Strategies and Practices to Support the Spirit and Vision of Olmstead and the ADA

The LEAD Center has long focused on promoting competitive integrated employment outcomes, financial self-sufficiency, and equity for people with disabilities, all of which align with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which seeks “…to assure equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency…” and whose vision drove the Olmstead decision. This quarter, we celebrate the ADA and Olmstead anniversaries by highlighting promising practices and strategies that enable people with disabilities, and the staff and systems that support them, to live full, independent, and empowered lives. For example, under “On Cue” in this newsletter, we focus on the webinars LEAD Center offered in the past year on topics like cross-system collaboration, financial capability and empowerment, accessibility and equal opportunity, and reentry.

All the webinars include perspectives from leaders, people with lived experience of disability, and staff on the ground who implemented strategies that have led to positive outcomes for people with disabilities in employment and financial capability.