The Community Choice Coalition Statement on the 25th Anniversary of the ADA

This is from the Community Choice Coalition Blog, by Desiree Kameka, 8/7/15.

Excerpts:
 
In almost two decades [and] since Olmstead, self-advocates, parents, legislators and others have worked together to change regulations, laws and develop new ways of thinking about support services so individuals with disabilities can have more choices and control of their lives. Coalition for Community Choice is a national collaboration of more than 125 organizations, businesses, housing developers, providers and advocates who want to increase options and decrease barriers to housing and employment choices.

Today, individuals with I/DD may have the option to live alone or with roommates in their own home or apartment, in a group home, in an adult foster care home, on a farmstead or ranch, or on a supportive living campus setting, all with supports they need to be able to interact with the greater community to the fullest extent possible. But four years from now this may not be true. [emphasis added]

Recent changes in federal and state regulations may limit what constitutes an integrated residential setting. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued new requirements about housing and employment settings that states have five years to implement through State Transition Plans. For a person with I/DD, these changes may have the unintended consequences of reducing the options available and increasing barriers to that individual’s right to choose his or her preferred setting.
 
Affordable, supportive housing will be one of the most acute areas to be addressed in the next 25 years of the ADA, and it may prove to be a frustratingly elusive target. A snapshot of the statistics sizes the challenge. According to the 2013 State of the States in Developmental Disabilities report:

• There are 4.9 million adults with I/DD in the U.S.
• Of the 4.9 million, 3.5 million live with family caregivers, and 853,000 of these family caregivers are 60 years of age or older and may soon need their own caregivers
• 77 percent of the 3.5 million receive no residential supports
• Only 244,195 additional residential placements were funded from 1994-2011

Rather than mitigate the housing crisis, in the 25 years since the ADA and 16 years following the Olmstead decision, the number of adults with I/DD on a waiting list for, but not receiving, residential services has increased more than 66 percent…

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