PRESS RELEASE – Page 3 – National ADAPT

Disability Activists Confront #BuildBackBetter Holdout Representatives

Press Advisory For Immediate Release

For information contact

Josue Rodriguez: 915-449-3834

Jennifer McPhail: 512-627-5869

ADAPTNational@gmail.com

Disability Activists Confront #BuildBackBetter Holdout Representatives

Who: National ADAPT

What: Confronting Democratic Representatives blocking passage of the Build Back Better social infrastructure bill

Where: Outside Rayburn, Longworth, and Cannon House Office Buildings on 45 Independence Ave. SW

When: Happening Now, Wednesday, November 17, 2021

Why: To demand the Representatives stop blocking passage of the Build Back Better social infrastructure bill, and support full funding of Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS), which keeps people out of institutions. HCBS funding also provides living wages for the attendants who provide essential, often intimate care for older and disabled people.

ADAPT is also demanding that the House support funding for affordable, accessible, integrated housing, because you can’t have HCBS without the “H.”

NationalADAPT.org @RealNatlADAPT on Twitter & Instagram, ADAPT National on Facebook and TikTok, National ADAPT on YouTube ADAPTnational@gmail.com

#DisabledNotDisposable #CareCantWait #BetterCareBetterJobs #HoUSed #ADAPTandSurvive

ADAPTers behind a clear banner that reads Build Back Better Now. — ADAPTers behind a clear banner that reads Build Back Better Act Now.

National ADAPT Applauds Biden Administration for Build Back Better Legislation Framework

National ADAPT applauds the framework for the provisions in the Build Back Better legislation that provides $ 150 billion for home and community-based service and includes $150 billion for affordable housing throughout the United States. We additionally appreciate working with Rep. Maxine Waters and her staff in adding the $2.5 Billion of the $150 billion for 811 funding specifically for the disability community.

The process has just begun for this framework to become law but members of ADAPT are committed to continuing to be the voice for all who have been forced into institutions because of lack of either home and community-based services or affordable housing. It is in this spirit, we look forward to working with the Biden Administration and Congress to pass this legislation and end the institutional bias by providing HCBS and affordable, accessible, integrated housing.

We call on all of our political leaders to support this framework in its entirety and Free Our People!

ADAPT Starts Daylong Vigil in DC Joins Disability, Aging, and Caregiver Coalition to Press for Passage of Build Back Better Social Infrastructure Bill

For Immediate Release
For information contact:
Mike Oxford: 785-224-3865
Rhoda Gibson: 617-504-1792
Jennifer McPhail: 512-627-5869
ADAPT Starts Daylong Vigil in DC Joins Disability, Aging, and Caregiver Coalition to Press for Passage of Build Back Better Social Infrastructure Bill
Washington, DC, October 6, 2021—ADAPT and 15 other disability, aging, and caregiver organizations are holding a daylong vigil on Capitol grounds starting tonight to impress upon Congress the crucial need for fully funded Home and Community-Based Services, and affordable, accessible housing. Funding these two programs would help prevent the over 200,000 largely preventable deaths that have occurred in nursing facilities so far during the COVID-19 pandemic.“We in ADAPT have been fighting over 30 years for the services and housing that would allow those of us who are disabled and aging to live in our own homes and communities with the services we need instead of being forced into nursing homes and other institutions,” said Latoya Maddox, Philadelphia ADAPT organizer. “Congress has so far failed to ensure our freedom, and as a result Congress is partly responsible for the horrific number of nursing home COVID deaths.”Organizations participating in the vigil include the ACLU, ADAPT, The Arc of the United States, Autistic Self Advocacy Network, AAPD, Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, Be A Hero, Care Can’t Wait Coalition, Caring Across Generations, Little Lobbyists, Justice in Aging, National Council on Independent Living, National Domestic Workers Alliance, National Council on Aging, National Health Law Program, and SEIU. “We need home and community-based services to be a fully funded guarantee for older and disabled people, “ said Mike Oxford, ADAPT organizer in Kansas. “We need the caregivers who help us dress and bathe so we can work and go to school and volunteer to be paid a livable wage with benefits. And we need affordable, accessible housing so we have homes where we can receive the services that will help us live productive, contributing lives, and be included in our communities.” The vigil begins at 7pm tonight EDT. Coalition organizers invite all Republican senators along with Democratic Senators Manchin and Sinema to meet with vigil participants to learn how much their constituents need and support passage of the Build Back Better bill.

NationalADAPT.org @RealNatlADAPT on Twitter & Instagram, ADAPT National on Facebook and TikTok, National ADAPT on YouTube ADAPTnational@gmail.com#DisabledNotDisposable #CareCantWait #BuildBackBetter #HoUSed #ADAPTandSurvive

Disability Activists Confront #BuildBackBetter Holdout Senators

October 6, 2021
Press Advisory For Immediate Release

For information contact:
Lydia Nunez: 832-630-8419
Rhoda Gibson: 617-504-1792
Jennifer McPhail: 512-627-5869
ADAPTNational@gmail.com
Disability Activists Confront #BuildBackBetter Holdout Senators
Who: National ADAPT
What: Confronting Democratic Senators blocking passage of the Build Back Better social infrastructure bill
Where: Outside Hart Senate Office Building at 120 Constitution Ave NE, Washington, DC 20002, Offices of Sen. Kyrsten Sinema and Sen. Joe Manchin
When: Happening Now, Wednesday, October 6, 2021
Why: To demand Sen. Sinema and Sen. Manchin stop blocking passage of the Build Back Better social infrastructure bill, and support full funding of Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS), which keeps people out of institutions. HCBS funding also provides living wages for the attendants who provide essential, often intimate care for older and disabled people. ADAPT is also demanding that both senators support funding for affordable, accessible, integrated housing, because you can’t have HCBS without the “H.”
View our Demands here.

Continue Contacting Your Senators To Fund HCBS In Next COVID Package

OUR MESSAGE TO SENATORS: PEOPLE ARE DYING SHAME ON YOU!

For years we have told policymakers that Institutions are where we send people to die.

Now we know it is true.

Over 53,000 of our siblings have died in nursing facilities. We don’t even know how many more have died in all other types of institutions, including group homes, and state hospitals.

While our people are dying, Congress is at home on legislative break. Our Senators need to hear from us NOW. They returned to work on July 21^st, they will ACT within the next 2 weeks.

ADAPT calls on advocates across the country to call, write, and where safe, visit our Senators in their home offices and in DC to tell them:

FUND HOME AND COMMUNITY BASED SERVICES NOW. $20 Billion should be dedicated to support people living in the community by making sure programs remain in place, workers are paid for their services, and personal protective equipment is available for disabled people and their workers.

MAKE MONEY FOLLOWS THE PERSON a permanent program, or extend the program for 3-5 years. Short-term funding extensions are not keeping the program running and people need a way to get to the safety of their own homes.

Take action by contacting your Senators and these suggested action activities, sample press release, script, and talking points are also available HERE.

To find the home office locations for your Senators’ Home Offices, enter your address at: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/map

The Senators for your state will be listed, and a link to their official website is available.

ADAPT Talking Points To #ADAPTandSurvive

ADAPT DEMANDS Congress support our right to live in the community by funding home and community based services, supporting our Community Workforce, making personal protective equipment available, and ensuring we have affordable, accessible, integrated housing.

ADAPT has sent an Open Letter to Congress demanding action. We must ensure Congress pays attention and responds to our needs!

Post on social media, write an email, organize a car parade around your Congressmembers Offices! In any way you can, tell Congress:

Unnecessary institutionalization has been illegal since at least 1990. Now the COVID pandemic has exposed further dangers of congregate living.

Forcing people into institutions is not only a violation of our rights, it is a DANGER to our safety, well-being, and our LIVES.

We need the services and supports that allow us to safely shelter-in-place in the community.

Community services must be available to keep people from being institutionalized in congregate settings.

Programs, services, and supports must be available to allow people to move back into the community to live in the most integrated setting.

Direct Service and Support Workers are essential to keeping us alive, safe and healthy. They deserve to be recognized and protected by receiving increased wages, overtime pay, hazard pay, and protective gear.
The number one barrier to home and community living is lack of affordable, accessible, integrated housing. Housing must be developed. The shortage of housing that is affordable, accessible and integrated is past the critical stage. Likewise rental subsidies must be vastly increased.

October 14, 2020 Press Release: ADAPT Protests Around The Country Re: SCOTUS Hearings In DC

For Immediate Release
For Information Contact:
Ami Hyten (DC) (785) 220-6460
Jodie Baney (Williamsport) (570) 477-0777
Latoya Chivon(Philadelphia) (267) 815-2050
Rhoda Gibson (Boston) (617) 504-1792
Heiwa Salovitz (Austin) (512)966-3666 & Sophia Donnelly (512)924-8449

ADAPT Protests Around The Country Re: SCOTUS Hearings In DC

Washington, DC—-ADAPT is in Washington, DC, again this week as part of a coalition of civil rights groups in opposition to the Republican attempts to ram through Congress the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court of the United States. In addition, several local ADAPT chapters will be staging local actions in opposition to a Barrett confirmation that threatens the Affordable Care Act (ACA) protections for people with pre-existing conditions.

Should Barrett be confirmed, the rights of women and the LGBTQIA+ community will be at risk, along with the health care that millions of Americans gained under the ACA. Opposition to Barrett’s appointment is based on her published positions and opinions in all of these areas and more.

Local ADAPT actions include one on Wednesday, October 14, in Austin, Texas, where ADAPT and allies will gather outside the offices of Sen. John Cornyn, 221 6th Street W., from 11 am to 2 pm to demand that the senator value the lives of disabled people, and vote no on Judge Barrett.

“According to the United States Health and Human Services Department, half of all Americans have a pre-existing condition of some kind,” said Texas ADAPT organizer Heiwa Salovitz. “ Everyone knows someone who is impacted by the issue. Before the legal protection of the ACA, insurance companies were allowed to deny people with disabilities and pre-existing conditions life saving and life sustaining coverage.”

In Boston, Mass ADAPT will protest in front of their statehouse from 12 noon to 2pm, demanding their Senators vote not to confirm Barrett.

In Philadelphia, ADAPT will demand a no vote on Barrett because she is a distinct threat to the ACA and the over 8 million people who have contracted the virus, and who will now be identified as having a pre-existing condition. ADAPT will also highlight the unconscionable 85,000+ deaths of disabled people from Covid-19, a number that would have been much smaller if Congress supported home and community based services over institutional settings.

In Williamsport, North Central Pennsylvania, ADAPT will spend the day at the federal building, again demanding a no vote on Barrett, and pressing for the continuation of the Affordable Care Act. The ACA covers people with lower incomes, pre-existing conditions, and it created the Community First Choice program that makes it easier for states to support aging and disabled people in their own homes, instead of forcing them into institutional settings where Covid-19 has killed so many.

In the nation’s capitol groups protesting with ADAPT outside the Capitol during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings include the Women’s March, Housing Works, the Center for Popular Democracy, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, and local groups like SPACEs in Action, and Sunrise Movement, DC. Two ADAPTers were among those arrested at the sit-in outside the Capitol on Monday.

NationalADAPT.org @RealNatlADAPT on Twitter & Instagram, ADAPT National on Facebook and TikTok, National ADAPT on YouTube
ADAPTnational@gmail.com
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ADAPT Holds Web Hearing in DC To Demand COVID Relief and Services for Aging and Disabled

For Immediate Release: Friday, October 2, 2020

For More information:
Erika Jones, erickatiff@hotmail.com, (585) 261-1594, www.nationaladapt.org

ADAPT Holds Web Hearing in DC To Demand COVID Relief and Services for Aging and Disabled

Washington DC—- ADAPT, the nation’s largest grassroots disability rights activist organization, is camped on the East lawn of the nation’s Capitol, where they will hold a hearing from 2pm to 4pm Friday to impress Congress and American voters with the vital importance of Medicaid funded Home and Community-based Services (HCBS). These services make it possible for disabled and aging people to remain in their own homes instead of being forced into nursing homes and institutions, and also are critical for moving people out of those nursing homes and institutions which have become literal death traps during the Covid pandemic.

“Our hearing will be available on ADAPT National Facebook Live, and speakers include Sen. Bob Casey, former Congressperson Beto O’Rourke, and people from Texas, to Pennsylvania, to Florida and states in between,” said Jennifer McPhail of ADAPT of Texas. “There will be testimony on how the loss of the Affordable Care Act would be devastating for people with pre-existing conditions, and why it is imperative that Congress pass a new COVID relief package that includes funding for HCBS, PPE, housing, and livable wages for those who provide our care.”

Disabled and aging people in nursing homes, institutions, and other congregate settings like jails, prisons, and detention camps, are dying of COVID at alarming rates, and in alarming numbers. COVID relief packages so far have pumped money into nursing facilities, but those funds have not prevented 40% of the COVID deaths, a total of over 70,000, from occurring in the nation’s nursing homes. Every day more and more nursing facilities and other congregate settings are becoming COVID cluster sites.

ADAPT’s hearing in DC will be echoed in communities across the nation, where testimony will be given locally and fed in to the online hearing.

“Of the measures passed to date by Congress to address the COVID pandemic, none has authorized funding to protect and support the 12 million disabled and aging people living in their own homes,” said Rhoda Gibson activist from MASS ADAPT. “Nor has any funding been authorized to provide a living wage, benefits, and hazard pay during the pandemic to support the attendant care workers who keep disabled and aging people living in their own homes. And none of the funding authorized so far has ensured that personal protective equipment and other necessary supplies are available to people living in the community and their workers.”

Confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett before the November elections will also be addressed in the hearing. Based on the record of her decisions to date, and the upcoming ACA case on the Supreme Court docket, her confirmation could have dire consequences for disabled, aging and low income people. ADAPT demands that the appointment should not be rushed, but should be made by the incoming president.

#ADAPTpplsHearing #DisabledNotDisposable #ADAPTandSurvive #LivesWorthyOfLife
NationalADAPT.org @RealNatlADAPT on Twitter & Instagram, ADAPT National on Facebook and TikTok, National ADAPT on YouTube
ADAPTnational@gmail.com

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ADAPT-10.2.20-Hearing-Press-Release Download

National ADAPT Press Release October 1, 2020

For Immediate Release
October 1, 2020

For More information:
Erika Jones, erickatiff@hotmail.com, (585) 261-1594, www.nationaladapt.org

ADAPT Demands Congress Include Funding for HCBS to Stop COVID Nursing Home Deaths of Aging and Disabled

Washington DC—- ADAPT, the nation’s largest grassroots disability rights activist organization, is on the East lawn of the nation’s Capitol, demanding Congress include significant funding in a new COVID relief package to stem the flood of deaths that have occurred in congregate settings during the COVID -19 pandemic. The funding is vital for preventing the forced institutionalization that has led to thousands of deaths in these congregate settings, and for providing PPE and adequately paid caregivers to keep people safer in their own homes. Additional funding is also needed to provide affordable, accessible housing in the community. A second ADAPT demand is permanent reauthorization of the Money Follows the Person program. And a third demand is no Supreme Court appointment until after the November 3^rd election.

Disabled and aging people in nursing homes, institutions, and other congregate settings like jails, prisons, and detention camps, are dying of COVID at alarming rates, and in alarming numbers. Covid relief packages so far have pumped money into nursing facilities, but those funds have not prevented 40% of the Covid deaths from occurring in the nation’s nursing homes. Every day more and more nursing facilities and other congregate settings are becoming Covid cluster sites.

Multiple chapters in ADAPT’s national network are joining the call to action in their own communities to demand that Congress provide funding for Home and Community Based Services to protect disabled and aging people living in the community; and to help disabled and aging people currently housed in institutions move to the safety of their own homes by reauthorizing the federal Money Follows the Person program.

“Of the measures passed to date by Congress to address the COVID pandemic, none has authorized funding to protect and support the 12 million disabled and aging people living in their own homes,” said Rhoda Gibson activist from MA ADAPT. “Nor has any funding been authorized to provide a living wage, benefits, and hazard pay during the pandemic to support the attendant care workers who keep disabled and aging people living in their own homes. And none of the funding authorized so far has ensured that personal protective equipment and other necessary supplies are available to people living in the community and their workers.”

The federal Money Follows the Person program has supported thousands of people to move from institutions into their own homes. In the absence of formal reauthorization since the program sunset in 2018, some states have had to end their programs, and all states have seen a sharp decline in the number of people who have been able to benefit from the program. Permanent reauthorization is necessary to ensure a safe way for people to get out of dangerous institutions and back to their own homes.

Confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett before the November elections could have dire consequences for disabled and aging people and their health care, based on the record of her decisions to date, and the upcoming cases on the Supreme Court docket. ADAPT demands that the appointment should not be rushed, but should be made by the incoming president.

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National-ADAPT-Press-Release-Oct-1-2020-Final Download

HCBS FUNDING IN COVID PACKAGE ACTION SAMPLE PRESS RELEASE

ADAPT Advocates from across the Country Demand Senators Fund Services to Keep Disabled and Aging People Safe and Living in their Own Homes

MM/DD/YY PRESS ALERT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For More information:
(Contact Name & phone number and/or email)

WHO: (ADAPT Chapter)
WHAT: Disability Rights Activists Send Messages to Senators to fund Home and Community Based Services and make Money Follows the Person permanent

WHERE: (Address for the location)

WHEN: (Time if an event is happening)

Disabled and Aging people being held in institutions are dying of COVID at alarming rates. Congressional COVID Relief packages so far have pumped more money into institutions but people are still dying; more nursing facilities and other congregate settings are labeled as cluster sites every day.

(Local ADAPT Chapter), as part of ADAPT’s national network of grassroots disability activists, is participating in a call to action. The call to action has been organized to call upon Senators to protect disabled and aging people living in the community by providing additional funding for Home and Community Based Services and help disabled and aging people in institutions move to the safety of their own homes by reauthorizing the federal Money Follows the Person program.

Resources are needed to keep disabled and aging people in their homes safely. NONE of the laws Congress has passed to address the COVID pandemic have had funding to protect and support the 12 million disabled and aging people living in their own homes. None of the funding has supported the workers who keep disabled and aging people living in their own homes through better wages or benefits. None of the resources have ensured that personal protective equipment or other supplies are available to people living in the community and their workers.

The federal Money Follows the Person program has supported thousands of people in moving from institutions into their own homes. Since the program’s ending in 2018, Congress has provided extension funding, but the loss of the formal program has meant some states have ended the program, and in all states the number of people who have been able to benefit from the program has sharply dropped. Permanent reauthorization is necessary to ensure a safe way for people to get out of dangerous institutions and back to their own homes.

(Local ADAPT Chapter) will be (Describe what actions you will be doing on this day) to reach our Senators who returned to work in D.C. on July 21^st. Funding Home and Community Based Services and re-authorizing Money Follows the Person must be first priorities for the next round of COVID relief.

Download Sample Press Release HERE

#DisabledNotDisposable #ADAPTandSurvive #LivesWorthyOfLife
NationalADAPT.org @RealNatlADAPT on Twitter & Instagram, ADAPT National on Facebook and TikTok, National ADAPT on YouTube
ADAPTnational@gmail.com