Alrighty Then :: Olmstead Executive Order..

The White House website.. Last place I expected to end up this morning.. In doing so, came across President Bush's Olmstead Executive Order.. Since our tax dollars pay for the website, am taking great Liberties in providing the full press release below.. :grin:

With this juicy little tidbit refreshed in our Minds, how's it going in your neck of the woods these days..?

Housing..?

Transportation..?

Affordable consumables..?

Employment..?

Feel safe, secure, and protected 24/7/365 in your neighborhood..?

High on the hog living the Great American Dream, right..?

Sigh..............

Cyber hugs from the Hills of North Georgia..

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Executive Order
Community-based Alternatives for Individuals with Disabilities

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to place qualified individuals with disabilities in community settings whenever appropriate, it is hereby ordered as follows:

• Section 1. Policy. This order is issued consistent with the following findings and principles:

  • The United States is committed to community-based alternatives for individuals with disabilities and recognizes that such services advance the best interests of Americans.

  • The United States seeks to ensure that America's community-based programs effectively foster independence and participation in the community for Americans with disabilities.

  • Unjustified isolation or segregation of qualified individuals with disabilities through institutionalization is a form of disability-based discrimination prohibited by Title II of the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), 42 U.S.C. 12101 et. seq. States must avoid disability-based discrimination unless doing so would fundamentally alter the nature of the service, program, or activity provided by the State.

  • In Olmstead v. L.C., 527 U.S. 581 (1999) (the "Olmstead decision"), the Supreme Court construed Title II of the ADA to require States to place qualified individuals with mental disabilities in community settings, rather than in institutions, whenever treatment professionals determine that such placement is appropriate, the affected persons do not oppose such placement, and the State can reasonably accommodate the placement, taking into account the resources available to the State and the needs of others with disabilities.

  • The Federal Government must assist States and localities to implement swiftly the Olmstead decision, so as to help ensure that all Americans have the opportunity to live close to their families and friends, to live more independently, to engage in productive employment, and to participate in community life.

• Sec. 2. Swift Implementation of the Olmstead Decision: Agency Responsibilities.

  • The Attorney General, the Secretaries of Health and Human Services, Education, Labor, and Housing and Urban Development, and the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration shall work cooperatively to ensure that the Olmstead decision is implemented in a timely manner. Specifically, the designated agencies should work with States to help them assess their compliance with the Olmstead decision and the ADA in providing services to qualified individuals with disabilities in community-based settings, as long as such services are appropriate to the needs of those individuals. These agencies should provide technical guidance and work cooperatively with States to achieve the goals of Title II of the ADA, particularly where States have chosen to develop comprehensive, effectively working plans to provide services to qualified individuals with disabilities in the most integrated settings. These agencies should also ensure that existing Federal resources are used in the most effective manner to support the goals of the ADA. The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall take the lead in coordinating these efforts.

  • The Attorney General, the Secretaries of Health and Human Services, Education, Labor, and Housing and Urban Development, and the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration shall evaluate the policies, programs, statutes, and regulations of their respective agencies to determine whether any should be revised or modified to improve the availability of community-based services for qualified individuals with disabilities. The review shall focus on identifying affected populations, improving the flow of information about supports in the community, and removing barriers that impede opportunities for community placement. The review should ensure the involvement of consumers, advocacy organizations, providers, and relevant agency representatives. Each agency head should report to the President, through the Secretary of Health and Human Services, with the results of their evaluation within 120 days.

  • The Attorney General and the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall fully enforce Title II of the ADA, including investigating and resolving complaints filed on behalf of individuals who allege that they have been the victims of unjustified institutionalization. Whenever possible, the Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services should work cooperatively with States to resolve these complaints, and should use alternative dispute resolution to bring these complaints to a quick and constructive resolution.

  • The agency actions directed by this order shall be done consistent with this Administration's budget.

• Sec. 3. Judicial Review. Nothing in this order shall affect any otherwise available judicial review of agency action. This order is intended only to improve the internal management of the Federal Government and does not create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or equity by a party against the United States, its agencies or instrumentalities, its officers or employees, or any other person.

GEORGE W. BUSH

THE WHITE HOUSE,
June 18, 2001.

Related: Fact Sheet :: President Bush Highlights Commitment to Americans with Disabilities..

Disabilism :: SW Reporter Said *WHAT* About Housing First Project..?

And I quoteth....

If you want to change people's preconceptions about what it means to have a homeless addict move in upstairs, you need to let them know they have one.

Say huh.........?

I don't think so.. :frown:

If you're so inspired, feel free to email him or respond as a comment on his article..

Cyber hugs from the Hills of North Georgia (in the deepest, darkest of the Night for the first time in some ten months, YAY..!)..

Referenced article inspiring the above:

Your Neighbor's Last Roof Was the Viaduct: Does it bother you that the county is renting him a place next to you?
By Mark D. Fefer, Seattle Weekly, February 27, 2008

Must have been some *SERIOUS* mojo in my last post..

Some pretty wild news coming soon.. :wink:

Running out the Library door this moment in full pursuit of.......

One huge chunk of that, from since August, 2001, and up until now, ever evasive.......

American Dream..

Cyber hugs from the Hills of North Georgia..

P.S. Butterflies in my belly the size of elephants.. For all that has, some things never change.. :grin:

NCD :: Let PWPDs Become Part of the American Dream..

Oh, goodness, Mark.. Sending a great big cyber hug your way..

Your latest Council update COULD NOT be any more appropriate.. Goes to the aforementioned last Friday still..

And my stepping in where not asked and where others might not dare because others might not dare.......

Because others didn't dare.......

Because others might not ever dare..

Stepping in when one face truly listened, truly heard me, and spoke, "Hmm.." to my imposing myself on the situation..

And another's face (not words) tolerated but very definitely bore an unspoken, "Just what business of yours do you really think this is anyway..?"

Stepping in because persons with mental illness (PWMIs), persons with psychiatric disabilities (PWPDs) have long lived their Lives being made to feel it's over before it even gets started..

Because PWPDs are more often than not led to believe they mess up, and that's it, it's over, it's gone, it's done, and that there are no legal alternatives to transition away from the stereotypes, the stigma of many years gone by..

Even when we whoopsie in plain sight.......

Yup, Life supplied these very worn Shoes, but the Wind beneath this Butterfly's tattered Wings comes from Angels like you all there at the National Council on Disability forever moving forward so that we may All live together safely, inclusively as One in our respective communities through open doored, open armed support within the same..

Huge tears of Joy welling from the Hills of North Georgia..

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From the National Council on Disability (NCD) emailing list..
Date: Mon, Mar 17, 2008 at 10:20 AM
Subject: National Council on Disability Says Let People with Psychiatric Disabilities Become Part of the American Dream..

NEWS RELEASE
NCD #08–556
March 17, 2008
Contact: Mark S. Quigley
202-272-2004

National Council on Disability Says Let People with Psychiatric Disabilities Become Part of the American Dream..

WASHINGTON—The National Council on Disability (NCD) today released a paper entitled Inclusive Livable Communities for People with Psychiatric Disabilities, calling on Congress and the Administration to fully include and integrate people with psychiatric disabilities into America’s livable communities. Let people with psychiatric disabilities become part of the American dream.

According to NCD Chairperson John R. Vaughn, "For the promise of full integration into the community to become a reality, people with disabilities need safe and affordable housing; access to transportation; access to the political process; and the right to enjoy whatever services, programs, and activities are offered to all members of the community by both public and private entities. Although previous NCD reports addressed people across the full array of disabilities, a main focus of accessibility was on environmental elements that primarily apply more to the 'obvious' disabilities than to 'hidden' disabilities like many psychiatric disabilities and mental illnesses. Information about the six identified elements of livable communities, other elements, barriers, and promising practices for people with psychiatric disabilities needs to be broadened to achieve all-inclusive communities."

This paper focuses specifically on expanding the livable communities framework and elements to people with psychiatric disabilities and supports full inclusion that leaves out no one. Grounded in the six identified elements, a livable community

1. Provides affordable, appropriate, accessible housing
2. Ensures accessible, affordable, reliable, safe transportation
3. Adjusts the physical environment for inclusiveness and accessibility
4. Provides work, volunteer, and education opportunities
5. Ensures access to key health and support services
6. Encourages participation in civic, cultural, social, and recreational activities

When the focus shifts specifically to people with psychiatric disabilities, it becomes plain that without expansion this framework is insufficient to ensure the full integration of all people who have disabilities. The main barrier that people with psychiatric disabilities face is that a community that eliminates all the physical environment barriers still may not be fully accessible to people with psychiatric disabilities because of ingrained attitudes toward mental illness. Before people with psychiatric disabilities can even begin to take full advantage of the elements of the livable communities framework, they must be able to surmount an attitudinal barrier.

The attitudinal barrier is exemplified by outdated policies, programs, and beliefs about people with psychiatric disabilities as needing to receive all services within segregated settings in which mental health providers deliver housing, work, education, health care, and support services entirely within the mental health system. Abolishing this attitudinal barrier is necessary to ensure that people with psychiatric disabilities have access to the wider community and all that it may offer.

In this paper, by examining a variety of programs that show promise or have proved successful in achieving community integration for people with psychiatric disabilities, recognizes the need for major changes in public policies to support further efforts for full integration and participation. Five core recommendations summarizing some needed federal-level changes follow.

Core Recommendation One: Congress should ensure that Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) appropriations continue to support anti-stigma campaigns and expand efforts to provide a funding base for self-help programs operated and run by mental health consumers and survivors, analogous to the funding provided under the Rehabilitation Act for operation of independent living centers. Consideration should be given to implementation through HHS/Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) reauthorization or other federal mechanisms. Consumers/survivors should be included in the evaluation of ongoing anti-stigma campaigns and the design, development, and expansion of self-help program funding.

Core Recommendation Two: Implement changes in federal and state funding and policy to encourage housing models that are integrated, in accordance with individual choice, and delinked from mandatory health services, while providing ongoing flexible supports. Several federal agencies should examine policies and practices through a partnership effort. The work can begin with congressional action to ensure removal of contradictory or incompatible federal paperwork burdens and policy barriers. Congress should provide the funding needed for initial joint planning and reporting by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), HHS, and the Social Security Administration (SSA).

Core Recommendation Three: Congress and HUD, HHS, and SSA should work to change federal and state funding and policy to eliminate the “benefits trap,” which discourages people with psychiatric and other disabilities from working, and to ensure that work opportunities are available for the full range of jobs, with ongoing flexible supports.

Core Recommendation Four: HHS should be authorized to change Medicaid policy and regulations as implemented by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The agency should examine and consider the merits of existing models; for example, the Michigan state model reframes the definition of “medical necessity” to include "community integration," and shifts funding to services based on "person-centered planning." Such changes would allow a broader variety of recovery-oriented services to be eligible for Medicaid funding than is available currently.

Core Recommendation Five: Congress should ask the Government Accountability Office to assess and identify indicators of practices that seem to be working in HHS efforts to address cultural and linguistic issues through initiatives like the National Center on Cultural Competence (NCCC). In addition, Congress should allocate funds to expand the NCCC cultural and linguistic competence training model to ensure that as national demographics change, services to people from diverse racial and ethnic groups are provided in ways that meet their self-defined needs.

"By ensuring the expansion of the livable communities framework and recommendations to fully include and integrate people with psychiatric disabilities, American society can provide all citizens the opportunity to become part of the American dream," Vaughn concluded.

NCD is an independent federal agency and is composed of 15 members appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. NCD provides advice to the President, Congress, and executive branch agencies to promote policies, programs, practices, and procedures that-

• (A) guarantee equal opportunity for all individuals with disabilities, regardless of the nature or severity of the disability; and
• (B) empower individuals with disabilities to achieve economic self-sufficiency, independent living, and inclusion and integration into all aspects of society.

For more information, please contact Mark S. Quigley, NCD’s Director of External Affairs, at 202-272-2004.

Station Break :: "Chester Drawers"..

My stress level is absolute over the top right now.. Started Friday on a more personal level and just kept right on slamming through in the form of those thunderstorms and tornadoes that ripped their way across the country and on into Atlanta, Polk County, and similar.. PTSD the entire weekend through, indubitably.. :frown:

Anyway, as my Mind does its dadgummiest to clear the dissociative fog so I may find appropriate resources to help [a friend], I came across someone looking for a "chester drawer" on a Freecycle listserv over the weekend.. Through your innocence and local colloquial, fellow Freecycler, you unknowingly brought a twinkle to a very saddened Heart today.. Thank you.. :smile:

And speaking of Chester Drawers, he is apparently alive and doing very well in Branson, Missouri.. Maybe some day we can tickle his fancy enough to coax him over our way for some disability self-advocacy function or 'nother.. :giggle:

Cyber hugs from Talking Rock..