President Joe Biden signed into law the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, a massive pandemic relief package sending billions to special education and home- and community-based services and providing stimulus payments for many with disabilities who had not previously qualified.
Two members of the House of Representatives have called for a hearing “to examine whether Americans are unjustly trapped in conservatorships,” citing the “Free Britney Spears” movement’s advocacy against the pop star’s conservatorship. Conservatorships, sometimes used for adults with disabilities, are legal arrangements in which another party makes certain life decisions for someone who has been judged unable to do so for themselves.
Video conferencing platform Zoom announced it will make automatic closed captioning available to its free accounts to enhance accessibility. The closed captioning functionality is projected to be available in fall 2021.
Netflix pledged to establish a $100 million fund to support organizations promoting TV and film representation for underrepresented communities, including individuals with disabilities. A recently published analysis of Netflix programming revealed characters with disabilities comprise about five percent of lead and main cast roles.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) this month issued guidance for institutions on allowing residents to have visitors. CMS said visitation should not be restricted “without a reasonable clinical or safety cause,” but could be limited based on local Covid-19 positivity rates or other factors.
