Incitement
Volume 20 No. 3 A Publication of
ADAPT Summer 2004
ADAPT/Incitement
(512) 442‑0252 v/tty
(512) 442‑0522 fax
Incitement is
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contact Tessa Goupil for deadlines for submission of materials. The Editor
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contact Tessa Goupil at TILRC or Stephanie Thomas at ADAPT.
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NGA = No Gimps Allowed?
Thou Shalt Honor was
the theme of the National Governor’s Association “Public Forum” on long term
care at their conference
w Police barricades of
buses to keep people out,
w Metal detectors and
confiscation of personal belongings,
w Instructions for
members not to speak with ADAPT,
w NGA barricading
themselves inside the twin towers of the Westin Hotel,
w A media advisory not
to bother the NGA or to speak with any protestors,
w Stonewalling on ADAPT’s request to meet and to have our issues addressed.
1.6 million people languish in
nursing homes waiting for their civil right to receive services in the most
integrated setting. The Federal government even acknowledges at least 276,333
of them want OUT. Meanwhile the Governors’ and their entourages snuck off in
boats across the sound to party with Bill and Melinda Gates, and shut down the
Amgen Business Campus outside of town for part of a week so they could be
entertained by the Temptations.
However, like David and Goliath for some – like Frodo and Sauron for others – ADAPT would not be silenced by their
strong-arm tactics. And indeed we began to see cracks in their walls.
Though
In
Remembering the Dead
Day one, after an excellent series of trainings, we gathered
and marched through Pike’s Market (thanks to local hospitality!) and on to
NGA = No Good Answers
Day two, we took the bull by the horns, so to speak, and
went to deliver our resolution to the Governors themselves. Many of our
colleagues from across the
But when ADAPT sent a delegation of 50 individuals to the
Westin Hotel to present one resolution to each State’s Governor, they were
turned away at the door. (The Westin, ironically, is composed of 2 towers that
loom in the background of the downtown
While the 50 were heading out, the rest of us met with Mr. Salo, the Health Policy person for the NGA. His Secret
Service/Police escort accompanied Salo to the front
of the meeting room, where ADAPT leader Barb Toomer
asked him if he would bring the resolution to the proper people within the NGA,
but Salo just kept saying he could not introduce the
resolution nor could he pass it. We already knew this and that is why we had
only asked him to deliver it. Such non-responsive answers grew old quickly and
typified the NGA’s failure to listen or care what was
being said. So we escorted Salo and his guards out of
the room.
Buses Blocking Us?
Some 450 strong we soon came to support the original 50 over
at the Westin Hotel, only to find city buses blocking the intersections around
the hotel.
“If at first you
don’t succeed …” being a motto of ADAPT, we set up groups outside and started
chanting, just to be sure our message was not missed. Soon the more artistic and agile among us
were writing giant messages in chalk on the streets, just in case the Governors
couldn’t understand the chants. Our inside moles told us you could hear us far
up inside their hotel and the messages were easy reading from the 10th floor even without glasses! The day wore on. Threats
were made. Nasty rumors spread. But ADAPTers did not
wear out. For five hours we held our ground.
The Crack in the Walls
About
But Rendell was not completely alone in his courage to break
ranks and speak with the ADAPT “untouchables.” Two ADAPTers
from
10 Worst States Revealed:
Two in
Day three was Thou Shalt Honor
day for the NGA. In honor of that, ADAPT held a press conference at which we
announced the 10 worst states in the nation for providing community long-term
services and supports. (See list in this issue.) At an excellent event, held in front of the
Westin while the NGA held their “Thou Shalt Honor”
dog and pony show, ADAPT representatives of the 10 Worst States spoke
eloquently of why change was so important.
Just before their conference, the NGA announced the
formation of the Academy, a group of 8 states which will be working on
designing best practices to balance Long Term Care systems. Ironically, 2 of
the 8 states picked for the Academy (
After the press conference ADAPT lined up, as only ADAPT
can, and marched through the hills and streets of
What’s Next?
NGA = Need Governors’ Action!
Now we have work to do at home!
We must each get our Governor in our state to support the
resolution. In some cases this will mean making sure our Governor has a better
understanding of the issues. This is important work not just for getting the National
Governors Association to support the resolution. This work will help to make
sure that states don’t destroy community-based services as they trim their
budgets.
Visit with your Governor. Show him/her how many people from
your state are stuck inside, wanting to get out! If you need the numbers
contact us (adapt@adapt.org or 512/442-0252.)
And start knitting your winter cap, scarf and gloves because we have a date in February to join the NGA for the vote on our resolution!
ADAPTing the ANA:
American Nurses Association Board
Code of Silence Breached
Broken Promises To ADAPT Challenged
By Gordie Haug
On June 27, eleven ADAPTers made
the 660 mile trip across
We arrived at
Our consensus was that the union nurses supported delegation
and assignment and the non-union nurses did not.
We talked to two board members that knew nothing about the
decision not to support MiCASSA, and many, many others that said they would
bring it up at the afternoon session. Some states that said they already have
delegation and assignment were:
FREE OUR PEOPLE!!!
COMMUNITY SERVICES AND
SUPPORTS RESOLUTION
Dear Friends of Community Services:
This
is a resolution that ADAPT proposed and Governor Rendell will introduce for
action at the NGA Winter Conference in February 2005. Over two million people
with disabilities, old and young, with physical, mental and/or cognitive
disabilities are warehoused in nursing homes and other institutions because of
the lack of home and community services. ADAPT believes the NGA and each
individual Governor play an integral part in the reforming of this institutionally
biased long term care system.
~The ADAPT Community
Commitment To Community-Based
Long Term Care Services and Support
WHEREAS millions of people
with disabilities and older Americans currently need or will need long term
services and supports to live in the community and this number is expected to
grow at a rapid pace over the next three decades; and
WHEREAS the current long term
care system is fragmented, overly medicalized,
bureaucratic, expensive with an institutional bias that unnecessarily forces
people with disabilities and older Americans in nursing homes and other
institutions; and
WHEREAS the Supreme Court in
the Olmstead vs. LC & EW decision ruled in 1999 that people have the right
to services in the most integrated setting; and
WHEREAS the American public
overwhelmingly supports long term care services and supports be provided in
their own home and communities; and
WHEREAS the reform of the long
term care (services and supports) system must be a cooperative partnership
between the federal government, the states and the disability/older community,
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that
the National Governors Association, NGA, by a vote of the membership and the
Executive Committee supports the following:
A) The current long term
services and support system has an institutional bias that must be reformed
through a cooperative effort by the federal government, the states and the
disability/older community including those who use services; and
B) The long term services and
support system must include the principles that home and community services and
supports are the first priority and that support services should be provided in
the most integrated setting; and
C) No person with a disability
or older American should be forced into a nursing home or other institution
because of the lack of integrated home and community options; and
D) People with disabilities
and older Americans must have full inclusion in the design, implementation and
review of the long term services and support system; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that
the NGA supports the passage and funding of the Medicaid Community Attendant
Services and Supports Act, MiCASSA (currently S 971 - HR 2032) and legislation
that include the Money Follows the Person initiative (currently S 1394 - HR
1811); and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that
the NGA work with the individual states to assure that the Supreme Court’s
Olmstead decision is aggressively implemented and that the measure of this
implementation be, in a year, how many people have gotten out of nursing homes
and other institutions and how many people have been diverted from nursing
homes and other institutions; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that
the NGA work with the states to assure that any 1115 waivers submitted by a
State should have statewide public hearings before development and submission
to HHS, and that the 1115 waiver process should not be used to undercut current
community Medicaid services and federal protections; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that
the NGA supports reform of the long term services and support system that does
not result in block granting, capitating or otherwise
reducing or eliminating funding to the states or the removal of the current
national Medicaid protections.
Passed this day ____________________________
ADAPT Home
and Community Service
Options
Report on the Ten Worst States
July, 2004
ADAPT, the nation ’s largest activist grassroots disability
rights organization, periodically ranks the states in how well they are
providing options for people with disabilities and older Americans to live and
receive support services in the community.
This ranking comes 5 years after the Supreme Court ruled in
the Olmstead vs LC & EW case that people with
disabilities, regardless of age had the right to home and community services in
the “most integrated setting”.
The results, though not scientific, give an accurate
reflection of the relative standing of each state in its provision of home and
community services. ADAPT has given a numerical ranking for the worst ten
states and follows that with a grouping on the next 10 states that are doing a
poor job in providing home and community services.
ADAPT used these public sources of information to rank the
states:
• Medstat
- CMS 64 data on Medicaid Long Term Care Expenditures in FY 2003
(Oct 2002 through Sept 2003) Released
• National Study of Disability
Finance, Preliminary data ( 2004)
•
• Advocate’s Survey Assessment
of their states services. (ADAPT, June 2004)
ADAPT’s analysis weighed various
long term care factors based on published data and the evaluation of people
with disabilities (old and young) of their state’s provision of long term
services and supports.
Some of the factors looked at in the ranking were:
• Institutional spending
versus community spending ratio; (national ratio is 67% institutional – 33%
community)
• Nursing Home spending per
capita;
• Community spending per
capita;
• ICF-MR spending per capita;
• Ranking of State spending on
Community Long Term Care.
Ten Worst Ranking States
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
The Next Ten Worst States:
ADAPT's Ten Worst States Summary Background
Approximately 87% of long term care spending goes for
nursing homes and other institutions. 51st in community fiscal effort for
persons with developmental disabilities. 47th in overall spending on community
services for people with disabilities. 17th in per capita spending on nursing
homes. 46th in spending for Medicaid waivers. Currently has an Olmstead lawsuit
filed against the State for not complying with the
Approximately 67% of long term care spending goes for
nursing homes and other institutions. Lowest spending per capita on all
community services. 32nd in community spending for persons with developmental
disabilities. 49th in spending on Medicaid waivers.
Approximately 81% of long term care spending goes for
nursing homes and other institutions. Ranked 51st in the country in Medicaid
community spending. 39th in Medicaid waiver spending. 4th highest spending per
capita for ICF-MR facilities for people with developmental disabilities.
Ranked 48th on Home Care per capita spending. 39th in
Medicaid community spending. 39th in spending for persons with developmental
disabilities. 46th in spending for people with physical disabilities. 45th in
spending on Medicaid waivers. Since
Approximately 80% of long term care spending goes for
nursing homes and other institutions. 46th per capita spending in community
spending. 46th in community spending for people with developmental
disabilities. 47th in overall community spending. 41st in spending on Medicaid
waivers.
Approximately 79% of long term care spending goes for
nursing homes and other institutions. 48th in fiscal effort for all community
services. 36th in spending for people with developmental disabilities. 47th in
spending on Medicaid waivers.
Approximately 77% of long term care spending goes for
nursing homes and other institutions. 46th in fiscal effort for all community
services. 42nd in spending for people with developmental disabilities. 37th in
spending for Medicaid waivers.
Approximately 76% of long term care spending goes for
nursing homes and other institutions. 7th highest spending per capita on
nursing homes. 46th in spending on community services. 50th in community fiscal
effort for persons with developmental disabilities. 33rd in spending on
Medicaid waivers.
Approximately 74% of long term care spending goes for
nursing homes and other institutions. 43rd in per capita spending for community
services. 31st in spending for persons with developmental disabilities. 40th in
spending for Medicaid waivers.
Approximate 90% of long term care spending goes for nursing homes and other institutions. 2nd highest spending per capita on nursing homes. The highest per capita spending on ICF-MR facilities. 4th in per capita spending on Home Health. 11th in total capita spending on community services.
End the Institutional Bias: No More
Stolen Lives!
MiCASSA, Money Follows the Individual
and More!
Testimony of the ADAPT Community
Before the
Senate Finance Committee,
Presented by Bruce E. Darling
Good Morning. My
name is Bruce Darling, and today I am testifying on behalf of the ADAPT
Community and the many thousands of people with disabilities who want to have a
REAL CHOICE so that they may live fulfilling and productive lives in the
community.
I am the Executive Director of the Center for Disability
Rights (CDR), an
Over the last few years, I have also trained literally
hundreds of people from 37 different states and the
• People who were separated
from their families,
• People who lost their homes,
• People who lost their
freedom and thought their lives had ended.
People with disabilities and our allies are fighting the
institutional bias, but conviction, training, and hard work are simply not
enough. We need you to take action and establish a national
Community First policy! You have the power to end the institutional bias and
assure that there are no more stolen lives.
Problem Statement and its
Impact on Real People
Our long-term care system has remained essentially unchanged
since its creation nearly 40 years ago. No one would have guessed that today
this system would warehouse over 1.4 million Americans in nursing facilities
and 110,572 in ICFs, or Intermediate Care Facilities
for the Mentally Retarded.
The system was built on a medical model. At the time of its
creation, individuals with disabilities were considered patients who needed to
be cared for. Over the years, the medical model has added costs, requiring
medical staff to do tasks which could be done by an unlicensed attendant either
through delegation or assignment of a health professional. In this system,
health-related tasks are often done by a nurse, who charges Medicaid over $100,
rather than an attendant who is billed at only $15.
The medical model fostered a system where services were made
available based on diagnosis, creating fragmentation and service gaps. I worked
with a woman named Lisa Cyphers. She wanted to be at
home rather than a nursing home. To go home she needed support services that
were provided under the state’s Traumatic Brain Injury waiver, but because she
had Multiple Sclerosis she was not eligible for them. Even though she had the
same exact functional needs, she wasn’t eligible for the services to get her
home.
Over the years long term care services have become even more
fragmented. Attempts at modernizing the system, including the development of
new programs and a multitude of Medicaid Waiver programs, have created a
disjointed mish-mash of services, which vary from state to state, and even
county to county.
States may have a dozen different waivers and a complicated
array of services that even the most skilled social worker couldn’t navigate.
Our spending in long term care clearly illustrates the
institutional bias. According to 2002 Medstat
data, 70% of the $82.13 billion that is spent on long term care services
goes to institutional services, while only 30% funds community services and
supports.
The institutional bias is demonstrated on a personal level
as well.
Medicaid rules allow individuals who are in nursing
facilities (or deemed eligible for a nursing facility and receive services
through a Medicaid Waiver) to retain income up to 300% of the Supplemental
Security Income (SSI) federal benefit rate, nearly $1,700 per month for a
single person. By comparison in most states, individuals who need personal care
or home health care are only allowed to retain one third of that amount.
If an individual’s spouse is institutionalized in a nursing home,
federal rules allow them to keep at least some of their income and resources
without totally impoverishing themselves. The same is not true for
community-based services. As an example, we worked with Phyllis Patnode. As a 50-year-old woman, Phyllis was forced to
leave her husband and home and go into a nursing home because her husband
worked and she didn’t want to financially devastate him and her daughters.
A fundamental problem is that Medicaid funding for long term
care services is securely tied to the institutions. States must provide
institutional services, like nursing home care, while community-based services
are completely optional. To provide alternatives to nursing homes or ICF-MR
facilities, states must apply for a Medicaid Waiver, which means that the
federal government is agreeing, on a case by case basis, to waive certain
Medicaid requirements in order for that state to provide home and community
based services. There are often no waiting lists for nursing homes. However,
when states apply for a Medicaid Waiver, the federal government authorizes a
certain number of “slots”, which results in waiting lists for Home and
Community Based Medicaid Waiver Services.
Because institutional services are mandatory, states cannot
cut their funding. We are in tough fiscal times. States have no choice but to
cut community based services. Even states that want to provide less expensive
community-based alternatives are prevented from doing so by a federal policy
that mandates institutional care.
In addition to all of this, there is one very important
reason we must change this system. It isn’t what people want.
According to the data from the Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services, nearly 19% of individuals in nursing homes have expressed an
interest in returning to the community. This information was collected by the
nursing homes themselves. From our experience, the number of people who want to
live in the community is actually much higher. We have the data that shows
this. According to Barriers to
Personal Impact: Real Voices
Last year, as part of our Stolen Lives Campaign, ADAPT began
documenting the names and stories of people from nursing homes and
institutions.
These stories document the
voices of people institutionalized as children:
Like Leonard Roscoe, from
Like Patrick King from
These stories document the voices of people who lost their
freedom during the prime of their lives’.
Like June Adams from
These stories document the
voices of older persons who were forced to leave their homes.
Like Betty Cranston from
I have included the individual stories we received at the
end of this testimony. Their words are compelling. Their voices rise up and ask for just one
thing: freedom.
Solutions: Real Choices
It is clear that we need a new model. No longer should
community based services be the exception to the institutional rule.
Community based services must become as easy to access as
institutional services.
To accomplish this, the tie between the institution and
funding must be cut. Individuals must
have real, meaningful and effective choices in what services they receive,
where they receive services, and who provides those services.
Our nation must pass legislation which reforms the long term
care system and incorporates the following principles:
• Attendant services must be
available in the community, 24 hours per day, and seven days per week;
• Eligibility must be based on
functional need, not on diagnosis, age, or funding stream;
• Incentives are offered to
encourage states to allow assignment or delegation of care tasks previously
restricted to only doctors and nurses;
• Consumer control must be
maximized at every step of the process, including flexible payment and
management systems; and
• Attendants must earn a
livable wage and benefits.
Immediate Actions
This shift will take time, but there are immediate steps you
can take to end the institutional bias.
First, you must pass Money Follows the Individual
legislation.
Under this legislation, the
Federal government will fund community- based services for the first year for
individuals who transition out of institutions! This legislation would provide
a critical incentive to the states in providing Real Choices in long term care.
This will encourage states to build their capacity to more effectively transition
people back into the community.
Senator Harkin introduced the Money Follows the Person Act
of 2003 (S.1394) on July 11th. Shortly after that, on July 25th, the White
House distributed its own draft legislation: the New Freedom Initiative
Medicaid Demonstration Act of 2003. We understand that you, Senator Grassley,
are considering introducing legislation based on the administration’s proposal.
This more comprehensive legislation would authorize a Money Follows the
Individual Demonstration program and support other initiatives to promote
community-based services.
Thousands of people with disabilities in nursing homes and
other institutions will benefit if you fund these initiatives and give states
the incentive to move people into the community. This first step, though not
the complete answer to ending the institutional bias, will lay the foundation
for the more comprehensive changes to the Medicaid system that must occur if
nursing homes and other institutions are to become the alternative rather than
the entitlement.
Whether you pass S. 1394 or the administration’s proposal,
it is imperative that you take action now. This legislation must be passed
during this session. The CMS data I spoke about earlier shows that at least
267,000 people with disabilities want to return to the community NOW!
267,000 people are telling the nursing homes that they want
to go home; 267,000 people are asking you to help them go home; and On behalf
of those 267,000 people, I am pleading with you not to make them wait one more
day!
There are other steps you could take to address the
institutional bias. You could create an Enhanced Federal Medicaid Matching Rate
for home and community based services. By paying a larger percentage of the
cost of home and community based services, you will create a strong and
on-going incentive for states to promote community living.
Such a step would help the states address their budget
difficulties during these difficult times and promote community living options.
It would also send a clear message that our nation values the freedom of all of
its citizens, including those with disabilities.
A Lasting Solution
While demonstration programs and enhanced Medicaid matches
would promote community living, they still leave much work to be done. The
ultimate solution to ending the institutional bias, which has stolen the lives
of so many thousands of seniors and people with disabilities, is clear.
Pass MiCASSA!
The Medicaid Community Attendant Services and Supports Act
(S. 971) gives people Real Choice in longterm care.
MiCASSA provides individuals eligible for Nursing Facility Services or ICFs with the opportunity to choose Community-Based
Attendant Services and Supports.
Rather than be forced into institutional placement, people would
get assistance in their own homes. Such assistance would include the basic
activities of daily life that most people take for granted like meal
preparation, eating, toileting, bathing, grooming, shopping, managing finances,
and participating in the community.
MiCASSA addresses the need for assistance with health related functions.
MiCASSA implements other necessary reforms.
It would:
• provide assistance in the
home and community, such as at school, work, or religious activities;
• include systems for securing
back-up attendants;
• offer options for consumer
control of services;
• address the inequity in
financial eligibility between nursing facilities and community based services;
and
• support essential, but minor
expenses needed by people returning to the community, such as security deposits
for housing, bedding, and kitchen supplies.
Because the money is following the individual, MiCASSA is
not a new, unfunded mandate. We pay for this assistance already. MiCASSA makes
the existing mandate more responsive to consumers. People who are already
eligible for services will have a Real Choice.
Every major national disability organization supports
MiCASSA. In fact, 92 national organizations are MiCASSA supporters. An
additional 255 state or regional organizations also support the bill, as well
as 306 local groups. I have included the full list at the end of my testimony.
As you look through the list, you will notice that ADAPT is working with
children’s advocates and senior advocates. Supporting organizations represent
people with all types of disabilities: people with cognitive disabilities,
people with sensory disabilities, people with mental health labels and people
with physical disabilities.
We are asking that you take
action now!
We would not be here today had it not been for the heroic
efforts of hundreds and hundreds of ADAPT members who have put their bodies on
the line year after year.
On behalf of these people, I would like to thank you for
this hearing.
But on their behalf, I must point out that we need more than
hearings.
We need action.
Take the steps I have outlined today and pass these
important pieces of legislation to FREE OUR PEOPLE!
For an institution free
~Bruce
E. Darling
Money Follows the Person
Available Right Now
Finally the State Medicaid Directors Letter #04-005 on Money
Follows the Person is out. It encourages states to use the Money Follows the
Person (MFP) to help rebalance their long-term service and support system. CMS
encourages states to move the money that is currently paying for a person’s
nursing home services to pay for the home and community services for that same
individual when he/she chooses to move into the community.
Different from the proposed MFP legislation, this letter
explains to states how they can do Money Follows the Person right NOW. It also
addresses some of the misinformation regarding Money Follows the Person. This
is a great opportunity to work with your state to give people Real Choice. It
helps states implement the Olmstead decision, but more importantly it gives
individuals in nursing homes who choose to leave, a way to have their community
services funded.
Has your state adopted a Money Follow the Person rebalancing
policy? If not, this is an opportunity
to get that ball rolling.
Summary of Letter SMDL# 04-005
Released
l “Money Follows the Person refers to a system of
flexible financing for long-term services and supports that enables available
funds to move with the individual to the most appropriate and preferred setting
as the individual’s needs and preferences change.”
l Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
“committed to continuing to assist states in implementing the principles of MFP
[Money Follows the Person] under existing authorities.”
l “A market-based approach that gives individuals more
choice over the location and type of services they receive.”
l MFP can use self-direction as well as other service
delivery options such as traditional agency and agency with choice.
l MFP strategies can use HCBS waivers as well as other
community service options such as Home Health and the Personal Care Option.
l States may add participants to their HCBS waivers to
implement MFP but must continue to demonstrate cost-neutrality in the overall
program.
l CMS anticipates as individuals have greater choices in
service delivery, fewer individuals will choose institutional care.
l CMS encourages states to reduce nursing facility beds
to assist a state in rebalancing its long-term care service system, but this is
not a requirement.
The whole letter is on the CMS website: www.cms.hhs.gov/states/letters
Around the Nation
Congressman Davis
on MiCASSA
By Larry Biondi
Illinois Congressman Danny K. Davis, the Sponsor of the
House MiCASSA bill, held a town hall meeting on May 27th in his district office on the Medicaid Attendant
Services and Supports Act, MiCASSA - H.R. 2032. This legislation would change
Long-Term Care system for people with disabilities and senior citizens giving
them a real choice and easier transition from nursing homes into the community.
Calling the town hall meeting “democracy at work,”
Congressman Davis heard 3 hours of testimony from consumers about the need for
a mandatory nationwide personal assistance program. Seventy-five consumers
filled Congressman Davis’ second-floor room and half told their stories about
the horrid conditions of living in nursing homes. One consumer recited a
moving poem about the oppressiveness she endures daily. Another told a
story about how she ended up in an institution but befriended a woman who lived
in the same institution for 60 years. The testimony of their experiences
and their friendship really sent a strong message about why MiCASSA - H.R. 2032
should be passed immediately!
Different organizations supporting MiCASSA attended the town
hall meeting, including Metro Seniors in Action and Local 880-SEIU. Special
thanks goes to Access Living and Lake County CIL for bringing consumers to
testify!
At the end of he town hall meeting, the Congressman praised the disability community for diligently pushing for MiCASSA.
Advocates Stage Nationwide Action to
Protest Cuts to Housing Funding
By Kevin Siek
On
The Section 8 Program provides safe, affordable, integrated
housing to more than two million American families. These vouchers are often
the only resource available to low-income families facing our
nation’s affordable housing crisis.
When it became clear that Congress wouldn’t support the
administration’s plan to block grant the Section 8 Housing Voucher Program, HUD
used the back door method of issuing PIH 2004-7, an administrative memorandum
that drastically cuts funding for the program with the following potential
consequences during the May 26th protests:
l The number of Section 8 vouchers available to the very
lowest income citizens will be cut.
l Rents will increase for tenants who are allowed to
retain Section 8 vouchers.
l The number of homes available under the program will
decrease as HUD refuses to honor funding commitments.
l Substandard Housing will increase!
In response, fair housing advocates made the following
demands:
l Rescind the April 22, 2004, PIH 2004-7 memorandum.
l Meet with National Housing Justice Memorial Day
organizers, to establish a grassroots working consultant group to explore the
impact of the PIH 2004-7 actions and block granting and other housing justice
concerns.
l Prior to implementation of any changes to the Section
8 Program, develop impact statements from all Housing Authorities regarding the
effect of proposed policies.
l Cease all attempts to block grant Section 8 funding.
In
The regional director refused to sign a statement of
commitment and ordered all the staff in
Over 150 people in
About 30 people presented the demands to the staff at the
Region X Office in
In
200 advocates in
The acting HUD director faxed the demands to the Secretary
and came out to address the crowd. When a member of the audience attempted to
ask questions they were told “ No Questions!” The crowd’s response to HUD, “No
Answers”!
The Chicago Chapter of DRACH, Progress CIL, Just Housing and
the Chicago Coalition from the Homeless collaborated to bring about 50 people
to the HUD Chicago Region V while other folks did a phone call and fax flood at
Thirty-five advocates demonstrated on the sidewalk outside
the Region IV HUD in
In
Over 500 demonstrators in
Advocates are waiting for Secretary Jackson to set up a meeting. Suffice it to say that fair housing advocates will not rest until their demands are met!
Anthem of the 10 Worst States
By Johnny Crescendo (to the tune of Maggie’s Farm)
DC
Ain’t gonna go
to DC no more
Ain’t gonna go
to DC no more
The lock you up and throw away the key
It could be you
It could be me
Don’t matter if you’re rich or your poor
Ain’t gonna go
to DC no more
Ain’t gonna go
to
Ain’t gonna go
to
It ain’t no fun in the sunshine
state
The sun don’t shine
In that dark place
Where they incarcerate you behind their doors
Ain’t gonna go
to
NEW
When you get up
Is up to the nurse
When you go to bed is even fuckin
worse
They drug you till you’re just lying on the floor
Ain’t gonna go
to NEW JERSEY no more
There’s screaming in the hallway
The screaming never ends
You don’t know if it’s in your head
Or just one of your friends
But I know they’re not screaming out for more
Ain’t gonna go
to
You’re pressing the bell but the nurse is on her break
You’re lying in you shit
And you think “for Jesus sake,
“Is there justice in this world anymore?”
Ain’t gonna go
to
You better have some money or the bastards let you die
They all play happy families
But it’s just a fuckin lie
As the future you saved goes out the door…
Ain’t gonna go
to
You never want to stay in their heartbreak hotel
Nursing homes are worse
They’re even worse than hell
But it’s just what the Elvis state supports…
Ain’t gonna go
to
Politicians dine out while we lie in their swamp
They can’t even pass the paper
To give us what we want
To live in the community, safe and sure…
Ain’t gonna go
to
Nursing homes stink
It’s not even worth a bet
Lying in your piss is about as good as it gets
Wondering what your Governor’s paying for?
Ain’t gonna go
to
Governor Haley Barbour eat in
this fancy hotel
While our sisters and brothers
Are rotting in his hell
Dining on the profits from the
poor…
Ain’t gonna
go to
Passages
Dusty Hogue
Dusty Hogue of Michigan is gone. Another ADAPTer
from the past has died. Dusty and Linda and other Michigan ADAPTers
helped folks out of nursing homes and even fought off a hospital at one point.
Dusty Hogue passed away on August 4. He will be missed.
Phil Borckus
One of our fellow Kansas ADAPT members has passed away. Phil
Borckus of
We mourn the loss of a dedicated disability rights advocate,
but celebrate his life, the good times we had with him and his efforts in the
struggle to FREE OUR PEOPLE.
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