Watch an archived (recorded) hearing on theUsing the ADA to Promote Community Integration.

On Thursday, June 21st, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee held a hearing on the issue of Olmstead Enforcement Update: Using the ADA to Promote Community Integration.

Olmstead v. L.C. is the 1999 U.S. Supreme Court case which established that under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), individuals with disabilities have the right to live and receive their services in the community, rather than only in institutional settings. In 2010, the HELP Committee held a hearing on the state of Olmstead enforcement twenty years after the passage of the ADA. With the anniversary of the Olmstead decision in June and the ADAs 22nd anniversary in July, this upcoming hearing provides an update on the advances and challenges to community inclusion for people with disabilities.

The witnesses for Thursdays hearing will be:

• Thomas Perez, Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice
• Henry Claypool, Principal Deputy Administrator, Administration for Community Living, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
• Rita Landgraf, Secretary, Delaware Department of Health and Social Services
• Zelia Baugh, Commissioner, Alabama Department of Mental Health
• Ricardo Thornton, self-advocate and Special Olympics ambassador