Incitement
Volume 16 No. 2                      A Publication of ADAPT                    Summer 2000
Four for Four Victory in Nation’s Capital

IT RAINED ADAPT
	The Saturday ADAPT arrived in DC for this national action the nation was wracked by thunderstorms so severe they backed up flights into the next day and caused vans to pull off the road for hours. Yet from across the nation, in record numbers, ADAPTers poured into town. Everyone felt a sense of urgency. Time was trickling by and the powers that be were taking little action. We were here to get a job done, no matter what it took.

VOICES AND FACES RALLY
	Sunday brought the return of the summer sun, just in time for the Voices and Faces rally in the Upper Senate Park. The Rally was to call attention and support to MiCASSA and the faces and voices of those who had won their freedom and now were fighting for others. 900 strong we gathered, and walking among us was Father Time. We heard from the head of Medicaid Tim Westmoreland.
	As the speakers concluded, the crowd marched to the White House to deliver a Fathers’ Day message to the President and Vice President: a giant hour glass to symbolize the time running out for those still inside and the time running out for this Administration. Then, as a final reminder of those still locked away because of the failed policies of this administration, each of us delivered a small cross or star for those sacrificed in nursing homes and other institutions.

ADAPT MAKES HOUSE CALLS  
	The work week started with a double action for ADAPT. A year had passed since Housing and Urban Development Secretary Andrew Cuomo had promised to meet with ADAPT regarding our concerns about HUD’s promoting institutional living facilities for people with disabilities, their lack of support for integrated community living options, and their failure to enforce civil rights and access laws like Section 504. Cuomo had failed to keep his promise and ADAPT was not amused. So first thing Monday, a contingent of about 100 activists headed for the ‘burbs and Cuomo’s home. We figured if his office was going to stonewall us, this might get his attention -- and it did.
	The house is on a steep hill, but the group lined up in front of the house. We rang the bell, were told he was not at home. We then pointed out to them that there was certainly a telephone inside with which to call the guy. Outside, there was little room to move without risking crashing and burning down the driveway but some artists among us decorated the asphalt with chalk pictures and messages. First the local cops, and then the Secret Service came and tried to pretend we could be brushed out of the way, but found they were sadly mistaken. Finally HUD sent a priest and a woman from Cuomo’s office and they, upon hearing the facts could do little but agree to our demand that Secretary Cuomo live up to his promise.
	Meanwhile the other 400 ADAPTers were making another kind of house call -- to the American Medical Association, AMA. ADAPT had written the AMA asking them to support MiCASSA, but had not even received the courtesy of a response. We needed an answer and we needed to get these nursing home gatekeepers to recognize their role in the national problem of making people with disabilities the crop of the long term care industry, most especially the nursing home industry. We also wanted them to see their potential role in solving this national problem! So hundreds and hundred and hundreds of us went to the AMA offices to get some answers.
	The negotiation team, coincidentally all ADAPT amazon women, was first met with the brush off, then the head pat, but that just was not going to cut it. So as one unacceptable response after another came back and was rejected, these profoundly-medical-model folks learned they would have to get serious. Business as usual was not going to happen till we got some cooperation. By the end of the day we had hammered out an agreement that all could live with. The docs would meet with representatives of ADAPT to discuss MiCASSA and to discuss ways they could ensure community based services are made a real option for people who are currently being warehoused or at risk of being warehoused in nursing homes and other institutions.

WHITE HOUSE BLUES
	Day three of the action brought us back to the Administration. Eight years of promises were coming to a close with a lot of promises unkept and a lot of dreams broken. Lip service is not attendant services. Glad handing does not complete a bowel program. It doesn’t get you up and dressed and it doesn’t get you into bed at the end of the day. In its twilight hours, this administration could still throw its support behind MiCASSA, still support funding Olmstead/MiCASSA implementation grants to the states in the budget and still support full funding for the Office of Civil Rights enforcement of Olmstead. Yet the President and Vice President had made no move to do any of these things.
	We also were interested to note that Governor and Presidential candidate George Bush, a staunch states’ rights supporter, had felt it necessary to avow his support of the Americans with Disabilities Act and community based services and implementation of Olmstead. Vice President and Presidential candidate Al Gore did not seem to feel the need.
	So Tuesday ADAPT made our way to the White House, specifically the Old Executive Office Building next door where the Vice President has his office and much of the Administrations’ business is conducted. The King of Morocco was visiting the White House that day. His fleet of stretch limos were lined up on Pennsylvania Ave. But even this affair of state was not going to stop ADAPT from taking up our national business with the administration.
	We gathered in Lafayette Park and headed across the street. Marching past the front of the building we went around the corner and down the side of the building to the entrances to get some answers. Though the gates were locked as the front of the group passed and took up position at the farthest gate, the accessible entrance opened as the second part of troops reached them. So we headed in to deliver the message but the welcome, apparently, only went so far, as the inside doors were barred. The entranceway however, provided an excellent sound studio for some budding musicians among us. Rhythms and rhymes, songs and chants were punctuated with drumming and testimonies as hour after broiling hour wore on while we waited for answer. But perhaps the most dramatic theater of the day was out front at the official front steps of the building. There, through a tiny gate, 30 or so ADAPT warriors descended from their chairs and crutches, etc. and climbed down a flight of steps, across and vast plaza to another set of 30 or so steps which they ascended at the other side. This was no easy feat. Lou Wick’s heart felt the toll and at the end of the day he was taken to a local hospital where he was able to recover. Myra Murillo snaked the whole way like some graceful mermaid out of the water. Many others sported bloodied elbows and knees from the job, but none regretted their efforts.
	It took a while for the crack to show. At first no one knew how to reach the Vice President who was out of town. We were however, able to share some of the campaign stops the media has just that morning reported Gore would be making and suggest he might have brought his cell phone... Luckily that saved the day because after hours of fooling around, staff finally were able to locate someone who could locate Gore’s calendar and commit that he would meet with ADAPT to address our issues before the Convention. Nancy Ann Min De Parle, Head of the Health Care Finance Administration, gave her word that the Vice President would keep his word, and so as the afternoon was drawing to a close, ADAPT was able to claim another victory and head home to prepare for our final day of action in the Capitol.

THINKING GLOBALLY AND ACTING LOCALLY
	Last but not least would well describe Wednesday’s actions by ADAPT. We again had two main items of business, but this time we took them up sequentially. First was some local business that had long been a source of serious concern and frankly pain to ADAPT. Here in the nation’s Capitol, we were in the midst of one of the most institutionally biased long term care systems in the entire country. Right under the seemingly up turned noses of Congress and the Administration thousand upon thousands of DC residents were being sentenced to life terms in nursing homes and other institutions without hope of reprieve. DC’s institutionalization rate of younger people with disabilities was almost two and a half that of the national average, and their spending was going against the tide as they decreased the amount they were allocating to community services to spend more on nursing homes and other institutions.
	Having said we were heading up to the hill to visit our Senators regarding MiCASSA we made an unscheduled stop at the offices of the Mayor of DC. Our negotiation team having made it successfully inside, the rest of the group spread out across the front of building. Mayor Anthony Williams was in Baltimore, but agreed to meet that afternoon at 2:00. Leaving a hundred or so to make sure that meeting really took place, the rest of the troops went on up to the hill to talk with their Senators regarding MiCASSA.
	Two o’clock came and the meeting began but it was not until 4:00 that the negotiation team finally emerged glowing from the success of their efforts. Mayor Williams committed to ongoing meetings with Capitol Area ADAPT, he agreed to apply for federal dollars for more community based services and to address the critical shortage of affordable, accessible housing which drove or keeps so many in nursing homes.
	The legislative visits were also a success. Many of those visited that day contacted Senators Harkin and Specter regarding supporting the bill and its goals.

ADAPT/Incitement
1339 Lamar SQ DR #101
Austin TX 78704
(512) 442-0252 v/tty
(512) 442-0522 fax

	Incitement is produced from the offices of Topeka Independent Living Resource Center (TILRC). Articles, letters, compositions, displays and photos are encouraged. Please contact Tessa Goupil for deadlines for submission of materials. The Editor reserves the right to edit or omit any material that is submitted. For more information, contact Tessa Goupil at TILRC or Stephanie Thomas at ADAPT.

Topeka Independent Living
Resource Center, Inc.
501 SW Jackson St., Suite 100
Topeka, KS 66603-3300
(785) 233-4572 v/tty
(785) 233-1815 tty
(785) 233-1561 fax

This fall ADAPT will return to the nation's 
capitol September 30th through October 5th.

Hoosiers File Most Integrated
Setting/Olmstead Implementation Case Against Indiana
Disabled residents are suing Indiana, 
	claiming state agencies are not 
	doing enough to keep them out of nursing homes so they can live more independently. Four disabled Lake County residents and an advocacy group are demanding that more disabled people have the option of living in apartments or homes with help from Medicaid. If the lawsuit is successful, more than 7,000 disabled people who are now on waiting lists to live in neighborhoods may benefit. Attorneys are asking that the case be certified as class-action, so residents of other states could be affected as well. “We’re trying to afford people with disabilities access to their right to live lives like the rest of us,” said Teresa Torres, executive director of Everybody Counts, in Merrillville and member of Indiana ADAPT. Torres said disabled residents shouldn’t be “warehoused off in a corner in a nursing home.”
	Filed against the state’s Family and Social Services Administration, the suit alleges due to the State’s failure to offer services in the most integrated setting, that plaintiffs have been forced to live in nursing homes, with “no realistic hope of living in the community, despite their wishes.” It also alleges that Indiana’s Medicaid spending for community care ranks low in comparison to other states.
	State officials admit there are waiting lists. Andrew Stoner, a social services spokesman, told the Associated Press 1,800 people are on a waiting list for one Medicaid-funded community care program that serves the people who are elderly and disabled.

Challenge to the
Constitutionality of the ADA
Garrett, v. Univ. of Alabama (from NAPAS)
The Supreme Court has decided to 
	hear another disability discrimina
	tion case -- Garrett v. University of Alabama -- that calls into question the constitutionality of the ADA. Oral argument most likely will occur in October, and the Court should issue its decision in early 2001.
	Garrett is actually two consolidated employment discrimination cases filed against the state of Alabama -- one involving a woman with breast cancer, the other involving a man with severe asthma. At issue in the Supreme Court case is whether Congress had the constitutional authority under the Fourteenth Amendment to enact the ADA. If the Supreme Court says Congress did not, individuals may no longer be able to enforce Titles I and II of the ADA against the states. More importantly, a negative ruling could call into question altogether the constitutionality of Title II of the ADA, as well as other disability rights statutes.
	Garrett is the latest in a series of cases in which states have challenged Congress’ power to enact legislation regulating state conduct. Most recently, the Supreme Court held in Kimel v. Florida Board of Regents that Congress did not have the authority to apply the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) to the states. The Court found that the substantive requirements of the ADEA are “disproportionate to any unconstitutional conduct that conceivably could be targeted by the Act” and that extension of the ADEA to the states was an “unwarranted response to a perhaps inconsequential problem.” In Garrett, states will be urging the Supreme Court to reach the same conclusion about the ADA.
	What does this mean for people with disabilities? It means that, as early as January, 2001, states may no longer be subject to the ADA’s requirements. Depending on the scope of the Supreme Court’s ruling:
	- - States may no longer have to comply with the ADA’s integration mandate. People who are unnecessarily institutionalized in state hospitals, nursing homes, and other state institutions may no longer have recourse under the ADA.
	- - States may no longer have to make their buildings and services accessible. State capitols, state courts, and state universities, among others, may no longer have to have wheelchair ramps, provide interpreter services, or provide written materials in accessible formats.
	- - State employers may no longer have to comply with the ADA’s mandate against employment discrimination. State employers may be able to refuse to hire and/or fire people with disabilities at will, and may no longer have to provide employees with disabilities reasonable accommodations in the workplace.
	While Garrett only addresses the applicability of the ADA to the states, a bad decision could lead to the Court striking down parts of the ADA altogether. We are at risk of losing the ADA not only as it applies to the states, but as it applies to all public entities.
	People with disabilities worked too long and too hard to enact the ADA, only to see it succumb to a “states’ rights” argument. As they did in Olmstead v. L.C., and as they started to do in Alsbrook and Dickson, disability rights advocates can make a difference. Some states will undoubtedly be filing a brief with the Supreme Court, urging the Court to find that the ADA does not apply to them. Others, lead by the state of Minnesota, will be filing a brief in support of the ADA.
	On the anti-ADA Hawaii brief are: Arkansas, Idaho, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Tennessee.
	Signed on to the Minnesota pro-ADA brief in the Garrett case, are 14 states: Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Vermont, and Washington.

Eleven Hundred Hawaiians
Call for Justice
An unprecedented 1,100 
	hundred people with 
	disabilities and their supporters surrounded the Capitol Building in Honolulu, July 11th to protest Hawaii’s stance on the Garrett case, the latest attack on the Americans with Disabilities Act, ADA, which will be heard by the US Supreme Court this October. A coalition of groups including the Hawaii Centers for Independent Living, horrified by their state’s position on this attack on the constitutionality of the ADA, organized the protest. Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono spoke at the rally and is the only person in the state’s all democratic leadership to side with the civil rights of people with disabilities over the state’s rights stance of the rest of them.
	Hawaii is the ring leader among a group of several states which filed a “friend of the court” brief with the Supreme Court, supporting Alabama’s position on the ADA. Their brief argues that the ADA, which compels compliance by states, violates the 11th Amendment’s constitutional guarantee of state sovereignty. “I asked the governor to pull it on Friday, but he is not inclined to do that,” Hirono said yesterday.
	“If the US Supreme Court decides in favor of states’ rights, a major piece of civil-rights legislation will be missing in Hawaii,” said Mark T. Obatake, executive director of the Hawaii Centers for Independent Living. Lt. Governor Hirono agreed, saying “I am concerned with what happens if Alabama wins. What does that leave the disabled community? If Title II will no longer apply, it would leave a huge gap in protections.”
	Brent White, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii, said a decision that the law, which prohibits discrimination against a person with a physical or mental disability, has application to state services and programs ranging from employment opportunities to access to transportation, housing, education, Med-QUEST health insurance and disability insurance.

Class-Action Lawsuit Demands
REAL HOMES Not Nursing Homes
Laguna Honda Hospital Residents Sue 
for Right to Live in Community
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Ten plaintiffs and ILRC filed a class action lawsuit in United States District Court on July 12, 2000, seeking access to community-based long-term care services to avoid unnecessary institutionalization in nursing facilities. The ten are joined by the Independent Living Resource Center, ILRC, of San Francisco. The suit alleges that the City and County of San Francisco, as well as several state agencies, discriminate against people with disabilities by failing to utilize existing Medicaid funding and other funding sources for home and community-based services, and instead commit the vast majority of available funding to institutions. State agencies named include: California Health and Human Services Agency, Department of Health Services, Department of Social Services, Department of Developmental Services, Department of Mental Health, and the Department of Aging.
	The ten plaintiffs reside at Laguna Honda Hospital in San Francisco, or are at risk of institutionalization there, and represent a class of people in the same situation. Laguna Honda is a 1200-bed nursing institution, the largest of its kind in the United States. Plaintiffs complain of being warehoused and isolated from their own communities. They have been given no option but to remain institutionalized, where the loss of dignity is their chief complaint. The case is based on the Supreme Court’s decision in the Olmstead case.
	“My mother is miserable at Laguna Honda Hospital watching other people die,” said Leeann Bishop, who has been trying unsuccessfully to get her mother out of Laguna Honda since 1992. Yet “all she needs is nursing assistance and accessible housing,” she said.
	“It is fundamental to the mission of ILRC that NOBODY ever needs to live in an institution if there are appropriate and accessible services provided in the community,” said Executive Director Kathy Uhl. “We have chosen to sign on to this litigation because we are fully aware that there is nothing that is provided within the four walls of an institution that cannot be provided in the community. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) became law ten years ago this month - it’s time the law was followed,” said Uhl.
	Plaintiffs are represented by a coalition of disability rights organizations including: Protection and Advocacy, Inc. in Oakland, California, Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund in Berkeley, California, National Senior Citizens Law Center, in Los Angeles, California, the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, in Washington, D.C. and the Law Offices of Andrew Thomas Sinclair in Oakland, California.

Rolling Freedom Express
Don’t Tread on the ADA
What is the “Rolling Freedom Express”?
	The Americans with Disabilities Act, ADA is under attack. In early October the Supreme Court will hear the Garrett case and test the constitutionality of the ADA.
	The “Rolling Freedom Express” is a bus tour, which will start in Alabama, (the state which challenged the constitutionality of the ADA), pass through 6 states and end in DC during the first week in October when the Supreme Court begins its Fall session.
	At each stop along the “Rolling Freedom Express” disability activists will hold a media event and passionately describe why the ADA has to be protected.
	Activists will join the caravan along the way and remain in DC through the 1st week in October to rally for the ADA, our civil rights legislation.
	Who do I contact if I want to participate?
	In each city there is a contact person. (see attached list) Arrangements for food and lodging along the route must be the responsibility of each group or individual joining the caravan. For general information: 512/442-0252
	What can I do if I can’t join the “Rolling Freedom Express”?
	1. There will be a “March for Justice” at noon on Tuesday, October 3rd in Washington, DC at the Upper Senate Park near the Supreme Court where thousands of ADA supporters will gather to send the message “Don’t Tread on the ADA”. Join us there!
	2. Get the support of your local public officials for the ADA to build the grassroots support necessary to protect the ADA.
	3. Hold a local media event to call attention to this threat to our civil rights!
	Rolling Freedom Express Schedule and Contact Person(s) All Events start at Noon unless otherwise scheduled.

Date 			City 			Contact 
Fri. Sept. 22nd 	Birmingham, AL 	Dan Kessler 205/251-5403
Sat. Sept. 23rd 	Atlanta, GA 		Mark Johnson/Tony Perrone 404/350-7490 								678/365-0071
Sun. Sept. 24th 	Nashville, TN 	Paul Ford/Tim Wheat 615/269-8530
						901/726-6404
Mon. Sept. 25th 	Louisville, KY	Sue Davis 502/585-4426
Tues. Sept. 26th 	Columbus, OH 	Woody Osburn 614/463-1244
Wed. Sept. 27th 	Pittsburgh, PA 	Jim Glozier/John Lorence Jr. 724/223-5115
Thurs. Sept. 28th 	Harrisburg, PA 	Linda Anthony 717/238-0172
Fri. Sept. 29th 	Philadelphia, PA 	Erik Von Schmetterling Jimmi Schrode/	
						Nancy Salandra 215/627-7255
Sat. Sept. 30th 	Baltimore, MD 	Crosby King 410/666-5484
Sat. Sept. 30th 	Washington, DC 	Bobby Coward (time TBA) 202/397-1668

General Information on the “Rolling Freedom Express” 512/442-0252
Information on the National ADAPT “Action” Sept. 30th - Oct. 5th 303/733-9324

Where are the Presidential Candidates on Our Issue?
Republican Candidate Governor George Bush
(From his New Freedom Initiative, released June 15, 2000 )

COMMUNITY LIVING:
	“Every law depends on good faith in observance, and consistency in enforcement. The fact is that some requirements of ADA have yet to be fulfilled. This is especially true for people who face mental illness and mental retardation.
	In the Olmstead case last year, the Supreme Court ruled that, wherever possible, persons with mental illness are entitled to live in the “most integrated” community settings rather than in institutions. This ruling however, has not been completely carried out. As president, as I have as Governor, I will sign an executive order committing my administration to the implementation of the Olmstead decision.”
	He says he will also create a national commission to recommend mental health service reforms.

HOUSING 
Reform Section 8 Rental program so recipients with disabilities can use a year’s worth of vouchers to finance the down payment on home of their own, and continue using vouchers for mortgage payments.

INDEPENDENT LIVING/ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY
Support development of assistive technology (triple Rehab Engineering Research Centers funding, create new fund for small business to help bring technology to market) and low interest loans for folks to buy it with (increase funds tenfold).

EDUCATION
Support IDEA, increase funding, identify kids with disabilities earlier and promote reading ($5 billion).

WORK
Support telecomuting to work ($20 mil in matching funds for technology and business tax credit) and implement Ticket to Work Act.

ACCESS
$5 million extra for technical assistance to small business to comply with ADA, support voting access and $10 million each year for access by religious and civic group access.

Democratic Candidate Vice President Al Gore
(from press release July 25, 2000)
COMMUNITY LIVING
* Implement Olmstead, work with states, people with disabilities and seniors to develop comprehensive plans
* Establish public-private Fund to increase availability and quality of personal assistance and support (at home, work or school)
* Expand Medicaid payment for community-based care to the same levels as nursing homes.
* Increase funding for Independent Living Centers to $75 million per year
* Increase collaboration between HUD, the disability community, public housing authorities and other interested parties
* Ensure that public housing authorities Consolidated Plans consider the housing needs of individuals with disabilities, and work to expand home ownership programs
* Support public/private partnerships, such as Access Housing 2000, to assist transition from nursing homes and other institutional settings into community living
* Explore the use of Individual Development Accounts to help individuals with
disabilities and their families save for education and other purposes

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
* Launch Disability-to-Work Initiative to increase employment of people with disabilities
* Challenge the private sector to increase hiring of people with disabilities
* Prepare youth with disabilities for work
* Double the federal governments hiring of people with disabilities
* Double the number of youth with disabilities in government internships
* Ensure that the federal governments technology is accessible
* Encourage the private sector to develop accessible technology
* Enact a $1,000 tax credit for work-related expenses
* Double proposed funds for accessible technology from $35 to $70 million

HEALTH CARE, INCLUDING MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES
* Provide a long overdue prescription drug benefit
* Enact a $3,000 long-term care tax credit for caregivers
* Patient’s Bill of Rights
* Save Social Security --  * Secure Medicare for the future
* Assure full mental health parity for children
* Assure no parent must choose between custody and mental health services
* Invest in accountable community mental health services

EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
* Support (IDEA)
* Increase in special education funding and expanded funding
* Increase funding for Parent Training and Information Centers

TOUGH ENFORCEMENT OF CIVIL RIGHTS LAWS
* Toughen enforcement of ADA, IDEA and Fair Housing Act
* Increase the funds for HHS Office of Civil Rights by $50 million over ten years
* Strengthen the hate crimes law to include disability

. . . And The Steps Came Tumbling Down - ADAPT's battle with the HBA
 by Anita Cameron
Thursday, March 2nd, as the Home Builders Association was having their Home Solutions 2000 Expo at Denver’s Currigan Hall, ADAPT held its own Home Solutions Expo out front on its first of four days of protest against the Home Builder’s Association of Metropolitan Denver. ADAPT had tried to work with the HBA for about a year trying to get them to comply with the Fair Housing law and build homes with access. Meetings, letters and committee work were to no avail. It is apparent that the HBA does not want their members building homes with access. The HBA actually wants the Fair Housing Law repealed! They feel that access should be provided on an as-needed basis, and feel that single-family detached homes, townhomes, and condos should continue to be exempted from accessibility requirements. Something had to be done.
	That is why about 80 ADAPT members from Colorado and Kansas were at Currigan Hall on that cold Thursday evening, sending the HBA a strong message. We had great exhibits of our own to show. There was an accessible Barbie doll-house, complete with an elevator. We had two doorways-one accessible, and the other inaccessible, which we went through to demonstrate the usefulness of one, and uselessness of the other. There were pictures of the buildings that Atlantis had bought and remodeled for access, as well as educational materials on accessibility. We even had petitions and flyers with ADAPT’s demands--30% of all new homes to be accessible, 30% of all new homes to be visitable, meaning a no-step entrance and an accessible bath on the first floor, and clear enforcement mechanisms in Colorado’s Fair Housing Law. We marched, sang, and chanted and several ADAPT members spoke of the need for accessible homes and told stories of being forced to buy inaccessible homes, or even move out of state due to the lack of accessible housing. The cops came around trying to get us to leave, but there wasn’t much they could do since we were on the sidewalk for the most part.
	Friday, we were back with more awesome ADAPT stuff, including some gorgeous styrofoam steps that Pat, our wheelchair repair guy had made. After Dawn’s rousing speech, everyone had a chance to tear down the steps with a wooden mallet. Afterwards, we formed a gauntlet in front of the steps to the front doors and passed out flyers. Later we made a human chain chanting “The People United Will Never Be Defeated”.
	On Saturday, back again, we saw that the cops had put up barricades which we quickly removed and got down to the business of letting the HBA know that they weren’t going to ‘turn us around’. Joe Ehman, an ADAPT member who is on the AIA committee, did a cool mock up of Roger Reinhardt, the HBA vice-president who had insulted ADAPT in a meeting a few weeks earlier by calling us simple-minded. Several of us gave interviews with the press, some of us paid to get inside the exhibit to speak with the various builders and contractors about access and pass out a couple of flyers, if we could. Only one small exhibit out of hundreds that had anything remotely to do with access. This time, the cops sent out a trained negotiator to tell us the police wanted ADAPT to stay in this ‘area’ that they had designated by the barricades. We told him that if he brought Roger Reinhardt out to speak to us, that we would leave. A few minutes later, he brought Roger out, but he had nothing to offer us but the same tired old discriminatory solutions that ADAPT would not accept. We kept our word, though, and left with a warning from the police that if we came back tomorrow, and did not stay within the barricades, that we would be arrested. Little did they know...
	On Sunday, we swept in, meaning nothing but business. We quickly sped up the ramps and began blocking and handcuffing ourselves to doors. The cops were there, but not quick enough to stop us. They began yelling out warnings, and soon, the arrests began. When the dust cleared, 17 ADAPT members were arrested and charged with blocking, and refusing to obey a lawful order.
	The Home Builders Association tour of homes was another target of protests in July. After ignoring ADAPT’s call for an accessible house in the Tour of Homes, for which the home builders build a series of NEW homes, this showcase even became an action packed showcase. Crawling into homes, picketing outside and eventually committing civil disobedience, Colorado ADAPT members sent the homebuilders a message that access can no longer be blown off. Challenging the Homebuilders to stop ignoring access to housing for people with disabilities, ADAPT continues their drive to end the excuses.

Judge Rules to End the Waiting List in Massachusetts
Massachusetts US District Court 
		Judge Douglas Woodlock has 
		ordered this July, that all mentally retarded adults eligible for Medicaid services currently on long waiting lists be provided services within 90 days. The ruling came in response to families of mentally retarded adults who have been trying for years, and in some cases decades, to receive Medicaid services. Although the lawsuit was filed by five families, the judge ruled that the state should provide the same benefits to the 2,600 mentally retarded patients in the state who have faced years of delays. “Where some of the delays extend more than a decade, I have little trouble finding that the defendants have not been reasonably prompt,” wrote Woodlock in his 61-page decision. “Those individuals on the waiting list need the services for which they are waiting,” he added. The decision marks the first time the court has ordered a state to provide community-based residential services to eligible mentally retarded adults within a specific time period. As of this writing it is uncertain if the state will appeal.
“Those individuals on the waiting list need the services for which they are waiting.”

Administration Announces Major New Initiative to
Promote Real Choice and Community Based Services
	At a recent meeting with members of the disability community, including representatives from ADAPT, Vice President Gore announced a series of new initiatives to promote disabled people’s ability to choose to live at home in the community. Among other things these included:
	$50 million in FY 2001 (starts Oct. 2000) to help states more easily offer services to people with disabilities in the most integrated setting appropriate, develop comprehensive plans to implement Olmstead (and as outlined in Section IV of MiCASSA),
	New guidance to state Medicaid Directors on implementing Olmstead:
•	You don’t have to be confined to your home to get Medicaid home health services, and in fact, such a requirement is a violation of the recipient’s rights.
•	States with home and community based services can pay for personal attendant services while consumer is in the hospital or away from home for up to 30 days.
•	States can get federal funds to targeted case management for folks leaving institutions for up to 180 days (used to be 30 days) to help the person transition out.
•	States can use Medicaid waiver dollars to provide prevocational, educational and supported employment services to people of all ages with all kinds of disabilities.
	Establish a national mental health coalition to promote community based services for people with mental illness and substance abuse disabilities.
	On the housing side of the issue:
	HHS and HUD will commit, subject to appropriations, $20 million over 5 years to expand availability of accessible, affordable housing for people with disabilities and provide supports for folks transitioning out of institutional settings to community ones. 400 rental assistance vouchers will be available this year for folks transitioning out.
	Also extend earned income disregards (now only apply to public housing) to tenant based rental assistance, HOME program, HOPWA and Supportive Housing for the Homeless program, and HUD is working to extend this to all their programs. Deductions for disability related expenses (like medical or attendant care expenses) apply to the entire range of HUD housing programs.
	HUD will send guidance to all FHA mortgagees encouraging all lending partners to make home ownership possible for people with disabilities by making underwriting more flexible.

Georgians with Disabilities Seek Leadership from Georgia’s Attorney
General Baker
ATLANTA - Attorney General Thurbert Baker signed a pledge signifying his support of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and was invited to join Governor Barnes in celebrating the tenth year anniversary of this civil rights statute for people with disabilities on June 20, 2000 on the steps of the Capitol. He was met by disability rights protesters, demanding he do more than sign his name in support of the ADA. “We appreciate Attorney General Baker’s signature on the ADA pledge, but we are confused about why he is arguing that the State of Georgia does not have to comply with the ADA”, stated Pat Puckett, Executive Director of the Statewide Independent Living Council of Georgia. Attorney General Baker is defending the State of Georgia’s action of a Superior Court Judge William F. Lee who refused to allow Larissa Bockenek to participate in the process to be selected for a jury.
	Ms. Bockenek, an elementary school speech pathologist, was summoned for jury service in September 1997. She explained to her young students that she had been called to jury duty and offered to tell them about her jury duty experience when she returned to school. She notified the courthouse that she uses a wheelchair as requested on the jury summons. “However when I reported for service, I was surprised to find the courtroom was located on the second floor of the building with no elevator. Further the courtroom itself contained raised platforms that prevented me from sitting with the other potential jurors in the jury box. Judge Lee sent me home saying that I could not serve because jury service would involve moving back and forth between inaccessible areas. He later told me that he was not going to inconvenience a large number of people just to accommodate me.” In a follow-up conversation, Ms. Bockenek learned that there were other locations available to Judge Lee providing more access but for some reason he decided not to use them.
	After further conversations with the courthouse and Judge Lee, Ms. Bockenek contacted the Americans with Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) which eventually brought suit on her behalf under the Americans with Disabilities Act, ADA. Georgia Lord, attorney for Ms. Bockenek, explained that “the ADA...requires that the governmental program or service, in this case, the jury selection process, take place in an accessible location when one is needed. The jury selection process could be moved to another location which is accessible for a person who uses a wheelchair.”
	“We do not understand how the court system, which exists  to protect the rights of the people before it, could deny a person the right to perform the duties of citizenship just because he or she has a disability or is deaf” said ADAPT member Zan Thornton. “In Coweta County, US Senator Max Cleland would be denied jury service. How can the Attorney General use taxpayer resources arguing such action is allowable or that a judge does not have to comply with the ADA?”

I Fought the System
and I Won!!! 
Ken Kendall’s ADA Rally 
Speech - July 22, 2000
[Editor’s note: Just a few short months ago, the state of Iowa was trying to force Ken into a nursing home because they said he needed more services than their community programs provided. Never mind that Ken could be served at less cost and better quality in the community. Never mind that Ken would have rather died than go to a nursing home. Never mind that the ADA guarantees his right to services in the most integrated setting. Well Ken learned them different. And now he is getting services in his own home.]
If I can do it, anyone can!!! This is the 
	10th Anniversary of the Americans with 
	Disabilities Act and still, more work needs to be done in this new Millennium. We must pass MiCASSA, the bill which will provide the necessary funding to support and keep persons with disabilities in their homes and to give us the freedom to choose where we live in this society. We also need personal assistance services to keep persons with disabilities in their own homes and communities, which they love. From my own personal experience, I HAVE DONE THE IMPOSSIBLE!!!
	My mission is two-fold. Not only have I advocated for myself to pressure the system to stay in my own home and won, I AM PAVING THE WAY FOR OTHERS. What I am doing is extremely important and it is precedent setting for all of us who are disabled in this community and beyond.
	I am a quadriplegic who breathes on a ventilator machine. I have the same condition as the actor Christopher Reeves, however, I have been injured longer, am younger and am better looking than he is.
	Regardless of my paralysis, I lead a very active life. Not only do I direct my own care, I also brush my own teeth, and unfortunately, I pay bills like you do. I am a telephone dependent quad, who is very intelligent and well able to communicate because I must constantly keep in touch with the rest of the world.
	I love life. My life includes hanging out with friends, dining out, attending movies, participating in the community, and changing the world. I take nothing for granted.
	With the help of personal assistants, whom I hire, my life has been greatly enhanced. Personal assistants help me to live as normal a life as I possibly can, including the accomplishments of my goals, desires and dreams. Personal assistants are an extension of my hands. What machine can you buy that provides the services that a personal assistant can provide? None. We must have adequate funding for Personal Assistant Services at competitive wages.
	I want to challenge everyone here, and across the country, to contact legislators and put pressure on them to pass MiCASSA, for my sake as well as millions of other persons with disabilities.
	To the legislators that are present, please take my message with you: Vote to pass MiCASSA, NOW!!! We deserve the same rights and opportunities as non-disabled people in our society. I am certain that if we keep up the fight, we will make this world a better place for persons with disabilities!

Disability Rights Exhibit in the Nation’s Museum
	In Honor of the 10th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, ADA, the Smithsonian Museum has a exhibit on the disability rights movement. Located in the Museum of American History, the exhibit touches on many aspects of the disability rights movement as well as highlighting technological aides for people with disabilities. Though small, the exhibit packs in a lot. It is hoped the exhibit once it has finished in Washington DC, will travel around the country. Many agree it is a great beginning and needs to be expanded.
	In case you are not going to be in DC in the next month or so, the Smithsonian has also launched a website for Disability Rights just this month, July 2000. You can find it at http://americanhistory.si.edu/disabilityrights/index.html

Lois and Elaine, 
FREE at LAST
Bill Osinski, Atlanta Journal Constitution, 7-12-2000
	Finally, EW and LC are home.
	At a hearing Tuesday before a federal judge in Atlanta, Elaine Wilson and Lois Curtis --- long identified by their initials [EW and LC] in their struggle to stay out of state mental hospitals --- celebrated the end of their legal battle. Their case has had a significant impact on how care is provided to mentally disabled people nationwide.
	Wilson and Curtis confidently stepped up to tell US District Senior Judge Marvin Shoob what their landmark victory means to them.
	“Now that I’m in the free world, I love my freedom,” said Wilson, 48, institutionalized at least 36 times. “When I was in the hospital, I felt like I was in a little box, and I couldn’t get out.”
	Curtis, 32, said she can now exercise the right to do little things she was never allowed before, like go to her room and listen to her radio.
	Three years ago, Shoob ruled that arbitrarily denying them a community-based life amounted to segregation of persons covered by the Americans With Disabilities Act. Last year, the Supreme Court upheld that ruling. On Tuesday, Shoob accepted a settlement that guarantees Wilson and Curtis will be provided community-based housing and training programs for the rest of  their lives.
Lois Curtis at the Spirit of ADA Torch relay celebration in Atlanta. A plaintiff in the Olmstead case, Lois Curtis symbolizes deinstitutionalization and the heart of the disability rights movement.
Photo by Jacqueline Kravetz

Lack of Access Drives 
Man to Death
by Fred Shotz
(Originally published on 
the ADA-LAW listserv)
	Marc Moyantcheff did not have an easy life. Marc was born with cerebral palsy. This condition did not effect his intelligence nor his sense of humor. For 38 years Marc struggled to cope with a disability that left him with no use of his legs, no use of his arms beyond being able to use the joy stick of his power wheelchair, and a severe speech impairment. Marc communicated with me and his other friends by e-mail. He typed by using the tip of his nose to press the keys. Marc lived with his father, Ed, who was his primary caregiver.
	Last year Marc had a brand new experience, he met a woman who became his first and only girlfriend. Marc and Linda shared their love for each other and spent as much time together as was possible. As their relationship grew they wanted to be able to spend some time alone together. There’s not much privacy for a 35 year old man when he is living with his father. Marc had a great idea. He and Linda would rent a room in a local hotel. They could vacation in their home town where Marc knew his way around and knew where he could go in his wheelchair. He figured he would not be far away from his support system, his father and his health care professionals, if any problem was to occur.
	Marc went to the three hotels along U.S. 1 in Stuart. At each hotel he asked to see a room that he could use. Of course Linda had to speak for him as most people could not understand Marc when he spoke. Two of the hotels showed him a room but the room could not be used by a person with a disability who was in a wheelchair full time. The bathrooms were not large enough for him to get in. The roll in showers required by federal law had never been installed. The third hotel he visited didn’t even show him a room. They told him that they were exempt from the federal requirements that mandate wheelchair accessible rooms in all hotels. Instead of getting a hotel room for a weekend vacation with his girlfriend Marc got a lawyer. His lawsuits against the three hotels are still pending in federal court. Marc gave up on finding a hotel room.
	Marc and Linda concluded that the only way to have time alone together would be to live together. That seemed reasonable, that a 35 year old man would choose to live with the woman he loved. They began to look for an apartment to rent. Last week Marc sent me an e-mail. He told me of the difficulty he was having in finding an apartment that was wheelchair accessible. He asked me if any laws existed that would help him to find an apartment that he could use. I wrote back to him explaining that the Fair Housing Act gave him some rights but that he would have to pay the cost himself of alterations such as replacing a bath tub with a roll in shower. I advised him to look at newer apartment complexes as they would have apartments with wider doors and reinforcements in the bathroom walls for grab bars. I sent Marc that e-mail on February 8th.
	On Valentines Day, February 14th, Marc waited until his father went out on errands. He drove his power wheelchair to the end of a dock on the St. Lucie River. He managed to unbuckle the strap that held him in his wheelchair. Marc then found the strength in his arms and legs to throw himself from his wheelchair into the river. Marc died on Valentines Day. He never had a chance to have any of the private time with his girlfriend that he so wanted. He waited for equality until he could not wait anymore.
	Having a girlfriend was the biggest thing that had happened to Marc in years. People with disabilities have the same need to give and receive love and affection as everyone else. After a life of being dependent on his father Marc saw, for the first time, that his life could change, that he could have a life with a person he loved, like other people. The barriers put in his path by the local hotels and by the builders and owners of the apartment complexes in his community caused his death more than the strength he found to throw himself from his wheelchair.

Bush for President Director Subpoenaed
Disabled Activists Seek
Names of Those Visiting Governor’s Mansion
	On Thursday, July 13th Joe Allbaugh, Campaign Director for the ‘Bush for President’ Campaign released to the Travis County Court the names of the individuals who were in the Governor’s Mansion when 17 disabled activists were arrested protesting Texas’ position on the Olmstead case. The Court ordered Joe Allbaugh to release the names because of pretrial motions attempting to gather the names of all potential witnesses who can help ascertain exactly what occurred with the protest and arrests at the Governor’s mansion on February 2, 1999. Of the over 20 names released, most were from Florida.
	The Supreme Court Olmstead case tested whether the ‘most integrated setting’ language in the Americans with Disabilities Act required states to provide support services to people with disabilities in community settings, or if states could choose to provide these services only in nursing homes and other institutions. Texas, under the leadership of Attorney General John Cornyn and Governor George Bush actively supported the states rights and anti-disability side of the argument. In the end the Court ruled that unnecessary institutionalization is discrimination.
	The protests were organized to send a message to Governor Bush that discrimination against people with disabilities would not be tolerated. Texas should support the civil rights of people with disabilities by implementing the ‘most integrated setting’ language in the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Governor and Attorney General’s stance of states rights over disability civil rights is as offensive as it would be for any other civil rights.

KC MO, Which Side 
Are You ON?
	Friday, July 14, 2000 the City of Kansas City, Missouri cosponsored a celebration of the tenth anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. At the same time, the City in its pending appeal of the case Gorman v. Bartch, is contending in the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit that Title II of the ADA, which applies to state and local governments, is unconstitutional and cannot be enforced against the City. “Why would a city commemorate a law that it argues is unconstitutional?” asks David C. Robinson, Executive Director of the Whole Person, Inc. CIL of Kansas City, MO.

MiCASSA at the
Democratic Convention
Although both parties (Democrats and Republicans) promised ADAPT we would be invited to address their conventions, only the Democrats lived up to that commitment. Kyle Glozier spoke, and thanks to late schedules he spoke close to prime time. Here is what he said:
Hello I am Kyle Glozier, a 14 year 
	old freshman at West Greene High 
	School in Greene County, Pennsylvania. I’ve advocated for disability rights with ADAPT since I was 8 years old. ADAPT is a national grassroots disability rights organization that wants to change the institutional bias in the long term care system so no person, young or old, is forced into a nursing home or other institution. ADAPT is working to create a national attendant care program called the Medicaid Community Attendant Services and Supports Act or MiCASSA. Introduced by Senators Tom Harkin, Democrat from Iowa, and Arlen Specter, Republican from Pennsylvania, MiCASSA, or S 1935, gives Americans with disabilities a real choice of where we live and receive services. Right now Medicaid guarantees care in a nursing home or other institution, but gives no guarantee in the community. This is wrong! They say “America the land of the free”, but really we are not free when the walls of institutions and nursing homes keep children, young adults, and older people locked up, because of a failed 35 year old policy. MiCASSA will reform the system and let the money and services follow the person! You need to support this goal.
	In a speech to West Berlin in June 1963, John F. Kennedy said: “Freedom has many difficulties and democracy is not perfect, but we have never had to put a wall up to keep our people in, to prevent them from leaving us. While the wall is the most obvious and vivid demonstration of the failures of the Communist system, for all the world to see, we take no satisfaction in it, for it is, as your Mayor has said, an offense not only against history but an offense against humanity, separating families, dividing husbands and wives and brothers and sisters, and dividing a people who wish to be joined together. Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free.”
	Putting people in Nursing Homes or other institutions without giving them any other choices, is an offense against history and an offense against humanity. The Berlin wall was torn down and now is the time to Tear down the Walls of the Nursing homes and other Institutions that separate families, divide husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, and people who wish to be in the community. It is time for the Democratic Party to reform the long term care system, pass MiCASSA and FREE OUR PEOPLE!
	The Supreme Court ruled last year in the Olmstead case that people should be in the most integrated setting if that was their choice, and that unnecessary institutionalization is discrimination. In October another case will be heard that questions the constitutionality of the ADA. If the States get the right to implement the ADA any way they choose, the civil rights of people with disabilities will be abolished, and all our hard work of the past 10 years will have to begin all over! The States are not allowed to rule the civil rights of other minority groups in America and it’s not fair to let them rule the civil rights of people with disabilities.
	IDEA has allowed me to be taught in the “Most integrated setting.” Regular education with supports, gives me the same education as my non-disabled peers. IDEA still has a long way to go; kids are still segregated in “special ed” classrooms where they learn about 10% of what they need to know to live. IDEA needs to take the Special out of Education and teach ALL kids! Because of the ADA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 people with disabilities can exercise our civil rights and can contribute to society, by living, learning and working in the community. But again, there is still a lot of work to be done. Inaccessible buildings are still being built. Movie stars, like Clint Eastwood testify to Congress because they are sued for breaking the law. Businesses discriminate against disabled employees. Too often people like myself are at a much greater risk of institutionalization because of the higher level of care we need to remain independent.
	I’m lucky because my parents learned about federal laws to help me. They learned early that professionals didn’t have high expectations for me, and decided that high expectations were the only way I would get anywhere in this world. They made sure, after a doctor recommended that I live in a crippled children’s hospital, that I get the same opportunities as my brothers, Jason and Nigel. Thank you mom and dad!
	I’m not safe though. When I turn 18 and my parents aren’t there I will be at a much greater risk of going into a nursing home or other institution. And I am just one of thousands of Americans caught in this “offense against humanity”. I dream of going to college to be a writer and lawyer, and eventually becoming the first United States President with Cerebral Palsy! Who knows, in the year 2024, I may be up here again giving my acceptance speech for your nomination. Without a guarantee of services in the community, my dreams will not be realized, they will be my nightmare. What are the Democrats going to do for my future? What will you do to reform the long term care system? I challenge the Democratic Party to work with people with disabilities, and future leaders like myself to reform the long term care system, pass MiCASSA, Tear down the walls and FREE OUR PEOPLE.

Danielle Holdsworth
Cassie (James) Holdsworth gave birth to Danielle Wednesday, July 12, 2000 at 6:19am.  Danielle was 5lbs 9oz at birth and according to her dad, Johnny Crescendo (aka Alan Holdsworth) she is gorgeous.  She had some complications afterward, but her folks say Danielle is on the mend again and has them wrapped around her tiny little fingers already!

Passages
Lyle Bald Eagle

	A light has gone out in Pine Ridge, South Dakota. Lyle Bald Eagle died this past April.
	I have fallen on a stone. The wind has been knocked out of me. Lyle was a Lakota Sioux warrior who walked in two worlds. He practiced traditional Sioux ways. He started the “Quad Squad,” which was a group of wheelchair riders that advocated for independent living. He was utterly committed to building an independent living and rehabilitation center there that took account of the realities of reservation life. He worked for Vocational Rehabilitation; over 200 using the services of the vocational rehabilitation office in Kyle, SD, only one small part of the Pine Ridge Reservation where he lived. Lyle often spoke about being in the Color Guard as a Vietnam War veteran. It was an important aspect of his life.
	Lyle had a terrific, understated sense of humor. We learned of each other through mutual friends and finally met at the five day ADAPT action in Washington, DC. sitting on the stairs off the hotel lobby. We’d both been political prisoners. Quite a bond. After the ADAPT action, Lyle stayed for a week while he lobbied Congress and bureaucrats for funds for the IL Center. Lyle would regale us with tales of his day. He approached officials knowing the government had lost and misused funds belonging to Native Americans, the trail of broken treaties and stolen land. His was not a cap in hand, begging approach. I’m sure he raised many an official eyebrow when he half joked that he brought a large plastic garbage bag and wanted them to fill it with money and fund the independent living center.
	Lyle Bald Eagle was a powerful man, a great healer who used his talent in a variety of ways. Counselor, father, husband, teacher, activist, friend. The loss of Lyle Bald Eagle will be felt by many.
	May Wakan-Tanka* hold you on your journey to the light, Lyle. Mitakuye oyasin.*
	Janine Bertram Kemp
*Wakan-Tanka is the Sioux word for Spirit or God.
* Mitakuye oyasin means “all my relations” and is used in prayer to denote the oneness or inter-connectedness of all.

Mark Your Calendars!!
 Make Tracks for DC!!

          This fall ADAPT will return to the nation’s capitol September 30th through October 5th.
* The Supreme Court will begin it’s fall session when it will hear the Garrett case and rule on the Constitutionality of the ADA.
* Our nation will be closing in on elections, including the Presidential election.
* Movers and shakers in the area of attendant services and long term care will be back in town.
* Congress will be wrapping up its work for this term and session.
          We made great headway this spring, but we need to make more! So join us! Call National ADAPT 303/733-9324 to reserve your room today.

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