"For many people with disabilities, the biggest obstacles aren't their own disabilities, but the roadblocks set up by society. Some people see the word 'disabled' and read it as 'unable.' That is terribly wrong." - Al Gore

If America is going to live up to its full promise in the 21st century, we cannot be satisfied when fewer than three in ten working-age adults with disabilities are employed. An original Senate co-sponsor of the Americans With Disabilities Act, Al Gore is committed to ensuring that all Americans - including the 30 million working-age adults with disabilities - have the chance to become full partners in the American Dream. As President, Gore will increase home and community-based care, expand opportunities for people with disabilities to work and learn, ensure that they have access to quality health care as they move into work, and preserve and strengthen Social Security and Medicare. Gore also supports efforts to make personal assistance services more available to people with disabilities in their homes and communities. Together with his wife Tipper, a tireless advocate for people with mental illness, Gore will work to ensure that persons with disabilities can participate fully and equally in this country.

Gore's plan for people with disabilities would:

• Enable People with Disabilities to Live in Their Own Communities
• Increase Employment Opportunities
• Expand Educational Opportunities
• Protect the Rights of Individuals with Disabilities
• Improve Access to Quality Health Care
• Improve Care and Reduce the Stigma of Mental Illness
• Increase Accessibility of and Investments in New Technology

ENABLING PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES TO LIVE IN THEIR OWN COMMUNITIES:

Al Gore believes that no one should be forced to live in an institution or a nursing home if they can live in the community with the necessary supports. He supported the recent Supreme Court ruling (Olmstead v. L.C.) that unjustified isolation of institutionalized people violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirement to provide services in an integrated setting. Al Gore's plan will work to implement this decision that people with disabilities can choose where they want to live and receive services.

• Enforcing Olmstead: As President, Gore will continue to work to implement the Supreme Court's 1999 Olmstead v. L.C. decision.
• Ensure that People with Disabilities Live in the Most Appropriate Integrated Settings: Al Gore will work with states, people with disabilities, and senior citizen advocates to develop comprehensive plans for enabling persons with disabilities to live in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs. Funds would be available for a variety of activities that will ensure individuals have the choice of living in their own homes.
• Establish the Fund for Independence: Al Gore will establish the Fund for Independence which will maximize resources to develop home and community-based services. The Fund will establish a public-private partnership to spur development of innovative ways to increase the availability and quality of personal assistance and supports. The partnership will identify best practices for providing personal assistance services and supports that can serve as models for use in states across the country. The Fund will include representatives from federal and state governments, foundations, unions, and the community who will join together to provide seed money for innovative community efforts to provide such services.
• Enable States to Expand Home and Community-Based Care: Medicaid has historically had an institutional bias by reimbursing for nursing home care at a higher level than care provided at home and in the community. Al Gore has proposed allowing states to expand reimbursement by Medicaid for home- and community-based care to the same income levels as for nursing homes, without receiving a Federal waiver.
• Increase Funding for Independent Living Centers to $75 million: Independent Living Centers (ILCs) are often the single source for independent living resources for people with disabilities. ILCs offer personal assistance services and supports - such as personal attendants and transportation - necessary for people to live independently. Al Gore will continue to fight for additional funding to enable the ILCs to carry out their critical mission and help people live independently.
• Increase Collaboration Around Housing Issues: Gore will fight to address the housing crisis facing individuals with disabilities and their families. He will ensure that HUD collaborates with the disability community, public housing authorities, and other interested parties to address housing issues for people with disabilities. He will ensure that public housing authorities' Consolidated Plans consider the housing needs of individuals with disabilities, and work to expand home ownership programs for people with disabilities and their families.
• Support Public/Private Partnerships, Such as Access Housing 2000, to Assist Individuals with Disabilities to Transition from Nursing Homes and Other Institutional Settings into Community Living: Al Gore will assist states in expanding the availability of accessible and affordable housing, assure that individuals with disabilities receive the personal assistance and supports necessary to successfully transition from institutions to the community, and explore the use of Individual Development Accounts to help individuals with disabilities and their families save for education and other purposes.

EXPANDING EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES - "THE DISABILITY-TO-WORK INITIATIVE"

• Disability-to-Work Initiative: To address these issues, Al Gore will launch a Disability-to-Work Initiative, involving the private and public sectors in a major national effort to increase employment of people with disabilities. The Disability-to-Work Initiative will:
• Challenge the Private Sector to Increase Hiring of People with Disabilities: Al Gore will launch a partnership including businesses and non-profits to help move people with disabilities into work, provide them with the skills and assistive technology they need to enter into the workforce, and share best practices.
• Prepare Youth with Disabilities for Work: Al Gore will work with non-profit technology resource centers and businesses to provide students the assistive technology they need to be prepared for the workforce. Al Gore will challenge businesses to provide meaningful job opportunities for youth with disabilities, so that when they graduate from high school they can enter the workforce or continue on to higher education. He will also work to ensure that school-to-work transition services target youth with disabilities.
• Ensure that the Federal Government Does its Fair Share in Moving People with Disabilities into Work: Al Gore will double the federal government's hiring of people with disabilities and double the number of youth with disabilities in government internships.
• Enact a $1,000 Tax Credit for Work-Related Expenses: Al Gore believes that we must make it easier for people with disabilities to succeed in the workplace - and participate in and contribute to the American dream. Al Gore supports a tax credit to help individuals defray work-related costs such as transportation and personal assistance.
• Double the Administration's Proposed Investment in Accessible Technology: Technology is a crucial component in enabling people with disabilities to work. Al Gore would double the Administration's investment in the development of assistive and communications technologies to help people with disabilities work. Funds will support new and expanded state loan programs to make assistive technology more affordable for Americans with disabilities. Al Gore will fight to increase such investments - doubling the Administration's current budget. He will also work to ensure that the federal government's technology is accessible to people with disabilities and encourage the private sector to develop accessible technology.
• Implementing the Ticket-To-Work Program: Al Gore will help workers with disabilities keep their health insurance when they return to work by working to fund and implement the bipartisan Ticket-to-Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999 - which provides funding to help states offer a Medicaid buy-in for workers with disabilities. The Act also extends coverage for an additional four-and-a-half years for people in the disability insurance system who return to work, and enhances employment-related services for individuals with disabilities through the Ticket-to-Work Program.
• Implement Directives from the President's Task Force on the Employment of Adults with Disabilities: As President, Al Gore will work to act on the recommendations of the President's Task Force on the Employment of Adults with Disabilities - to break down barriers and have full participation in the workplace.
• Establish a Disability Research Institute: Al Gore will create a new Disability Research Institute to develop innovative new return-to-work strategies.

EXPANDING EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

Every child deserves a chance to realize his or her full potential - including children with special needs. The Clinton-Gore Administration has supported the rights of children with disabilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in numerous Federal Court cases, including Cedar Rapids Community School District v. Garrett F. Al Gore's plan will continue these enforcement efforts and provide new resources to help communities educate children with special needs.

• Largest Ever Increase in Funding for Special Education: Al Gore's plan reaffirms and strengthens the nation's commitment to providing students with disabilities access to a free and appropriate public education. It sets aside funding to make the largest single funding increase ever enacted under IDEA. Specifically, his plan would:
• Ensure that the Federal Government Helps Local School Districts by Paying their Fair Share of Special Education Costs: Al Gore has pledged that his first budget would include the largest-ever federal increase in funding for IDEA - an important down payment toward the federal government's goal of paying its fair share - and that he would veto any spending plan that does not include funding to help communities provide a quality public education to all children, including those with disabilities. Gore is committed to the goal of Federal government contributions to the IDEA reaching 40 percent.
• Defray Local School District Expenses to Educate Students with Very High-Cost Special Needs: Gore has pledged to work with states to establish or expand funding pools under the IDEA and managed by the states to which school districts could apply to help cover the costs of educating the relatively few children with disabilities requiring extraordinarily expensive services to attend local public schools.
• Fund Early Identification and Intervention Efforts: Al Gore has proposed an early identification and intervention fund that would reduce the long term costs of special education by helping school districts adopt proven methods of identifying and assisting children with reading or behavioral problems in Kindergarten or 1st grade. Coupled with the universally available preschool and smaller class sizes that Gore has proposed, this plan will help teachers give students the help they need to succeed early on, and avoid referring them for unnecessary special education services later.
• Support Teacher Training to Help All Teachers Learn How to Effectively Meet the Needs of Children with Disabilities: A very high percentage of students with disabilities spend much of their day in regular classrooms, and training both special education and regular teachers to address the needs of these students will ensure a better education for all our children.
• Increase Funding for Parent Training and Information Centers: As part of the effort to make special education more affordable and to make education in the least restrictive environment a reality for youth with disabilities, Al Gore would increase funding for Parent Training and Information Centers.
• Reduce Bureaucracy: Al Gore also remains committed to helping communities make full use of the 1997 IDEA reauthorization to reduce unnecessary paperwork and bureaucracy, while fully addressing the educational needs of children with disabilities.
• Improve the Educational Experience: Al Gore will continue to work closely with schools and colleges to improve the enrollment, retention, and graduation of students with disabilities.

PROTECTING THE RIGHTS OF INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES

Al Gore is committed to full implementation and enforcement of the laws protecting the rights of individuals with disabilities. He would:

• Toughen enforcement of the ADA, IDEA, and Fair Housing Act: A Gore Administration will aggressively enforce civil rights laws protecting people with disabilities. One of Gore's top priorities will be to increase funding for all government agencies that enforce these civil rights laws. In particular, as President, he will increase the funding for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Civil Rights.
• Strengthen the Hate Crimes Law to Include Disability: As President, Al Gore will continue to fight for federal hate crimes legislation to protect victims who are targeted simply because of who they are. He will work with the Congress to pass the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which will expand the definition of hate crimes to include disability and allow for the prosecution of these crimes under federal law.
• Implement and Defend the ADA: Al Gore will fight to achieve the core goals of the Americans with Disabilities Act - equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency. He will vigorously defend the ADA in court cases across the Nation. A Gore Administration will have a White House employee dedicated to coordinating Agencies' efforts to implement the ADA.

IMPROVING ACCESS TO QUALITY HEALTH CARE

• Provide a Long Overdue Prescription Drug Benefit that is Available and Affordable for All Medicare Beneficiaries: Al Gore will expand Medicare to help people afford prescription drugs so they no longer are forced to choose between paying for the medicine they need and paying for food or rent. He has proposed a prescription drug benefit that covers half of all prescriptions from the first trip to the pharmacy up to $5,000 per year in prescription drug costs. It also contains catastrophic protections to ensure that no beneficiary has to pay more than $4,000 per year out of pocket. Finally, it covers cost-sharing for low-income beneficiaries. Al Gore does not support the Republican proposals administered by the private insurance industry, which would discriminate against sick beneficiaries with high health care needs. Also, he does not support a low-income only benefit that would leave out millions of people with a disability who earn more than $20,000.
• Enact a $3,000 Long-Term Care Tax Credit for Caregivers: Al Gore believes that we must make long-term care more affordable and believes that we must start by giving Americans with long-term care needs or their caregivers a $3,000 tax credit to defray the cost of long-term care costs.
• Pass a Strong, Enforceable Patients' Bill of Rights: Al Gore is a strong supporter of the Patients' Bill of Rights that would take decisions away from insurance companies and HMOs and give medical decisions back to patients and their doctors. The bill would ensure critical protections - such as access to specialists - when and where the need arises. It would also ensure that doctors could tell patients about all of their options - not just the cheapest. He would ensure that patients have the right to a fair appeal if they disagree with their health plan, access to the specialists they need, guaranteed coverage of emergency room care when and where the need arises, and the right to hold health plans accountable for their actions.
• Save Social Security Now: Al Gore believes that we must put Social Security in a lock-box to assure that all Social Security surpluses are dedicated to Social Security. His proposal uses the $2.3 trillion in Social Security surpluses to pay down the debt and strengthen Social Security until at least 2054. Al Gore will continue to protect and strengthen Social Security for the millions of seniors and people with disabilities it protects and will fight efforts to privatize and weaken this critical program.
• Secure Medicare for the future: Al Gore is proposing to put Medicare in an off-budget lock box so that politicians cannot use Medicare surpluses for tax cuts or government spending. Gore's plan will strengthen Medicare until at least 2030 and add a long overdue prescription drug benefit that is affordable and available for all seniors and people with disabilities who depend on this key program.

ENDING DISCRIMINATION BASED ON MENTAL ILLNESS

Through Tipper Gore's leadership, the Clinton-Gore Administration took landmark steps to end discrimination based on mental illnesses. As First Couple, Al and Tipper Gore will work to implement new measures - recently announced by Tipper - to:

• Assure Full Mental Health Coverage for Children: Gore would see that every child has access to full mental health coverage by requiring private insurers to offer full mental health parity for children and applying it to the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
• Ensure No Parent Is Forced to Give Up A Child To Get Mental Health Services: Studies have found that some parents have given up children to the child welfare services to ensure the children received mental health services. Gore would work to ensure that no parent has to give a child over to the child welfare system to get mental health treatment.
• Improve Mental Health Care and Prevent Violence in Schools: Gore will enact measures helping teachers learn how to spot signs of mental illness in their students and helping communities improve school safety and mental health care.
• Support Families with Mental Illness: Gore would expand the Family and Medical Leave Act to give 24 hours of additional time off for emergencies or school needs; make long-term care services more affordable with a $3,000 tax credit; establish a National Family Caregiving Support Program; and make it easier for people with long-term care needs on Medicaid to remain in the community rather than in institutional-based care.
• Invest in Community Mental Health Services while Ensuring Accountability: Gore would expand the availability of community mental health services, while ensuring that community-based mental health programs are based on evidence-based treatment.
• Reach Underserved Populations, Including the Homeless: As many as 30 percent of the nation's homeless - including homeless veterans -- require treatment for mental illness. Gore would expand the National Health Service Corps and the Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness (PATH) to help more underserved people.
• Help Health Professionals Identify and Treat People with Mental Illness: According to the Surgeon General's Report on Mental Illness, the primary care system is generally not well equipped to treat chronic mental disorders. Gore would collaborate with the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and the private sector to help health providers better identify and treat mental illness.
• Make New Progress in Understanding and Treating Mental Illness: Scientists are making historic progress in understanding the nature of mental illness. Gore would continue to invest in quality biomedical research to continue making strides in understanding and treating mental illnesses.
• Strengthen Protections for Patients with Mental Illness: Americans with mental illness still face discrimination. Gore would work to eliminate discrimination and assure fairness for people with mental illnesses -- by expanding protections for mental health consumers, protecting medical privacy and fighting for a strong, enforceable patients' bill of rights.

Source: Al Gore for President 2000 Web Site