Welfare Warriors

Winter 2006

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  Winter 2006

ADAPT Delivers Demands; Over 60 Arrested

Nashville - Governor Bredesen refused to meet with Disabled Constituents and their supporters for the second consecutive day. ADAPT sent a small, peaceful delegation to deliver demands that stress ending immoral state and federal policies that require elderly and disabled people to live in nursing homes and other institutions against their will.

Rather than listen to the voice of the people, the Governor responded with force: a huge police presence and barricades. After several peaceful attempts to enter the Capitol to address an elected public official, the delegation blocked Charlotte Avenue between the Capitol and Legislative Plaza. The police moved in and arrested over 60 local and national advocates.

ADAPT wants Governor Bredesen to do the following:

1. Support the passage, funding and implementation of the Tennessee Community Choices Act of 2006.

2. Reverse all funding cuts and policies in Tennessee that have resulted or will result in disabled and older Tennesseans being removed from their own homes and forced into nursing homes and other institutions.

3. Work with ADAPT and the National Governor's Association to implement state and federal "Money Follows the Person" (MFP) funding and policies. Tennessee should apply for the new MFP (federal funds available to the state for services).

4.Write Senator Frist and the Tennessee delegation telling them that Tennessee supports MiCASSA (Medicaid Community Attendant Services and Supports Act) and asking them to support MiCASSA and hold hearings on the bill.

Today's peaceful protest followed yesterday's march and protest where 80 were arrested (most at the site of the historic Nashville civil rights sit-ins), and a day of testimony from people with disabilities formerly warehoused in nursing homes and other institutions. ADAPT is in Nashville through Thursday and will continue attempts to change policies that force disabled and elderly people to live in nursing homes and other institutions.

Bob Kafka 512-431-4085
      Janine Bertram 503-504-9787

"Police officers began cuffing and removing the protesters from the street. The activists using power wheelchairs, the Metro Police found, were the most difficult. They dragged one and attempted to use the controls to drive a second power wheelchair from the street."

"Once the police had everyone cleared from the street they realized they were not equipped with accessible transportation. Without a way to take those who use wheelchairs to the station for the arrest, the police ended up giving everyone citations."

"Sixty people were arrested, police spokesman Don Aaron said. Fifty were cited for blocking streets and refusing to move, while 10 were taken to jail. Lawmakers, state workers and legislative staffers were blocked from entering or leaving parking garages as about 400 protesters chanted slogans, held signs and camped out for several hours at busy intersections. Participants came from all over the country to complain about Tennessee's long-term care system for the disabled."

400 Disabled Protesters Take Over Downtown Nashville

Four hundred disabled people took over Capitol Hill in downtown Nashville. Hundreds of folks in wheelchairs blocked at least half a dozen intersections for hours and hours. The disabled protesters prevented hundreds of downtown workers from leaving work at the onset of rush hour.

Sixty protesters were arrested.

Members of ADAPT (American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today) came from across the country for the demonstration. They came to Nashville because Tennessee is one of the worst states in the nation when it comes to taking care of the sick and disabled. And for that distinction, you can thank Governor Phil Bredesen, the man who campaigned on the promise to "fix" the state's Medicaid program. No one knew that he meant to "fix" TennCare by slashing hundreds of thousands of people off the program. Bredesen has cut two hundred thousand from the state's Medicaid program and enforced severe restrictions on thousands of the lucky ones he permitted to stay on the program.

After Bredesen cut millions of dollars from the state Medicaid program last year, untold numbers of disabled people were forced into nursing homes.

Mark Johnson said most long-term care money in Tennessee goes to nursing homes, and disabled people don't have a choice to stay in their own homes. 'People with disabilities are being forced to live in institutions and nursing homes,' said Jose Lara of El Paso, Texas." . . , not be stored in a warehouse," said Don DuVaul, a 51-year-old, West Point, Tenn. man who uses a wheelchair."

You can hear some of the horror stories about life in these institutions on the ADAPT website.

State Sen. Steve Cohen (D) is sponsoring a bill that would permit funds now spent on nursing homes to be used for alternative community care, including personal care attendants. Email him .

Lawmakers, state workers and legislative staffers were unable to enter or leave parking garages while the 400 protesters laid siege to Capitol Hill. Several lawmakers were annoyed at the inconvenience.

The protesters chanted: "Just like a nursing home -- you can't get out."

ADAPT members endured the cold and the rain in order to make their point, and they demanded a meeting with Governor Bredesen.

Who do we want?
Bredesen!
When do we want him?
Now!

Of course, the millionaire Governor refused to meet with the demonstrators. Bredesen called the protest an "extreme publicity stunt." A statement from the Governor's office charged that protesters had created "a serious disruption to downtown businesses and state employees."

Just what you might expect from the man who compared Medicaid to socialism . If the Governor wants to talk about "disruption," he should try surviving under the merciless blade of the Bredesen health care axe.

If the Democratic Party stood for anything, they'd throw Phil Bredesen out . If the Democratic Party stood for anything, disabled people wouldn't be demonstrating in our streets.