Attendants rule change

Action Alert: NCIL Needs Your Help Documenting the Impact of the DOL Rule Changes!

In August, when the Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the Department of Labor, the Home Care Association said that they were considering a Supreme Court appeal and asked if NCIL and ADAPT would be willing to write another amicus court brief in that case. 

Months went by and the Home Care Association filed a petition to appeal to the Supreme Court with a motion asking the court to delay the implementation of the DOL rule until the Supreme Court decided if it would hear the case. The Supreme Court declined to delay the rule, but is allowing the Home Care Association to petition to have the appeal heard by the Supreme Court. The Home Care Association is, in fact, moving forward with petitioning the court and asked if we would file an amicus court brief with a deadline of December 24, 2015.

This brief is simply asking the court to hear the case. We are crafting an amicus emphasizing that the US Supreme Court should hear the case because the DOL's actions in changing the regulations have been harmful to attendants and people with disabilities.

In order to draft an accurate brief for the Supreme Court about how the Companionship Exemption changes have impacted people with disabilities, we need your help!
 
Please answer the questions below with details by Monday, December 14th! Send answers to Stephanie Woodward.
 

Explain how any state policies around attendant services have changed within the last 18 months. An example of this would be any rules implemented by your state that prohibit overtime for attendants.
Explain how any practices changed within the last 18 months. An example of this would be fiscal intermediaries requiring attendants to stop working overtime or people being reevaluated and receiving reduced hours that limits the potential for overtime.
Share stories of anyone who has been affected personally. Has an attendant lost hours of work? 

Has a disabled person lost their attendants because of this? Is it impossible to find new attendants? 

Has anyone been institutionalized as a result? 

These examples will be very helpful to highlight the harm that is happening because of these rules.

Has your state done nothing to implement the rule?

Thank you for your help in addressing this critical issue!