From the January-February 2016 issue of News and Letters

by Suzanne Rose

Personal assistants for the disabled in Illinois were told they can’t work more than 40 hours a week. A new ruling by the U.S. Department of Labor says that Personal Assistants must be paid time and a half after 40 hours. The Illinois Department of Human Services does not want to pay overtime so they are capping hours at 40. This is a disaster for many personal assistants who work over 40 hours a week and can’t survive on less.

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State lawmakers in Madison, Wisc., are seeking support for a bill that would require the state to adopt certain rules for investigating abuse and neglect when victims are children with disabilities. An investigation found that Wisconsin children with disabilities are dying despite repeated calls to child protective service agencies. In the last five years, 15 disabled children have died and nine others have been badly injured.

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Thirteen activists of the December 3 Movement, an organization working for disability rights, were arrested on Jan. 5 while protesting and staging a fast at the State Commission for Differently Abled at K.K. Nagar in Chennai, India. On Sunday, an event was organized by the State Commission for the distribution of aid to the differently abled. Dozens of people with disabilities arrived at the venue, only to find that there were no ramps, no wheelchairs, or sign language interpreters.