Ms. Abrams joined Needham Mitnick & Pollack in January 2010 as “of Counsel” after practicing law as a solo practitioner for 16 years. Ms. Abrams’ practice focuses on Social Security Disability Law and she has spoken on this topic to many organizations including the Virginia State Bar.

Ms. Abrams’ book, “Don’t Gamble with Your Social Security Disability Benefits,” was published in 2010.

Ms. Abrams is rated AV, the highest rating possible by the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory, and was named one of Virginia’s Legal Elite.

Ms. Abrams is active in many different organizations including the National Organization of Social Security Claimant’s Representatives (NOSSCR), where she represents the 4th and DC Circuits on the Board of Directors.

Ms. Abrams graduated Cum Laude from Boston University’s School of Management with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration (1989) and earned her law degree from the George Washington University Law School (1994).

Needham Mitnick & Pollack is a well established Elder Law, Estate, Disability & Special Needs Planning firm that assists clients with Wills, Trusts, Probate, Social Security Disability benefits, Trust Administration, Powers of Attorney, Advance Medical Directives, Guardianships, Long Term Care Planning, Disability Planning, Medicaid Eligibility, Veterans Benefits and Special Needs Trusts.

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

ReelAbilities is a film festival that unites multiple partners and screening locations throughout the DC area in an effort to promote awareness and appreciation of  the lives, stories and artistic expressions of people with disabilities, all through the easily accessible art form of film. 

Film screening venues for ReelAbilities will include the JCC of Greater Washington, Washington DC JCC, JCC of Northern Virginia, Avalon Theatre, The Artisphere, and Rave Motion Pictures. 

Here is a listing of the movies that will be shown:

WARRIOR CHAMPIONS – physical disabilities, war veterans

BEN X –  Autism, technology, coming of age w/ disability, family relationships

HENRY O! – Blindness, baseball

SHOOTING BEAUTY – multiple disabilities in adults and art

CROOKED BEAUTY – manic depression and art

PRAYING WITH LIOR – Down syndrome, spirituality, Judaism, family relationship

SHAMELESS – multiple disabilities including mental illness and art

AMONG THE GIANTS – adaptive design

ZIG ZAG LOVE – Cerebral Palsy, teen love, coming of age w/ disability, family relationships

WAR EAGLE – Cerebral Palsy, speech impediments, friendship

For more information please see:  http://greaterdc.reelabilities.org/

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

If you are a Social Security disability beneficiary and want to make more money through work, Ticket to Work can provide the support you need to transition to greater financial independence and self-sufficiency.  The December 21 national WISE webinar will present information about special Social Security programs and rules that may apply to you! You will hear from Work Incentives Planning & Assistance (WIPA) projects, Employment Networks, State Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Agencies, and Protection & Advocacy organizations about: • Ticket to Work & Work Incentives • Frequently asked questions • Where to find more information

 Date: December 21, 2011 Time: 3:00 p.m. EST Register online at www.chooseworkttw.net/wise/jsp/wise.jsp  or call 1-866-968-7842 or 1-866-833-2967 (TTY/TDD)

Approximately 2 days before the event, you will receive an email with instructions on how to log in to the webinar. The instructions will also include a link and access code for closed-captioning and a link to download the presentation materials in fully accessible PDF and text-only versions.   Please be sure to check your spam folder. Registration information will also be available online the day of the webinar.

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release December 02, 2011

Presidential Proclamation — International Day of Persons with Disabilities
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation

On International Day of Persons with Disabilities, we recommit to ensuring people living with disabilities enjoy full equality and unhindered participation in all facets of our national life. We recognize the myriad contributions that persons with disabilities make at home and abroad, and we remember that disability rights are universal rights to be recognized and promoted around the world.

For decades, America has been a global leader in advancing the rights of people with disabilities. From the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 to the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act, which I signed last year, we have striven to bring the American dream and comprehensive opportunities in education, health care, and employment within reach for every individual. These actions –made possible only through the tireless and ongoing efforts of the disability community — affirm our commitment to an equitable and just society where every American can play a part in securing a prosperous future for our Nation.

To fulfill this promise not only in America, but around the world, my Administration is putting disability rights at the heart of our Nation’s foreign policy. With leadership from the Department of State and the United States Agency for International Development, we are collaborating across governments and in close consultation with the global disability community to expand access to education, health care, HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, and other development programs. In 2009, we signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which seeks to ensure persons with disabilities enjoy the same rights and opportunities as all people. If ratified, the Convention would provide a platform to encourage other countries to join and implement the Convention, laying a foundation for enhanced benefits and greater protections for the millions of Americans with disabilities who spend time abroad.

We know from the historic struggle for disability rights in the United States that disability inclusion is an ongoing effort, and many challenges remain in securing fundamental human rights for all persons with disabilities around the world. On International Day of Persons with Disabilities, we press forward, renewing our dedication to embrace diversity, end discrimination, remove barriers, and uphold the rights, dignity, and equal opportunity of all people.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim December 3, 2011, as International Day of Persons with Disabilities. I call on all Americans to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies, activities, and programs.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this second day of December, in the year of our Lord two thousand eleven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-sixth.

BARACK OBAMA

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Disney Parks offer many services for guests with disabilities, including unique ride cars that enable guests to remain in their wheelchairs, American Sign Language interpretation at live shows, special equipment and facilities for resort access, and disability-specific pamphlets and guidebooks.

However, recently Disney has gotten even more accessible.

Disney guests with visual disabilities are now able to explore Disney parks in a whole new way.   Utilizing an enhanced, 7.2-ounce Disney-designed handheld device, users first hear an interactive audio menu from which they may choose the type of information they’d like to receive.

The assistive technology device’s options include: descriptions of outdoor locations throughout the park like nearby attractions, restaurants and entertainment, or detailed audio description of key visual elements inside more than 20 attractions.

Guests with some hearing loss are covered, too — assistive listening features include captioning to read while enjoying specific attractions, and visual indicator door knocks in resort hotel rooms.

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

“This will help give passengers with disabilities better access to rail travel across the country,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “By putting this protection in place, passengers with disabilities will be able to get on and off any accessible car that is available to passengers at a new or altered station platform.”

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) is amending its Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regulations to require intercity, commuter and high-speed passenger railroads to ensure, at new and significantly renovated station platforms, that passengers with disabilities can get on and off any accessible car of the train.   Passenger railroads must provide level-entry boarding at new or altered stations in which no track passing through the station and adjacent to platforms is shared with existing freight rail operations.   For new or altered stations in which track shared with existing freight rail operations precludes compliance, passenger railroads will be able to choose among a variety of means to meet a performance standard to ensure that passengers with disabilities can access each accessible train car that other passengers can board at the station. These options include providing car-borne lifts, station-based lifts, or mini-high platforms.   The Department will review a railroad’s proposed method to ensure that it provides reliable and safe services to individuals with disabilities in an integrated manner.

This new rule also requires that transit providers carry a wheelchair and occupant if the lift and vehicle can physically accommodate them, unless doing so is inconsistent with legitimate safety requirements.

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

This increase is because for the first time in the last 2 years the consumer price index – a measure of how much it costs consumers, on average, to buy things like food and transportation – rose considerably from a year ago.

Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (or COLA) is calculated using this index, and payments are increased when the measure jumps from one year to the next.

Based on this index data, the raise is likely to be about 3.5%. A person who receives $10,000 from Social Security last year would receive an extra $350 in 2012.

However, some of this increase will be lost to higher Medicare premiums, which are deducted from Social Security payments.

Medicare Part B premiums for 2012 are expected to be announced next week, and the trustees who oversee the program are projecting an increase.

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

The Compassionate Allowances initiative identifies claims where the nature of the applicant’s disease or condition clearly meets the statutory standard for disability. With the help of sophisticated new information technology, the agency can quickly identify potential Compassionate Allowances and then quickly make decisions. Social Security launched the Compassionate Allowances program in 2008 with a list of 50 diseases and conditions. The announcement of 13 new conditions, effective in December, will increase the total number of Compassionate Allowances conditions to 113. The conditions include certain cancers, adult brain disorders, a number of rare genetic disorders of children, early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, and other disorders.

In addition, the agency recently streamlined its online disability application for people who have a condition on the Compassionate Allowances list.

New Compassionate Allowances Conditions

Malignant Multiple Sclerosis
Paraneoplastic Pemphigus
Multicentric Castleman Disease
Pulmonary Kaposi Sarcoma
Primary Central Nervous System Lymphoma
Primary Effusion Lymphoma
Angelman Syndrome
Lewy Body Dementia
Lowe Syndrome
Corticobasal Degeneration
Multiple System Atrophy
Progressive Supranuclear Palsy
The ALS/Parkinsonism Dementia Complex

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

The Medicaid Reference Desk is located at:  http://www.thedesk.info/

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

How You Can Observe Pain Awareness Month:

The American Pain Foundation Action Network is asking that you join the “If I Lived in a World with Less Pain, I Could…” campaign to raise awareness and help secure a first-ever presidential proclamation naming every September National Pain Awareness Month. 

Rest Ministries is sponsoring National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week from September 12 – 18, 2011.  Their Web site features a number of opportunities to participate including guest bloggers who discuss various issues people with invisible illnesses face every day, and virtual conferences you can access through your computer. 

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

“Autism on the Seas” first Resort Stay will be in August 2012, at the all Inclusive
Club Med Resort, Sandpiper Bay in St Lucie Florida. 

For More information click here http://www.alumnicruises.org/Autism/news.htm

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Have you heard that the Virginia Department of Rehabilitative Services is “closed for business”? This is not true! If you are considering asking for vocational assistance, you should apply as soon as possible.   DRS is currently operating under an “Order of Selection,” with all of its selection categories closed.   This means when someone is found eligible for services, they will be placed on a waiting list to receive services.   But that does NOT mean you should not apply.

The Virginia Office for Protection and Advocacy (VOPA) encourages anyone who might be thinking of vocational rehabilitative service to apply now, if only to get yourself on the waiting list, which DRS claims will open again sometime this fall.  VOPA is currently working with a client during this application phase.  DRS has already provided him with an extensive psychological evaluation which identified needed accommodations.  The evaluation also identified areas of functional limitations that he was unaware he had.  The next step is that the individual will under go a Situational Assessment and a vocational evaluation. All of these services are key to his future employment success.  None of this could be happening if DRS was really “closed for business.”

There are many benefits a person can receive during the application process.  You can receive needed evaluations, including psychological and other medical evaluations, vocational evaluations, and assistive technology evaluations.  These evaluations help determine the level of services or accommodations you might need when looking for work, and can be very useful to you as you consider your options.

During the application phase, you may also receive a Trial Work Experience or Situational Assessment if needed to determine eligibility for services.  This allows you to go into a place of employment on an experimental basis, to see if this really is the type of work you want to do.  Many times, you can have a Job Coach during this trial situation, and the trial situation can also help you identify any needed accommodations for future employment.

For more information about VOPA and to give them your feedback on working with DRS, and in other areas, please go to  www.vopa.virginia.gov and take their annual public input survey.

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

To learn about these services please visit:  www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dfs/dspd/

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Effective August 15, 2011, local Social Security offices nationwide will close to the public 30 minutes early each day. For example, a field office that is usually open to the public Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. will close daily at 3:30 p.m.

 “While agency employees will continue to work their regular hours, this shorter public window will allow us to complete face-to-face service with the visiting public without incurring the cost of overtime for our employees,” said Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security.   “Congress provided our agency with nearly $1 billion less than the President requested for our budget this fiscal year, which makes it impossible for us to provide the amount of overtime needed to handle service to the public as we have in the past.”

 Most Social Security services do not require a visit to a local office. For example, anyone wishing to apply for benefits, sign up for direct deposit, replace a Medicare card, obtain a proof of income letter or inform Social Security of a change of address or telephone number may do so at www.socialsecurity.gov or by dialing their toll-free number: 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778).

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Since its enactment, the ADA has opened many doors and sought to level the playing field for employment of Americans with disabilities. Still, however, the unemployment rate for persons with disabilities remains high.

Today, following on other steps already taken, the Obama Administration announced new efforts that will continue to support increased employment opportunities for persons with disabilities and will also help make the government more open and accessible to all citizens. Specifically, the administration is working to release a draft comprehensive strategic plan to improve compliance with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.

Section 508 requires that federal agencies’ electronic and information technology be accessible to people with disabilities, both inside and outside the government.   Even 12 years after this law was enacted, many technological barriers still exist, limiting the ability of persons with disabilities when they try to interact with the federal government, whether as an employee or as a citizen seeking information or services.

Making electronic and information technology, such as websites, 508 compliant will ensure that applicants have equal access to apply for job opportunities. 508 compliance also will promote increased retention, as federal employees will be able to successfully utilize the technology – whether it be computers, telephones, fax machines, websites and many other technological tools – necessary to perform their duties. Moreover, it will make the government more open and accessible as people with disabilities will be able to better access all the information the federal government has placed online.

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, today announced 12 additional Compassionate Allowances conditions involving severe heart diseases, bringing the total number of conditions in the expedited disability process to 100. Compassionate Allowances are a way to quickly identify diseases and other medical conditions that, by definition, meet Social Security’s standards for disability benefits. These conditions primarily include certain cancers, adult brain disorders, and a number of rare disorders that affect children.

“We have reached a significant milestone for the Compassionate Allowances program,” Commissioner Astrue said. “We have an obligation to award benefits quickly to people whose medical conditions are so serious they clearly meet our disability standards. We are now able to do precisely that for 100 severe conditions.”

The Compassionate Allowances initiative is one of two parts of the agency’s fast-track system for certain disability claims. When combined with the Quick Disability Determination process, Social Security last year approved more than 100,000 cases, usually in less than two weeks. This year, the agency expects to fast-track nearly 150,000 cases.

Social Security has held seven public hearings and worked with experts to develop the list of Compassionate Allowances conditions. The hearings also have helped the agency identify additional ways to improve the disability process for applicants with Compassionate Allowances conditions. “By definition, these illnesses are so severe that we don’t need to fully develop the applicant’s work history to make a decision,” said Commissioner Astrue. As a result, beginning in August, Social Security is eliminating this part of the application process for people who have a condition on the list.

For more information on the Compassionate Allowances initiative, please click here

New Compassionate Allowances Conditions:

Aortic Atresia

Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) Recipient

Eisenmenger Syndrome

Mitral Valve Atresia

Endomyocardial Fibrosis

Primary Cardiac Amyloidosis

Heart Transplant Graft Failure

Pulmonary Atresia

Heart Transplant Wait List – 1A/1B

Single Ventricle

Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome

Tricuspid Atresia

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Effective January 1, 2011 a new law was imposed by the Commonwealth of Virginia allowing a 100% real estate tax exemption for qualifying disabled armed forces veterans and their spouses.

Pursuant to Article X, Section 6-A of the Constitution of Virginia, the General Assembly exempted from taxation the real property, including the joint real property of husband and wife, of any Veteran who has been approved by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to have a 100% service-connected, permanent and total disability, and who occupies the real property as his/her primary place of residence.

The surviving spouse of a Veteran eligible for the exemption shall also qualify for the exemption, so long as the death of the Veteran occurred on or after January 1, 2011, the surviving spouse does not remarry and the surviving spouse continues to occupy the real property as his/her primary place of residence.

In order to receive this benefit the veteran is required to have a letter of disability from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (1-800-827-1000). The letter will have specific wording that is required by the Commonwealth of Virginia for this exemption. The letter will NOT be automatically provided to the veteran, he or she must request this letter. Virginia Form 21-4138 may be filled out and signed in the Commissioner of Revenue’s office and faxed to the Veterans Affairs office to request the letter on your behalf.

The regional U. S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs office is located at 210 Franklin Road SW, Roanoke, Va. 24011.

When applying with the Commissioner of the Revenue for this exemption the veteran must bring:
1. An original letter of disability issued by the U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs
2. Photo Identification
3. Proof of residence of occupancy – Voter Registration Card

Surviving spouse should bring:
1. Approved and original letter of disability issued by the U. S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs (in the event the veteran was not previously exempted from local real estate taxes)
2. Death certificate to confirm the date is subsequent to December 31, 2010
3. A certificate of marriage from the appropriate State office of records
4. Proof of residence occupancy – Voter Registration Card

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

The U.S. Department of Labor has announced the availability of approximately $20 million to fund programs that will improve education, training and employment opportunities for adults and youth with disabilities.

The Disability Employment Initiative is a joint project of the Labor Department’s Employment and Training Administration and its Office of Disability Employment Policy. Programs to be funded will serve individuals who are unemployed, underemployed and/or receiving Social Security disability benefits. The goals of the project are to improve coordination and collaboration across multiple service delivery systems, build effective partnerships that leverage public and private resources to better serve people with disabilities and, ultimately, improve employment outcomes of people with disabilities.

“Workers with disabilities suffer from one of the lowest employment rates of any group in the American population, even in times of prosperity,” said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. “It is vital that state and local agencies work together with private sector partners to improve these statistics. Through this second round of funding, we are expanding the Disability Employment Initiative to include programs in additional states.”

Grantees under the Disability Employment Initiative are state workforce agencies. Nine – in Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, New Jersey, New York and Virginia – received grants through a first round of funding awarded in September 2010 for a period of three years. This solicitation for applications represents a second round of funding; agencies in the remaining 41 states are eligible to apply. Recipient state workforce agencies will collaborate with workforce investment boards and local agencies. Awards will range from $1.5 to $6 million each to be spent over a three-year period. Cooperative agreements will be used to expand service delivery through the public workforce system to job seekers with disabilities. The programs will build upon the Labor Department’s Disability Program Navigator initiative and other model service delivery strategies.

Training and employment services supported by these grants are intended to help reduce the unacceptably low employment rates experienced by people with disabilities. The complete solicitation for applications is available at http://www.doleta.gov/grants.

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

The PTSD Coach smartphone application (app), launched in April by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of Defense (DoD), has already helped more than 5,000 users connect with important mental health information and resources.

Since its launch, the PTSD Coach app has been downloaded by thousands of individuals. While 96 percent of the users so far are located in the United States, the app has also been downloaded in 25 other countries. The app lets users track their PTSD symptoms, links them with public and personalized sources of support, provides accurate information about PTSD, and teaches helpful strategies for managing PTSD symptoms on the go.

Currently, the PTSD Coach app has received perfect customer review scores on the iTunes App Store. Comments from Veterans and family members are overwhelmingly positive and one user describes the app as “a must for every spouse who has a family member with PTSD.” Professionals have sent positive reviews, suggestions and offers to collaborate on research evaluating the PTSD Coach app.

The app has also already proven to be a useful tool for the staff at the Veterans Crisis Line. Within the first two hours of the app’s official launch, the Crisis Line staff were contacted by a distressed Veteran who reported being instructed by the app to call the crisis line and was subsequently given an appointment at the local VA medical center. Crisis Line staff have begun to regularly recommend this resource to callers.

The app is one of the first in a series of jointly-designed resources by the VA National Center for PTSD and DoD’s National Center for Telehealth and Technology to help Servicemembers and Veterans manage their readjustment challenges and get anonymous assistance. Given the popularity of mobile devices, VA and DoD hope to reach tens of thousands of Veterans, Servicemembers, and their family members with the new suite of apps.

Information on the PTSD Coach app is on the VA’s National Center for PTSD Website, which can be reached by clicking here

More apps from DoD’s National Center for Telehealth and Technology can be found here

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.

According to United Cerebral Palsy’s 2011 report “The Case for Inclusion,” Vermont offers the best Medicaid services to the developmentally disabled, while Mississippi provides the worst services.

In my local area, Virginia ranks 38th, Maryland 31st, and the District of Columbia 47th.

Here is the complete list:

1. Vermont
2. Arizona
3. Michigan
4. New Hampshire
5. California
6. Washington
7. Delaware
8. Nevada
9. Massachusetts
10. Connecticut
11. New Mexico
12. Colorado
13. Hawaii
14. Minnesota
15. Pennsylvania
16. South Carolina
17. New York
18. Idaho
19. West Virginia
20. Wisconsin
21. Wyoming
22. Georgia
23. South Dakota
24. Montana
25. Kansas
26. Oregon
27. Florida
28. Missouri
29. Maine
30. Alaska
31. Maryland
32. Alabama
33. Kentucky
34. Rhode Island
35. Iowa
36. North Dakota
37. Louisiana
38. Virginia
39. Ohio
40. New Jersey
41. Tennessee
42. Indiana
43. North Carolina
44. Utah
45. Oklahoma
46. Nebraska
47. District of Columbia
48. Illinois
49. Texas
50. Arkansas
51. Mississippi

To see the entire report, please click here.

©2012 Virginia Disability Law Blog. All Rights Reserved.