Center for Disability Rights Celebrates Schumer’s Introduction of Civil Rights Legislation: The Disability Integration Act

December 21, 2015 – Rochester, NY. Disability advocates at the Center for Disability Rights have a reason to celebrate this holiday season. On Friday afternoon, December 18^th, Senator Schumer introduced Senate Bill 2427, the Disability Integration Act, which will, if passed, establish into law the right of people with disabilities to live in the community. The Disability Community has been fighting to establish this right for decades.

“It’s incredible,” said Bruce Darling, CEO of the Center for Disability Rights. “This is historic legislation that addresses so many of the problems that people with disabilities face as we try to get out of institutions and live in the community. And, speaking as a New Yorker, I’m proud that this new civil rights legislation was introduced by our very own Senator Schumer.”

The Disability Integration Act calls for States and private insurers to provide services and supports in the community on an equal basis as they provide services in institutions. States will no longer be able to use waiting lists or other measures that have the effect of segregating people with disabilities away from the community. In return, the bill includes incentives for states to make reforms that disability advocates have long called for.

“We should do all we can to help people with disabilities — who are in need of long-term services and support — to live independently,” said Senator Charles E. Schumer, who introduced the bill. “People with disabilities should have the ability to choose a place to live without the fear that insurance will not cover the services they need to do so. I applaud the Center for Disability Rights and other stakeholders for their large contribution to the writing and introduction of this bill.”

For people with disabilities, the bill is a major advance because it establishes community living as a civil right. The right to live in the community and participate in everyday life is taken for granted by non-disabled people, but people with disabilities have had to fight for that right.

“I fought for decades to get out of the institution,” said Shelly Perrin, a Rochester resident and a disability rights advocate with the group ADAPT. “My family abandoned me. The staff at the institution refused to help me and punished me for trying to leave. There are thousands of people still trapped in institutions. This bill gives me hope, because the right that I had to fight so hard for will be written down in the law.”

The Center for Disability Rights worked closely with Senator Schumer’s office and other disability advocates to craft language for this groundbreaking civil rights legislation.

Contact Bruce E. Darling, President and CEO or Stephanie Woodward, Director of Advocacy for more info at (585) 546-7510.

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