Celebrating the Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act

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Monday, July 26, was the 31st anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the hallmark civil rights law that ensures that people with disabilities have the same opportunities as people without disabilities to live and work in their communities. On the same day, Families as Allies received a transcript of the July 12th hearing on the remedy in the United States Justice Department’s lawsuit against Mississippi’s mental health system.  Mississippi was found in violation of the ADA in September 2019 due to not having enough of the right kinds of services and supports to help people with mental illness who want to live in their communities rather than in institutions.

Reading the transcript against the backdrop of all that the ADA represents was thought-provoking.  The transcript reflects two continuing themes of this ongoing legal battle:

1. The State’s emphasis on the exact services it must create to be in compliance with the ADA as opposed to a focus on actual outcomes for people with mental illness. 

James Shelson, Attorney for the State, addressing the Court:
“… what quantity of core service is sufficient to satisfy the ADA … Your Honor, under Mississippi’s report, Mississippi will be at or above baseline within one year for every core service. Therefore, under the standard for compliance established — well, proffered at trial by DOJ, Mississippi’s report puts Mississippi in compliance with the ADA. And when you do enough to be in compliance with the ADA, you do not need to do more.” (page 22)

Mr. Shelson questioning Dr. Michael Hogan, the Special Master assigned to the case: 
Q. “Are you aware of any performance measure or fidelity scale at all that equates directly to compliance with the ADA?”
A. “Well, the only ultimate test there is what’s been found in courts, but I think a reasonable person’s review of sort of all of that evidence together would be where I would draw the line.” (page 126)

2. A lack of evidence to support the State’s assertion that it is already in compliance with the ADA and does not require independent monitoring to assess this.

Patrick Holkins, Attorney for the United States, questioning Dr. Hogan: 
Q. “Based on your experience as a mental health administrator and your knowledge of the trial record, why did you conclude that monitoring is the pathway to demonstrating that the State is meeting the requirements of the ADA?”
A. “Because the record can’t demonstrate that it’s yet being met.” (page 87)

We urge the defendants in this case and their attorneys to stop and reflect on the true meaning of the ADA. The ADA is not about parsing words and dissecting details until all meaning is lost from them. It is about the right of every American, including those with mental health disabilities, to have the same chance to do the things that other people have the opportunity to do.

President George Herbert Walker Bush captured the heart and soul of the ADA on the day he signed it. We encourage all of you to read or watch this speech in its entirety. These are some excerpts from it:

“This is an immensely important day — a day that belongs to all of you. Everywhere I look, I see people who have dedicated themselves to making sure that this day would come to pass … perhaps most of all, everyone out there and others across the breadth of this nation are 43 million Americans with disabilities. You have made this happen. All of you have made this happen.”

“With today’s signing of the landmark Americans for Disabilities Act, every man, woman and child with a disability can now pass through once-closed doors into a bright new era of equality, independence and freedom.”

“Our success with this Act proves that we are keeping faith with the spirit of our courageous forefathers who wrote in the Declaration of Independence: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.’ These words have been our guide for more than two centuries as we’ve labored to form our more perfect union. But tragically, for too many Americans, the blessings of liberty have been limited or even denied.”

“Legally, it will provide our disabled community with a powerful expansion of protections and then basic civil rights. It will guarantee fair and just access to the fruits of American life which we all must be able to enjoy.”

“Together, we must remove the physical barriers we have created and the social barriers that we have accepted. For ours will never be a truly prosperous nation until all within it prosper. For inspiration, we need look no further than our own neighbors.”

“I also want to say a special word to our friends in the business community. You have in your hands the key to the success of this Act. For you can unlock a splendid resource of untapped human potential that, when freed, will enrich us all.”

“And when you add together federal, state, local and private funds, it costs almost $200 billion annually to support Americans with disabilities, in effect, to keep them dependent. Well, when given the opportunity to be independent, they will move proudly into the economic mainstream of American life, and that’s what this legislation is all about.”

We urge the Attorney General’s office and the Department of Mental Health to face the reality that the reason Mississippi was sued and lost is because it does not have a system that consistently helps people with mental illness across the state to live in the community if they want to. Recent news articles attest to this. We’ve likely all witnessed it. In the past month, I’ve watched three different friends not be able to get help for their adult family members who were in a mental health crisis.  I didn’t know how to help them and I’m familiar with the mental health system.

It doesn’t have to be this way. The first step, as President Bush realized, is to meaningfully partner with people with disabilities and then focus on real-world outcomes and removing the barriers that prevent people with disabilities from doing the things that other people do.  May we all follow the example President Bush set in his words and actions about the ADA.

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