U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Headquarters organized a celebration „Community Living for All: Celebrating 25 Years of the Americans with Disabilities Act„, on Monday, June 22, 2015.
This event is coordinated by the 2015 White House Conference on Aging.
„On July 26, 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law, extending critical civil rights protections to people with disabilities. The ADA was a result of decades of efforts by disability rights advocates to raise awareness of the injustices and prejudice they so often experienced, change public perceptions of disability, and demand the full rights of citizenship. Because of these efforts, over the last 25 years the ADA has protected millions of people from discrimination and improved access to businesses, public spaces, transportation, communication, and employment.
Nine years after the ADA became law, on June 22, 1999, the Supreme Court ruled in Olmstead v. L.C. that unjustified segregation of people with disabilities is a form of unlawful discrimination under the ADA. This landmark decision requires states to ensure that people with disabilities can receive services in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs”.
This celebration was organized by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Community Living (ACL) and Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to celebrate the progress of the last 25 years and to discuss the work that lies ahead.
Speakers included:
• Kathy Greenlee, Assistant Secretary for Aging and Administrator, Administration for Community Living
• Sharon Lewis, Principal Deputy Administrator, Administration for Community Living
• Jocelyn Samuels, Director, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights
• Judy Heumann, Special Advisor for International Disability Rights, U.S. Department of State
• Kevin Prindiville, Executive Director, Justice in Aging
SOURCE: 2015 White House Conference on Aging