On Saturday, April 13, 2019, members of the 2019 NH Leadership Series class, now 1000 strong, graduated and are off making the world a better place for people with disabilities and their families!
The eight-weekend session Series is held from September through April and provides people with disabilities and their family members with nonpartisan, state-of-the-art information, and strategies to effectively impact local and state organizations on disability-related issues. Sessions examine the history of the disability movement in New Hampshire, creating a vision for inclusive schools and communities, community organizing, education, person-centered planning, and using the legislative process to achieve positive change.
As a part of the Series, participants join action groups around specific issues. Over the course of a few months, participants identify a problem and come up with a plan to address it. Three of the action groups that formed among this year’s class included:
- An Oral Health Care Action Group, which worked with ABLE NH and Delta Dental on HB 692- a step towards ensuring dental benefits for all adults who receive Medicaid. Currently, adults are only entitled to emergency dental care, not preventative care. The bill has passed in both the NH House and the Senate and the action group is hoping it will soon reach the Governor’s desk for his signature.
- A Mental Health Care Action Group, focused on educating the legislature on the importance of mobile crises units. The members of this action group were active promoting the passage of SB 14 in both the House and Senate.
- An Action Group focused on Chronic Medical Conditions, which formed when Partner’s in Health (PIH) asked for assistance collecting research on the creation of a council which would bring together a diverse group of family members of children who experience chronic medical conditions from around the state to connect on issues. This action group surveyed various groups and came up with a recommendation to present to PIH. This is one step towards mirroring the structure of the statewide family support council for area agencies.
NH Leadership changes lives, changes practice, and changes policy! The NH Leadership Series is now recruiting for the Class of 2020. To learn more, nominate someone you care about, or apply, visit https://iod.unh.edu/projects/nh-leadership/application.
