Focus on policy for the disabled
at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies

The Program For Rehabilitation Leadership continues to support the implementation of national policy that protects the rights of the disabled. In May it hosted the Region IV Independent Living Conference at the Renaissance Atlanta Downtown. The conference attracted more than 100 disability rights activists, state agency personnel and federal program specialists from eight states who work primarily in the areas of vocational rehabilitation and independent living services.

The conference included a reception honoring Lois Curtis and Elaine Wilson, whose legal battle prompted a landmark 1999 Supreme Court decision protecting residential rights for the disabled. Curtis and Wilson, disabled Georgians, challenged the state to provide services in their communities rather than at the state-run psychiatric facility. Professionals working their cases agreed that community-based supports would serve them best.

The Supreme Court decision, commonly referred to as the Olmstead Decision, among other guarantees reinforced the use of the American with Disabilities Act to help certain individuals move from institutions to communities. “States cannot use inadequate funding arguments to avoid community placements,” reads a July 13, 1999, press release of the Arc of the United States, a national volunteer organization that monitors policies that impact the mentally disabled and their families.

Deon Locklin (pictured above), director of PRL at the Andrew Young School, says that conference participants appreciated the opportunity to recognize these national heroes for their important contribution to the disability rights movement. “The Olmstead Decision triggered national public policy change,” she says. “All states are now required to develop a plan for compliance, each outlining how they will support community integration of individuals with disabilities.”

The conference offered training, workshops and general sessions relating to the independent living movement, including capacity-building, planning, ser vice delivery, and funding strategies and opportunities. Other areas included legislative information and involvement, and tools for information tracking and reporting.

While PRL continues to focus on matters of national disability policy, it also serves as the southeast region’s premier provider of training and education for organizations that serve and support individuals with disabilities.

This summer, the United States Department of Education announced it had awarded PRL a $750,000 grant to create an RSA (Rehabilitation Ser vices Administration) Scholars Program. The grant enables PRL to provide academic scholarships to a dozen students who are pursuing a master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling at Georgia State University during each of the next five years. This project, a collaborative effort with Georgia State University’s Department of Counseling and Psychological Services, will be administered through AYSPS.

“This is the first project of its kind for PRL,” says Locklin. “It links a master’s degree program with our customers in the public sector. Competition was fierce, so the award was a pleasant surprise.” Locklin says PRL staff worked closely with administrators from the Georgia Department of Labor, Vocational Rehabilitation Program, to conceptualize the five-year project. For more information on the RSA Scholars Program, Locklin invites those interested to call the PRL offices at (404) 651-3532.

Editor’s Note: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on December 10, 2004, that disability rights advocate Elaine Beverly Wilson, 53, died of heart and lung problems the previous Sunday at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta.