Welcome to ADAPT!

ADAPT is a national grass-roots community that organizes disability rights activists to engage in nonviolent direct action, including civil disobedience, to assure the civil and human rights of people with disabilities to live in freedom.

NEW Community Integration Act To Be Introduced!

As we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act, we know there is still much work to get done so that people with disabilities can live in the community rather than be forced into nursing facilities and other institutions. To assure that people with disabilities have a real choice to avoid or leave institutional placement, ADAPT is meeting with members of Congress to coordinate introduction of the Community Integration Act.

The proposed legislation creates a new Title of the ADA, which requires states to change their policies, provide community-based services first, and offer HCBS to people currently in institutions.

Learn more about the proposed legislation here.

FollowThe Spring Action in Washington DC

Keep up with the ACTION from the streets of the Capitol with the ADAPT Action Report.

NEW ADAPT and the National Council on Independent Living File Amicus Brief in DOL Case

ADAPT and the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL) filed an Amicus Brief in Home Care Association, et al v. David Weil, et al, the Department of Labor case regarding the companionship rule changes. The brief filed by ADAPT and NCIL details the detrimental effects the companionship rule changes will have on attendants and people with disabilities. Click here to read the brief.

NEW Senator Tom Harkin to be ADAPT's 2015 National FunRunner!

ADAPT will be celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the ADA by recognizing the activists that made the passage of the ADA possible. This celebration will take place in Washington DC on Sunday, April 19th 2015 at ADAPT’s 10th annual FUN RUN for Disability Rights. Senator Tom Harkin, ADAPT’s 2015 National FunRunner, will join us in recognizing those who fought so hard to make community integration a reality for the millions of Americans, young and old, with disabilities. Read more.

NEW Organizer Training in Austin

Do you know people interested in starting an ADAPT chapter?

Are you concerned that your chapter is just a couple folks and you aren't sure what to do?

The super-experienced ADAPT organizers in our Emerging Groups Workgroup are ready to help! The workgroup has organized a training to develop ADAPT groups. Learn more.

ADAPT Secures Statement from the American Nurses Association Supporting Nurse Delegation

ADAPT - whose members who protested at the headquarters of the American Nurses Association (ANA) in May 2014 - have secured an important victory. The ANA has released a statement supporting nurse delegation and assignment of health related tasks. This statement can be a useful tool for state-level advocates trying to implement the Community First Choice Option and assure that every person with a disability has the opportunity to live in freedom with the services and supports they need. Read more.

ADAPT Applauds US District Court for District of Columbia Decision on Companionship Rules

ADAPT applauds today’s ruling which voided the Department of Labor’s Companionship Rule. This decision ensures that people with disabilities will not lose their attendants due to an unfunded mandate. Read more.

ADAPT Applauds District Court for Granting Temporary Restraining Order on DOL Companionship Rule Changes

ADAPT applauds the United States District Court for the District of Columbia for issuing a temporary restraining order for the Department of Labor’s companionship rule changes in the Fair Labor Standards Act. Read more.

Read Reports of Local ADAPT Actions

Everyone is well aware that ADAPT activists from across the country converge on a city and hold a national action twice a year, but ADAPT activists take action locally all year long. We have added a new section to the ADAPT website, to highlight these local actions. Read more about local ADAPT actions here.

ADAPT 25th ADA Anniversary Poster Collection

The ADAPT Community is excited to announce its new 25th ADA Anniversary "Rights Worth Fighting For!" Poster Series. We will be celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the ADA, the disability community’s civil rights legislation, in July 2015.

ADAPT is starting our "Rights Worth Fighting For!" series by with two posters that you can display at home or in your office to commemorate the ADA and disability rights advocacy. The first poster, "Rights Worth Fighting For", features a classic Tom Olin photo.

The second poster, "Power Concedes Nothing Without A Demand.", features the famous quote by Frederick Douglass and the ADAPT logo against a classic-ADAPT tie-dye background.

These posters make great gifts!

Use this order form or contact ADAPT for more information.

ADAPT Merchandise for sale!

Lose a shirt? Previous Action shirt not fit anymore? Need cool holiday gifts? ADAPT has you covered! We are selling previous action tees through eBay. We have more but eBay won't let us put them up until they see we are a credible seller. So buy a shirt, rate us well and we will put up more!

You can also buy posters from the eBay site.

ADAPT Rocks Little Rock!

ADAPT brought our state-by-state campaign for REAL COMMUNITY CHOICE and rights for people with disabilities to the capital city of Arkansas. Visit the ADAPT Action Reports from the streets of Little Rock to see ADAPT's work in the tradition of the Little Rock Nine.

Read ADAPT's opening statement.

Community First Choice Option

Several states have already indicated that they will be selecting the option. California has formed a CFC Development and Implementation Council and has an aggressive timeline for CFC Implementation. New York has announced that it will be selecting the option. Maryland has confirmed that the state will select the option. Alaska, Rhode Island and Washington all indicated in a Families USA survey that they would be selecting the CFC Option in the coming year. In the same survey, Arizona has indicated that the state is considering selecting the option.

Whether your state is moving forward with the CFC Option or you are advocating that they do, ADAPT's Community First Choice Option Fact Sheet explains the basics for you. We have also developed Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about CFC as well as a sample letter you can edit to send to your State Medicaid Director to ask for a meeting about your state selecting the CFC Option.

Managed Care

The expansion of Medicaid managed care that includes long term services and supports for people with disabilities and older people confronts us with the challenge of how to assure that the advances we have made in developing a person centered, consumer directed, community based system is not diminished or eliminated. Managed care has some positive opportunities as well as potential for negative outcomes.

States are developing Requests for Proposals that HMOs must respond to. The HMOs selected to administer the program then must sign a contract with the state that outlines what they must provide, how it is delivered, how the state will evaluate their performance and how the HMOs will be reimbursed. Advocates should be at the table telling the state what “best practices” to put in the RFP. In addition there must be some accountability in the managed care contract to assure that community integration is the outcome we want.

Two resources for advocates at the state level are Guiding Principles for Serving Individuals with Disabilities through Medicaid Health Plans that National ADAPT negotiated with the American Health Insurance Programs (AHIP)in 2007 and proposed Community Integration Performance Indicators (CIPI) that ADAPT of Texas has recently developed to assess how their managed care program in Texas (StarPlus) is doing in providing LTSS.

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