ADAPT
FREE OUR PEOPLE!
As a progressive organization, the Center for American Progress (CAP) believes…
“America should be a land of boundless opportunity, where people can climb the ladder of economic mobility. We believe we owe it to future generations to protect the planet and promote peace and shared global prosperity. And we believe an effective government can earn the trust of the American people, champion the common good over narrow self-interest, and harness the strength of our diversity.”
CAP helps advance the civil rights of oppressed and marginalized communities, but has failed to adequately reflect the Disability Community in its priorities and work, even though Disabled Americans are routinely forced into nursing facilities and institutions where they are stripped of their civil rights.
To address the injustice of forced institutionalization, ADAPT and others in the Disability Community crafted the Disability Integration Act (S.910/HR.2472). The bipartisan/bicameral legislation strengthens the ADA’s integration mandate and ensures no Disabled American is denied their Constitutional and civil rights to Life and Liberty by requiring they be provided a community-based alternative to institutional placement. The legislation has broad-based support within the Disability Community. It is also supported by the Democratic National Committee, as well as progressive organizations, including The American Civil Liberties Union, Families USA, Indivisible, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Together We Will, Ultraviolet and the Women’s March.
CAP has failed to publicly recognize that there is no level of opportunity behind the walls of the institutions and failed to endorse this critically important civil rights legislation.
Today, ADAPT demands that the Center for American Progress:
- Publicly acknowledge that the Americans with disabilities are being denied their Constitutional and civil rights to life, liberty and due process when they are forced into nursing facilities and other institutions; and
- Issue a statement that the Center for American Progress endorses the Disability Integration Act, bipartisan/bicameral legislation that strengthens the ADA’s integration mandate and ensures no disabled individual is denied their Constitutional and civil rights by requiring people with disabilities be provided a community-based alternative to institutional placement that allows them to lead an independent life.
Click here to download a PDF copy of the demands.
May 15, 2018 - Center for American Progress