Equip for Equality 1985-2005 Highlights

1985

Protection & Advocacy Inc. (P&Amp;A Inc.) is incorporated as an Illinois nonprofit in March 1985.

Gov. James Thompson signs the Executive Order on June 18 designating Protection & Advocacy Inc. as a P&A system.

1986

Congress expands P&A systems' mandate, creating Protection & Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness (PAIMI) for those individuals with mental illness residing in treatment facilities.

1987

P&A Inc. has an independent firm do a survey of past clients, creating a quality assurance system that becomes a national model.

P&A Inc. begins a quarterly publication, Equalizer, that focuses on disability rights issues.

1988

P&A Inc. establishes the Public Policy/Legislative Resource Program. P&A Inc.'s Legislative Policy Program publishes "Legislative Summary & Analysis," reporting disability-related legislation in Illinois.

1989

A bill prohibiting the execution of people with mental illness goes before the Senate and passes both houses of the General Assembly. (Gov. issues an amendatory veto that was now overridden by the G.A.)

1990

The judge appoints P&A Inc. to monitor the Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities after DMHDD is found to be in violation of the consent decree in the 16-year lawsuit Nathan v. Levitt.

P&A Inc. publishes the self-advocacy guide "Advocacy for Disability-Related Bills in the Illinois Legislature."

Mayor Richard M. Daley creates the Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities.

1991

P&A Inc. receives new access to information regarding abuse and deaths in state-run institutions and on the restriction of recipients' rights in public and private facilities.

P&A Inc. receives a technical assistance grant from The Chicago Community Trust, its first grant from a private funder.

1992

U.S. Department of Education awards P&A Inc. a grant to run a Protection and Advocacy Individual Rights pilot program for individuals with primarily physical disabilities, which Congress makes permanent by making it a formula grant program.

P&A Inc. establishes the Abuse Monitoring Project to evaluate the quality of investigations conducted by the Office of the Inspector General of DHS.

1993

Equip for Equality successfully resolves one of the country's first ADA cases, in which a woman with disabilities sued for denial of access to Deerfield Public Library.

Protection & Advocacy Inc. changes its name to Equip for Equality.

1994

Equip for Equality publishes the first report of its Abuse Monitoring Project, "Not our Problem: Executive and Legislative Response to Violence in the State-Operated Institutions in Illinois," and receives statewide media coverage.

1995

Equip for Equality celebrates its 10th Anniversary.

Equip for Equality hosts monthly meetings on mental health policy issues, subsequently drafting proposed legislation mandating significant changes in Illinois' Mental Health Code that the Illinois General Assembly ultimately enacts into law.

1996

Equip for Equality establishes the Training Institute on Disability Rights to provide disability rights training statewide.

Equip for Equality chairs monthly meetings of the Disability Rights Consortium, composed of Chicago disability legal and advocacy organizations.

Equip for Equality develops legislation to amend the rules governing procedures and disclosures of information when administering psychotropic medication to objecting adults, which the Illinois General Assembly ultimately enacts into law.

Equip for Equality releases the second and final report of its Abuse Monitoring Project that includes recommendations to improve state investigative and oversight systems, documenting improvements.

In response to the recommendations in the Abuse Monitoring Project report, the inspector general sets up a task force that develops new regulations governing abuse and neglect investigations, including mandatory reporting of abuse and neglect.

1997

Equip for Equality successfully advocates for legislation that exempts mental health treatment from an expansion of the Illinois Surrogacy Act.

Equip for Equality receives a grant from the Woods Fund of Chicago for its Restraint Monitoring Project, to evaluate restraint practices in mental health facilities and issue recommended changes.

Equip for Equality represents a woman with major depression and receives national attention, raising awareness of the rights of people with mental illness in the workplace.

Equip for Equality assesses over 100 job applications, finding that 10% contain questions in violation of the ADA, and employers agree to correct violations.

1998

Equip for Equality develops legislation that passes into law that strengthens due process protections of individuals subject to emergency psychiatric evaluations.

Equip for Equality files a suit in federal court against a Chicago Days Inn hotel for failing to accommodate members of America’s Athletes with Disabilities, resulting in a reasonable accommodations policy.

1999

Equip for Equality successfully advocates for a law protecting students with disabilities from abusive time-out procedures and physical restraints in Illinois public schools, following an NBC Chicago report, entitled "Kids in Confinement."

Because of Equip for Equality's advocacy efforts, the Sears Tower Skydeck is made accessible to people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Equip for Equality takes a leadership role in implementing the landmark ruling in Olmstead v. L.C., ruling that the unwarranted institutionalization of people with disabilities is in violation of the ADA.

Equip for Equality launches its multiyear Guardianship Reform Project to develop a model for reforming the guardianship system in Illinois.

After a two-year dispute, Equip for Equality reaches settlement for a regular education high school student with a physical disability to be included in all aspects of the school community.

National Center for Social Entrepreneurship selects Equip for Equality as one of eight nonprofits in Chicago to participate in a project to become financially self-sufficient.

Equip for Equality participates in the Illinois Senate Mental Health Task Force.

Equip for Equality again publishes its quarterly newsletter, Equalizer, which has a circulation of over 7,500.

2000

Equip for Equality joins the Mental Health Summit, a coalition advocating for increased funding for community mental health services.

Equip for Equality begins an outreach to Illinois' private psychiatric hospitals, with funding from the Michael Reese Health Trust, to review their restraint and seclusion policies and practices and to provide training to staff and self-advocacy training to patients.

The CBS news show 48 Hours' broadcast about panic attacks features an Equip for Equality client who was expelled from college because of his panic attacks and was readmitted after the university settles during trial.

Equip for Equality launches first website.

Congress expands the P&A system for individuals with mental illness (PAIMI) to include people with mental illness who live in the community, including those residing in their own homes.

Equip for Equality files its first wrongful death lawsuit against a community developmental disability provider.

2001

Equip for Equality receives a direct appropriation from Congress, the first ever to a P&A system, to create a demonstration project documenting the outcomes and benefits of an independent abuse and neglect investigations unit.

Equip for Equality is a founding member and joins the Executive Committee of the Chicagoland Business Leadership Network, an organization dedicated to maximizing recruitment, employment and retention of qualified workers with disabilities.

Equip for Equality plays a pivotal role in the victory of the lawsuit against the Chicago Transit Authority, resulting in commitment to remedy longstanding ADA violations.

Equip for Equality conducts a campaign to educate the public about the findings of The Illinois Guardianship Reform Project that calls for change in the guardianship system.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation distributes a white paper on end-of-life decisions and guardianship issues and features Equip for Equality's Guardianship Reform Project.

Equip for Equality releases its Restraint Compliance Monitoring Study, thereafter featured in the nationally distributed Mental Health Weekly.

The Social Security Administration inaugurates the P&A for Social Security Disabilty Beneficiaries by awarding Equip for Equality with a $125,000 grant.

2002

Equip for Equality's Abuse Investigation Unit's investigation and publicizing of the egregious abuse and neglect at the Lincoln Developmental Center contributed to Governor George Ryan's shutting down the facility.

The state's Interagency Committee on Employees with Disabilities selects Equip for Equality as the Non-Profit Organization of the Year.

Equip for Equality expands its Training Institute on Disability Rights by establishing it as a separate program with full-time staff, with funding from The Chicago Community Trust, the Polk Bros. Foundation, and the Lloyd A. Fry Foundation.

Equip for Equality hires Illinois' only deaf attorney to better serve the advocacy needs of people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing.

The U.S. District Court finds the Chicago Police Department's minimum eligibility requirements in violation of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 in a case brought by Equip for Equality.

Equip for Equality sues and reaches a settlement with a car dealership for withdrawing a job offer given to a man with kidney disease, because of his disease.

Equip for Equality's Community Integration Policy Project begins, the goal to gather information to move Illinois toward fulfilling the integration mandate of Olmstead.

2003

Equip for Equality launches the Latinos with Disabilities Advocacy Project.

Equip for Equality files suit in U.S. District Court, alleging City Colleges of Chicago discriminated against an assistant chemistry professor based on her disability; the settlement results in the professor's reinstatement to City College's faculty.

In a far-reaching decision in a case brought by Equip for Equality, the Appellate Court, 4th District holds that before an individual can be placed in a skilled-care nursing facility or any other facility, the facility must comply with the requirements of the Mental Health Code.

Equip for Equality calls on the State to shut down the provider These are God's People Too after finding inhumane and dangerous conditions; the State announces plans to withdraw funding and reverses the decision.

Congress inaugurates two new P&A system formula grants, one for a traumatic brain injury program and another for a program to improve voting access.

Equip for Equality takes up residence at 20 North Michigan Avenue, directly across the street from Millennium Park.

Mayor Richard M. Daley introduces an ordinance that will create a chapter of the new Chicago Building Code (CBC) devoted exclusively to accessibility provisions.

2004

Equip for Equality and the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law file a class-action lawsuit on behalf of inmates with mental illness against Cook County Jail for violations of the ADA.

Equip for Equality launches its newly designed website, which meets all the standards of the Web Accessibility Initiative and receives an average 102,000 hits each month.

Equip for Equality and Access Living of Chicago jointly issue reports showing that Illinois trails the nation in guaranteeing the rights of its citizens with disabilities to community integration, and they call on the Governor to take decisive action.

Equip for Equality's Executive Summary of its Community Integration Policy Project (CIPP) report is released in a joint press conference in November.

2005

Equip for Equality calls on the State to close the nonforensic units of the Choate Developmental Center after an investigation finding mistreatment of people with developmental disabilities.

LaSalle Bank launches several major initiatives intended to provide easier access to individuals with visual impairments in response to efforts by Equip for Equality and a host of others.

Equip for Equality with other public interest groups brings class-action suit against state officials for violating the integration mandate of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Medicaid provisions of the Social Security Act. The suit claims that Illinois has not provided sufficient community integration options for people with developmental disabilities, more than 6,000 of whom currently reside in large, segregated, private institutions.

Equip for Equality hosts Summer Open House, showcasing the artwork of artists with mental illness, in partnership with the Awakenings Project.

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