From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

A handful of protesters were arrested in the courtyard of the Sam Nunn Federal Center in Atlanta Tuesday during a demonstration calling for better long-term care options for people with disabilities.

Representatives of the Office of Homeland Security refused to disclose how many had been arrested and whether they were being temporarily held.

The protest was part of a five-day campaign by members of ADAPT, a national coalition of disability advocates, to seek state compliance with the Supreme Court’s 1999 Olmstead decision. The ruling has been interpreted as directing states to provide community-based supports for people with disabilities rather than continue unwarranted segregation in institutions.

See also: ADAPT Action Report

Foes of a planned group home for people with developmental disabilities in Virginia are acting out of ignorance, prejudice and fear, Colleen Miller writes in the [Harrisonburg, VA], News-Record , adding that their actions are illegal under the federal Fair Housing Act. She says people with developmental disabilities deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. An excerpt:

The arguments made by the opponents of this home are old and patently false. Homes for people with disabilities have existed in communities just like Pleasant View, for many decades, with no negative effect on property values, no increase in crime, and no increase in traffic. These false fears arise from the fact that people with intellectual disabilities have been segregated from society for too long. Simply put, it is a fear borne of the unfamiliar.

The law is unambiguous that individuals with disabilities have the right to live in the community, but awareness of the law alone will not resolve the protests of those who have preconceived notions of individuals with disabilities. Only time, experience and knowledge will overcome those notions. Individuals with intellectual disabilities have been denied their rights for too long. We must continue to break down the barriers between them and their right to freedom and inclusion.

Colleen Miller is director of the Virginia Office for Protection and Advocacy in Richmond.

See also:

A chance to live the good life, By Jeremy Hunt — Harrisonburg [VA] News-Record

Deed restrictions vs. fair housing, By Jeremy Hunt — Harrisonburg [VA] News-Record

From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Some 200 disability advocates rallied at the Georgia state capitol Monday, dispersing only after securing a meeting with Gov. Sonny Perdue’s chief of staff. The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday.

The protesters are seeking state compliance with the Supreme Court’s 1999 Olmstead decision, which directed states to provide community-based supports for people with disabilities rather than continue unwarranted segregation in institutions. They are members of ADAPT, a national disability rights organization.

“It’s a shame that 10 years after Olmstead, more people are going into nursing homes than before, “said Bernard Baker, an organizer with ADAPT’s Atlanta chapter. “Living in the community isn’t a privilege, it’s a civil right, and we are being denied our civil rights.”

Earlier post here.

From the Fredericksburg [VA] Freelance Star and the Culpeper [VA] Star Exponent:

A  community service board in Northern Virginia dropped plans to set up a group home for adults with intellectual disabilities after neighbors complained vehemently to the local board of supervisors.

The Rappahannock-Rapidan Community Services Board (RRCSB) had proposed converting a foreclosed home in a rural neighborhood into a supervised group home for a handful of adults with developmental disabilities who had no criminal backgrounds.

Members of the neighborhood voiced concern that a group home would lead to decreased property values, compromised neighborhood safety, a violation of neighborhood covenants, lost insurance coverage, and safety problems for the residents with disabilities.

One woman promised that she “would be the neighbor from hell” if the group home was established on her street.

See also:

Editorial: We hope the RRCSB can find suitable group home  – Culpeper [VA] Star Exponent

… These people are not criminals or druggies. They are developmentally disabled adults who simply need help doing the things most of us take for granted.

… Living among the rest of society is key to the well-being of developmentally disabled people, which is why the board considered the house in the first place. It works well at other RRCSB homes in the area, not to mention the hundreds of homes nationwide run by The Arc and other such organizations.

From the New York Times:

A growing number of states are teaming up with Medicaid to help elderly people and those with disabilities move out of nursing homes and back into their communities.

Walter Brown, 72, says the transition to his own home has dramatically improved his life. Brown, who had a stroke two years ago, said living in a nursing home was “like being in jail.” Now he says he is “more confident in my future.”

The new programs in 29 states are a sharp departure from past practices, in which Medicaid practically steered people into nursing homes. Each participating state has designed its own program, called Money Follows the Person. The federal government provides extra funding for the first year.

“Medicaid has had an institutional bias in favor of nursing homes,” even for people who do not need them, said Gene Coffey, a staff lawyer at the nonprofit National Senior Citizens Law Center. “Federal law requires states to provide nursing home services. They don’t have to provide home or community-based services.”

(Photo from the New York Times)

From the Los Angeles Times, Pasadena Star News, KABC:

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced today that a group of disabled renters who had received eviction notices would not be losing their homes. “Your eviction notice is being terminated,” he said.

Residents of the Regency Court Apartments in Monrovia had been told that everyone under age 62 should not have been allowed to move in and would have to leave.

Schwarzenegger said he was inspired to act after reading about the dispute in the Los Angeles Times, remembering the activism of his mother-in-law, the late Eunice Kennedy Shriver.

Some disability activists complained that Schwarzenegger’s announcement didn’t change the state’s plan to dramatically cut services for 140,000 senior citizens and people with disabilities.

“If the Governor is truly listening to the voice of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, he’ll stop attacking seniors and people with disabilities and do whatever is necessary to reverse the drastic and dangerous cuts he’s made to the State’s home care program,” said Hugh Hallenberg, long time disability advocate. “If he doesn’t, it’s obvious that this was nothing more than a press stunt.”

(Photo of Lily Hixon with Arnold Schwarzenegger by Ken Hixon, from the Pasadena Star-News)

Writing in the Sacramento Bee, Dr. Louis A. Vismara says he’s working with a group to develop a planned community on 577 acres in the Sacramento area. It would serve vulnerable adults including people with autism, senior citizens and those with other disabilities.

A founder of the MIND Institute at UC Davis and the father of a teenaged son with autism, Vismara says he has “personal heartache” over California’s lack of preparedness for the tsunami of children with autism who are now approaching adulthood.

He envisions a community with some 3,000 “green” homes as well as shopping, jobs, parks and recreational activities. An estimated 20 percent of the housing would be designated for people with autism and other disabilities, he said, and jobs would be found at area farms and community gardens. An excerpt:

Living in close connection with the diverse group of people who will be drawn to this community will lend immeasurable richness to residents’ lives, allowing them to tap deeply into their own humanity. It’s the life many of us say we want, and it’s the life I envision for Mark now and after I’m no longer able to care for him.

With this community, Sacramento could lead the way in creating smart and sustainable development that can be replicated across the state and throughout the nation. It will keep Sacramento where the MIND Institute placed it in the fight against autism: at the cutting edge.

This community could be a real jewel for Sacramento. Our sons and daughters deserve no less.