Ricardo Thornton, who receives services from DDA and lived at Forest Haven as a child and young adult, testified on June 21, 2012 at a Full Committee Hearing held by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee chaired by Senator Tom Harkin.  

The hearing was an “Olmstead Enforcement Update: Using the ADA to Promote Community Integration.”  Ricardo was on a panel, testifying with Rita Landgraf , Secretary, Delaware Department of Health and Social Services, and Zelia Baugh, Commissioner, Alabama Department of Mental Health.  

They were preceded by a panel included Thomas Perez , Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC and Henry Claypool , Principal Deputy Administrator, Administration for Community Living, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC.  Ricardo’s testimony is attached.  

Anyone who wants to view a recording of the hearing can go to http://www.help.senate.gov/hearings/hearing/?id=e6fe14fa-5056-9502-5d7c-b87797ae1f6f.   (Skip the first 13 minutes of the recording, which is just the title screen.)