To empower people with disabilities DDC appeals for policy changes

By MARIAN A. MARAYA

Staff Reporter

In a move to alleviate funding inadequacies to support its year-round projects, Governor’s Developmental Disabilities Council Executive Director Thomas J. Camacho has proposed that the CNMI government create laws that would mandate a fixed percentage funding to benefit all individuals with disabilities.

In the same way that CNMI’s public education sector is allotted 15 percent of the local government’s entire revenue as stated in the Constitution, Mr. Camacho is urging leaders to consider the same setup for DD Council.

“The council’s position with respect to aggregating policy changes is geared towards something that can be earmarked or mandated to support programs from CNMI’s general revenue because projects are very hard to implement without funding to back us up,” said the executive director.

Mr. Camacho said the Northern Marianas needs to support a policy that would ensure that the rights of people with disabilities are protected and upheld.

“The benefit that they can receive through local funding would improve their independence and productivity which could go from employment to transportation, and various other services,” he said.

The DD Council receives substantial support to run its various programs from the federal government and receives very little from the local share, according to Mr. Camacho.

Based on a recently completed DDC-commissioned survey, “Existing Policy Barriers to Full Inclusion: Results of an Opinion Research Questionnaire,” the most common theme raised by respondents revolved around funding deficiency.

“Everybody agreed that we lack local funding to support services for people with developmental disabilities. There is local funding available that supports programs for individuals with disabilities but still, the bulk of the funding comes from the federal government,” Mr. Camacho explained.

“I think the report is clear and it’s definitely true that there is a need to create more mandated policies that would ensure that funding is there from our local side,” he added.

The study was conducted to gather community perceptions on existing policies that hamper the full inclusion of individuals with disabilities in everyday community endeavors.

The survey was conducted on government and community organizations on Saipan, Tinian, and Rota in efforts to seek input and recommendations on how best to remove policy barriers that limit the activities of individuals with disabilities.