Litigation

Urge Governor Patterson to sign new law to protect persons with a disability

By Michael Kaplen

Legislation is presently pending before New York Governor, Patterson (A.7277 (Destito) S.7337 (Griffo)) which would amend state law to require state agencies to ensure that services for New Yorkers with disabilities are provided in the most integrated community setting, rather than in state or other institutional or segregated settings, by requiring state agencies to prioritize that in their state plans and to file annual reports demonstrating that priority.

According to the bill:

?tens of thousands of New Yorkers with disabilities are unnecessarily institutionalized/segregated from the non-disabled community and tens of thousands more are at risk of institutionalization, because of a long-standing financial and policy bias in state funded and/or state-administered programs for institutions rather than community-based/integrated services. New York continues to spend millions of dollars more for unnecessary segregated services for individuals that perpetuates dependence and inhibits workforce development and growth.?

This bill remedies that bias by requiring state-funded and/or state-administered programs to

?  provide services in the most integrated setting to an individual`s needs

? requires the programs to identify all barriers to community-based services to ensure that an individual is only in an institutionalized, segregated setting if that individual was unable to benefit from a community-based setting. 

The bill is on Governor Paterson?s desk so please ACT TODAY:

Call Governor Paterson at (518) 474-8390 and leave the following message:

?I?m a registered voter from (your locality and zip code) urging the Governor to sign A.7277 to make sure state agencies file annual reports demonstrating how they are helping people with disabilities to live in the most integrated community setting.?

Full post as published by Brain Injury News and Information on July 18, 2008 (boomark / email).