Advocates for the disabled rally in Chicago

Gov. Rod Blagojevich is high on the list of targets as hundreds of disability activists gather in Chicago this week to protest state policies they say promote segregation.

From Sept. 8-13, members of the disability rights group ADAPT will be traveling the streets of Chicago, holding protests to draw attention to what advocates say are shortcomings in state policies. And they are demanding that the Illinois congressional delegation support disability rights legislation.

Earlier this week, the group staged a protest outside the headquarters of the American Medical Association, the Chicago Tribune and Sun-Times reported.

And Tuesday, the group met with the governor’s office, reaching agreement on some of ADAPT’s goals, the Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune reported.

On Sunday, the group held a national housing forum with officials, including Kim Kendrick, assistant secretary of HUD for fair housing.

Illinois ranks in the bottom 10 states for providing community-based services that allow disabled and older people to stay in their own homes, according to ADAPT, and the group says recent actions by Blagojevich have made things worse.

When he cut what he called “non-essential spending” from the state budget last month, the governor reduced the state’s home services program by $10 million, said Chrissy Mancini of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability. The program provides personal assistants and other services that help people with disabilities to remain in their homes.

With demand for the program growing steadily – and wages for personal assistants also rising – the funding reduction is “a disaster,” said Tom Wilson of Access Living.

Meanwhile, Blagojevich appropriated up to $15 million to staff a rebuilt state institution for people with developmental disabilities near Springfield.

The Lincoln Development Center was closed by Gov. George Ryan in 2002 amid ongoing accusations of abuse and neglect.

Gary Arnold of Chicago ADAPT said these two actions show the governor is “taking the state in the wrong direction” – away from implementation of the Olmstead decision, a 1999 Supreme Court ruling that ordered states to provide services for people with disabilities in the least restrictive environment.

“ADAPT will send a clear message to the governor” and others, Arnold said, “that supporting the incarceration of people in institutions for the ‘crime’ of disability will not be tolerated.”

A recent survey found 18,000 residents of Illinois nursing homes would rather live in the community, Arnold said. The real number could be much higher, he said.

Every year, ADAPT holds two national gatherings, one in Washington, D.C., and one in a city that where disability rights issues need attention, Arnold said.

Last year, the group rallied in Nashville, Tenn., where scores were arrested after the mayor ordered police to blockade his office.

In April, about 100 ADAPT members were arrested blocking congressional offices in Washington as they demanded action on the Community Choice Act, which would allow Medicaid to pay for services and supplies to help people stay in their own homes.

The group said it won commitments for hearings on the bill from leaders of both houses of Congress.