Personal Plea

Hello Alamo!

Today is going to zoom out of our little community.

I don’t really focus on politics on this blog because frankly I’ve lost all faith in politicians, but the receptacle in the White House has “finally”* come for my community directly, and I need to talk about it.

According to PBS, the Department of Justice recently released an opinion that basically allows any state to determine whether or not it continues funding in-home and community-based services (HBCS) that allow disabled people to live in our own communities, which is notably cheaper over time for states.

On top of that, and ultimately more importantly, it’s been known since Geraldo Rivera was a decent journalist that these institutions have little incentive to prioritize cleanliness or the well-being of the disabled people living there. Even to this day, disabled people allowed to live in their own homes/communities have much better health outcomes.

Technically the Olmstead decision of 1999 always allowed states to do this. Under section II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, states are only required to provide HBCS if a disabled person consents to living in their home, a professional has determined we were better suited to community support, and that state resources can meet our needs. The difference this time is the receptacle just cut $1 trillion over a decade from SNAP, Medicare, and Medicaid, the latter of which funds the waivers that provide HBCS. If states suddenly have much less money to support disabled people and their families, it’s not hard to imagine that they’d stop funding HBCS altogether.

Disability Pride month is in July to mark the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990. I would love if, to celebrate, we all made a stink over this. Every human being is one accident, one mosquito bite (likely in my case), or one year away from becoming physically disabled. There is also a very long history of people deciding that any deviation from their norm (depression, post-partum, homosexuality, not yielding to their authority, ‘hysteria,’ etc.) is grounds to declare a supposed loved one crazy and throw them away in an institution. This touches all of us.

For the time being, I’m not especially worried about New Mexico scapegoating our lives. But back to my loss of faith, that priority could change with the whims of whoever runs our state next.

Salud.

• The decision to rollback accessibility requirements for school buildings under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act
• An executive order eliminating DEIA funding, which harms our accessibility in employment
• Eliminating ASL interpreters in White House press briefings
• Eliminating ADA requirements for businesses
• DOGE targeting Schedule A employees, many of whom are disabled
• Rollback on enforcement of disabled civil rights
• Many others