The Disability Integration Act (DIA) is a civil rights, bipartisan and bicameral legislation, introduced by Senators Charles Schumer, Minority Leader (D-NY) and Cory Gardner (R-CO) in the Senate and Representative Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) in the House, to address the fundamental issue that people who need Long Term Services and Supports (LTSS) are forced into institutions and losing their basic civil rights. The legislation (S.117, H.R.555) builds on the 25 years of work that ADAPT and other disability rights advocates have done to end the institutional bias and provide seniors and people with disabilities home and community-based services (HCBS) as an alternative to institutionalization. It is the next step in our national advocacy after securing the Community First Choice (CFC) option.
Update: The bill was re-introduced in the current Congress on January 15th.
Our Senators and Representative were original sponsors and co-sponsors. As of June 2019 the bill had enough sponsors for passage, however, it is held up in commitee in the House.
Here is a link to the current co-sponsorship list:
Is your member of the House of Representatives on the list?
