The Kansas Youth Leadership Forum for Students with Disabilities (KSYLF) is currently searching for motivated young leaders to attend the eighteenth annual forum held July 9-14, 2018 at Washburn University in Topeka. We are also searching for adults to serve as volunteers for the week of the KSYLF.

The KSYLF is an annual conference that is heading into its eighteenth year serving students with disabilities across the state. During the forum, delegates enjoy a week full of learning, fun, friends, and, most of all, a new sense of empowerment! Through various large sessions, delegates are able to hear from community leaders on such topics as disability history, advocacy, goal setting, leadership, resources, and much more. Students are also able to share life experiences, goals, and ideas during breakout sessions with small groups. By week's end, all delegates will have stated their future plans and career goals in their very own Personal Leadership Plan.

Aside from large and small group sessions, students participate in a variety of fun activities as well. A trip to the Capitol is always a highlight of the week. Students are able to tour the Capitol building, as well as participate in a legislative activity in the Senate Chambers. Other activities include a mentor luncheon where delegates are paired with an adult from their area who has a similar career interest, and a talent show where participants are able to share their unique abilities with the group. Other fun activities include a recreation session, real life fair, a barbecue, and a dance, which is always a delegate favorite!

All students who are interested in attending the KSYLF must meet the following criteria:
• Reside in Kansas.
• Have a disability as defined with the Americans With Disabilities Act.
• Be in the 11th or 12th grade as of December 31, 2017. Please note: Students who are in an 18-21 transition program qualify to apply as well.
• Have demonstrated leadership potential or interest in school and the community.

There will be no cost for students who are selected to attend. All lodging, food, and accommodations are paid for through KSYLF funds. Accommodations such as personal care attendants, sign language interpreters, large print or Braille materials, and other accommodations will be provided for those delegates who need them.

Students must fill out an application that will be reviewed through a competitive selection process. About 20 - 25 delegates will be selected to attend. The delegate application deadline for the 2018 Forum is December 15, 2017.

KSYLF is also accepting applications for volunteers for our 2018 Forum. We are searching for committed, enthusiastic people who are willing to devote a week to this great program. Do you have the skills and passion to help facilitate groups and motivate youth with disabilities? Then consider serving as a volunteer at this year's KSYLF.

Past volunteers, KSYLF alumni, and new volunteers are encouraged to apply! Volunteer applicants must fill out our application form, as well as two background checks, and send to the KYEA office. Volunteer applications are due by February 5, 2018.

Delegate and volunteer applications, as well as other information, can be downloaded from our website at www.kyea.org/upcomingksylf. More information can also be obtained by contacting Carrie Greenwood, Program Coordinator, at 785-215-6655 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Apply to be a KSYLF Delegate or Volunteer
Learn more about the Kansas Youth Leadership Forum

The federal agency that oversees Medicaid has agreed to a one-year extension of Kansas’ $3.2 billion KanCare program, which provides managed care services to the state’s Medicaid population.

Click here to read more.

ADAPT is in LAST place!
PLEASE VOTE AND FORWARD!

Thanks to so many people from around the country who either came to DC or supported ADAPT from home, we once again led a charge that has (for now) saved Medicaid from efforts to destroy it.

Unfortunately, the Disability Community is likely to face many more attacks in the coming year including more efforts to cut Medicaid, undercut the ADA, underfund social services. We will also continue to experience violence against our community in its various forms and need to fight back against other ableist policies. It is clear that we are going to need ADAPT's direct action and activism more than ever!

You can help with this fight!  CREDO mobile has nominated ADAPT as one of the three recipients of its October grant program. The amount ADAPT receives is determined by a public voting process.

Please go to the link below and vote for ADAPT! (Some of you may need to copy the link and paste it in your browser.)

https://www.credodonations.com/

It costs nothing.  By voting with a valid email address, you can help ADAPT continue to lead the fight against the attacks on our community and to push for the Disability Integration Act which will ensure that no Disabled American is denied Life and Liberty simply because they have a disability.

Please share the link with everyone you know over all of your networks and ask them to vote for ADAPT.

The ADAPT Community

The Disability History Museum hosts a Library of virtual artifacts, Education curricula, and Museum exhibits. These programs are designed to foster research and study about the historical experiences of people with disabilities and their communities.
Click Here to find out more.

NATIONAL DISABILITY EMPLOYMENT AWARENESS MONTH, 2017

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

During National Disability Employment Awareness Month, we celebrate the many contributions of American workers with disabilities and reaffirm our admiration of the skills and talents they bring to today's workplace.

Every American who is willing and able to work should have the opportunity to provide for themselves and their families. This includes the 30 million American adults with disabilities. Many Americans with disabilities struggle to find employment opportunities, despite the wealth of skills they have to offer. In 2016, only 27.7 percent of working-age Americans with disabilities were employed. More employers should recognize the fresh perspectives and skills these men and women can add to an innovation-focused workforce. They are an incredible asset to our economy. Our goal is to help ensure that they experience the independence, economic self-sufficiency, pride, and community that come with a job.

Creating and maintaining a strong and robust American workforce is one of my Administration's top priorities. We will ensure that people who want to work have the support they need to remain on the job. Employees, along with their employers, their families, and the economy all suffer when they are forced to leave the labor force due to illness or accident. We must be able to act quickly to support these workers in their time of need. I, therefore, have directed the Department of Labor, the Social Security Administration, and other Federal agencies to identify effective strategies to help people stay at work or return to work, focusing on early intervention with Americans recently rendered disabled due to injury or a health condition.

We are committed to giving all Americans opportunities to gain the skills they need to fill the jobs of the 21st century. We know that includes Americans with disabilities, who want to work, provide for themselves and their families, contribute to their communities, and build up our Nation. We will stand alongside them to help turn their American Dreams into reality.

The Congress, by Joint Resolution approved August 11, 1945, as amended (36 U.S.C. 121), has designated October of each year as "National Disability Employment Awareness Month."

NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim October 2017 as National Disability Employment Awareness Month. I call upon government and labor leaders, employers, and the great people of the United States to recognize the month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities across our land.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-eighth day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand seventeen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-second.

DONALD J. TRUMP