JUSTIN DARTS TAKE ON RSA

JUSTIN DART'S TAKE ON THE RSA

Since the passing of Justin Dart, Jr., lots of people have made speeches
about what he would think of this, or say about that. They may be right,
but I think the most effective way to know what Justin Dart thought is to
look to his own words. In November of 1987, he made what he called a
statement of conscience to Congress. He spoke as the Commissioner of RSA
(the Rehabilitation Services Administration), about the kind of condition
that agency was really in. His efforts to warn them, to warn all of us, of
what was happening, what would happen if we failed to act, cost him his
job. 

He never regretted it. We cannot forget it. 

To those who do not yet see what is happening to what was supposed to be a
movement of the people, a means by which to let people with disabilities
actively participate in making change at the local, state and national
levels, listen to the words of our hero as he spoke truth to power about
RSA. 

Justin said:

"We are confronted by a vast, inflexible federal system which, like the
society it represents, still contains a significant proportion of
individuals who have not yet overcome obsolete, paternalistic attitudes
about disability and, indeed, about government itself." 

"There is a resistance to any sharing of their centralized authority with
people with disabilities, their families, advocates and professional
service providers, in or out of the federal service. Good management is
too often subordinated to the protection of power." 

"And, magically, a small but all too effective minority in the federal
service and in the community seem dedicated to divide and conquer strategy
and promoting hostility among government, advocates and professional
service providers." 

Our Center for Independent Living has long documented and reported RSA's
decision to look the other way while federal law is flagrantly ignored in
the state of Indiana, by people who are profiting from those divide and
conquer strategy. 

We first wrote to all Centers in 1999, predicting that if we didn't stop
all of that real advocacy stuff and learn how to "build relationships" and
support the status quo, there would be attempts to silence us. 

For the last six years, we and other brave souls have reported that anyone
unafraid to question the fraud and corruption in the state of Indiana is
beaten bloody and thrown out with the trash. Of course, we didn't know RSA
would try to finish the job by shooting us in the head. It's sort of a
shooting the messenger kind of thing. Nothing personal. 

RSA is demanding that we violate all of the confidentiality policies that
we are required by federal law to uphold, and they've said that we either
meet their demand or risk loss of all federal funds. 

I don't know if the attorneys will be successful in helping us to protect
the privacy of our people, nor do I knowB what decision the board of
directors will ultimately make as we defend their right to privacy. I
don't know how effective the letter writing and phone calling campaign
that our people have come will be. 

But I do know that if we are forced to shut down after having achieved the
kinds of successes we have for people with disabilities in our community
and across the state, if they can penalize us for a differing
interpretation of regulation while ignoring the kind of fraud and
corruption going on in this state that has cost our people hundreds of
millions worth of services and systemic changes, it would seem that Justin
Dart's observations were right on target. 

NOTE to DIMENET readers:  See Justin Dart Jr.'s complete statement at
http://www.ilru.org/html/about/Dart/statement_of_conscience.htm 
Related information is available at
http://www.dimenet.com/hotnews/archive.php?mode=A&id=6026