Reinvigorating the Rehab Act’s Independent Living Programs: Partnerships to Accelerate Progress

By Jill Jacobs, Commissioner of ACL’s Administration on Disabilities

The independent living (IL) movement and the Rehab Act are inextricably linked. It was the IL movement that drove the signing of the law and the initial regulations to implement it, and the law that created ACL’s independent living programs. The Rehab Act is as powerful — and as important to disabled people and the independent living movement — as it was 50 years ago. And the independent living movement — and the programs ACL operates to support it — are a driving force behind efforts to reinvigorate implementation of the law.

Led by disabled people for disabled people, ACL’s independent living programs provide a broad array of services and supports that make community living possible for people with all types of disabilities. They employ a person-centered approach, with services tailored to the needs, preferences, desires and aspirations of the person receiving them, and empower people with disabilities to make choices that promote their independence, overall health, and equity.

Increasingly, the independent living programs are collaborating with partners at the federal, state, and local levels to streamline access to services for disabled people, leverage all available resources and funding streams to support community living, and advocate for common goals.

Visit Jill Jacobs blog for more information.