Speaking out for People with
Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
In March of 2018, the National Council on Disability issued a position paper, "Beyond Guardianship, Toward Alternatives That Promote Greater Self-Determination". In September, VOR's Issues Oversight Committee submitted a report on our position and findings regarding that report.
By Tamie Hopp, VOR Director of Government Relations & Advocacy in Nonprofit Quarterly, July 16, 2014 (and reprinted in the Summer 2014 Nonprofit Quarterly Print edition)
Early reforms were quite properly motivated by the need for a system of care and supports that responded to the very individualized and diverse needs of the entire population of people with I/DD. These reforms, however, also set the stage for decades of ongoing deinstitutionalization, resulting in the elimination of specialized housing, employment and education options for people with I/DD, leaving some to question the price of “progress.”
Lanny Edelsohn wrote the following to the Washington Post in response to biased reporting on 14(c) programs.
Dear Mr. Lewis,
I was shocked and saddened after reading the three articles in the Washington Post related to the issue of section 14c of the Fair Labor Standards Act allowing some vocational programs to pay adults with intellectual disabilities a commensurate wage based on standardized assessments of productivity. In September of 2023 the Department of Labor announced that it was planning a comprehensive review of section 14c. Unfortunately, the authors presented a biased and inaccurate description of 14c Work Centers emphasizing the opinions of those advocating for their closure and ignoring the concerns of parents, guardians and people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) themselves who are happy and proud of the work they perform in such centers. I and others representing those who cannot advocate for themselves must respond to these inaccuracies.
VOR has submitted a statement to the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services regarding proposals to change the "Public Charge Ground of Inadmissibility", also known as the Public Charge Rule.
VOR has sent a letter to Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, supporting the residents and famiiies of the Polk and White Haven Developmental Centers.
VOR has wrtitten a letter to the American Psychiatric Association opposing a request by AAIDD that would further dilute the defiition of intellectual disabilities.
