Mental Retardation/Learning Disabilities Fund
February,
1999
Introduction
One
of the most popular and successful programs conducted by
the Knights of Columbus state and local councils for the
benefit of people with mental retardation and other
learning disabilities is fund-raisers under which Knights
and their families collect donations outside of stores and
on street corners. In
appreciation for donations, contributors are usually
presented with a small gift.
In
Illinois and many of other jurisdictions, this gift is a
Tootsie Roll. The
fact that so many councils distribute Tootsie Rolls in a
very visible manner, has led to the campaign being
referred to as the “Tootsie Roll Drive”.
This nickname is understandable, but misleading and
inappropriate. The
Knights of Columbus has no official tie to Tootsie Rolls
or their manufacturer.
There is no requirement that Tootsie Rolls be the
candies distributed during this campaign.
In addition, when referring to this activity, we
should be promoting the causes that the money benefits,
not the brand name of the candy.
By
resolution, the Illinois Knights of Columbus has for the
last 29 years annually promoted “solicitation and
disbursement of funds for the State Mentally
Handicapped/Mentally Retarded Program”.
At the 1998 Illinois State Convention there was
much discussion about the appropriateness and use of terms
such as handicapped,
retardation or retarded,
and disabilities.
Resolution #28 proposed that this program should
not display or use the word retarded
and that the program should hereafter be know as the Mentally
Handicapped Program.
Definitions
The
term mental
retardation is often misunderstood and seen as
derogatory. Some think that retardation is diagnosed only
on the basis of below-normal intelligence (IQ), and that
persons with mental retardation are unable to learn or to
care for themselves. Actually, according to the definition
by the American Association on Mental Retardation (AAMR),
an individual is considered to have mental retardation
based on the following three criteria: intellectual
functioning level (IQ) is below 70-75; significant
limitations exist in two or more adaptive skill areas; and
the condition is present from childhood (defined as age 18
or less).
A
very similar definition is also used by The Arc
,”formerly Association for Retarded Citizens of the
United States which is the country's largest voluntary
organization committed to the welfare of all
children and adults with mental retardation and their
families”; Special
Olympics ,“the world's largest year-round program of
physical fitness, sports training and athletic competition
for people with mental retardation”; and many other
professional groups and associations who promote the
rights of people with mental retardation..
The
term mentally
handicapped had
been used for many years “to define persons with
significantly sub-average general intellectual functioning
existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior
and manifested during the developmental period”.
However, the regulations for the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), formerly the Education
of the Handicapped Act (Public Law 94-142), provided more
technical definitions for various types of mental
disabilities. These
and other documents promote the use of the term handicap
not as a synonym for disability, but rather as
a condition or barrier imposed by society, the
environment, or by one's own self.
Some individuals prefer inaccessible or not
accessible to describe social and environmental barriers.
Handicap can be used when citing laws and situations but
should not be used to describe a disability. Do not refer
to people with disabilities as the handicapped or
handicapped people. Say the building is not accessible for
a wheelchair-user. The stairs are a handicap for her.
This
change, as well as wording in the Americans with
Disabilities Act, the Federal Rehabilitation Act (Section
504), the National Library of Medicine’s Medical Subject
Headings (MeSH), refined
the definitions for many of these words and subsequently
changed the eligibility for federal funding for schools
and organizations that help people with mental retardation
and other disabilities.
The
term disability
refers to a severe or chronic condition of an individual
attributable to a mental or physical impairment or
combination of mental and physical impairments. The
Federal Rehabilitation Act (Section 504) lists four
categories under mental
disability: psychiatric disability, retardation,
learning disability, or cognitive impairment.
Mental disabilities include, but are not limited
to: mental retardation, autism, schizophrenia, dyslexia,
dyscalculia, attention deficit disorders, aphasia,
Parkinson, Alzheimer’s, fibromyalgia, multiple
sclerosis, hearing impairments, speech or language
impairments, serious emotional disturbances.
Developmentally
disabled refers to those with severe or chronic
conditions attributable to mental or physical impairments
or combinations of mental and physical impairments
(blindness, deafness, etc.).
Recommendations
These
definitions are important to understand if the Illinois
State Council and its Subordinate Councils want to let the
public know what we are doing for people with mental
retardation and other mental disabilities. The Illinois
Knights of Columbus has continued to use both
“handicapped” and “retarded” to define its program
in a well meaning, but perhaps inappropriate and out-dated
manner, to describe the Fund’s intent to provide support
to a wide range of individuals with mental retardation or
some closely related form of mental disability and to
denote the intent of the fund to promote the elimination
of barriers (societal or environmental) for people with
these disabilities.
It has generally been accepted that the
focus of the Illinois K of C Charities, Inc. Mentally
Handicapped/Mentally Retarded Fund is not to include
individuals with physical impairments only.
Continuing
to use the term handicapped
is grammatically incorrect and
retarded,
as some have suggested, may be seen as derogatory.
Both mentally
handicapped and
mental disability
may also be misunderstood and have potential for unwanted
consequences. Further,
what is presented in our advertisements (aprons,
canisters, newspapers, etc.) presents a potential
liability issue. Since
the general public and ADA regulations tend to interpret
these terms in the broadest sense, the use of
terms like mentally
handicapped or
mentally disabled would mean that the program supports
anything from people with mental impairments due to drug
addiction, to depression, to mental retardation.
If we continue to use these terms in our
advertisements and someone demands that we support a
specific mental impairment (e.g., Parkinson Disease or
Alzheimer’s) we will be legally required to provide
support or face false advertisement charges.
A
review of the 681 organizations whose programs have been
funded by Subordinate Councils this fraternal year
indicate that Subordinate Councils have a desire to fund
mental retardation as well as learning disability
programs, especially autism and special education.
|
Number
|
Program
Type |
Amount |
|
125 |
Catholic
Churches, Schools, Programs |
$188,072 |
|
138 |
Public
School Programs |
$115,642 |
|
46 |
Special
Olympics |
$78,970 |
|
28 |
Transfer
to MR homes |
$27,578 |
|
Number
|
Purpose |
Amount |
|
259 |
Learning
Disabilities |
$286,941 |
|
106 |
Mental
Retardation |
$356,980 |
Further,
for nearly half of the organizations (316) funded and
which received nearly half of the total $1,176.434.36
disbursed this fraternal year to-date, it is difficult if
not impossible to determine the type of charitable
activity program operated from the information provided by
the Subordinate Councils on their Request for Distribution
forms. Many
requests do not include mailing addresses and many are to
organizations {e.g., The Coffee House, the Hanover Park
District, Day Disability Awareness, Special Nursing Home,
Horses Are Recreational Therapy, Ann Benjamin Fund,
Hospital Chinese Mission, Love Letters, etc.} whose names
do not readily indicate the nature of
their charitable activity.
Most of these groups probably do qualify for our
funding, but without proper documentation that these are,
in fact, legitimate charitable organizations, our status
as a not-for-profit charity as determined by the Illinois
Attorney General and the IRS is in jeopardy.
1.
Recommendations with regard to RESOLUTION changes:
·
The Illinois K of C Charities, Inc.
Mentally
Handicapped/Mental Retardation Fund should
be changed to Mental
Retardation/Learning Disabilities Fund; and
·
Illinois Subordinate Councils, Assemblies,
Chapters, etc. that participate in this program should
request funds be drawn from their account with the
Illinois State Council K of C Charities, Inc. for
disbursements payable to a local program for people with
mental retardation/learning disabilities, except that no
share of the Council’s funds collected for this program
shall be payable to a person, group of persons, or a
fraternal, social or veteran organization not allowable by
the US Internal Revenue Tax Code, its supplements and
amendments.
1.
Recommendations with regard to management of the
Mental Retardation/Learning Disabilities Fund and Program:
·
Illinois Subordinate Councils, Assemblies,
Chapters, etc. should use the phrase
Helping People
with Mental Retardation
on all aprons, canisters, etc. rather than
“Help the Mentally Retarded”, and
·
Subordinate Councils must be encouraged to be more
diligent and thorough in researching the organizations
they support. To
assist Subordinate Councils
in this effort, the Illinois K of C Charities, Inc.
should:
à
Modify the Disbursement Request form to clearly
indicate that a correct mailing address {Name, Street,
City, Zip) must be part of the request and that Illinois K
of C Charities, Inc. will not issue checks until such
information is provided .
à
Beginning with Fraternal Year 2000,
a request for additional information letter should
be included with each check issued [Attached].
This letter will ask each organization receiving
funding to provide its charitable
tax ID number and to identify the type of mental
disability program (psychiatric disability,
retardation, learning disability, cognitive impairment, or
other) supported. Letters
need not be sent annually in subsequent years once the
organization has provided the requested information.
Organizations failing to provide the requested
documentation may not be funded in future years.
à
Organizations receiving funding from Subordinate
Councils should be listed with total dollar amounts
received in the Annual Report of Illinois K of C
Charities, Inc. which is included in the Annual Convention
delegate packets. This listing could serve as a handy and
quick reference guide to qualified organizations for
Subordinate Councils.
à
Just as importantly, we need to follow proper
guidelines in referring to people with mental retardation
and/or disabilities.
This is especially important in our informational
literature and when speaking about people with mental
retardation and/or disabilities.
Guidelines have been issued by Special Olympics,
National Catholic Office for Persons with Disabilities,
the University of Kansas Research And Training Center on
Independent Living, and The Arc (formerly Association for
Retarded Citizens of the United States), and
internationally recognized programs serving individuals
with mental retardation. They reflect input from over 100
national disability organizations and have been reviewed
and endorsed by media and disability experts throughout
the country. Copies
of these guidelines should be made available to
Subordinate Councils.
REFERENCES
1.
Knights of Columbus.
Getting Your Message Across, K of C Public
Relations & Publicity Guide #2235, Supreme Council
Fraternal Services, One Columbus Plaza, New haven, CT.
06510-3325.
2.
Illinois Knights of Columbus.
“Resolution #5”, Proceedings of the 1998
Illinois State Convention, Chicago, May 1998.
3.
Illinois Knights of Columbus.
“Resolution #28”, Proceedings of the 1998
Illinois State Convention, Chicago, May 1998.
4.
American Association on Mental Retardation. (1992).
Mental retardation: Definition, classification and systems
of supports (9th ed.). Annapolis, MD:
5.
The ARC. "Report to the Nation on Inclusion in
Education of Students with Mental Retardation", ARC,
National Headquarters, 500 E. Border Street, Suite 300,
Arlington, Texas 76010
6.
Special Olympics.
The Mission of Special Olympics. [http://www.teleport.com/~oso/mission.htm]
7.
American Psychiatric Association.
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders, 4th edition.
APA, Washington, DC.
8.
Public Law 94-142: The Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act.
9.
Americans With Disabilities Act Information on the
Web [http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/]
10.
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 [As
amended through March 22, 1988] 29 U.S.C. 794. [http://www.edlaw.net/public/29usc794.htm]
11.
National Library of Medicine.
Medical Subject Headings (MeSH), NLM, 8600
Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD.
12.
University of Kansas Research and Training Center
on Independent Living.
Reporting and Writing about People with
Disabilities, 4089 Dole Center, Lawrence, KS [phone:
913-864-4095) [http://www.lsi.ukans.edu/rtcil/guidelin.htm]*