PROTEST LACK OF HELP FOR COMMUNITY DISABILITY SERVICES AND SUPPORTS

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ADAPT of Texas joined ADAPT folk from 30 other groups/city around the nation  Friday, October 2nd this afternoon to protest the Congress’ failure to include Home and Community Based Services in any of the CORONO Virus Relief packages.  Specifically we were protesting Senator Cornyn’s failure to support so far, so we went to his office (221 West 6th Street Austin) to demand Senator Cornyn support Health Care and  Home and Community Based Services for Texans with Disabilities.

A man in a wheelchair talks with a woman standing beside him on sidewalk A man in a power chair talks with a man with a VOTE facemask. A man with one arm in a red shirt talks with a guy in a tie dye shirt in a wheelchair. They are in front of van with a Community Integration banner on its side. Two men in wheelchairs, one white and one black, wearing face masks, sit on the sidewalk Four people in masks and in their wheelchairs sit in front of plate glass windows of an office building.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can watch the hearing on ADAPT National’s website.  

In addition, the night before ADAPT folks were outside the US Capitol in the pouring rain doing a vigil and Congress woman Cortez (AOC) stopped by to visit and posted this video of the group! 

ADAPT of Texas DEMANDS:

     SUPPORT THE COVID 19 SUPPORT PACKAGE (HERO’s Act) THAT INCLUDES: funding for HCBS, PPE’s, Community Attendants and housing supports;

     Make the MONEY FOLLOWS THE PERSON a Permanent Program;

     Support the Affordable Care Act and delay the Supreme Court appointment so the winner of the election can make the selection;

      Meet with ADAPT of Texas members to discuss the above demands.

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As part of our protest, we were joined in with other ADAPT folks from around the nation, including a delegation who traveled to Washington DC to carry our message in person.  We joined up via the internet, Zoom and Facebook for a People’s Hearing on

30 years after the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Disabled Americans who need long term services and supports continue to be forced into unwanted institutionalization where they are stripped of their personal liberties. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, institutionalized people have been on the front line of casualties with massive loss of life happening behind the walls of institutions.

Far from inevitable, these peoples’ deaths were completely avoidable. People living in their own homes and controlling the services and supports that come into their homes including who comes in and out of their homes, how the people coming into their homes conduct themselves, and what types of precautions they use, are living while people with the same level of disability in institutions die.

Congress has the power to keep people safe and move people out of harm’s way by supporting home and community based services. ADAPT Calls on the United States Senate to take up the House HEROES Act a deliver REAL RELIEF to our states and people who are all suffering under the weight of pandemic.

Supporting home and community based services as part of COVID-19 relief includes:

▪ Funding for personal protective equipment for people receiving services in their homes and communities and the people helping them remain in their own homes

  • Funding for worker hazard, retention, and overtime pay.

▪ Help with funds to retain or obtain housing, including eviction and foreclosure protections and funds to stabilize markets and help people address payment concerns.

▪ Financial support for states so they can maintain and enhance community-based services, holding them harmless from the economic consequences associated with the pandemic.

Support for the Affordable Care Act, including Medicaid and Medicaid Expansion are critical to maintaining the health, well-being and community choice for hundreds of thousands of aging and disabled people. Any effort to erode support for the availability of health insurance coverage, including the Appointment of anti-ACA Justices to the Supreme Court, should be rebuffed.