disability-issues

Social Security in ‘a full blown crisis,’: Advocates and recipients say the program needs help

BY: - October 18, 2023

Along with low morale and high turnover among overworked staff, recipients regularly endure long wait times — on the phone and in person — for assistance, daunting paperwork, and confusing instructions, all for some of the most vulnerable beneficiaries of the nation’s largest social service program. 

Pa.’s Fetterman using assistive tech in Senate to aid in stroke recovery | Thursday Morning Coffee

BY: - February 2, 2023

Report: The Senate got a digital upgrade to help its newest member do his job.

COMMENTARY
Speaker device in various languages.

Meaningful access to the Social Security Administration requires language services | Opinion

BY: - November 20, 2022

A lack of interpreters cuts too many people off from the crucial services they need.

COMMENTARY

The feds make it too hard for former inmates to access Social Security benefits | Opinion

BY: - November 18, 2022

The government punishes formerly incarcerated people twice by making them jump through too many hoops.

Social Security aid to disabled Pa. residents crashed during the pandemic | Thursday Morning Coffee

BY: - November 17, 2022

Pennsylvania saw the steepest drop of all 50 states, particularly hitting Black and brown residents, new research shows.

COMMENTARY

Casey, senators press Justice Dept. for answers on web access for disabled people | Friday Coffee

BY: - July 1, 2022

The federal government is supposed to file biennial reports on its web accessibility efforts. The last one was a decade ago.

COMMENTARY

Living with a disability is very expensive – even with government assistance | Opinion

BY: - March 29, 2021

Adults with disabilities require, on average, 28% more income to achieve an identical standard of living as a household of the same size and income where no one has disabilities

COMMENTARY

House Dems’ bill would create new Dept. of Accessibility & Inclusion | Thursday Morning Coffee

BY: - February 11, 2021

Nearly 1 in 4 Pennsylvanians have a disability. The state needs to better serve their needs, two Western Pa. lawmakers argue.

Polk-home

As debate rages, Wolf says he will veto attempts to stop Polk and White Haven shutdown

BY: - December 17, 2019

Gov. Tom Wolf has promised to veto a bill that would overturn his administration’s decision to shutter two state facilities that care for the intellectually disabled. Wolf first made the promise in a private Nov. 19 letter to the Philadelphia chapter of ADAPT, a disability rights group, and it was reiterated by a spokesperson Tuesday. […]

The number of disabled people who live at state-run centers has dwindled. That doesn’t mean closing them isn’t controversial

BY: - October 15, 2019

Why is closing state centers for the disabled controversial? Funding is tight, change is scary, and many are not happy with the process.

Trump budget would take millions away from disabled Americans, former Pa. Gov. Tom Ridge writes.

BY: - April 17, 2019

In a New York Times op-Ed, the former Pennsylvania governor called on the Trump administration to restore all the funding it’s proposed to cut for disability programs.