Joe Biden has a long history of working for the rights of people with disabilities. Here are just a few of the amazing things he has already done:
Biden Administration Proposes Rule To Curb Disability Discrimination In Health Care
Federal officials are proposing new regulations prohibiting medical providers from discriminating against people with disabilities and setting new standards for accessibility at the doctor’s office.
Specifically, the rule would bar medical treatment decisions from being based on biases or stereotypes about disabilities. Likewise, judgements about the value of an individual’s life or their burden on others could not factor into treatment decisions related to organ transplants, life-sustaining care, crisis standards of care or otherwise.
In addition, the proposal would ensure that child welfare programs do not discriminate against individuals with disabilities in parent-child visitation, reunification services, child removals and child placement, guardianship, parenting skills programs, foster and adoptive parent assessments and other services.
Biden administration announces $37B in funding to benefit seniors, disabled Americans
More than $25 billion of the funding has gone to help retain, expand, and train care workforces and to increase the pay and improve benefits for care workers.
The other roughly $12 billion includes services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, offering family caregivers training and counseling support, reducing waitlists for home and community-based services and providing housing-related services to Americans at risk of homelessness due to mental illness.
The Biden administration highlighted several states that have taken advantage of the funds, including Colorado, which it said had increased the base wages of 60,000 care workers with the funding.
Maine has provided bonuses to more than 24,000 care workers, while North Carolina established a fund to improve recruitment and retention of care workers, the administration said.
New Biden rule would make government websites, apps more accessible to people with disabilities
The Biden administration proposed new regulations Tuesday to make state and local government websites and apps for services like libraries, parking, transit and court records more accessible for people with disabilities.
The new Justice Department rule would establish certain accessibility standards for websites and app-based services maintained by state and local governments, the White House announced. Those could include providing text descriptions for photos for the visually impaired who use screen readers, and captioning for government videos.
Increased Access to Democracy for Voters with Disabilities
Executive Order 14019on Voting Access ensures people with disabilities can access key voting resources, requires an assessment of barriers to the right to vote independently and privately, and will help ensure that all Americans, including voters with disabilities, can exercise their right to vote.
Biden Administration Proposes Big Change To Benefits For People With Disabilities
Increased Access to COVID-19 Vaccinations and Affirmed the Civil Rights of Americans with Disabilities in Vaccine Distribution
Agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services released funding and resources during the first 100 days to increase access for people with disabilities to the COVID-19 vaccine, provide guidance on discrimination when distributing the vaccine, and support best practices in vaccine access. The Administration for Community Living, in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control, provided nearly $100 million in grants to help expand access. Additional resources include an overview of disability rights laws in vaccine distribution from the Office for Civil Rights and information from the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation on barriers to vaccine access faced by older adults who cannot leave their homes
and don’t forget this → What Joe Biden’s Speech Disorder Means For Young Americans With Disabilities
Joey, don't let this define you. Joey, remember who you are. Joey, you can do it,’ said Catherine Eugenia Biden to her young, stuttering son every time he would walk out. Little did she know that this young man would conquer more than just his speech disorder.
He would be slated to become the 46th President of the United States of America.
A Biden presidency means that the most powerful political seat in the country will be filled by a man challenged by his speech impediment. His stutter mainstreams conversations on disability and is a departure from the cultural perception of stutterers as fearful, anxious, dumb people.
The impact of such representation is profound. 13-year-old Brayden Harrington, who has a stutter, met Biden in New Hampshire this year. ‘Joe Biden made me more confident about something that’s bothered me my whole life,’ he expressed, ‘He told me that we were members of the same club. We stutter.’
Is there still more work to be done? 100%! Lots more work. But Biden did more than many people guessed could be done. And he deserves a lot of credit. AND he deserves to be re-elected.
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This is an entry in my ongoing series Boosting Biden.
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