Bush Needs to Address PWD Impacted by Katrina
Date Mailed: Friday, September 23rd 2005 10:36 AM
CCD Urges Bush Administration to Address the Needs of People with Disabilities Affected by Hurricane Katrina (Washington, DC) - Curtis Decker, Chairman of the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD), sent the following letter to President George W. Bush asking his administration to take specific steps to address the needs of people with disabilities affected by Hurricane Katrina: Dear Mr. President: The Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) a coalition of over 100 national disability organizations working together to advocate for national public policy that ensures the self determination, independence, empowerment, integration, and inclusion of children and adults with all types of disabilities is deeply troubled at the lack of consideration for the significant impact of this disaster on the lives of people with disabilities. Among the many issues important to people with disabilities are access to health and long-term care; education; employment; decent, safe, affordable, and accessible housing in the community; and transportation. Another critical issue in the lives of all individuals with disabilities is the timely enforcement of civil rights protections designed to ensure that this vulnerable population receives the full protection afforded by law. The recent disaster of Hurricane Katrina hitting the Gulf Coast region displaced tens of thousands of individuals with all types of disabilities. These individuals and their families are displaced from homes, caregivers, health care and medications, and durable medical equipment and assistive technology that helped them live more independently in the community. They are also displaced from their housing and from schools and employment training programs. These specialized supports are in short supply across the country and are not easily found in any community. CCD is extremely concerned that there has been no meaningful recognition of the ramifications of this disaster for people with disabilities on the part of the Administration except in relation to programs administered through HHS, such as Medicaid and Medicare. All the other agencies tasked with addressing the needs of all people including people with disabilities such as FEMA, the Department of Education, and HUD, have done nothing, or have failed to communicate their activities to the public. According to 2000 Census data, as well as 2003 American Community Survey data, the states of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana have very high rates of disability in all age ranges. This data also documents that individuals with disabilities are disproportionately poor and disproportionately unemployed. Many depend on federal Supplemental Security Income payments and Medicaid. Despite access to SSI and Medicaid, people with significant and long-term disabilities still experience extreme poverty. Nationwide, people with disabilities who rely on SSI are priced out of housing in every part of our nation (Priced Out 2004, the Technical Assistance Collaborative & the CCD Housing Task Force). In Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi, people with disabilities between the ages of 21 and 64 are almost three times more likely to have an income that is below 30 percent of the state median. This makes them the poorest of the poor and those who will be most negatively affected when it comes to the search for any semblance of a normal life that includes health care, employment, and affordable and accessible housing. CCD strongly urges the Administration to do everything in its power to ensure that: 1. People with disabilities get access to the health and long-term supports and services they need to keep them healthy and to ensure their right to live in the community (as per your New Freedom Initiative). 2. People with disabilities do not end up facing even higher rates of homelessness or institutionalization because there is not affordable, accessible housing available to them. There must be additional funding for permanent, tenant-based rental assistance made available to them and new housing must be accessible. 3. Children and youth with disabilities have timely access to the early intervention and special education and related services they need, with no delays in evaluation or placement. Funding must be available to schools and early intervention services providers so they can hire the necessary special education teachers and other staff. 4. Civil rights laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 protections applicable to entities that receive federal funding, Fair Housing Amendments Act protections and the rights provided to children with disabilities and their parents under the Individuals with Education Act not be weakened in any way. CCDs immediate goal is to get the needs of children and adults with disabilities on the Administrations priority list before major decisions are finalized. If the Administration does not take these individuals needs into consideration, your recovery efforts will not only be incomplete, but in opposition to your efforts to increase the community integration of people with disabilities. As funds are dispersed through various agencies and as new supplemental funding requests are developed, the needs of people with disabilities and the programs and entities that support these needs must be in the mix. Finally, on behalf of the millions of individuals represented by CCD organizations, we would like to meet with Administration officials to discuss these critical issues in depth. We have also brought these issues to the attention of Congress. Sincerely, Curtis L. Decker Chairman Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities About the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities The Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities is a coalition of over 100 national consumer, provider, and advocacy organizations working together to advocate for national public policy that ensures the self determination, independence, empowerment, integration, and inclusion of the 54 million children and adults with disabilities living in the United States. For more information, visit www.c-c-d.org. # # # -- DISCLAIMER: The JFA Listserv is designed to share information of interest to people with disabilities and promote dialogue in the disability community. Information circulated does not necessarily express the views of AAPD. The JFA Listserv is non-partisan. JOIN AAPD! There's strength in numbers! Be a part of a national coalition of people with disabilities and join AAPD today. http://www.aapd-dc.org JFA ARCHIVES. All JFA postings from 1995 to present are available at: http://www.aapd-dc.org/JFA/JFAabout.html NOTE: Some Internet Providers (including AOL, Earthlink and Juno) may see JFA postings as spam because of the large volume of JFA mail recipients and fail to deliver the posting. If this happens, the JFA system may automatically unsubscribe some email addresses. Should you stop receiving JFA Alerts, please subscribe to JFA again as per the instructions at http://www.aapd-dc.org/JFA/JFAsubscribing.html You may also need to contact your service provider to find out how to prevent JFA postings from being recognized as spam. PLEASE EMPTY YOUR EMAIL INBOX REGULARLY. JFA automatically deletes subscribers that are over their message quota. How If you stop using an account please unsubscribe that old account. With hundreds of inbound emails and thousands of outbound emails daily, JFA can not respond to every message. We thank you for your understanding and continued outstanding advocacy! Fred Fay, Moderator JUSTICE FOR ALL -- A Service of the American Association of People with Disabilities http://www.aapd-dc.org/JFA/JFAabout.html ===================================================================== Justice-For-All FREE Subscriptions To subscribe or unsubscribe, send mail to majordomo@JFANOW.ORG with one or the other in the body of your message: subscribe justice unsubscribe justice
