WHAT'S HAPPENING
LOIS CURTIS, ARTIST AND ADVOCATE WHOSE LAWSUIT SECURED DISABILITY RIGHTS, DIES AT 55
The woman known as the "godmother of the disability rights movement in Georgia" and one of the plaintiffs in a landmark civil rights Supreme Court case has died.
POWERFUL PICTURE: Lois Curtis presents President Barack Obama with a self portrait of herself as a child in June 2011.
Artist Lois Curtis, of Clarkston, GA, died of pancreatic cancer on November 3 at age 55. Curtis was named one of the plaintiffs along with Elaine Wilson in the 1999 Olmstead vs. L.C. Decision.
Curtis and Wilson had developmental disabilities and were voluntarily admitted to the psychiatric unit in the state-run Georgia Regional Hospital. After receiving medical treatment, medical professionals deemed each was ready to move to a community-based program. However, they were never moved and spent several years in the hospital after their initial treatment concluded.
"She fought for the freedom to live independently. When she was a young woman, she reached out to an attorney at Atlanta Legal Aid repeatedly to have her voice heard," a news release from GCCD said.
The Supreme Court upheld that unjustified segregation of people with disabilities constitutes discrimination and violates the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The decision helped spark policy change, with Curtis paving the way for people with mental, developmental and intellectual disabilities to leave institutional settings and live within their communities. It also upheld that public entities must provide community-based services to such individuals under federally determined circumstances.
The Supreme Court ruled in 1999, in a decision delivered by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, that Curtis, her co-plaintiff Elaine Wilson and other people with disabilities had a right – under the Americans with Disabilities Act – to live in a "less restrictive setting."
The landmark civil rights case gave disabled and elderly people a right to seek longterm care services in their own home, instead of in an institution like a nursing home or a psychiatric hospital. Curtis "created a sea change in what our service systems look like," says Alison Barkoff, the top federal official for aging and disability policy.
"Lois Curtis' tireless advocacy and vision transformed the long standing right to live in the community into a reality for millions of Americans"
"We went from a system in 1999 that the only places that most people with disabilities and older adults could get services were in institutions like nursing homes and psychiatric hospitals, to systems that are primarily focused on supporting people with services in their own homes," says Barkoff, the acting administrator and assistant secretary of aging at the Administration for Community Living at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
"People often say that the Olmstead decision is the Brown vs Board of Education for the disability community because it opened doors for people to live in their communities, to have freedom, and to work. Advocacy was her life. She was amazing," Lee Sanders said. Sanders, a career specialist at Briggs and Associates, had worked with Curtis and had known her since 2005.
Although Lois never forgot her difficult years in institutions, she emerged as an empowered advocate who walked up the Supreme Court steps to hear her case argued as she was surrounded by supporters. After winning her struggle for independence, she lived a fulfilling life as a beloved community member in Atlanta and as a successful and renowned artist. She has been honored personally in the White House, by a host of disability and legal organizations, during Black History Month, and by the National Women's History Museum. The Association of People Supporting Employment First (APSE) created the Lois Curtis Award in her honor. The award recognizes an individual's personal achievement in advocating for inclusive, individualized, community-based employment and/or independent living.