bills I view as particularly detrimental to the interests of the greater disability community. I’ve also thrown in some bills that seem just plain weird. In the interest of time, have limited myself to three topics per category. Thus, the good, the bad, and the ugly of the 2021 Session:
The Good
HB 1081 – Medicaid Self-Directed Care. Yes! This bill would require the Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA) to submit a State Plan Amendment to the federal government, requesting that the Indiana’s Medicaid program participate in the Community First Choice Option to give more Medicaid enrollees access to self-directed care. Currently, Indiana only allows some participants on its Aged and Disabled Waiver limited options to receive some attendant care services in a self-directed manner. This bill, if enacted, would presumably provide many more Hoosiers much more autonomy over their activities of daily living.
HB 1092 – Tax Credit for Contribution to ABLE Accounts. I cannot think of a single reason anyone would oppose this bill (except, perhaps, for Ebenezer Scrooge, himself). If passed, this bill would provide a state tax credit to any taxpayer contributing to an ABLE account in the state. The tax credit would be the lesser of: (1) the total amount of contributions made by the taxpayer in the taxable year; (2) $1,000 (or, for a married person filing a separate return, $500); or (3) the amount of the taxpayer’s adjusted gross income minus allowable credits. This bill is particularly beneficial to working individuals with ABLE accounts, as they can benefit from funds added to their accounts and the tax credit.
Multiple bills would keep and/or expand telemedicine/telehealth in Indiana, including, HB 1286, HB 1347, and SB 3. During the pandemic, many Hoosiers learned what people with disabilities already knew: sometimes it’s difficult or impossible to go out about for health care purposes. Although having complete choice as to whether one meets in person or remotely would be ideal, at least those with transportation difficulties now have at least one avenue to receive needed medical care.
The Bad
SB 12 – Service Dog Endorsement on Operator’s License. This bill worries me more than any other, especially as a service dog owner. If passed, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) would have to ask those obtaining or renewing driver’s licenses whether they voluntarily want their license to describe the use of their service animal. Critically, the bill defines “service animal” differently than federal law does. Moreover, the BMV has no mechanism to truly know whether a service animal is legitimate. For these reasons, the public will be more confused than ever about service dog laws. In addition to navigating that confusion, service dog handlers will also likely encounter more fake service dogs than ever. Please let Senator Kruse know that people with legitimate service dogs denied entry to public facilities already have resolution methods. SB 12 would only make the problem worse.
Several bills, including HB 1295 and HB 1375, for the Elimination of Gun-Free Zones. Don’t get me wrong; I generally be support Second Amendment and believe the world would be a lot safer if everyone was packing. However, there are a few places where guns do not logically belong, including State-operated facilities for individuals with mental illness. I am not associating mental illness with criminal violence. However, I am concerned that if individuals working in these facilities bring weapons onto the campus, the risk of suicide and other forms of bodily harm is needlessly increased. As a State employee who is physically unable to wield a gun, I am also uncomfortable with the idea that frustrated members of the public could legally carry guns when coming to confront me or my colleagues.
Another batch of bills, including HB 1315, HB 1437, and SB 369, would allow government bodies to meet and conduct business remotely. As noted when discussing the telehealth bills, remote participation is usually a nice option for people with disabilities. However, government bodies do not seem as attuned to the needs of people with disabilities as do medical providers (and, as those using American Sign Language can certainly attest, medical providers still fall short granting reasonable accommodation requests). Just trying to watch the 1102 Commission meetings during the coronavirus pandemic was an ordeal, even though the subject matter was intellectual and developmental disability services. Thus, I am concerned that if more government business is conducted electronically, people with disabilities will be shut out of the conversation more easily. Not all platforms are accessible to individuals with various disabilities, not everyone has access to the Internet, etc.
The Ugly
HB 1333 – Cultural Awareness and Competency Training. I appreciate the intention behind this bill, which is to ensure that healthcare professionals have ongoing cultural awareness and competency training – including disability-related training. The problem is that the Department of Health and the Office of Minority Health must develop the training. I don’t know about you, but I would much prefer the Governor’s Council on People with Disabilities or Indiana Disability Rights to provide disability awareness and competency training.
SB 286 – Disability and Rehabilitative Services. This bill provides criteria as to what individuals comprise the Division of Disability and Rehabilitative Services (DDRS) Advisory Committee. Two things about this bill bother me. First, only two self-advocates are permitted to serve on the Committee, although its work pertains exclusively to people with disabilities. Second, and the reason why I categorize this bill as “ugly,” is because it is disability-specific, limiting membership to those involved with or having intellectual and developmental disabilities. As we know, DDRS serves people who are blind, people who are Deaf or deaf, people with physical disabilities, and people with mental illness, in addition to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
A handful of bills would, if passed, raise the minimum wage, including HB 1345 and SB 334. Importantly, neither of these bills would change the definition of “employee” in the Indiana Code. This means that, even if one of these bills went on to increase Indiana’s minimum wage, it would still be lawful to pay people with disabilities working in sheltered workshops as little as one cent per hour. I encourage you to reach out to these bills’ sponsors and see if either would be willing to see wages increase for all Hoosiers.
I promised to be brief, which has precluded me from discussing other important bills. I also encourage you to check out: SB 74, which would make it illegal for an employer to require an employee to vaccinate; SB 378, regarding electronic monitoring in nursing homes; HB 1261, which would require places of public accommodation to use closed captioning on all televisions in use; nearly every voting bill; and SB 202, SB 206, and SB 229, which would generally preclude nursing homes from excluding visits from all family members during a public emergency. Although this might ban me from social media, I have to say it: Keep fighting for disability rights!
(Picture of Emily Munson wearing green V-neck shirt and green beaded necklace. She is smiling and has shoulder length black hair) Emily Munson, 36, is an Indianapolis attorney with spinal muscular atrophy, type 2. She enjoys advocating for disability rights, reading, and cuddling with her service dog, Rigby.
I met my trafficker in high school. He was in the grade above mine. He lured me out of high school with promises of a good life, assuring me I could just get my GED and become successful. He started advertising me online, without my knowledge, and that’s when men started coming to our apartment to rape me. I didn’t know I was being trafficked, prostituted, then.
When I ask people how they picture human trafficking happening they often compare it to the movie Taken—a young lady vacationing in Paris, being kidnapped and sold by her captors. While it can happen that way, here in America domestic trafficking looks much different. Less than 10% are kidnapped. Traffickers often lure their victims by gaining their trust, posing as a boyfriend, and offering their victims false promises.
A couple of years ago I drove by a house here locally in Marysville, and there were obvious signs of trafficking going on. So I called 911 and said I suspected trafficking going on in the house. When the officer arrived, he said, “Yes we are investigating. This guy is on parole for trafficking girls in the Bay Area.” I wasn’t so surprised that it was happening or that the police were on to it. What frustrated me was watching all the people walking past that house who had no idea even what the signs of trafficking were.
There were people during my exploitation that could have seen signs I was being trafficked. The owner of the clothing boutique I worked in then would often ask me if I was ok. But my trafficker parked his car in front of the store and watched me, to make sure I wasn’t telling anyone, so I always said “yes.”
My trafficker separated me from my family and support system. Separating a woman/girl from her support systems is a common move for traffickers. It helps them to gain control of you. My trafficker married me. I felt stuck.
When I survived it 13 years ago I had no idea that I was a victim of human trafficking. I was headed to play college volleyball. I lived in what was said to be one of the safest communities in Southern California at the time. It wasn’t like what you see in the movies. And I was never educated on trafficking in my small, private high school.
If I had been educated, not only could it have been prevented but I would’ve been able to rescue myself sooner. I needed to know what would happen if I called 911. Was someone going to protect me? Was there a place I could go? Who would help me figure my life out at that point?
This is why I now tour around the country, speaking to and training others. I train first responders on how to identify and respond to victims. I speak on college campuses and community forums to educate others on how to identify trafficking in their community.
According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 1 in 7 American kids will run away from home and 1 in 3 will become victims within 48 hours. I remember when I first started doing this work and read that statistic—the 48 hours time-frame really struck me.
If you ask most survivors of human trafficking they will say that their story is not like the movie Taken. They were not kidnapped, dragged out from under a bed, and sold on a boat for a half-million dollars. That is one story, but it is not most of our stories. It wasn’t until I started speaking, getting involved, and meeting other survivor leaders that I realized how many others there were like me.
We need to see every victim. Not just the ones that are like we imagine, but the ones like I was: an 18-year-old girl working normal jobs during the day while being sold in her apartment at night. We need to see the 7-year-old girl being sold by her mom for drug money. And the college student who is facing a dark world she doesn’t want to be in, while still getting As in her classes. When we picture it happening only one way, then we are missing all the other ways it happens.
Statistics show that a girl who is trafficked has a seven-year life span. One night in a motel I was physically beaten. I knew after that I had to get away. So I went to the doctor and moved back home. That was the last time I was sold.
I didn’t tell anyone what had happened to me. I wanted to tell someone but didn’t know what would happen to me and was still afraid of him. I planned to go my whole life living with it and tried to move forward. I married, had a son, and moved to a Marine Corps base on the other side of the country.
Six years later I went to the ER after having a breakdown. My PTSD wouldn’t allow me to stay silent any longer. After the ER I spent some time in a mental hospital where I finally told my story.
I didn’t understand what had been done to me. I knew I had been raped but why had they handed my husband money? What did that mean? I didn’t think I was a prostitute because I had never walked the streets or worked in a strip club.
In doing this work, I have realized that traffickers seem to be aware that we’re not educating our students here in rural communities. They send recruiters, often one of their victims, to befriend a girl and lure her away to a city, away from her support system, and then they traffic her there. It’s a common theme among the victims of whom I am able to help.
Some sources say the “average age a teen enters the sex trade in the US is 12 to 14 years old.” Human trafficking is said to be the world’s fastest-growing crime. There are more people in slavery today than at any other time in history. With such big statistics, to fight it every community has to be educated.
It takes everyone doing their part. We’re all in this fight together. All I want to know is that when I go into a community and when I leave, there’s an opportunity for it to be different for the next girl or boy. Somebody in the audience is going to change things in that place.
I share my story to give hope to other survivors. I started the Jenna McKaye Foundation to assist victims directly and set them up with services and resources. Helping survivors find their way is so important to me. We connect them with professionals that can help them on their journey. We show them that there are people that believe in them and support them. And we help them to dream again, to find new dreams and goals. There are all these survivors out there waiting for somebody to see them, waiting to be given the opportunity to make a new life for themselves.
During my exploitation, I always thought “What is happening to me and how do I get out of this world that I didn’t agree to?” One of the best parts of my job is to look a victim in the eyes and say, “You are my past and I am your future.” I get to be the person that I needed all those years ago.
(Picture of Jenna McKaye) Jenna Mckaye is a survivor of human trafficking with an incredible life story she now shares through advocacy groups throughout the US. McKaye’s extraordinary journey offers hope that inspires others through education and training. She continues to train hospital staff, law enforcement and other professionals how to identify victims of sex trafficking and labor trafficking and respond with victim centered care. Her personable keynote speaking engagements leave a notable impression among a variety of audience demographics including the United Nations. In 2016, Jenna started the Jenna McKaye Foundation to engage in a broader advocacy training model. Visit jennamckaye.com for upcoming news/events and details on her soon to be published book.
October 15, 2020 was National White Cane Safety Day. We have a special message from Erica Cane, Mel’s orientation and mobility cane. Please see below for letter. May it increase your perspective.
Caption: Erica Cane lounging with a good wheat ale, relaxing. #selfcare. Image description: An orientation and mobility cane is folded in an ninety degree angle and is sitting in a blue velvet chair with an orange furry-looking blanket draped over the back. Erica is red and white. To her right is a tall beer and to her left is a floor length window with sunlight coming through.
Hi Y’all,
I just wanted to wish you all a happy International White Cane Day!
If we have not had the pleasure of meeting, I’m Erica, Mel’s orientation and mobility cane. You have probably seen us together and mistook me for Halle Berry (which happens often). Since 2005 I have been Mel’s shepherd and shield, keeping him safe from trips, spills, slips, falls, barrel rolls, embarrassing face-plants, as well as the costly hospital and dental bills that come with them. I am the main reason his forehead is not cracked, that his nice teeth are unchipped and why his lips remain full and perky instead of busted and puffy. His nose, I’m sad to say, was like that before I met him.
It wasn’t easy for us at first. Our relationship got off to a rocky start. To be honest, Mel “couldn’t stand my narrow ass!” Those were his words, not mine. He hated how people stared at us, and he especially hated how I totally clashed with his style of vintage wardrobe that he calls, “Disco Pimp.” Mostly, he was ashamed and embarrassed of me, but I kept a stiff, upper tip. I know I had to persevere and prove myself.
Today, fifteen years later, me and the Blind OG are inseparable. I have a great life filled with people who know me personally and show me so much care and respect. One cherished memory is when Mel let me accompany our dear friend, Moses, to his grade school classroom for show-and-tell. Usually I’m no braggart but I have to say, for ten sparkly minutes, I was a freaking ROCK STAR! I am so proud of the work I do, and I couldn’t imagine a better family or life. Thank you all.
On this day, I also want to give a shout out to all of my hard working counterparts. Thank you crutches, walkers and wheelchairs. Thanks prostheses, hearing aids, eye glasses, and audio devices, and all other accessibility tools and assistive technologies out there working ceaselessly 24/7 helping folks live fuller, more independent lives. Let me take this opportunity to say I see you, I appreciate you, and your remarkable contributions to humanity have not gone unnoticed.
Wishing you all the best on this special day, and every day forward.
Erica Cane
Contributors:
Mel Anthony Phillips Pronouns: he/him/his Co-Director OAASIS: Oregon Abuse Advocates & Survivors in Service www.oaasisoregon.org
Image description: In the forefront, Mel Phillips (he/him pronouns) is pictured with Erica Cane. Mel has grey dreadlocks, dark tinted glasses, and a huge smile. In the background there is a set of stairs that go up and out of the field of the photo.
Mel Phillips is a folk/graffiti artist, writer and natural-born storyteller whose appetite for creativity and fierce love for humanity shapes and colors the unique perspectives he brings to the work. As a change agent, peacemaker, community activist, Victim’s Advocate and Co-Director of OAASIS (Oregon Abuse Advocates and Survivors in Service), Mel understands that silence is violence in today’s culture of rape, oppression, and violence. He speaks with and educates individuals and community groups about equity, interpersonal violence, disability rights and social justice whenever and wherever the chance is afforded. Since 2009 Mel has worked with the Oregon Attorney General’s Sexual Assault Task Force where he currently serves on its Steering Committee and is co-chair of its Men’s Engagement Subcommittee. Mel is a former member of the Just Beginnings Collaborative (a NoVo Foundation entity committed to ending child sex abuse in a generation) where his unique art-centered approach to CSA engagement intersected with other ideas and creative thought leaders. In his hometown of Portland, Mel is building community and partnerships via alliances with other local grassroots nonprofits.
Erica Cane Erica Cane is a certified foldable Orientation and Mobility white safety cane. Erica’s strong, lightweight graphite frame is durable and weatherproof, the perfect combination needed for the rigors of her daily work. Erica has spent her entire career in proud selfless service with blind and visually impaired communities, and finds her job humbling and rewarding. Ambling confidently through thick crowds with her reflective coating, rolling tip and classic rubber handgrip, indeed the flashy Ms. Cane cuts a fascinating figure that evokes awe and inspiration everywhere she goes. More than a dynamic manual navigation device, Erica Cane is also an anti-ableist activist and international ambassador firmly committed to the ideals of accessibility, empowerment, independence and the pursuit of happiness for all. She resides with her family in beautiful Portland, Oregon.
(Picture of Emily Munson wearing green V-neck shirt and green beaded necklace. She is smiling and has shoulder length black hair) Emily Munson, 36, is an Indianapolis attorney with spinal muscular atrophy, type 2. She enjoys advocating for disability rights, reading, and cuddling with her service dog, Rigby.
