The
home is currently being built, so as far as a physical structure, I will have
an accessible place to live, but moving is never simple when you are non-disabled,
much less when you are disabled. Because I require so much physical care, I use
at home health services to provide that care. I use these services to avoid
going into a group home or a nursing home. These services fall under what is
known as home and community-based services.
As
of today, there are no uniformed national standards for home and
community-based care services. Each state can set its criteria as to how to
dispense these services. Why is this a problem, one might ask? Under the
current system, the way services are proportioned only accounts for disabled
individuals who want to stay near their hometown or area they live in
currently. There is a significant gap between uses if you are a disabled
individual moving from place to area. This can present a problem because it
does not view disabled individuals as people, but rather as fixed pieces on a
chessboard that stands still. Disabled people have just as much desire to grow
and explore the world as everyone else. However, there is hope on the horizon.
In
an article found in Disability Scoop, Michelle Diamante outlines possible hope
for people who use community-based services. She details what is currently know
about the impossible senate bill from an Iowa Senator to improve
community-based services. While the article does not include many details about
the account, Diamante does quote the senators senior aide as saying “(Harkin)
is currently looking at developing legislation that would enhance community
access, inclusion, and support to ensure that all individuals with disabilities
can receive home and community-based services and supports in their towns,
cities, and neighborhoods throughout America.” All of this came about as a
result of a report/study by the senator’s office, in which Senator Harkin
found” Chairman Harkin’s 2013 investigative report showed that the
integration mandate of the ADA, reinforced by the Supreme Court Olmstead
ruling, still is not being met across the United States”. To better understand
this quote, let us look further at the Olmstead ruling of 1999.
To
begin with, the Olmstead case had to do with two women in Georgia. They were
voluntarily committed to a psychiatric wing of a hospital. The women had both
mental and developmental disabilities. After their initial psychiatric
treatment was complete, it was determined that they should be moved to a
community-based program, rather than be confined to a nursing home or
institution. Unfortunately for them, both remained in the hospital for several
years until they filed suit under the ADA in 1999 for release from the
hospital.
This
case was critical because it determined, where appropriate, community-based
services should be sought over institutionally based services for people with
disabilities. The senators’ proposed bill may provide hope for increased
funding and fewer gaps in care for people with disabilities, but only time will
tell.
http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2014/05/19/senator-strengthen-disability/19374/
http://www.ada.gov/olmstead/olmstead_about.htm
