Via Steve Gold:

"Forced Institutionalization of People With Disabilities Is Illegal" -
DOJ and Federal Court Ruling.

By Gail Zoppo - Jun 25, 2010 reprinted from DiversityInc.

The U.S. District Court in Jacksonville, Fla., ruled this week that
Michele Haddad must be provided with services that will allow her to stay
in her home. Haddad, who has a spinal-cord injury caused by a motorcycle
accident with a drunk driver three years ago, was at risk of being forced
into a nursing home because of changes in her caregiver situation.
Although the 49-year-old woman has been on the waiting list for Medicaid
community-based waiver services for two years and had alerted the state of
her need, she was told that the requested services would only be available
if she was admitted to a nursing home for 60 days.

In Haddad v. Arnold, the plaintiff argued that she would suffer
irreparable harm if forced to enter a nursing home.

The court agreed, ordering the state to offer Haddad community-based
services. The reason: Segregating people with disabilities is a form of
discrimination, as found in Olmstead v. L.C. This landmark
disability-rights decision determined that isolating people with
disabilities in institutional settings deprives them of the opportunity to
participate in their communities, interact with individuals who don't have
disabilities and make daily choices. The ruling also acknowledged that
unnecessary institutionalization stigmatizes people with disabilities.

The Olmstead decision, which marks its 11th anniversary this week, is not
the first such case that the U.S Department of Justice has filed briefs.
The DOJ is involved in several other cases in Illinois and New Jersey, as
part of its mission to end discrimination against people with
disabilities.

"In the Olmstead case, the court recognized that the unnecessary
segregation of individuals with disabilities stigmatizes those individuals
as unworthy of participation in community life," stated Assistant Attorney
General for the Civil Rights Division Thomas E. Perez. "By supporting Ms.
Haddad in this case, we seek to ensure that individuals with disabilities
can receive services in the most integrated setting appropriate, where
they can participate in their communities, interact with individuals who
do not have disabilities and make their own day-to-day choices."

The Department of Justice's involvement in these cases reinforce the Obama
administration's national efforts to protect the rights of all people.

"This work is a priority for the Civil Rights Division, and we are
committed to aggressive enforcement of Olmstead so that we can build upon
progress made over the last 11 years," said Perez earlier this week. "But
our work is only one piece of a larger, administration-wide effort to make
the promise of Olmstead a reality for individuals with disabilities
nationwide. Real reform requires a holistic approach. As a lifelong public
servant, I recognize that the most vexing problems a government faces are
those that require unprecedented interagency collaboration and
coordination. The unnecessary and illegal institutionalization of
individuals with disabilities who would be better served, and better able
to contribute to their communities, if they were provided services in
integrated settings, is one of those problems."

Back in the Saddle

ADAPT and Defending Our Freedom is happy to announce that we are back in the blog saddle after some time out of commission. Expect to see new updates on our struggle for community choice! We have also recruited some helpers so the workload of posting posts is shared. Onward and upward...

Money Follows the Person in USA Today

Nursing-home residents get aid to move out

By Phil Galewitz, Kaiser Health News

PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. — Richard Hasselbach and Deborah Kadlec met in a nursing home and dreamed of a life together outside its walls.

Their health conditions made living on their own a challenge: Hasselbach, 63, is disabled from a stroke and lost a leg to a blocked artery. Kadlec, 52, has multiple sclerosis. They both use wheelchairs and need help with basic chores such as bathing, cooking and remembering to take their medicines. Most of their relatives live in other states.

Despite those obstacles, Hasselbach and Kadlec got their own apartment and a personal care aide last summer through the help of a federally funded program run by the state. The program, known as Money Follows the Person, is the nation's most ambitious effort to move people out of nursing homes and other long-term-care facilities. It aims to help them live on their own and also save tens of millions of dollars for Medicaid, the state-federal health insurance program for the poor and disabled that pays for two-thirds of nursing home bills in the U.S.

Nationally, nursing home care averages about $75,190 per patient each year. Care in the home, through such services as meals-on-wheels and daily visits by a health aide, averages $18,000 a year, according to the AARP Public Policy Institute.

The program gives nursing home residents personal and financial help to live on their own or in small group settings, as well as payments for costs such as apartment security deposits, household furniture and alterations to make homes or cars accessible to the handicapped.

Georgia is one of 29 states and the District of Columbia participating in Money Follows the Person. Its experience shows both early successes and an illustration of the program's slow start nationwide. Georgia had hoped to move 1,312 people from nursing homes and other long-term-care facilities by 2013. Through the end of last year, though, it had moved only 221.

Combined goal: Moving 37,000 out

Congress established Money Follows the Person in 2005, and states set a combined goal of moving out more than 37,000 residents from nursing homes and other facilities by 2013. Most states, including Georgia, started their programs in 2008. Two years later, just 5,774 residents have moved nationally.

Most states are moving slowly for various reasons: problems finding affordable housing, resistance from nursing homes and stringent federal rules that limit who is eligible and what types of community settings they can move into, according to a study by Mathematica, a Princeton, N.J.-based think tank that is evaluating the program for the federal government.

For more, see http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2010-04-21-nursing-homes_N.htm.

North Carolina Faces In Home Services Cuts

Proposed N.C. budget has personal impact
Posted: April 22
Updated: April 23

Born with cerebral palsy, Valerie Harper is paralyzed on her right side. Swollen limbs and severe arthritis, she says, cause her constant pain.

"I can't stand very long. I can't walk that far," Harper, 51, said Thursday.

Yet, she lives on her own, with the help of an aide who comes in two to three hours a day, five to six days a week, to assist with day-to-day tasks such as fixing meals, dressing and bathing.

"She's really like a part of me," Harper said.

But proposed budget cuts could leave Harper and thousands of others who qualify for a state-funded program called In-Home Personal Care Services without that extra help they need to live independently.

Gov. Bev Perdue's $19 billion spending plan, which includes cutting about $386 million from the Department of Health and Human Services' budget, recommends eliminating the program and creating a new one for adults with the most severe needs.

Patient advocates say the move would force thousands of people from their homes and into state facilities, where the cost of care is more expensive.

For the full story, go to: http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/7470899/.

"It appears that in Texas there is no justice for sadists..."

January 23, 2010
Tom Perez
United States Department of Justice
Criminal Investigation Division
P.O. Box 66018
Washington D.C. 20035-6018

Dear Mr. Perez,

On behalf of Community Now! a Texas statewide advocacy group with a mission to support people with disabilities to live in their communities please accept this sincere and critical request to investigate numerous former Texas state employees who committed horrific acts of violence against residents of several state institutions for people with intellectual disabilities. Upon investigation and if warranted, we sincerely request that those individuals found guilty of criminal acts be charged by the DOJ with Hate Crimes against people with disabilities. It was recently reported in the Texas Tribune (note enclosed article) that since 2000, 75 former employees were fired because of confirmed Class 1 Abuse. This level of abuse is the most heinous and includes sexual and physical assault, murder and gross neglect. Of those 75 individuals, only two were incarcerated for their crimes.

It appears that in Texas there is no justice for sadists who commit violent crimes against our most vulnerable and at risk citizens. The Department of Aging and Disability Services (DADS), the agency who operates these facilities points to Adult Protective Services, (APS) the agency that investigates abuse and neglect at these facilities. APS points to local law enforcement and local law enforcement points to the County Prosecutors and the Prosecutors do little to nothing with these cases. And with everyone pointing fingers at everyone else, people in these facilities are abused without accountability thus sending a clear message to other facility staff that you can get away with murder.

Even with state institution reform legislation passed in the previous Texas Legislative Session (SB 643), it appears that the Ombudsman position with increased oversight authority of these facilities has not been appointed by Governor Perry and even with a network of Ombudsman, there is limited authority by the Texas Attorney General to investigate and prosecute state employees with confirmed Class 1 Abuse if the County Prosecutor is not willing to do so.

As you most likely know, Texas entered into a settlement for numerous civil rights violations investigated by the DOJ CRIPPA division. Currently, the conditions of these facilities are being monitored by the DOJ. Hopefully something will come of this monitoring to ensure the safety of those who live in these facilities.

Further, the hope is that the DOJ will ensure Olmstead is honored by closely monitoring the right of residents to leave the facility to live in the community upon their request.

Let me be clear, I am not asking for any further investigation from the DOJ regarding CRIPPA. On behalf of Community Now! we strongly request the immediate investigation and charges of Hate Crimes against those perpetrators of these despicable crimes. I was provided your name by the leadership at the Regional Office of Civil Rights. If you are not the right person to make the decision to investigate these crimes, I implore you to forward this letter to the individual charged with leading Hate Crime investigations at the DOJ with all haste. And if this is not within the authority of the DOJ, please provide me with the contact information of the appropriate person and agency to contact.

I look forward to your prompt response and immediate action to our requests. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

David Wittie, President
2316 Bristol Street
Bryan, Texas 77802
512-577-8982

CC;
Governor Rick Perry
Lt. Governor David Dewhurst
United States Senator John Cornyn
United States Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison
United States Representative Lloyd Doggett
State Senator Jane Nelson
State Senator Steve Ogden
State Senator Jeff Wentworth
State Representative Abel Herrera
State Representative Larry Phillips
State Representative Patrick Rose

State Budget in Kansas a Life and Death Struggle

Lives on the line in budget crisis, advocates for disabled say
By Scott Rothschild
April 16, 2010

Topeka — For Kansans with disabilities, the fight over the state budget is a life and death struggle.

Since 2009, 65 Kansans have died while on waiting lists for services that provide assistance in-home or in the communities, according to organizations that advocate on behalf of those with disabilities.

“They did not die in dignity,” said Shannon Jones, executive director of the Statewide Independent Living Council of Kansas. “People are languishing. Reducing their quality of life does lead to their death without dignity,” she said.

Because of plummeting tax revenues, Gov. Mark Parkinson in November ordered a 10-percent cut in Medicaid. Other social service spending was approved by legislators in February.

That has left more than 4,300 people on waiting lists for services.
Parkinson, who has proposed a temporary state sales tax increase of 1 cent per dollar, and an increase in the cigarette tax, has vowed to restore the 10 percent Medicaid cut when the wrap up session of the Legislature starts April 28.

But Parkinson has said he doubts there will be enough funding to take care of all those on the waiting list.

“I think the best we can do is restore the Medicaid rates that I previously cut,” he said recently.

For more, see http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2010/apr/16/lives-line-budget-crisis-advocates-disabled-say/?kansas_legislature.

Young Alabamian Forced to Live in Nursing Facility

Some needs of Alabamians with disabilities unmet by state-funded programs
By The Associated Press
April 18, 2010, 7:31AM
Written by Michelle Rupe Eubanks -- The Times Daily in Florence

FLORENCE -- Haylee Cain doesn't belong where she lives.

At 21, she's a spirited and vivacious Crimson Tide fan, thinks wrestler John Cena is the best thing ever, and loves logging on to social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace to catch up with friends.

But because she has cerebral palsy, Haylee lives in a nursing home.

The state of Alabama offers little or no services for people like Haylee, those with potentially debilitating physical ailments who are over the age of 21 and with an IQ of more than 70. One reason for the dearth in care, according to state and local officials, is that there is no money available to support an organization that would provide around-the-clock care or organized day programs.

"It's an issue we talk about. What happens when someone turns 21?" said Kerry Boswell, executive director for the Alabama Department of Rehabilitative Services in Montgomery.

He offers little hope the situation will change in the near future.

For more, see http://www.gadsdentimes.com/article/20100418/APN/1004180506.