What other services can a center provide?

Our Services
Our services.

All centers are required to provide what are called in the Rehabilitation Act and the regulations in 45 CFR 1329 (definitions) “core services”. Those services are:

Independent living core services mean, for purposes of services that are supported under the ILS or CIL programs –

(1) Information and referral services;

(2) Independent Living skills training;

(3) Peer counseling, including cross-disability peer counseling;

(4) Individual and systems advocacy;

(5) Services that:

(i) Facilitate the transition of individuals with significant disabilities from nursing homes and other institutions to home and community-based residences, with the requisite supports and services. This process may include providing services and supports that a consumer identifies are needed to move that person from an institutional setting to community based setting, including systems advocacy required for the individual to move to a home of his or her choosing;

(ii) Provide assistance to individuals with significant disabilities who are at risk of entering institutions so that the individuals may remain in the community. A determination of who is at risk of entering an institution should include self-identification by the individual as part of the intake or goal-setting process; and

(iii) Facilitate the transition of youth who are individuals with significant disabilities, who were eligible for individualized education programs under section 614(d) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1414(d)), and who have completed their secondary education or otherwise left school, to postsecondary life. Individuals who have reached the age of 18 and are still receiving services in accordance with an Individualized Education Program (IEP) under IDEA have not “completed their secondary education.

Sometimes centers are surprised to learn that there is more. With the caveat that any services provided must be consistent with the philosophy in Title 7 of the act, and that centers must be “non-residential”, which provides context for anything related to housing, Title 1 Section 7(18)(B) includes the following:

18) INDEPENDENT LIVING SERVICES.—The term ‘‘inde­pendent living services’’ includes—
(i) counseling services, including psychological, psy­chotherapeutic, and related services;
(ii) services related to securing housing or shelter, in­cluding services related to community group living, and supportive of the purposes of this Act and of the titles of this Act, and adaptive housing services (including appro­priate accommodations to and modifications of any space used to serve, or occupied by, individuals with disabilities);
(iii) rehabilitation technology;
(iv) mobility training;
(v) services and training for individuals with cognitive and sensory disabilities, including life skills training, and interpreter and reader services;
(vi) personal assistance services, including attendant care and the training of personnel providing such services;
(vii) surveys, directories, and other activities to iden­tify appropriate housing, recreation opportunities, and ac­cessible transportation, and other support services;
(viii) consumer information programs on rehabilitation and independent living services available under this Act, especially for minorities and other individuals with disabil­ities who have traditionally been unserved or underserved by programs under this Act;
(ix) education and training necessary for living in a community and participating in community activities;
(x) supported living;
(xi) transportation, including referral and assistance for such transportation and training in the use of public
transportation vehicles and systems;
(xii) physical rehabilitation;
(xiii) therapeutic treatment;
(xiv) provision of needed prostheses and other appli­ances and devices;
(xv) individual and group social and recreational serv­ices;
(xvi) training to develop skills specifically designed for youths who are individuals with disabilities to promote self-awareness and esteem, develop advocacy and self-empowerment skills, and explore career options;
(xvii) services for children;
(xviii) services under other Federal, State, or local pro­grams designed to provide resources, training, counseling, or other assistance, of substantial benefit in enhancing the
independence, productivity, and quality of life of individ­uals with disabilities;(xix) appropriate preventive services to decrease the need of individuals assisted under this Act for similar services in the future;
(xx) community awareness programs to enhance the understanding and integration into society of individuals with disabilities; and
(xxi) such other services as may be necessary and not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act.

Your center’s strategic and/or work plan should address which of these you provide and how you approach those services.

The best definition of Ableism I’ve found …

From Sitting Pretty: The view from my ordinary, resilient, disabled body by Rebeka Taussig, PhD.

Sitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body Kindle Edition
Orange book cover with the image of a blond white woman in a yellow shirt and black shorts and shoes, gesturing/dancing. The words on the cover are “Sitting Pretty – The View from my Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body. The author is Rebekah Taussig.

“It feels like a risk relying on the word “ableism,” but I want to use it here, because I’m hoping to assemble something with you—something big and intricate—and in order to do that, we need some building blocks—language big enough to hold stories, allow for intellectual exploration, and keep track of patterns. My definition of ableism is a little different from the one in the Oxford English Dictionary, which simply says, “Discrimination in favour of able-bodied people.” Based on my decades of experience and a whole lot of reading of disability studies scholars, I find this definition insufficient. First, it’s built on the assumption that there is a distinct category of “able-bodied” people. While language that makes distinct categories can be useful (you’ll sometimes see me use the term “nondisabled” to illustrate larger patterns), relying too heavily on this black-and-white definition of “able-bodied” is dangerously misleading. It breezes much too easily over the inherent ambiguity built into having a body. “Able-bodied” invites images of ruddy-cheeked farm boys lifting bricks up ladders. Who are these people? And really, how many of us fit sturdily in this category? The legal definition of disability written into the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act highlights the fact that disability is a far-reaching word that can attach itself to all sorts of bodies, many of them that appear perfectly “able” or are exceptionally able in one area but not as much in another. In fact, our ruddy-cheeked farm boy might also have seizures a few times a year or bipolar disorder or be somewhere on the autism spectrum. The images that come to mind when we use a word like “able-bodied” are just too one-dimensional to be terribly useful.

“The Oxford English Dictionary definition also leaves little room for one vital piece of the story: disability is shaped just as much, if not more, by context than by the body. For example, before spectacles were invented, our population included a much greater number of people categorized as blind. Technology has changed the experience of so many bodies, and as eyeglasses have become integrated into our fashion industry, the stigma around vision that deviates from the “ideal” 20/20 has shifted. (In fact, I’ve owned a decent number of fake eyeglasses in my day. It’s a real thing.) We don’t tend to equate a person wearing glasses with “disability,” even if that same person would have been considered disabled in another time and place. And finally, people are often shifting in and out of a “disabled” state; they break a limb or get the flu or have horrible period cramps or become pregnant or (gasp!) age, and suddenly they find themselves experiencing disabling limitations. If we live long enough, all of us, without exception, will become disabled. This is a prerequisite to having, living in, being a body. The idea that some of us are firmly fixed in the “able-bodied” category is a fiction. A world built on speed, productivity, more, more, more! and far too few bathrooms (and bathroom breaks) does not consider or care for the actual bodies we live in. In other words, ableism affects all of us, whether we consider ourselves disabled or not. Because the disabled body is most powerfully affected by ableism, it is the first to cast a light on the structure, to resist and protest it, to call for its public execution, but we’re all living under its dictates. Ableism punishes all of us. In its most boiled-down, squished together, simplified form, ableism is the process of favoring, fetishizing, and building the world around a mostly imagined, idealized body while discriminating against those bodies perceived to move, see, hear, process, operate, look, or need differently from that vision. Often, the greater the deviation, the greater the discrimination. In other words, ableism is one possible answer for a young girl seeing herself as valuable as a princess one week and deflating into shame and self-loathing the next. (Thanks for all you do, Oxford English Dictionary, but my definition is better.)

“Without using the “ableism” word, I tried to communicate some of this to (my brother) David. He was nodding along, but I could still feel the chasm between what I know in my blood and my bones and what I’m able to hand him. It’s like we grew up right next to the roar of Niagara Falls, but at some point I moved to a cabin in the quiet woods, and now I’m back home, yelling over the noise, trying to explain how overwhelming it is, but David can hardly hear me or the waterfall. What words could I gather to make David feel the rumble surrounding us? Ableism thunders in the background of every conversation, every story, every building. It’s the atmosphere we breathe, a body of principles, rules we live by. We learn its tenets like we learn about good and evil: with subtle and consistent reinforcement. Not only do we avoid questioning them, it doesn’t even occur to us that there’s anything to question. Ableism pushes assumptions like: Some bodies/minds/modes are inherently and always preferable to others. Hearing/speaking is always better than deafness/signing. Bipeds walking is definitively preferable to paraplegics wheeling. Each of us has a “whole,” “unmarred,” “perfect” body that we were meant to have; the paralyzed, autistic, deaf version is just a sadder, lesser version of that original intent. (This tenet is wrapped up in narratives of fat, aging, gender-nonconforming bodies, too, of course.) The worth of a body is measured by its capacity for work and/or the longevity of life it’s able to sustain. Bodies are products; scars, breaks, and changes in function make that product less valuable. Dependence is inferior to independence. Only some bodies require help, and those bodies are a burden. It’s only practical to shape the world with the “majority” in mind (and there is such a thing as a majority). Disability is always, only a deficit; the world would be a better place if we could figure out a way to eliminate it entirely. And on and on and on . . . If you find yourself nodding along with any of these ableist beliefs, that makes sense. They’ve been a part of our daily diets since infancy. They’ve made us terrified of aging, wrinkles, belly fat, age spots, sagging skin, and stretch marks. They’ve turned us into work machines who regularly abuse our bodies to demonstrate our value—sleep less, work harder, always! They’ve made us ashamed to ask for help, to take medication, to use mobility aids. They stifle our capacity to imagine other ways of being in the world. In order to be okay, we must always strive to be the ideal human: young, smooth, tight, fit, radiant, spry, boundless, unstoppable, independent. Because if we start to spill out of this tiny little mold, what will it mean? Who will we be? It takes hard work and intention to undo these ideologies. They’re loud, insistent, and reinforced at every turn. In fact, the concept of ableism is so deeply entwined with our culture, and, by extension, the wiring of my own self-perception, that sometimes it can be difficult for me to name.

“I can bend to its insistence just as much as anyone else. Just yesterday I whined to my co-worker about my aging face. “I don’t even want to look in the mirror!” I said, covering my face with my hands and making a charming bleh sound. Yeah, I’m not the picture of post-ableism enlightenment you’ve been looking for. Pinpointing the elements that make up an atmosphere of ableism can feel distant and abstract, like knowing the elements that make up oxygen versus knowing what it feels like to breathe in and out. How do I take you through the inhales and exhales?—the way it feels when it’s not just a formula in a textbook but an experience that shapes your every day? Ableism constricts whenever I look for affordable, accessible homes in Kansas City (are there really only three?) or try to navigate the puzzling world of Medicaid in an attempt to keep living. I feel ableism straining my body under the rigidity of inflexible work systems that do not make space for, understand, care for, or believe bodies in pain. I feel the confines of ableism whenever I take the three steps from the driver’s seat to the gas pump and forget to breathe in my concentration to make those three steps look as normal and steady as possible, even though it’s much easier for me to drag my feet and swing my hips across the same distance. Ableism recommends I put myself through pain and expend extra energy to make sure those strangers walking out of 7-Eleven with a Slurpee don’t stare at me, pity me, mock me for the way I move my body. I wanted David to feel this with me. How do I upload a life of memories, a dictionary of definitions, a planet of feelings? How many times would he need to see people avert their gaze, pull their children back, or fall over themselves to dive fifteen feet out of my way or frantically scramble to open a door lest I attempt to open it myself before he’d know what it means to be both invisible and in the spotlight? At what point would the staring start to make him feel unsteady? How can I take him with me through every grocery store where half of the items tower above my head, every obstacle course sidewalk, each maze between me and the ramp at the back of the building next to the garbage dump, every bar and bank and café with counters so high they erase me from the room, every restaurant and airplane where the toilet is entirely inaccessible to me? Would these field trips illuminate why I started to believe I didn’t belong, wasn’t welcome, didn’t have an invitation to be here? Would it solve the puzzle of a smart, competent girl becoming convinced that she’d never be able to join a workforce that exists on this planet? What hour could he live with me that would give him a glimpse of the power health insurance has over my life?

“I ask these questions, not just for David or because I want to understand myself, but because I know I am not the only one who has been relegated to the outside, assigned to the seats designated for Others. So many of us grew up (and continue to exist) under crushing systems—racism, sexism, ageism, classism, homophobia, size discrimination. These structures are like factories pumping out blueprints, designs, infrastructures, tools, and stories that shape our world. They have been running for so long, shaping our cultural history and current landscape, that a lot of us don’t even notice the billows of smoke jetting out of their industrial-sized stacks. They are fueled by the worth and power stolen from whole communities. They distort our sense of self, keep us quiet, and make us feel both small and like we’re an enormous problem, both invisible and put on display, both a spectacle and swept under the rug. This act of thievery can be loud and violent, or quiet and sneaky. There are ways these oppressive systems overlap, feed off each other, mirror one another, and there are also ways they remain uniquely distinct. As a white, cis-gendered, straight woman who grew up in a middle-class family, I won’t pretend to understand most of these structures intimately. Even in my disabled body, I carry a world of privilege. From where I sit and what I can see, though, shame seems to be a bestselling product pumped out of all of these crushing systems. So how do we open the eyes of someone already on the inside to what’s happening on the outside? Can we trace the ripples well enough to name the larger patterns?

“As much as numbers put me to sleep, sometimes they capture the scope of the problem in a way a string of observations can’t. So here’s some data on the United States gathered by Cornell University in 2017: At the time of the study, a person was well over twice as likely to live below the poverty line if they had a disability. The average annual income for a disabled person was $25,400 less than for a nondisabled person. About 80 percent of nondisabled people were employed, compared with 36 percent of disabled people. We could pull many different insights out of these numbers, but one thing is clear: there’s a gaping, fundamental disparity between the choices granted to disabled and nondisabled folks. Then again, numbers catch only so much. Ableism can be hard to hold on to or pinpoint, because it morphs. It lives in distinctly personal stories. It takes on ten thousand shifting faces, and for the world we live in today, it’s usually more subtle than overt cruelty. Some examples to start the sketch: the assumption that all people who are deaf would prefer to be hearing—the belief that walking down the aisle at a wedding is obviously preferable to moving down that aisle in a wheelchair—the conviction that listening to an audiobook is automatically inferior to the experience of reading a book with your eyes—the expectation that a nondisabled person who chooses a partner with a disability is necessarily brave, strong, and especially good—the belief that someone who receives a disability check contributes less to our society than the full-time worker—the movie that features a disabled person whose greatest battle is their own body and ultimately teaches the nondisabled protagonist (and audience) how to value their own beautiful life. All of these are different flashes of the same, oppressive structure.

“Ableism separates, isolates, assumes. It’s starved for imagination, creativity, and curiosity. It’s fueled by fear. It oppresses. All of us. When I was small and just learning how to do life in my body, I didn’t hesitate, didn’t hold back, didn’t worry how it would look, didn’t look for cues or ask for a line. My imagination ruled. I saw no incongruities in being both a puppy rolling around in the mud and a poised princess. I wore dress-up gowns on afternoon trips to the library and drew magic-marker purple diamonds across my forearms and shins. I didn’t wonder what dancing could or should be; I moved my body to music and called it dancing. I used the shelves and cabinets in the kitchen to climb onto the counter, and crawled headfirst down the hardwood stairs at top speed. I scooted around the neighborhood on a red tricycle with streamers flowing out of the handlebars. I was entirely free to be, driven by the innovation my body inspired. This is the wild emancipation I wish for all of us—a world where we are all free to be, to move, to exist in our bodies without shame; a world that isn’t interested in making all of its humans operate in the exact same way; a world that instead strives to invite more, include more, imagine more. That world sees the humans existing on the margins and says, You have what we want! What barriers can we remove so we can have you around? What do you need? How can we make that happen? “When you grow up in a world that doesn’t see you or welcome you or include you or represent you, you believe the world isn’t for you,” I finally told David. “It’s for all the other people.” The ones being seen, welcomed, included, represented. This is why I want to unbury the stories, to bring them into the light, to let them breathe in the open air. Because our stories matter. Not only are we a part of this, but we’re a vital missing piece. Thank you for asking, David—and anyone who’s reading this book. Even more, thank you for doing your best to listen, even when my words feel unfamiliar or uncomfortable. Here’s to building new narrative pathways through our brains, our spaces, our stories. Here’s to dismantling ableism, building a bonfire from its pieces, and toasting marshmallows over the flames.”

How Assistive Technology can support those experiencing “Long COVID”

What Are “Post-COVID Conditions (Long COVID)?”

According to the CDC, post-COVID conditions are “a wide range of new, returning, or ongoing health problems people can experience four or more weeks after first being infected with the virus that causes COVID-19.” Often referred to as “long COVID,” the scientific name is “Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC),” and may also be referenced as “long-haul COVID,” “post-acute COVID,” “long-term effects of COVID,” and “chronic COVID.” People who experience long COVID may have had severe, mild, or asymptomatic COVID-19 in the days or weeks after their initial infection with the virus. New research (not yet peer-reviewed) suggests persons with breakthrough infections who were fully vaccinated and under age 60 may be protected from long COVID, but those over age 60 are not. Long COVID presents as different health problems and combinations of symptoms within a wide range of severity. Common symptoms are extreme fatigue, shortness of breath, problems with cognition, and a racing heartbeat. Neurological symptoms appear to be the most enduring; many long COVID patients report problems with memory and “brain fog.” Children, as well as adults, may experience long COVID. Some studies suggest more women than men may acquire long COVID. (Read some experiences of people living with long COVID.)

In February of 2021, the NIH announced a new initiative to study long COVID. Among the questions the initiative seeks to answer is, “Does SARS-CoV-2 infection trigger changes in the body that increase the risk of other conditions, such as chronic heart or brain disorders?” As of July 2021, long COVID can be considered a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 504, and Section 1557 if the condition substantially limits one or more major life activities.

The Unique Role of AT Act Programs Persons with long COVID may be experiencing disability for the first time in their lives. The national field of State and Territory Assistive Technology (AT) Act Programs has spent decades committed to serving individuals of all ages with all kinds of disabilities (and combinations of disabilities) wherever they live,
learn, work, and play. AT Act Programs uniquely understand and respond to the needs of adults and children that arise from temporary and long-term disabilities. AT Act Programs provide a stigma-free environment for persons with disabilities (and those who serve or love them) to learn about, try out, and acquire the assistive technologies that maintain or improve independence. As we learn more about how to treat long COVID, those experiencing long-term effects from COVID-19 can benefit from the AT services millions of people have sought for staying in or getting back into their lives.

For example, AT Act Programs provide access to:

AT for Fatigue and Mobility:
• equipment for bathroom safety
• transport wheelchairs and rollators for reduced stamina and stability
• gadgets for completing daily living tasks with reduced dexterity (from joint and muscle pain) AT for Memory and Cognition:
• an understanding of built-in features of iOS and Android operating systems and apps common to smartphones
• loans of tablet computers with apps for accomplishing tasks and goals identified by the borrower
• smart pens for keeping up with meetings (or productivity apps that sync to audio recordings)
• low-tech solutions and strategies for remembering medications and other essentials
• smart speakers and how to use them to support cognition AT for Social Isolation and Telehealth:
• loans of tablet computers and laptops for video conferencing, social media, email, and recreation
• Echo Show and similar technologies
• simplified connected devices for memory impairment
• alternative computer access
• assistive listening devices

AT for Work:
• alternative workstations and workstation adaptations
• strategies and technologies for improving stamina at work
• information and referral for rehabilitation services and a deep knowledge of cross-disability services as a point of entry for those newly disabled

AT Act Programs provide free demonstrations of assistive technologies in an environment that is without pressure to choose any particular product. The programs additionally provide free or low-cost short-term loans of devices to fill a temporary need or to trial before deciding to purchase, as well as counseling on funding options. AT Act Programs are staffed by professionals who may be AT users themselves and who can link visitors to additional services as necessary or help problem-solve the needs of others in their lives (clients, family members, students). AT Act Programs are the only service network that provides this kind of solutions-driven, cross-disability, multi-age, assistive technology support for maintaining the independence of persons living with long COVID in the pandemic and post-pandemic world.

Find Your State or Territory AT Act Program

(For the full article with references check here.)

What is the role of the board?

Question: My board chair is questioning a recent decision I made about a staff member’s performance. I thought supervising staff was my job. Can she, for example, tell me I have to reinstate him after I fired him?

Board meeting around a table, an older woman standing, rest sitting including one in a wheelchair.

Answer: This is a decision that is made by the executive director, within the policies and procedures of your organization. If your policies require warnings and corrective action plans, for example, you must follow those requirements. If there is a complaint or appeal process for the board’s review then that must be followed as well, but basically the executive director is responsible for the staff and the day to day operations of the organization.

We address this in our Tool Kit for Executive Directors. Here is the section on board roles:

Get Clear About Who Does What

If you get into a tug of war with the board about who’s in charge, your lives will be more frustrating than they need to be and the CIL will lose. Make sure that you as ED know the difference between governance/oversight and management/administration. Then you can help the board to stay on track. When there’s a mismatch of understanding, mismanagement and micromanagement can easily follow. Yes, the board is ultimately responsible for the CIL, but it is you who manages the day-to-day functions. Here is a handy list you can share with board members and reference yourself.

Board of Directors’ Oversight Roles

  • Determines the CIL’s mission and purpose and ensures the CIL is operating in accordance with that mission and purpose.
  • Selects the ED and determines their job description.
  • Provides proper financial oversight (see Section 5), including approving an annual budget; ensures a qualified third party conducts audits or reviews financial statements; ensures the CIL’s assets are protected.
  • Ensures there are sufficient financial resources to conduct the CIL’s work.
  • Approves financial policies and internal controls, personnel policies, grievance & whistleblower policies; reviews salary information.
  • Hires financial auditor.
  • Ensures legal and ethical integrity by establishing and maintaining a code of ethics and meeting regulatory responsibilities (ensures appropriate paperwork gets filed with government agencies).
  • Stays aware of risk factors and mitigation strategies.
  • Ensures effective organizational planning, both short-term and long-term.
  • Recruits and orients new board members and assesses board performance.
  • Serves as ambassadors individually to the larger community, communicating a positive message agreed upon by the board as a whole.
  • Ensures that programs are in place and achieving objectives to further the CIL’s mission/goals.
  • Supports the ED and reviews their performance regularly.

Executive Director’s Operational Roles

  • Attends board meetings and maintains open lines of communication with the board.
  • Keeps the board informed of what the CIL is doing and milestones in the strategic plan that it is achieving.
  • Prepares or oversees preparation of financial and programmatic reports to the board and annual budget.
  • Determines specific expenditures within the approved budget.
  • Hires, supervises, and motivates the CIL’s staff.
  • Responds to audit findings.
  • Prepares or oversees preparation of annual Program Performance Report to ACL; provides evidence of program effectiveness.
  • Sets compensation and benefits for employees within organizational policies.
  • Interfaces with key staff and board in the development of policies.
  • Develops and implements programs.

Shared Roles

  • Create a strategic plan and three-year work plan to guide the CIL.
  • Develop CIL policies for financial and personnel management, and other key elements of CIL operations.
  • Develop and execute a resource development plan to ensure the resources needed for the strategic plan are available.
  • Evaluate the CIL’s performance periodically to ensure it stays true to its mission and is effectively meeting the needs of consumers.

1099s for Consumers?

Question: As we are assisting consumers with disabilities using COVID CARES Act funds, do we need to send the consumers a 1099 if the total for 2021 is over $600.00?

IRS doesn’t just say that all charitable payments to individuals are not reportable, but the following differentiates aid to individuals from the types of things that are reported on forms 1099 MISC and 1099 NEC. The 1099 forms report various types of income such as nonemployee compensation.

Here is a good newsletter that discusses and differentiates items that are income from items that aren’t income https://wscadv.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Grants-to-Individuals.pdf

The following excerpts are from different sections of IRS website.

AID TO INDIVIDUALS , Organizations may provide assistance in the form of funds, services, or goods to ensure that victims have the basic necessities, such as food, clothing, housing (including repairs), transportation, and medical assistance (including psychological counseling). The type of aid that is appropriate depends on the individual’s needs and resources. Disaster relief organizations are generally in the best position to determine the type of assistance that is appropriate. For example, immediately following a devastating flood, a family may be in need of food, clothing, and shelter, regardless of their financial resources. However, they may not require long-term assistance if they have adequate financial resources. Individuals who are financially needy or otherwise distressed are appropriate recipients of charity. Financial need and/or distress may arise through a variety of circumstances. Examples include individuals who are: n temporarily in need of food or shelter when stranded, injured, or lost because of a disaster; n temporarily unable to be self-sufficient as a result of a sudden and severe personal or family crisis, such as victims of violent crimes or physical abuse; n in need of long-term assistance with housing, childcare, or educational expenses because of a disaster; and, n in need of counseling because of trauma experienced as a result of a disaster or a violent crime.

What is meant by charitable class?

charitable class is a group of individuals that may properly receive assistance from a charitable organization. A charitable class must be either large enough that the potential beneficiaries cannot be individually identified, or sufficiently indefinite that the community as a whole, rather than a pre-selected group of people, benefits when a charity provides assistance. For example, a charitable class could consist of all individuals located in a city, county, or state. This charitable class is large and benefits to it benefit the entire geographic community.

If the group of eligible beneficiaries is more limited, such as employees of a particular employer, the group of individuals eligible for disaster assistance (the class) must be indefinite. Otherwise, the charitable class would consist of a pre-selected group of people, which is prohibited. To benefit an indefinite charitable class, the relief program must be open-ended and include employees affected by the current disaster and those who may be affected by a future disaster. In this situation, the total number of potential members making up the charitable class cannot be counted or identified. Thus, while it may be possible to identify the employees who were victims of a present disaster (which is prohibited as pre-selection), it is not possible to identify employees who could be affected by future disasters. Accordingly, if a charity follows a policy of assisting employees who are victims of all disasters, present and future, it would be providing assistance to an indefinite charitable class.

Specific Instructions for Form 1099-NEC

File Form 1099-NEC, Nonemployee Compensation (NEC), for each person in the course of your business to whom you have paid the following during the year:

·             At least $600 in: 

1.       Services performed by someone who is not your employee (including parts and materials) (box 1);

2.       Cash payments for fish (or other aquatic life) you purchase from anyone engaged in the trade or business of catching fish (box 1); or

3.       Payments to an attorney (box 1). (See Payments to attorneys, later.)

Specific Instructions for Form 1099-MISC

File Form 1099-MISC, Miscellaneous Income, for each person in the course of your business to whom you have paid the following during the year:

·             At least $10 in royalties (see the instructions for box 2) or broker payments in lieu of dividends or tax-exempt interest (see the instructions for box 8).

·             At least $600 in:

1.                 Rents (box 1);

2.                 Prizes and awards (box 3);

3.                 Other income payments (box 3);

4.                 Generally, the cash paid from a notional principal contract to an individual, partnership, or estate (box 3);

5.                 Any fishing boat proceeds (box 5);

6.                 Medical and health care payments (box 6);

7.                 Crop insurance proceeds (box 9);

8.                 Payments to an attorney (box 10) (see Payments to attorneys, later);

9.                 Section 409A deferrals (box 12); or

10.              Nonqualified deferred compensation (box 14).

Once more piece of the puzzle:

IRS publication 525 describes taxable and nontaxable income and includes the following:

Gifts and inheritances. In most cases, property you receive as a gift, bequest, or inheritance is not included in your income. However, if property you receive this way later produces income such as interest, dividends, or rents, that income is taxable to you. If property is given to a trust and the income from it is paid, credited, or distributed to you, that income is also taxable to you. If the gift, bequest, or inheritance is the income from the property, that income is taxable to you.

John F Heveron, Jr. Principal

Heveron and Company CPAs

Brief financial updates

CFDA (Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance) numbers quietly disappeared and were replaced with Assistance Living Numbers.

Let your search engine track down “Why Unrestricted Funds Matter”, a great article on the benefits of unrestricted funds.

Update your “responsible person” information with IRS if their database does not have current contact information. The solution is simple, go to IRS.gov and complete form 8822-B Change of Address or Responsible Party.

For more information see IR-2021-161, July 30, 2021.

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 included changes to this credit for the third and fourth quarters of 2021, and recently IRS’ notice 2021-49 provided additional information about these changes. (CAUTION-the economic stimulus package may eliminate this credit for the fourth quarter of 2021).

This credit, which can total $7,000 per employee per quarter (70% of up to $10,000 in wages per employee), can be claimed by businesses and nonprofits that experience a 20% or greater revenue decrease between corresponding quarters in 2019-2021.

Revenue Procedure 2021-33 clarifies that PPP loan forgiveness can be excluded from the calculation of gross receipts. Shuttered Venue Operators Grants and Restaurant Revitalization Grants are also excluded in determining whether there was a gross receipts reduction.

Wages claimed for PPP forgiveness do not also qualify for this credit.

Employers with under 500 employees can amend their 941 forms or file form 7200 to claim a refund. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f7200.pdf

John F Heveron, Jr. Principal, Heveron and Company CPAs

Why Unrestricted Funds Matter

What is unrestricted funding? Two philanthropy experts explain

When money comes with strings attached, it doesn’t always do the most good. spukkato/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Genevieve Shaker, IUPUI and Pamala Wiepking, IUPUI

Unrestricted funds are grants or donations nonprofits get to spend any way they believe is appropriate to further their mission.

Unrestricted funding can also come with some limitations. Donors might, for example, designate the money for operating expenses like rent or to help strengthen the organization through support for leadership development.

However, only about 20% of U.S. funding for nonprofits has any degree of flexibility, the Center for Effective Philanthropy has estimated.

More often, nonprofits get money for a specific project in exchange for agreeing to several conditions and a specific timeframe. For example, someone might give a museum or a hospital US$20 million to spend building a new wing within three years.

Photo of MacKenzie Scott
MacKenzie Scott gave about $8.5 billion to charity by mid-2021. Evan Agostini/Invision via AP

Starting in 2020, author and billionaire MacKenzie Scott has disclosed donations of at least $8.5 billion to 798 nonprofits. Unlike most major philanthropists, Scott has encouraged the nonprofits to spend the money as they see fit. In addition, foundations including the MacArthur Foundation and the Ford Foundation are providing more unrestricted funding. They hope it will help the organizations they support address complex issues like social and racial justice.

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Why unrestricted funds matter

Like businesses, nonprofits must employ skilled staff and use updated technology – and they have many other expenses.

When funders provide money that can be spent only on specific projects, nonprofits may struggle to cover these overhead costs. Their staff can end up working too many hours for not enough pay, without the equipment and other essential expenses they need to get their jobs done right. This “starvation” can make organizations less effective – reducing how much good every donated dollar does.

When they get multi-year unrestricted funding, nonprofits can become more financially stable. That increases their ability to respond when crises arise or situations change, while making it easier for them to innovate and take risks.

The coronavirus pandemic challenged nonprofits to be flexible and adaptable and to respond quickly to new needs.

But, at least before Scott shook up the charitable world by distributing billions of dollars in unrestricted donations to historically Black colleges and universities and other groups focused on racial justice, nonprofits led by Black people and others with historically marginalized backgrounds were less likely than organizations with white leadership to receive unrestricted funds.

All in all, unrestricted funding can certainly help nonprofits achieve their mission with greater effectiveness. But its role is also more complex than it might appear, for donors and nonprofits alike.

The Conversation U.S. publishes short, accessible explanations of newsworthy subjects by academics in their areas of expertise.

Genevieve Shaker, Associate Professor of Philanthropic Studies, Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, IUPUI and Pamala Wiepking, Visiting Stead Family Chair in International Philanthropy, Lilly Family School of Philanthropy; Professor of Societal Significance of Charity Lotteries, Center for Philanthropic Studies, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, IUPUI

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Defending against Cybercrime

Cybersecurity continues to be a hot topic. CNN recently reported that in 2020, ransom payments were up more than 400% from the prior year.

CNN had some insights and some cautions for organizations that may be victims of cybercrime.

If you get a cyberattack, it is probably from someone with extensive IT training, state-of-the-art “burglar tools”, and wildly committed to get money from you. Without professionals on your side, it is not a fair fight!

An outside monitoring company can provide you with guidance to reduce the likelihood of a successful cyberattack, and also educate you and your staff about what to do and what to avoid. For example, consider all of the free resources from www.iconicit.com.

Cyber insurance is also becoming very common and gets you more than insurance. You get access to a team of IT/cybersecurity specialists, attorneys, and negotiators who can deal with the cyber criminals to reduce payouts and help you regain access to your data. Although, CNN points out that information about these policies is accessible to cyber criminals, so they know that you have such coverage and what your limits are. This could lead to demands for more money.CNN reports that negotiations will usually happen quickly, using chat tools. In addition to threatening you with loss of access to your important data, criminals will often threaten to publish confidential information.

CNN recommends keeping software up to date, use multi factor authentication, use firewalls and monitor your network to catch unauthorized Internet traffic.

The National Council on Nonprofits reiterates the risk of cyberattacks and makes regular recommendations. Recent recommendations from them included limiting employee access based on what employees need to do their jobs. This can reduce the amount of data that is accessed if there is a breach and improve efficiency, because fewer options to navigate make it easier for people to do their jobs.

They also point out that your website needs updates to be secure. Websites are built on Content Management Systems, and they typically have additional plug-ins or modules to provide additional functionality. You (or your webmaster) need to make security updates required by these systems. You can and should receive notification when new updates are released.

How do the banks do it? Banks do a pretty good job of not getting hacked, and of keeping their customers safe. What are their secrets? In a recent Rochester Business Journal article, a few local bank security specialists weighed in on their strategies. Their key strategies are the things we have talked about like software updates, strong passwords, two-factor authentication, and educating staff and clients about cybersecurity, especially helping them recognize phishing attempts. They enhance these basic strategies with encryption, regular phishing tests for their employees, and “behavior analytics”. Behavior analytics include things like requiring additional verification when a new device accesses a customer’s account. They also look for unusual scenarios, like logging in to an account from New York in the morning, and from California later that morning.

Microsoft recently talked about the risk of “open redirects”.  These are sometimes used appropriately for business, but recently they have been used more and more by hackers.  When you hover over a website, you may see something that looks okay and that you are familiar with, but when you click on the website you are redirected to a malicious site.

If you intend to go to a site, don’t click on a link, put the address into your browser to reduce this risk. – John Heveron, Jr.

Does the executive order apply?

The morning after President Biden announced the Executive Orders related to required vaccines, I received a flood of calls/emails asking, “Does that apply to us?”

The orders were for federal contractors. CILs that receive direct grants (Part C) are grantees, not contractors. The executive orders do not apply to CILs.

Some centers are requiring staff to be vaccinated. Staff may request a reasonable accommodation for religious or disability reasons. Centers that grant this accommodation are sometimes requiring testing, most typically weekly, if the staff person works in person or from the office.

Giving credit where credit is due

Most grants — including those your center receives from Health and Human Services, are required to include that information in any press releases or other ACL supported publications and forums describing projects or programs funded in whole or in part with ACL funding. This means those carefully developed PSAs to urge people to get vaccines, or the flyers and other materials paid for through the CARES Act or Part C or the CDC Vaccine funds must have language that follows what your grant award says. (Yes, you should read that Grant Award carefully. It does require some things of you.)

Here is the sample language from a grant award from HHS.

If the HHS Grant or Cooperative Agreement is NOT funded with other non-governmental sources: “This (project/publication/program/website, etc.) (is/was) supported by the Administration for Community Living (ACL), US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $XX with 100% funding by ACL/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by ACL/HHS or the U.S. Government.

If the HHS Grant or Cooperative Agreement IS partially funded with other nongovernmental sources: “This (project/publication/program/website, etc.) (is/was) supported by the Administration for Community Living (ACL), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $XX with XX percentage funded by non-government sources(s). The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, not an endorsement, by ACL/HHS, or the U.S. Government.