There is a well-established research finding of ³group polarisation²: when like-minded people get together, and speak and listen only to one another, they usually end up thinking a more extreme version of what they thought before they started to talk.

This was…

traditional low expectations

I've long thought that just providing what people ask for would be cheaper than saying no.

I thought it was just me....

When I have the time I will do a breakdown of at least the DSS spend in all areas. Be interesting to quantify the $$$ spent on blocking access to funding to the 'person'...and…

It's late(early?), but I'm sure that the Minister said that 5 billion dollars was being spent on disability supports...but that doesn't seem to fit with the Budget..

There is just…

which I once thought was a right of citizenship, so that your local MP can actually represent you and possibly help with intractable problems you are experiencing

That's one reason everybody should be going to their…

In the meantime, Rosemary, I suggest we all do what we can within the energy and opportunities we have. For example, I…

The system is set up so only those chosen to speak on behalf of us have a say.

They (this co design group) will claim that they will listen....but Peter and I know from our interaction with one of the members at the Strategy…

Hell yes.

The stage of the electoral cycle and/or the current Minister should have no bearing on the work of this group.

I am not a…

I would dearly love to put the scales back on my eyes and go back to the comforting naivety…

Disability Issues and Associate Health Minister Nicky Wagner today announced the group responsible for designing the new disability support system. (YAY!!!)

“The co-design process is an exciting opportunity for leaders in the disability sector to work in partnership with government to transform the disability support system,” Ms Wagner…

http://www.health.govt.nz/publication/disability-information-and-advisory-services-and-needs-assessment-and-service-coordination-review

Overview
The Ministry of Health conducts regular evaluations of the disability supports and services we fund.

We are interested in receiving information about how we can expand our evaluation teams and improve…

It's a bit like grabbing at ideas (many with an underlying principle of privatisation) and seeing how they fly. Fortunately, there is a lively informed social media network which can quickly analyse and spot…

It was worse than that. The funding only moved with you…

Mums had more time for their kids before it became essential to have two full time incomes to raise a family. Loving input in those early years is priceless.

Gifted and talented kids drew from the same pool of funding as those with educational challenges. Many schools considered that G&T kids didn't really need any help so they…

Once upon a time the term "special needs" meant any student with educational needs beyond the average. It encompassed Gifted and Talented children as well as those with behavioural or developmental challenges.

I did find it on the NZDSN site....a brand spanking new site by the way!

IMHO, not half as 'professional' as the previous site, those moving graphics make my eyes go wonky....a bit gimmicky.

One of those "good people" dismissed Himself's and my attempt to have the Family Carers/PHDAct (4) brought into the Disability Strategy 'conversation' in Hamilton a few months ago.

So very almost contemptuous, that no amount of spousal coaxing could get Himself out of the Bus and…

How? Where? Why?

And what is this 'sector transformation' they're on about?

Why do I feel a worm of unease squirming in the back of my brain?

“Mrs Lowe was receiving a paltry $3 an hour for the respite care she provided. Under the latest Appeal Court hearing this would be a legal payment considered only…

(Few and far between for the Atkinson and Spencer hearings.)

Have you noticed the little pocket/purse dangling off the back of the lawyers black robes?

I'm told in days of old these were for the lawyers' clients to put coins into during proceedings to make the lawyers work harder!

and here is the official explantion.

Theatre.

Unsurprisingly, the Appeal Court has found that the Miserly and the DHBs did not engage as Lowe as a relief carer and therefore are not responsible for the fact that Lowe was paid way less than the minimum…

Oh, I don't know....shame them into it perhaps?

Surely one function of an effective opposition is to attempt to keep the incumbents honest....providing of course their own consciences are clear....

Seldom does an opportunity present where there is the…

National used their unfair and obnoxious legislation to take away the rights for families to get compensation in 2013 and Labour has pledged to repeal this.

Well, that is well and good Annette, but...

1. Why didn't Labour 'sort this' prior to the Atkinson plaintiffs…

"They don't care. If they did care....I wouldn't be here."

So, Ministry of Health and Good Faith, why couldn't you have just admitted you got it horribly wrong and settled?

Rather than put people through this painful…

Yep.

Perhaps this is a warning?

Persist in your claim (to those who might be waiting in the wings) and contribute to further loss of dignity of…

And it would appear there is nothing we can do to put the record straight. (We are trying,…

I admit to being prejudiced.

I have just finished reading the entire decision and am more than a little, well, disappointed at the assertion by their honours that the Misery was acting throughout in "good faith".

Let's remind ourselves again of the Miserly's own definition of "good faith" from…

Perjury?

Hmmm...I am being a tad facetious....just a tad.

Reading the Decision is one thing, but I have the benefit of having sat down the back of various courtrooms, for both Atkinson and Spencer, and seeing the expressions on the judges' faces and hearing the…

....already given in Atkinson as to the then inchoate state of the Ministry’s disability policies. p34

I had to look up "inchoate".....

1.
just begun and so not fully formed or developed; rudimentary.
"a still inchoate democracy"
2.
LAW
(of an offence, such as incitement…

She bloody won!!!

Their arrogance, their lies, their offensive attitude towards disabled people and family carers....

Thanks Sacha...

[218] We see benefit ... in an order under s 92(3)(f) of the HRA requiring the Ministry needing…

Can you hear me laughing, up here in the miserable Waikato Hilary?

Somewhere in the bowels of my old laptop are a number of begging letters with regards to…

Hmmm...I'm confused. (Becoming an almost default state these days...)

To my mind, 'rehabilitation' encompasses maintaining function. The 'use it or lose it' mantra.

Perhaps the meaning has been changed? I have noticed that some of the big…

The problem and the answer is political. I would write to about every situation. so she…

An Auckland woman suffering from multiple sclerosis is being denied funding for a new standing frame.

Susan has been using the same standing frame for 20 years and, along with her husband David, she's campaigning to get a new frame funded by Accessable, a Ministry…

By the…

Oh yes indeedy.

Luckily, we can buy the extras we need.

One wee paradox that we highlighted in our little flyer (aimed at raising the consciousness of our ACC cousins)…

result

Yes...and especially in the case of those born with spinal impairment, repeated bladder and kidney infections can lead to permanent kidney damage. Can lead to loss of kidney/s, limbs, and ultimately shorten…

Interesting, and also disappointing, that he focused on the Trevethick case.

We were frustrated that the case took up the issue of vehicle funding when there were much more important areas of disparity that could have been highlighted.…

It will have much better ratios of staff to student and existing (tried and true :-) ) policies and procedures for behaviour management. It would attempt to individualise a programme for this child but that…

God, this case rings so many bells for me. We had a terrible GSE caseworker who tried to bully us into sending our son to a residential…

And right there Sir, nail gets hit on head.

Banging on and on about 'rights'...who gives a shit? Really?

When the government knifed us in the back over the family carers thing, other than here on PA and over at Pundit, most folk simply…

Cos they were once worth it.

They should, perhaps, consult their fellow bureaucrats over at Corrections...

A "high risk" sex offender housed metres from a Auckland school...

Corrections consider the man "a very high risk of imminent violent offending" and applied for…

I don't have words…

PDF download:
https://www.nzma.org.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/45905/Purdie-1874FINAL1425.pdf

That was basically proving wrong information or statements often used by Principal…

All this bold promotion of putting more into Pharmac did make me think instantly, I wonder where they will cut spending to fund for extra medicines to be…

It would appear that National has cut over $8 million from the disability support budget by 'curtailing demand'...but had a budget…

The part of the Act that birthed the Strategy in the first place...but, no, I can't make it read as if they actually have to implement any of it.

Hmmmm...I would have thought backed up by the Convention, as in the Disability Action Plan...get more traction?…

We were (in bringing up the PHDAct/FFC thing) told that we were being too detail focused...hence the Big Sky phrasing.

Got a…

verily.
longer-term project ..

“I feel welcomed by my community. I feel respected for my views and my contribution is received on an equal basis with others.”

Well linked Sacha...how did you know that was exactly how Himself was feeling after the meeting? (sarc)

(When I say…

This govt pissed that opportunity away by using it as a substitute for withdrawn local NGO funding.

Which is 100% more than the previous govt did.…

We did.

And while we were doing the final round up, the talk fest at the end where each group's spokesperson tells all assembled the most important talking points....the words of this woman kept coming into mind mind.

It Ain't…

Having said which, there is a long and troubling…

We've spent a considerable part of the weekend catching up on our reading in preparation...hit a bit of a bump...

With regard to the Reference…

ALL of them.

Re the CYFs review...does 9 years as a foster parent(over 60 children, including some with disabilities) give me any right to comment on this?

Very hard to do without risking Privacy…

Well spotted...my first home in New Zealand. :-)

While folk are around....Himself and myself are giving serious thought to pushing (with some effort) aside our cynicism at the whole shebang and engaging with the NZ Disability Strategy revision process.

The are events…

http://www.ihc.org.nz/hot-issues-april-2016

seems to be relaxing on the Hokianga in that photo. How clueless are these people?

funny that

I've encountered one sociopath who must have been promoted for those very characteristics.

However, the new CEO, Waddy Wadsworth in the new DPA NZ newsletter acknowledges DPA NZ has...

to regain the…

That is, contract a monopoly service, underfund it and contractually gag it.

Our Leader spent time in Motueka yesterday...

He said the current Child Youth and Family review could have a "very direct impact…

....got into a random discussion with a random person( who knows another random person) about a MOH:DSS contracted provider that serves a rather large region here in jolly old Godzone.

Three names came up...employees who have exhibited such mind blowing incompetence (and on more…

Yes

My concern when it comes to top ups based on need is that on the Ministry of Health side of things there is no needs assessment capability at the moment. Unless that capability exists within ACC, and that expertise was…

Disability activists have been pushing for one agency for many years. I agree it would only be in our favour though if set up and run properly without cost-cutting as a prime directive – and with…

Yes please. Public actuarial-style funding across all disability supports, with core entitlement the same as every other citizen.

I'm not entirely sure I have correctly understood what you are saying but it seems to me that you are rolling functions presently covered by MoH, ACC and MEd, into one all powerful agency.

This is dangerous territory.

There is no real needs assessment under MoH…

I wonder if the HRC sees it that way? Might be worth putting in…

The report says clause 33 of the bill provides that a person is entitled to the Supported Living Payment (SLP) if the person has restricted work capacity or is totally blind.…

His wife has the wealth.

That's the reason he is giving. However, he may instead have jumped before he ended up being held responsible for a huge stuff-up in another direction.

Hopefully we can get someone involved in this group to report here on Access from time to time.

A Reference Group will provide advice on the revision process and on the content of the revised strategy. The New Zealand Disability Strategy is being revised in 2016 to ensure that it remains current, is consistent with, and supports the implementation of the…

http://www.odi.govt.nz/nzds/2016-revision/reference-group/index.html

Will be interesting to see what happens as a result.

I remember that…

I'll stop laughing in a little while Sacha....but when you have a minute, care to suggest a pathway to such a goal?

yep. they provide all of us a useful goal for support, just like ACC clients do.

and good on them, it's just such a shame the acceptance that public space should be accessible to vision impaired hasn't extended to acceptance of routine accessibility rights for others.

That would be right. I wasn't sure if I should name names. Shaz is a champ alright, and my neighbourhood owes her a lot.

fresh example:

Changes may be made to Christchurch's new multi-million dollar playground after concerns about a lack of disability-friendly facilities.

A testament to their superior lobbying power, helped by things like a longer history of working together as a community, having their own governing legislation for decades, and being able to keep welfare benefits…

And that was what I and others were working for many years to get done, with only minor success. Councils still routinely plan, built and grant consents for inaccessible buildings and public spaces. Governments let them. Because we're worth…

Was it the Mayor's wife at the time, Alexia Pickering? Made a big difference.

Around ten years ago I read an article about a woman who, starting in the early 70s, had taken on the then powers-that-be over wheelchair access in central Chch. Simply drawing attention to basic…

Having a look through the CCDU and Cera guidelines for the rebuild they pay lip service to the ideas of 'accessibility' – to them an accessible city means 'transport: connecting cars and otherwise mobile people with commerce'
...though there was one piece of clip art of someone being pushed…

That's what a genuine commitment to fundamental change would look like, yes.

I suspect the large number of jobs are the result of the latest restructuring whereby job titles and roles have been tossed up in the air to see what happens.

But wouldn't it be wonderful…

"maze bright"....http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/111130/what-does-maze-bright-mean

A vagueish definition...of a term with its roots in Heron and Skinner...the rats in the maze people.

Political savvy • Can manoeuvre through complex political situations effectively.
• Is sensitive to how people and organisations function.
• Anticipates…

One of at least a dozen high level positions being advertised on the Misery Of Health webpage.

https://careers.health.govt.nz/jobtools/jncustomsearch.viewFullSingle?in_organid=18370&in_jnCounter=222609902&in_skills=disability

Chief People & Transformation Officer
Posted on 11-Jan-2016Application Close Date: 22-Jan-2016

“The Ministry is about to embark on a transformational journey that will see us step up and…

...and that would be the fear of many of us Marc.

You know, there is an easier, and probably cheaper, method of reducing the number of beneficiaries.

ALL those who are willing and able to do paid work should front…

https://www.national.org.nz/news/news/media-releases/detail/2015/09/03/Feedback-sought-on-Disability-Action-Plan

Well, for a start Nicky...you could have a read of this....
http://docstore.ohchr.org/SelfServices/FilesHandler.ashx?enc=6QkG1d%2fPPRiCAqhKb7yhsl0TAZAFn%2fysap%2b9nlo7rkvRmNJ6uyxoc44CPcdshSIzpSxW%2bwhPoD0WnpuECahTAQtdCX5Yjd%2btcuc1aJHm%2fCSIyN13jMcmmBwFgKgSEgah

...and maybe just work your way through the recommendations.

They are both service providers, not counted as DPOs under the UN Convention framework. They do seem to be actually saying stuff in public on behalf of their prime stakeholder groups: users of their services and their families.…

Hell, I would have taken my family carer being permitted to seek employment through an agency to provide my care! The agencies could then have screened prospective family carers for suitability the same way they (should) do other…

this...http://www3.iserve.net.nz/users/incharge/incharge.org.nz/htdocs/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Dovetail-IF-cost-analysis-Final1.pdf

from Manawanui, indicating that IF is cheaper in the long run.

Now, if only MOH:DSS clients could pay their family carers through IF...

Oh yes!

Now that's what I'm talking about!

Unfortunately, no not really. The natural mechanism should be CarersNZ but there are good reasons many of us don't trust that group to advocate well for us. The same applies…

from the Report...

‘ think it comes back to the attitude of the officials who designed the adjustable parts
of this policy in the way they did and I think that they should be ashamed of
themselves. And I hope you quote me on that. … I think…

This is what the Ministry's website has for informatin:
http://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/preventative-health-wellness/social-bonds-new-zealand-pilot/social-bonds-progress-date

They are moving slowly but determinedly, it seems.

Thanks for posting this Angela....Whew, clearly the researchers put plenty of effort into attempting to turn a pigs ear into a silk purse...albeit a purse that few people seem to want to pick up.…

The claim that they were bumped off the list in error is all too common and not good enough.
Kudos to the kind HNZ tenant who gave these people a place to live and advocated on their behalf.

It's eerie hearing my words echo in this report; I seem to have been pretty much the only FFC "caree" able and willing to speak to these researchers.

http://www.health.govt.nz/publication/evaluation-funded-family-care

http://www.nzdsn.org.nz/Blogs/481/60/evaluation-reports-on-new-model-now-available/

Paul Gibson.....

Disability studies involves a completely different way of thinking about disability. So it's not the traditional way of thinking in the medical or clinical way, but thinking about disability as a human rights issue, as a natural, inherent part of being human and with the leadership by…