Mandy Smith

Social Media

By Mandy Smith | November 15, 2010

The RCIL Social Media team was able to attend PodCamp Topeka on November 6th at the Topeka Shawnee County Public Library. PodCamp is an “un-conference” dedicated to web media in all of its’ forms.We met great people, heard wonderful presentations, and came back to our offices ready to really get going on Social Media. One…

Read Article

Disability Spotlight – Glaucoma

By Mandy Smith | October 26, 2010

While you’ve probably heard of glaucoma, you may not know exactly what it is.  Glaucoma is not one disease but rather a group of eye diseases that slowly steals a person’s sight without warning.  The vision loss occurs due to damage to the optic nerve, which is responsible for carrying images from the eye to…

Read Article

Vote for What Matters

By Mandy Smith | October 26, 2010

When we go to the polls on November 2nd we have a huge responsibility not only to ourselves and our families but to our communities as well. Unfortunately, there is an entire portion of our society that is regularly disenfranchised by our government; they are the members of the disability community. While most of us…

Read Article

Make your voice heard

By Mandy Smith | October 21, 2010

The election is less than 2 weeks away and we are in danger of losing what we worked so hard to get in the last legislative session. As November 2nd gets closer it becomes more apparent that our next governor will be Senator Brownback. For the disability community this is a very scary prospect. He…

Read Article

Yes on 2 Campaign Protects Voting Rights

By Mandy Smith | October 15, 2010

Did you know that the Kansas Constitution sanctions discrimination against all people with a mental health issue? Probably not.  In fact, the issue had basically flown under the political radar until 2008. That’s when a group of mental health consumers and advocates learned that the state constitution allows the Legislature to take away the right…

Read Article

Self Direction Training

By Mandy Smith | August 30, 2010

On Thursday August 26 we held a Self Direction Tool Kit Training in Topeka for our consumers and personal care attendants (PCAs). The training was a full day of empowerment, useful tips for recruiting, interviewing, hiring, and managing PCAs, Independent Living Philosophy, and group discussions on all of the above. Thank you to everyone that…

Read Article

Call for Applications for Appointments to KCDC

By Mandy Smith | August 17, 2010

The Kansas Commission on Disability Concerns (KCDC) is taking applications for consideration for appointment. KCDC is an advisory body to state government for changes to state programs, laws and regulations that improve participation of Kansans with disabilities in those programs and their communities.  The commission must have representation of a variety of disabilities, geographic locations…

Read Article

FMAP Extension Passed!

By Mandy Smith | August 10, 2010

The  FMAP Extension passed the House and will be signed into law by President Obama! While we did not get the full amount passed that was in the original bill, it is still a victory! The bill that passed maintains the 3.2 % increase in Medicaid funding in the first quarter of 2011 and lowers…

Read Article

We Need 1 Republican!

By Mandy Smith | June 11, 2010

The US House of Representatives has passed a Jobs bill that does NOT contain the extension of FMAP (Federal Medicaid Assistance funding) that the KS state budget is relying on. This means a reduction in state Medicaid funding by 21% effective January 1, 2011. We need to ACT NOW and contact our Senators to let…

Read Article