Articles from prior issues of The Advocate

November/December, 1995

President's Message

NADE HAS JUST RECENTLY COMPLETED another outstanding National Training Conference in beautiful Portland, Maine. I want to personally commend the Maine chapter for their hard work and dedication that made this year’s conference one of the best ever.

We have just finished a very trying year for NADE and for the Disability Program. Due to problems beyond anyone’s control, NADE was not able to function as smoothly as hoped. The Disability Program has been undergoing major changes with Redesign and proposed legislation. The problems of juggling performance measures with decreased receipts, increased disposition requirements and reduced resources have program managers pulling their hair out to try and comply. There does not appear to be any rest available in the coming year again. Legislation will most probably be proposed that will, if passed, significantly change the Disability process. NADE will be called upon to provide expert testimony on the proposed legislation. There are two determining factors that assess weight to testimony: (1) the expertise of the presenters and (2) the clout of the presenters. The clout is determined by the number of people represented by the presenters. What I’m trying to say is, the more members we have, the more clout we have. Increased membership is important.

I’m looking forward to a full and rewarding year for NADE. I will be discussing specific issues in subsequent ADVOCATES. Remember: communication is essential to enable NADE to function as your voice on Disability issues. Communicate your ideas and positions to your NADE leaders at all levels and we will endeavor to keep you informed also.