As is said: "The Devil's in the Details."
I think the "victory's limited to the principle not the practice. Unless
the courts and states affirm and implement community placement the process
of deinstitutionalization remains problematic.
Of course, I am in retirement.
ISM
-----Original Message-----
From: [log in to unmask]
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of [log in to unmask]
Sent: Tuesday, June 22, 1999 1:19 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: ADA Victory in the Supreme Court
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE For more information, contact:
June 22, 1999 Mike Auberger: (303) 733-9324
Bob Kafka: (512) 442-0252
ADA Victory in the Supreme Court
Denver, CO-- ADAPT, a national disability rights organization based
in Denver joins people with disabilities across the nation to declare a
victory for community integration as the Supreme Court today announced it's
decision in the lawsuit Olmstead v. L.C. & E.W.
This ruling will dramatically affect how the civil rights law, the
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), can be used to assure that people
with
disabilities and their families have the right to choose where they live and
receive support services.
The ruling upholds a key civil rights provision in the ADA, known as
the "integration mandate", which maintains that individuals with
disabilities
must be offered services in the " most integrated setting".
The high court, in upholding the mandate, has reinforced the
fundamental intent of the ADA, which is to prevent discrimination and
promote
the integration of people with disabilities into our communities.
Specifically, the Supreme Court ruling supports lower courts rulings that
Georgia's Department of Human Resources may not segregate two women with
mental disabilities in a state psychiatric hospital long after the agency's
own treatment professionals had recommended their transfer to community
care.
This Georgia appeal to the Supreme Court has mobilized disability
advocates, who have compared the lawsuit to Brown v. Board of Education.
Last month, 800 members of ADAPT representing ADAPT chapters from 39 states
traveled to Washington, D.C. There they joined 4,000 people in a march to
the Supreme Court, organized by ADAPT,. The rally and march demonstrated
unified support in the disability community for the ADA integration mandate.
While the high court clearly reinforced what Congress intended when
it passed the ADA nearly a decade ago, disability rights activists recognize
that Congress also needs to ensure that community integration is in the
public policy of this country. ADAPT has drafted the Medicaid Community
Attendant Services and Supports Act (MiCASSA) which will focus our public
policy on community services.
"Today's decision is a critical step in changing how and
where people with disabilities receive services necessary for everyday
life,"
said Mike Auberger, national organizer with ADAPT. "It tells states that
segregated services will no longer be tolerated. But our fight for REAL
choice continues." Auberger, who both uses and provides attendant services
in Colorado, has worked with ADAPT for nearly a decade to push for a
national
program of attendant services.
ADAPT's legislation, MiCASSA, will change federally funded Medicaid
which currently only requires states to provide services in segregated
institutions and spends 80% of its long term care funds on these segregated
services. ADAPT vows to change this, declaring Integration NOT
Segregation.
###
--
FOR MORE INFORMATION on American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today
(ADAPT)
Please visit our website at http://www.adapt.org/
For direct inquiries regarding this press release please use the contact
information at the beginning of this message or Email [log in to unmask]
NATIONAL ADAPT MAILING LIST - Adapt MiCASA List of Adapt Organizers.
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