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Hjem / Albumer / Washington DC, Sept. 2006 25
No More Excuses was the theme of this action, and ADAPT protests targeted many of the key barriers to people with disabilities (of all ages) living with support services in the community. We hit the Public Housing Authorities Director's Association and the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities to free up the vouchers we had won for people getting out of nursing homes and promote our Access Across America. ADAPT also targeted AHIP (America's Health Insurance Plans) the lobby group for managed care. Our "we're not cash cows" message got through loud and clear. The last day we hit both the Republican National Committee and HUD and got meetings with both.
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By Mike Ervin (Note: Mike Erwin is a member of Americans Disabled for Attendant Programs Today, a group that works for the civil rights of people with disabilities. This is his account of recent "actions" in Washington, D.C.) Nobody got arrested at the national ADAPT action held from September 12th through the 15th. That wasn’t necessarily by design. Eveg morning as we lined up in front of the Holiday lnn on Street, leaders went through the usual routine of asking people one by one if they were willing to get arrested. But it never proved necessary. ln fact, the most tense confrontation came during training that culminated in the first ADAPT youth T summit, which preceded the action. Ten people between the ages of 18 and 30 were invited to learn about ADA T history, philosophy and tactics and then put that knowledge into practice. The first target chosen was a Starbucks outlet near the National Mall that had two steps at its entrance. There is an accessible side entrance, but it is unmarked, and the door is often locked. ADAPT demanded that a memo be posted instructing employees to keep the door unlocked during store hours and that a sign be placed on the front door indicating the accessible entryway. When presented with the demands on the sidewalk outside the store, the Sunday morning manager threw up her hands, turned and went back behind the counter. ADAPT's young protesters countered by propping open the front door, chanting loudly and waving homemade signs. My favorite read "STAIRBUCKS SUCKS." Then two protesters began crawling up the stairs, which brought the police to the scene. After a brief standoff, the youth relinquished control of the door and the police went inside to try to broker a settlement. But the manager would not come put. The police managed to get her to yield two business cards, one for a regional manager and one for corporate headquarters in Seattle. The young people retreated and vowed to follow up. The first day of the national action began in typical ADAPT fashion. The crowd of about 400 lined up and lowly marched out single file onto the street, avoiding he sidewalks. As is customary in D C., the police held back traffic to ease our passage. As we approached the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hotel, leaders shouted "Go, go, go!" and everyone moved quickly until the hotel lobby Was jammed with chanting, cheering people in wheelchairs. The target was the Public Housing. Authorities Directors Association, which was holding its 2006 legislative forum at the hotel. PHADA represents the professional administrators of approximately 1,900 housing authorities throughout the United States. Soon, PHADA Executive Director Timothy G Kaiser and Policy Analyst Jim Armstrong came out to meet with the leaders. ADAPT Demanded that PHADA indorse its Access Across America affordable-housing DI an , the centerpiece of which is first-priority Designation of thousands of Section 8 housing vouchers 'or people with disabilities to transition out of institutions. Kaiser and Armstrong agreed to a September 25th meeting with ADAPT in Washington, D C. Meanwhile, about 60 ADAPT members split off from the march at the last minute and stormed into the office of the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities with the same demand. CLPHA is composed of PHAs from the 60 largest metropolitan areas, which administer 30 percent of the Section 8 program. With ADAPT members blocking office entrances, CLPHA staff angrily refused to consider any demands Finally, ADAPT leaders Cassie James and Bob Kafka placed a call to CLPHA Board President Sandra B Henriquez, administrator of the Boston Housing Authority, who agreed to an October 4th meeting. Back at the Holiday Inn, more ADAPT leaders were meeting with officials from the National Catholic Partnership on Disability. NCPD was established in 1982 to further implement the 1978 Pastoral Statement of U.S. Catholic Bishops on People with Disabilities, which calls for full inclusion of all per-sons with disabilities in the church and in society. After the meeting, NCPD Executive Director Janice Benton and board Chair Jerry Freewalt came down to the Continued on page 5 - ADAPT (1671)
ADAPT: "NO MORE EXCUSES" - ADAPT (1675)
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[Headline] Action in D.C. [Subheading] ADAPT Lobbies on Capitol Hill [image] [image caption] Chanting "We're not your cash cow, meet with ADAPT now," ADAPT members packed the lobby of the Capitol Hilton Hotel, demanding a meeting with Karen Ignani, CEO of America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), the trade association for many of the nation's managed care organizations. ADAPT got the meeting. American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today (ADAPT) activists from across American descended on Washington, D.C., for a week in September to deliver the message Americans with disabilities will accept "No more excuses," a campaign that echoes a phrase often quoted by Mark McClellan, the director of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid. The purpose of ADAPT's action was to tackle barriers that force people into nursing homes and other institutions or that prevent people with disabilities and older Americans from staying in their own homes in the community with the services and supports they need. Those barriers include the lack of appropriate housing, the lack of personal assistance programs and the movement to integrate long-term care services and supports into state acute health care managed care plans. "As we move out of nursing homes and other institutions, we need affordable, accessible integrated housing to move into," said Cassie James, Philadelphia ADAPT organizer. "An obvious place to start is with the nation's Public Housing Authorities (PHAs). The PHAs have the ability to designate Section 8 housing vouchers specifically for use by people leaving nursing homes and institutions who are receiving home and community-based services. We need to make sure the PHAs do just that. No more excuses" ADAPT members made visits to legislators that resulted in at least one new House co-sponsor for Medicaid Community Attendant Services and Supports Act (MiCASSA), the Community Choice Act (H.R. 910, S 401). The staff of Rep. Bobby Rush (D-M.) called MiCASSA House sponsor, Rep. Danny Davis' (D-M.) office to sign on to the bill. There were other significant highlights of the week. Joe Shapiro's National Pub-lic Radio coverage of the ADAPT action included an interview with McClellan, who credited his work with ADAPT as the reason for Money Follows the Person (MFP). ADAPT targeted the trade associations for the nation's Public Housing Authorities (PHAs), getting meetings with both the PHAs' Directors Association and the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities (CLPHA). ADAPT said that they put the PHAs on notice that they share responsibility with Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for assuring people with disabilities have proper housing. They took on the Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) that currently oversee acute health services in many states, which are beginning to take on long-term services as well. ADAPT will be meeting with the CEO of America's Health Insurance Plans, an MCO trade association, to get a commitment that AHIP members won't con-tract with states to ration long-term services and supports in order to balance their budgets. Support was garnered for MiCASSA from the civil rights-oriented National Catholic Partnership on Disability (NCPD). Continued on page 25 [we don't have the rest of this article] - ADAPT (1678)
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[Headline] Money Follows the Person By Stephanie Thomas November 1st was the deadline for states to apply for the federal Money Follows the Person Rebalancing initiative. It's our understanding 37 states applied. Grants, totaling $890 million, were awarded to 17 states in January 2007: AR, CA, CT, IA, IN, MD, MI, MO, NE, NH, NY, OH, OK, SC, TX, WA, WI. Twenty one other states have been asked by the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services, CMS, to clarify how their plan to rebalance long term care with their proposals. CMS is taking the rebalancing part of this initiative very seriously. The Congressional Budget Office (the same office that gave MiCASSA such a lousy cost estimate) estimates 100,000 people will get out. We should celebrate gaining movement toward real choice and community services. Money Follows the Person has the opportunity to being to tear down the walls of the institutional bias. States could see they can give flexibility so people have real choice in where they get their long term care, and it doesn't have to cost more money overall. So what now? Well, there is more we can do make use of the momentum we have going. First of all, if your state didn't apply this is an excellent opportunity for an Olmstead suit. They've had years to get it together and now the Feds have handed them a great tool to give people choice. If they couldn't even be bothered to apply there is real argument that they are not even trying to do what the Supreme Court said. Start identifying people who want out. Challenge your state to get them out. If your state didn’t apply, or did not get a grant, now is the time to actively remind them that you don't have to have this grant to do MFP. There is not any reason they cannot move the money from the nursing home / institution to the community under the current rules and regulations. States can and are doing it with no federal assistance! Targeted Case Management (TCM) is a Medicaid program that can be used to pay for identifying and coordinating services for folks transitioning out of institutions. This is a link to a good article on TCM: http://www.hcbs.org/ files/ 29/ 1440/ targeted-casemanagementSPAO41404.doc As former CMS Administrator said about MFP: "States have NO MORE EXCUSES.” Second, if your state GOT a grant but you aren’t crazy about the whole plan, don't worry. This is round one. MFP is definitely made for a "do it, fix it" approach. Once states are approved they have to do something called a Demonstration Operational Protocol (DOP) Basically, it's a more detailed plan of how the state will use the grant. (Hint: it's also a plan of how they can make MFP an ongoing part of long term care.) They won't get their grant money unless their plan is approved by CMS, and they have 3-12 months to do it in. It has to include all policies, operating procedures and an evaluation plan. CMS is encouraging states to have all the stakeholders (this means you too) to be involved, and section 6071(1) of the Deficit Reduction Act requires it. For more information on the DOP you can go to the CMS website or email: bob.adapt@sbcglobal. Let's celebrate MFP as a real advance in freeing our people. Then let's put it to good use. And of course we must renew the push for MiCASSA: The Community Choice Act. - ADAPT (1661)
[Headline] ADAPT Has Victories with Initial HUD eeting By Cassie James After our month long campaign to get HUD Secretary Jackson to live up to his previous commitment to meet with ADAPT regarding the ACCESS ACROSS AMERICA proposal, 15 ADAPT representatives met with HUD Secretary Jackson on Monday May 15, 2006. The feel was positive after the meeting, with Jackson, three of his Assistant Secretaries and several other key HUD staff. The three areas Secretary Jackson agreed to are important steps in moving forward on implementing ACCESS ACROSS AMERICA. Jackson agreed to: 1. Send a Secretary Directive encouraging Housing Authorities to help with Money Follows the Person. 2. Host a meeting with CMS and ADAPT at the table so we can assure we are all on the same page in this goal and moving forward on areas that are in our power to help create this pool of vouchers. 3. Meet with ADAPT three times a year to discuss progress on ACCESS ACROSS AMERICA and other issues such as the modification program that could help modify existing units for people with disabilities. ADAPT Power! If we continue the pressure with congress, HUD, and CMS we can make this happen! - ADAPT (1681)
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[Flyer with text 'The crime of disability' and a drawing of a person holding onto bars on a window, and with their left foot chained to a ball in the corner. Text on the bottom reads 'If being old and disabled isn't a crime, why are more than three million of us locked up?']