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293 16 Developmental Disability Policies in Kentucky Edward T. Jennings Jr. and Jeremy L. Hall We are all familiar with at least some aspects of disability policy. When we go shopping , we see accessible parking spaces reserved for individuals with disabilities. In school we have classmates who are receiving special educational services. When we are walking on the sidewalk, we come to curb cuts designed to facilitate the movement of those with mobility impairments. When we enter buildings, we see electronic doorways designed to make it easier for those with disabilities to enter. We may have worked with someone who required an accommodation, such as modifications in equipment, to be able to function effectively in the workplace. Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities constitute a unique subset of individuals with disabilities. They face many of the same challenges as other citizens with disabilities, but they also face unique challenges and require supportive policy if they are to be integrated into the mainstream of society. Their issues involve health, education, employment, transportation, financial security, civic engagement, and social involvement. An array of organized groups and agencies has mobilized to address these needs and pursue public policies to enable those with intellectual and developmental disabilities to participate to their full potential in society. In Kentucky those groups include the 874K Coalition, Easter Seals, the Commonwealth Council on Developmental Disabilities (formerly the Kentucky Council on Developmental Disabilities), the Arc of Kentucky, the American Association of Retired Persons, the Kentucky Mental Health Coalition, and others. Disability policy, broadly defined, includes protecting the rights of individuals with disabilities and offering particular services to that population. An example of the former is the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which seeks to guarantee rights to public services and employment opportunities. An example of the latter is the Home and Community Based Services program, which enables individuals with disabilities to stay in their home or the community instead of entering a nursing home or a long- 294 Politics and Public Policy Issues term-care facility. More broadly, we can think of disability policy as the use of a variety of instruments to foster the development and inclusion of individuals with disabilities in society: rights, services, insurance, subsidies, and representation. Like policy in many other arenas, disability policy in the United States has evolved in fits and starts, with gradual changes in policy preceding and following sharp punctuations . Kentucky faces major challenges in meeting the needs of the disability population because it has a disproportionate number of individuals with disabilities. Although the state has charted its own course on disability issues, it has also been supported and guided by federal initiatives. This chapter offers a portrait of the disability population in Kentucky, provides a brief overview of some major disability policies, identifies and discusses the institutions that play a central role in disability policy, describes the evolution and current status of disability policy, and analyzes the political forces in this policy arena. Throughout, the chapter gives special attention to intellectual and developmental disabilities. Characterizing the Disability Population Who are individuals with disabilities, particularly those with intellectual or developmental disabilities? One approach to this question is to look at what the law has to say. The ADA, approved by Congress in 1990, states, “An individual is considered to have a ‘disability’ if s/he has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, has a record of such an impairment, or is regarded as having such an impairment.” The Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice further clarifies that definition: The first part of the definition makes clear that the ADA applies to persons who have impairments and that these must substantially limit major life activities such as seeing, hearing, speaking, walking, breathing, performing manual tasks, learning, caring for oneself, and working. An individual with epilepsy, paralysis, HIV infection, AIDS, a substantial hearing or visual impairment, mental retardation , or a specific learning disability is covered, but an individual with a minor, nonchronic condition of short duration, such as a sprain, broken limb, or the flu, generally would not be covered. The second part of the definition protecting individuals with a record of a disability would cover, for example, a person who has recovered from cancer or mental illness.1 The Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 defines a developmental disability as a severe, chronic disability of an individual that results from mental or physical impairment, is manifest...

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