FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 28, 1998
Contact: Jennifer Burnett
(717) 238-0172
Members of ADAPT (American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today)
are
traveling from across the nation to call for a national program of home
and
community based services. 600 disability rights activists will be in
Memphis
the week of May 10th for 4 days of demonstrations in protest of our
nation's
very poor commitment to REAL choice in long term services. On Mother's
Day,
ADAPT will give out the Ten Worst States Awards, recognizing the ten
states
that have made the least progress in moving from institutional services
to
home and community-based programs. Without question, Tennessee will be
among
the states awarded. The rest of the week will be spent in locations
throughout Memphis, raising consciousness about this issue and others
that
affect the rights of all disabled Americans.
In America, there are more than 2.2 million people living in
nursing homes and other institutions, many of whom could live in their
own
home with appropriate services and support. However, the reality is that
our tax dollars for programs affecting people with disabilities,
including
children and older Americans, are largely spent on institution care.
Nationally, 80% of the Medicaid dollars which go to long term care is
spent in institutions, while a mere 20% is spent in home and community
based services.
Federal policy and funding patterns over the past 35 years have
led to a fragmented long term service and support system that is biased
toward nursing homes, large facilities for people with cognitive
disabilities, and unnecessary institutionalization for people with mental
disabilities. People are forced into nursing homes and other institutions
simply because the system doesn't allow them to use Medicaid and other
state funds to purchase services in their own homes.
Since 1990, ADAPT has been working to change this institutional
bias. The cornerstone of ADAPT's REAL Choice campaign for home and
community based services is MiCASA, The Medicaid Community Attendant
Services Act of 1997. This legislation was introduced last June by
Speaker
of the House Newt Gingrich, and now has 53 co-sponsors. Congress recently
held hearings in Washington, DC, to learn more about the institutional
bias in our long term services system. MiCASA would give people REAL
choice, by allowing resources that now pay for them to live in a nursing
home or other institution to be used where they choose. To most
Americans, home is where the heart is. A nursing home is not where any
of
us want to live. MiCASA for REAL Choice!!!
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FOR MORE INFORMATION on American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today (ADAPT) Please visit our website at http://www.adapt.org/
For direct inquiries regarding this press release please use the contact information at the beginning of this message or Email adaptpr(AT)adapt.org
NATIONAL ADAPT MAILING LIST - Gold List of Adapt Organizers This is a private list and should not be disseminated to others without express permission to do so.
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