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

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 [UK] Guardian:

A British “docusoap” is following the humor and drama of five young adults living together in Brighton. Sounds like a typical teen reality show, but it has a catch: all five housemates have genetically-based learning disabilities.

The online series, “The Specials,” features Lucy, Lewis, Sam, Megan and Hilly, ages 19-23, who have known each other since childhood and are living as independently as possible with support. Four have Down syndrome; one has Williams syndrome.

Learning disabilities charity Mencap believes the docusoap will help people to understand what it is like to be a young person with a learning disability. Lorainne Bellamy, a Mencap spokeswoman who has a learning disability, says: “People with a learning disability have hopes and dreams for the future just like anyone else. We hope that people watch the series and get to know these five individuals, sharing their ups and downs.”

(Broadcast Now photo)

From the Los Angeles Times’ LA Now blog:

Advocates filed suit in federal court in San Francisco today to block more than $53 million in impending California budget cuts that would eliminate or drastically reduce the in-home services received by more than 130,000 disabled and elderly people. Among services to be cut are help with cooking, food shopping, cleaning and assistance to medical appointments.

The lawsuit is the latest coordinated effort designed to delay tens of millions of dollars in expected budget cuts to health and human services.

Joining in the suit are Disability Rights California, Disability Rights Legal Center, National Senior Citizens Law Center and the National Health Law Program. A similar lawsuit last summer held off pay cuts for about 400,000 in-home support service workers.

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.

From the Los Angeles Times:

An apartment complex in Monrovia, CA, has sent eviction notices to all of its residents with disabilities, some of whom have lived in the affordable housing complex for more than a decade.

The facility’s managers told tenants that there had been a mistake and they never should have been allowed to move in. The complex was supposed to have been reserved for seniors only, they said.

People with disabilities have valued the complex for its quiet and relative safety, proximity to jobs and transportation, and warm, neighborly atmosphere. Residents and family members have filed a complaint with the California Department of Fair Employment and House, alleging discrimination based on age and disability.