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         April 28, 2010        

Federal law backs opponents of segregated, discriminatory housing on Boeger for mentally ill

The US Code makes it clear that they United States Congress opposed the kind of sub-standard, discriminatory and segregated housing that Daveri, Thresholds and the Housing Task Force are trying to foist on the mentally ill.

Here's what Congress had to say in the US Code, at Title 42 "Public Health and Welfare," Chapter 126 "Equal Opportunity for Individuals with Disabilities," Section 12101 "Finding and purposes."  I've highlighted in red clauses that I feel are particularly relevant, and added one comment in brown.

(a) Findings

The Congress finds that -

(1) physical or mental disabilities in no way diminish a person's right to fully participate in all aspects of society, yet many people with physical or mental disabilities have been precluded from doing so because of discrimination; others who have a record of a disability or are regarded as having a disability also have been subjected to discrimination;

(2) historically, society has tended to isolate and segregate individuals with disabilities, and, despite some improvements, such forms of discrimination against individuals with disabilities continue to be a serious and pervasive social problem;

(3) discrimination against individuals with disabilities persists in such critical areas as employment, housing, public accommodations, education, transportation, communication, recreation, institutionalization, health services, voting, and access to public services;

(4) unlike individuals who have experienced discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, religion, or age, individuals who have experienced discrimination on the basis of disability have often had no legal recourse to redress such
discrimination;

(5) individuals with disabilities continually encounter various forms of discrimination, including outright intentional exclusion, the discriminatory effects of architectural, transportation, and communication barriers, overprotective rules and policies, failure to make modifications to existing facilities and practices, exclusionary qualification standards and criteria, segregation, and relegation to lesser services, programs, activities, benefits, jobs, or other opportunities;

(6) census data, national polls, and other studies have documented that people with disabilities, as a group, occupy an inferior status in our society, and are severely disadvantaged socially, vocationally, economically, and educationally;

(7) the Nation's proper goals regarding individuals with disabilities are to assure equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency for such individuals; and

(8) the continuing existence of unfair and unnecessary discrimination and prejudice denies people with disabilities the opportunity to compete on an equal basis and to pursue those opportunities for which our free society is justifiably famous,
and costs the United States billions of dollars in unnecessary expenses resulting from dependency and non-productivity.
Rob Sherman's note:  This last clause was highlighted because the Boeger proposal would unnecessarily require the expense of para-transit, when the mentally disabled are perfectly capable of using regular transit and would certainly prefer to use normal transit.  It would, thusly, block full employment because they wouldn't have any way to get to work.

 (b) Purpose

It is the purpose of this chapter -

(1) to provide a clear and comprehensive national mandate for the elimination of discrimination against individuals with disabilities;

(2) to provide clear, strong, consistent, enforceable standards addressing discrimination against individuals with disabilities;

(3) to ensure that the Federal Government plays a central role in enforcing the standards established in this chapter on behalf
of individuals with disabilities; and

(4) to invoke the sweep of congressional authority, including the power to enforce the fourteenth amendment and to regulate
commerce, in order to address the major areas of discrimination faced day-to-day by people with disabilities.

Previous Rob Sherman News stories in the series:

Tuesday, March 16:  Arlington Heights intends to put apartments for severely mentally ill across from Buffalo Grove High School

Wednesday, March 17:  Boeger plan fails every standard of recognized expert for siting housing for severely mentally ill

Thursday, March 18:  Developers refuse to respond to inquiries about choice of location for apartments for mentally ill

Friday, March 19:  Numerous appropriate sites exist for housing suburban mentally ill

Saturday, March 20:  Pictures of Boeger Road neighborhood surrounding proposed apartments for severely mentally ill

Friday, April 2:  Sherman meets with State Rep and Arlington Heights Mayor regarding apartments for severely mentally ill

Monday, April 5:  Could psycho-arsonist be first resident at apartments for mentally ill in Arlington Heights?

Wednesday, April 21:  Major scandal rocks Housing Task Force regarding plan for siting apartments for severely

Friday, April 23:  Plan Commission votes 4-3 in favor of sub-standard, overcrowded ghetto of undersized apartments for mentally ill

Sunday, April 25:  Sherman finds way to successfully block Boeger Road apartments for severely mentally ill

Tuesday, April 27:  Illinois Housing Development Authority says Boeger project must meet ADA guidelines

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