More than 500 ADAPT activists from around the country will converge in Chicago September 8th-13th to take action against a crisis in Illinois that is the poster child for a larger national problem. The crisis is directly caused by a record of bad decisions made by Illinois state officials, and the institutional bias built into the way the nation's long term care system is funded.
ADAPT will assure that Gov. Blagojevich knows that his plans to reopen a state institution for persons with developmental disabilities and his lack of support for Money Follows the Person legislation are actions of segregation and in violation of the U.S. Supreme Court's Olmstead decision. ADAPT will also challenge the Illinois Congressional delegation to take a leadership role nationally in eliminating the institutional bias so people with disabilities and older Americans can live at home with dignity.
Currently, Illinois ranks 41st in the nation for providing the community-based services that will allow disabled and older citizens to stay in their own homes. Illinois' long record of being in the bottom ten states puts it among the worst when it comes to human rights in general and disability rights in particular.
"It turns my stomach to know that my state, historically a home of civil rights in America for people of color, is the same state that is one of the worst civil rights performers in regard to people with disabilities,"
said Chicago native Larry Biondi, an organizer with Chicago ADAPT. "I'm ashamed of Illinois' record of institutionalizing people with disabilities. Right now there almost 20,000 people who have said they want to get out of Illinois' nursing homes- nursing homes they never wanted to go into in the first place. But they were forced to go there by the institutional bias in Medicaid funding, and the state's failure to act in accordance with federal law- law that clearly states that people should receive services in '...the most integrated setting,' which is clearly the community!"
While in Chicago, ADAPT will hold a national housing forum that will be attended by HUD Fair Housing Assistant Secretary Kim Kendrick, and state and local officials. At the forum, ADAPT will reveal its national housing agenda; take testimony from people across the country who have had difficulty finding affordable, accessible, integrated housing; and distribute information on pending visitability legislation, and the redirection of HUD's 811 Supportive Housing program funds to projects that are integrated. Currently, the 811 program primarily funds segregated housing situations for people with disabilities.
"As we have begun to make progress in getting people out of institutions, and preventing people from being forced into institutions, the lack of affordable, accessible, integrated housing in typical neighborhoods has become glaringly apparent," said Beto Berrera, a member of Chicago ADAPT and a Chicago housing expert. "We are hosting this national housing forum so that federal officials can hear just how bad the situation is, and to gain their support in working with us to right this wrong."
ADAPT will send a clear message to the Governor of Illinois, the nation's medical community, and Congress that supporting the incarceration of people in institutions for the 'crime' of disability will not be tolerated. In the classic Chicago movie, The Blues Brothers, Jake and Elwood Blues came to Chicago on a mission from God. ADAPT is coming to Chicago on a mission, too....a mission to "Free Our People!"
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All About Developmental Disabilities (AADD) is Atlanta's preeminent resource on developmental disabilities, providing support services to families for more than 55 years. We are often the one place where people with developmental disabilities can go to achieve personal empowerment, family stability and community participation. AADD provides family support; public policy and advocacy; and community engagement.
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