Subj: The Community Imperative
Date: 00-04-08 17:50:20 EDT
From: OaksGroup@aol.com
In 1979, the Center on Human Policy at Syracuse University wrote The Community Imperative, a declaration supporting the right of all people with disabilities to community living. The Center has reissued The Community Imperative in 2000 and invites endorsements from individuals and organizations.
The Community Imperative
A Refutation of All Arguments
In Support of Institutionalizing
Anybody Because of Mental Retardation
Center on Human Policy
Syracuse University
In the domain of Human Rights:
All people have fundamental moral and constitutional rights.
These rights must not be abrogated merely because a person has a mental or physical disability.
Among these fundamental rights is the right to community living.
In the domain of Educational Programming and Human Services:
All people, as human beings, are inherently valuable.
All people can grow and develop.
All people are entitled to conditions which foster their development.
Such conditions are optimally provided in community settings.
Therefore:
In fulfillment of fundamental human rights,
and
In securing optimum developmental opportunities,
all people, regardless of the severity of their disabilities, are entitled to community living.
For further information about The Community Imperative, including background information, a reader-friendly version developed for and with self-advocates, a listing of individuals who endorsed the declaration in 1979, and current endorsers, visit the Center's web site at:
http://soeweb.syr.edu/thechp/community_imperative.html
Individuals can endorse The Community Imperative by contacting the Center on Human Policy by mail (805 South Crouse Ave., Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244-2280), fax (315-443-4338), or e-mail [ thechp@sued.syr.edu ]. Please state your endorsement of The Community Imperative and provide the following information:
Name
Title (Optional)
Organizational Affiliation (Optional--for identification purposes only)
City/State/Country
Mailing Address (Optional)
E-mail (Optional)
Subj: Re: The Community Imperative
Date: 00-04-08 18:15:51 EDT
From: JEANNANDI
To: thechp@sued.syr.edu
As an organization, the California Disability Alliance (CDA) endorses the Community Imperative, with only one reservation. Our organization has consistently maintained the position that a few persons with very severe disabilities do require 24-hour care, sometimes in a professionally-run facility. If "community living" is to include such persons whose physical and cognitive impairments are of a magnitude that preclude real choice on their part, or if such persons have no friends or family to assist with their living at home, then CDA feels that small, family-like facilities are appropriate for their care. We stand against any "warehousing" of persons in large institutions, no matter what or how severe their disability, and believe in maximizing individual choice, freedom and dignity under all settings.
--Jean Nandi, Member, CDA Executive Committee
Name of Organization -- California Disability Alliance (CDA)
City/State/Country -- State of California, USA
Mailing Address -- 1529 Josephine St., Berkeley, CA 94703
E-mail -- jeannandi@aol.com
Subj: CDA position on CI
Date: 00-04-08 20:38:56 EDT
From: staylo01@mailbox.syr.edu (Steve Taylor)
To: jeannandi@aol.com
Dear Ms. Nandi--
Thank you very much for your e-mail on The Community Imperative.
The Community Imperative is a general statement of values and principles regarding the right of all persons with disabilities to "community living." I think it is fairly evident that "community living" precludes public (variously referred to as state "hospitals," "developmental centers," "training centers," or schools") or private (e.g., nursing homes) institutions. Beyond that, I think there is room to interpret "community living" differently. Some people would take the position that all people with disabilities should be supported in their own homes or in the homes of family members or friends. Other people would take the position that we need family-scale facilities in the community for certain persons or under certain situations.
Certainly, there are some people who require 24 hour per day paid supports provided by persons with appropriate training and/or professional expertise. People might disagree on whether it is necessary to provide these supports in community-based, agency-operated, and licensed or certified facilities. The Community Imperative is silent on this question.
I hope this is helpful. Before we list CDA as an endorser of The Community Imperative, I want to be sure that my interpretation of The Community Imperative is consistent with your position. Please let me know. (Reply to this e-mail address, since it comes to me directly.)
Thanks.
--Steve Taylor
Steven J. Taylor, Ph.D.
Director, Center on Human Policy
Syracuse University
Subj: Re: CDA position on CI
Date: 00-04-09 10:29:48 EDT
From: JEANNANDI
To: staylo01@mailbox.syr.edu
Thank you for writing! Yes you hit the nail on the head, and CDA fully supports your position. May I put your letter up on our website as illustrative of this type of thinking? Please include the California Disability Alliance as a supporter of the CI.
Yours Sincerely,
Jean Nandi, Member, Executive Committee
California Disability Alliance (CDA)
1529 Josephine St.
Berkeley, CA 94703-1168
(510) 845-8236
email: jeannandi@able-net.net
Web: [ http://disweb.org/cda
-----
The work of the California Disability Alliance is supported
in part by a grant from
the Disability Rights Advocates Fund of the San Francisco Foundation
Re: The Community Imperative
Posted by Steve Taylor on April 05, 19100 at 20:51:50:
In Reply to: The Community Imperative posted by Bill Coffelt on March 31, 19100 at 12:13:54:
: In 1979, the Center on Human Policy at Syracuse University wrote The Community Imperative, a declaration supporting the right of all people with disabilities to community living. The Center has reissued The Community Imperative in 2000 and invites endorsements from individuals and organizations.
Bill--
As the current Director of the Center on Human Policy, I appreciate your posting information on The Community Imperative on The Arc Discussion Board. This seems like an especially appropriate forum for this. Having read the responses to your post, I want to provide some additional information on The Community Imperative.
The Community Imperative was the idea and inspiration of the late Burt Blatt, the founder of the Center on Human Policy and later President of the American Association on Mental Retardation--AAMR (which last year republished selections from Burt's many books and writings). Burt was one of the first professionals to speak out publicly against the abuse and dehumanization of people with mental retardation in America's institutions. His photographic expose of institutions, Christmas in Purgatory, which was published in 1967, captured widespread attention and was the basis for a widely read article published in LOOK magazine. His expose was not popular among many professionals and policy makers, but parents of people in both institutions and the community expressed their gratitude and respect for his caring about what was happening in institutions.
Twelve years after the publication of Christmas in Purgatory, Burt published a follow-up study of institutions titled The Family Papers. Despite the massive influx of federal (ICF/MR) and state funds, the addition of large numbers of new staff, and new renovations and construction, Burt concluded that the institutions were hopeless: "If there is hope in what we have learned in our examination of institutionalization, it is not in any improvement of institutional life--imprisonment and segregation can be made more comfortable, but they can never be made into freedom or participation."
So, in 1979, under Burt's leadership, the Center issued The Community Imperative declaration. The declaration was endorsed by many leaders of what is now The Arc and the parent movement generally. To name just a few: Rosemary and Gunnar Dybwad, Eleanor Elkin, Bob Perske, Lotte Moise, Ann and Rud Turnbull. The declaration was also endorsed by disability leaders such as Ed Roberts and Judy Heumann (now Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services) and professionals with impeccable credentials such as Seymour Sarason, Frank Menolascino, David Braddock, Marc Gold, Lou Brown, and many others. "Nefarious leaders"? The Center on Human Policy has reissued The Community Imperative because we believe that it time to put the institution versus community debate behind us and to concentrate on the more important and, in the year 2000, relevant task of assuring that community services are implemented in a manner consistent with the values and principles in the declaration. The Community Imperative expresses the beliefs that all human beings are inherently valuable, can grow and develop, and deserve to be part of our community and society.
The Center on Human Policy, and I, are deeply committed to the principle of "choice." We believe that individuals with disabilities--or their families if they cannot make informed decisions--should be able to choose their service providers and even their own support staff. We believe that people should be able to choose their neighborhoods, their friends--whether disabled or not, and the places where they spend their leisure time. We believe that people should be able to choose how and where to practice their religious befliefs, if they are so inclined--not merely to go to services offered by the Catholic, Protestant, or Jewish chaplain, but to experience religion the way they others do. For example, Catholics should be able to choose between St. Mark's and Our Lady of Lourdes; Protestants should be able to choose between Attonement Lutheran Church and the Southern Missionary Baptist Church; Jews should be able to decide between Chabad House-Ludavitch or Temple Beth El, etc., etc. We believe that the routines and rhythms of everyday life--when to go to sleep, what and when to eat--should be based on individual needs and preferences, and not on efficiency or the convenience of staff.
We believe that institutions by their nature limit individual choice in major and minor ways. We believe that all people, regardless of nature or severity of disability, should be able to enjoy the wide range of choices and opportunities available to other people in the community, and not be subjected to the "one size fits all treatment" found in institutions.
In a democratic society, any group of people has the right to remove or segregate themselves from that society. Some members of religious or ethnic groups have chosen to do this. Further, parents have the right to send their children to schools that only accept students who share the same religion, ethnic group background, or even sexual orientation. However, when people choose to remove themselves from the society, they cannot expect the society, or the government, to pay for their segregation.
The concept of "choice" belongs to those who would advocate for themselves or their sons and daughters to have the same opportunities as other citizens. It does not belong to those who would place their children in situations that deprive them of choice and opportunity.
The Center on Human Policy welcomes endorsements of The Community Imperative by individuals and organizations.
--Steve
Steven J. Taylor, Ph.D.
Professor and Director
Center on Human Policy
Syracuse University