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	<title>The Arc of Oakland County MI</title>
	<link>http://thearcoakland.org</link>
	<description>For children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities</description>
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		<title>Tom’s Annual HALF MARATHON CHALLENGE, 2010</title>
		<description><![CDATA[What’s the 2010 Half Marathon Challenge?
Tom will run a half (13.1 miles) marathon on October 3, 2010.   He will again train this summer injury free (knock on wood).  In these tough economic times, Tom still believes The Arc needs this Challenge Run more than ever.  Tom finished the 13.1 mile Brooksie&#8217;s Way Half Marathon last October in 2 hours, 15 minutes and 50 seconds.  He raised a little over $11,000 (gross) &#8212; you will be able to make a contribution beginning this July when the new flyer goes out ...]]></description>
		<link>http://thearcoakland.org/marathon-2009/</link>
			</item>
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		<title>Membership Benefits</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Here&#8217;s a long list of the benefits of becoming a member of The Arc of Oakland;


Two attorneys on staff and available to members.


Expert, experienced professionals with knowledge on matters of

Supplemental Security Income (SSI),
Social Security disability Insurance (SSDI),
Special education law,
Adult Home Help Services (a.k.a., Chore Services&#8221;),
Medicaid,
Medicare,
special needs wills and trusts,
Legal guardianship and possible alternatives (e.g., Power of Attorney),
Oakland County Community Mental Health Authority services, and
Person-Centered Planning


Information and Referral on a variety of subjects.
Newsletters about disability-related issues, our local newsletter, &#8220;Profiles&#8217;, the ...]]></description>
		<link>http://thearcoakland.org/membership-benefits/</link>
			</item>
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		<title>IDEA Training Power Point presentation</title>
		<description><![CDATA[
IDEIA Training Slides 
]]></description>
		<link>http://thearcoakland.org/idea-ppt/</link>
			</item>
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		<title>New Extended School Year Rules Now Official</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Michigan FINALLY decided to make the Extended School Year (ESY) rules official.  Following many months of debate and uncertainty about the subject, the State Board of Education on August 12, 2008 approved these new standards.  A legislative committee quickly and unanimously okayed the changes the next day.

Are the rules perfect?  Probably not.  But we (students, parents, advocates, and educators) now have something definitive to work with at annual IEP Team meetings.  At this point everyone ...]]></description>
		<link>http://thearcoakland.org/new-esy-rules/</link>
			</item>
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		<title>Income Tax Guide</title>
		<description><![CDATA[This authoritative income tax guide will prove to be invaluable for tax preparers, parents and others concerned with tax deductions stemming from the care and support of a minor child, an adult, or other persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Issued annually for thirty-six years, the 2010 Income Tax Guide was prepared by Thomas F. Kendziorski, Attorney at Law, and Executive Director of The Arc of Oakland County. The 2010 Income Tax Guide was written for The Arc Michigan and ...]]></description>
		<link>http://thearcoakland.org/income-tax-guide/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Guardianship</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Historically, from Roman times through the English notion of “common law,” guardianship as a protective device was developed to preserve the property of an “incompetent person.” Relatively recent the concept of “guardianship of the person” was established as a separate format wholly distinct from matters relating to money.

The precept of least restrictive, which provides for minimal intrusion and the removal of fewer rights have guided even more recently, courts and legislatures by recognizing a partial or limited form of guardianship.
This ...]]></description>
		<link>http://thearcoakland.org/guardianship/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Ability to Pay</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Assessing your ability to pay is a requirement of the Michigan Mental Health Code.  The privatization of our local mental health system a couple of years ago caused an increasingly stricter enforcement of the Michigan Mental Health Code. Namely, the “ability-to-pay” rules of Chapter 8 of that Code, especially against families with minor children using respite care, in-home staffing, supports coordination, or other mental health related services. As the Michigan legislature must have intended back in 1974, “if you can ...]]></description>
		<link>http://thearcoakland.org/ability-pay/</link>
			</item>
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		<title>Donate</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The Arc of Oakland County is a not-for-profit human service charitable  organization authorized under Section 501(C)(3) of the Internal Revenue  Code.  We are also authorized to solicit charitable contributions in  Michigan by the Michigan Attorney General&#8217;s office, license number MICS 5623.

The Arc of Oakland County is a member agency and recipient of funding  through the United Way for Southeastern Michigan torch Drive (which now incorporates what used to be known as the United Way of Oakland ...]]></description>
		<link>http://thearcoakland.org/donate/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>The Etheridge Plan</title>
		<description><![CDATA[For family members and others interested in a comprehensive Lifetime Advocacy Program. Many parents ask: &#8220;What will happen to my child when I’m gone?&#8221;

The Etheridge Plan (EPLAN) offers a formal and comprehensive plan of lifetime advocacy that will provide consistent follow-up on the individual’s lifestyle while securing appropriate services for persons with intellectual impairment and/or other developmental disabilities. The Etheridge Plan is designed to meet the needs of the individual by utilizing all available community resources. A flexible Individual Plan of Service ...]]></description>
		<link>http://thearcoakland.org/etheridge-plan/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>The Challenges of Hearings and Grievances</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Anytime a government agency won’t let you have a something, or reduces the amount and scope of what you had, then you are entitled to appeal that decision. However, given the current budget woes of the public mental health service system in Oakland County and the State of Michigan, seeking legal redress for such perceived wrongful actions may sound better in theory than reality.

Pennies are being pinched, big time!
Extreme fiscal constraints imposed by the Oakland County Community Mental Health Authority (CMHA) ...]]></description>
		<link>http://thearcoakland.org/hearings-grievances/</link>
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