Important policy issue, but not a simple one....
Electronic Visit Verification Impedes the Rights of People with Disabilities and Seniors
EVV is based on the archaic and offensive idea that disabled people and seniors are unable to leave their homes. However, the majority of our nation’s laws that have been passed in the past 3 decades regarding people with disabilities are based on the presumption that people with disabilities are not only capable of living active lives in the community, but it is our right to do so. Receiving services to assist us to live independently in the community does not make us any less active in our communities, on the contrary, the services we receive are provided to us with the precise purpose of helping us to be more active in our communities. People with disabilities and seniors who receive services are students, employees, volunteers, athletes, artists, and voters. We speak many languages, we go many places, and participate in and add to the richness of our communities. Beyond our opposition to the EVV requirement on principle, we oppose this requirement because our lives are not congruent with EVV systems, which are essentially government tracking systems for Americans with disabilities and seniors: these systems that would require us to stay at home all day, and speak and understand one language, or be accused of fraud.