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Independent Living News & Policy from the National Council on Independent Living

ADAPT Storms DC – Free Our People!

Source: ADAPT

ADAPT logo: Free Our PeopleOn April 20, 2015, ADAPT activists from across the nation gathered in Washington, DC and began a week of non-violent civil disobedience. ADAPT demanded President Obama act now to support the Community Integration Act. They were 150 strong and 53 ADAPT warriors were arrested. Read Action Reports from throughout the week.

NCIL thanks ADAPT warriors for bringing these issues to the Administration and to the American public, and for their steadfast commitment to freeing our people now!

ADAPT’s demands to the Obama Administration are as follows.

In the face of a Congress that has been unwilling to work with him to advance his priorities, President Obama has sought out ideas he can announce and enact on his own. He’s taken action on a significant number of issues, but has not taken any significant steps to assure that Americans with disabilities can live in freedom.

With the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) upon us, there is greater attention on the ADA and the rights of people with disabilities. President Obama should take this unique opportunity and leverage this anniversary not only to affirm – but also to advance – the rights of people with disabilities, including the right of people with disabilities to live in the most integrated setting and be integrated in the community.

Today, ADAPT demands that the Obama Administration:

  • Issue an Executive Order that acknowledges the inhumane warehousing of people in nursing facilities and other institutions and implements specific steps to end this practice, including increased Olmstead enforcement, implementation of policies to assure that state Medicaid rates for home and community-based services support adequate wages for attendants and greater oversight of state Medicaid programs;
  • Designate Vice President Biden as an “Ambassador for Community Living” and send him on an ADA Anniversary Tour where he visits ten model programs for transitioning people with disabilities into the community and convenes round-tables in ten states to support them in developing effective systems for truly integrating people with disabilities; and
  • Issue a statement that the President supports the development of legislation clarifying and strengthening the ADA’s integration mandate and assuring that people with disabilities have a community-based alternative to institutional placement that allows them to lead an independent life.

Comments

  1. This old warrior is grateful for the activism and relentless determination that ADAPT has exercised since its inception when it focused solely on access to public transportation. Today, it embodies the spirit of the disability rights movement and refuses to settle for anything less than complete freedom. Don’t mourn, organize. Free our people!

  2. Michael Thornton says

    I am PROUD to admit I am one of the ADAPTERS that STORMED Washington, DC this week. Too many of our people are forced to live in nursing homes to get the care they need because attendents are paid too little and there are not many wanting to become a PA because they can earn more by working at McDonald’s… also, People with disabilities working in workshop situations are earning less than subminimum wage… It’s time to stand up and SPEAK LOUDLY! Free Our People – NOW!