11/16/18 PRESS ALERT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For More Information:
Bruce Darling (585) 370-6690
Marilee Adamski-Smith (715) 204-4152
WHO: National ADAPT
WHAT: ADAPT returned to our birthplace and celebrates a successful week of holding those in power accountable for respecting and protecting our civil rights
WHERE: Atlantis Community, Inc., 201 S Cherokee St, Denver, CO 80223
WHEN: Thursday, November 15th, 2018
ADAPT returned to our birthplace and celebrates a successful week of holding those in power accountable for respecting and protecting our civil rights
11/16/18 Denver, CO — Forty years after our birth ADAPT has returned to Denver to support our Coloradan ADAPT siblings to protect and preserve their civil rights. Thanks to the careful planning of our Coloradan siblings and the grassroots power of National ADAPT we were able to achieve a number of significant victories.
- ADAPT secured its first meeting with the Trump administration regarding the release of finalized rules ending the Judge Rotenberg Center’s use of painful electric shocks on individuals with disabilities. Health and Human Services Deputy Regional Director Brian Shiozawa agreed to share our concerns with the Secretary, including our concerns about Electronic Visit Verification (EVV), a system that compromises our privacy, discouraged workers from doing this work, and drives funding away from direct services.
- Eric Cobb, HUD Deputy Regional Administrator agreed to set up a series of meetings with our leadership to increase the supply of affordable, accessible, integrated housing. This is critical to our efforts of allowing individuals with disabilities to live outside of institutional settings.
- The Colorado Department of Health Policy and Finance agreed to not require licensure for organizations providing Independent Living Skills Training which has been opposed by the Disability Community in part because licensure would restrict providers and potentially exclude some disabiity-led organizations. ADAPT also received assurance that lived experiences be included in the qualifications for providing services under Colorado Choice Transitions as well as agreement to include the IL philosophy in training of their community choice transitions program staff.
- ADAPT secured an agreement from HCPf that they would remove the “R-word” (a demeaning slur directed at persons with intellectual disabilities) from their policy language.
- The Regional Transportation District (RTD) read and entered our demands for on-demand accessible transportation into the record of their board meeting and agreed to work with ADAPT on improvements to paratransit and to ensure that any cab or third party ride sharing service that contracts with the RTD provide accessible service.
- Secured commitment from Congresswoman DeGette to preserve the life and liberty of disabled Americans by being an initial co-sponsor and championing the Disability Integration Act S.910.
“These victories will bring us closer to disability justice and will keep us at the table with those in power to effect real change” said Dawn Russel lead organizer with Atlantis ADAPT, Denver.
ADAPT’s history, the issues we are fighting for and our activities can be followed on our web site at www.adapt.org, our ADAPT Facebook page and on Twitter – look for #ADAPTandRESIST
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