Twenty-seven years after the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, unwanted institutionalization remains a serious problem for people with disabilities and seniors.
The Disability Integration Act (S.910, H.R.2472) builds on the 25+ years of work ADAPT has done to end the institutional bias and provide seniors and people with disabilities home and community-based services (HCBS) as an alternative to institutionalization.
The Disability Integration Act (DIA) is a civil rights legislation, introduced by Senator Schumer in the Senate and Representative Sensenbrenner in the House, to address the fundamental issue that people who need Long Term Services and Supports (LTSS) are forced into institutions and losing their basic civil rights.
Despite the fact most people would rather stay in their homes and be in control over their lives, institutional providers are fighting to keep millions of people with disabilities in quasi-institutions which have called themselves “community” but which restrict our ability to come and go, to order our lives, even to eat what or when we choose and when to need to go to sleep.
Imperfect though the justice system is, an elderly person with incontinence and memory issues will have their liberty stripped from them by institutionalization with fewer due process protections than people accused of murder. And this happens every day.
By refusing to cosponsor the Disability Integration Act (HR 2472), Congressman Roskam is continuing the unjust exclusion and segregation of Americans with Disabilities.
ADAPT demands that Congressman Roskam:
- Contact Congressman Sensenbrenner today to cosponsor HR 2472, the Disability Integration Act, a bill which ensures that no Disabled American is denied life and liberty by being forced into an institution.