The National Council on Independent Living

Synopsis by MobiLife, Power Wheel Chairs

As a membership organization, NCIL advances independent living and the rights of people with disabilities through consumer-driven advocacy. Vision: NCIL envisions a world in which people with disabilities are valued equally and participate fully. The National Council on Independent Living is the longest-running national cross-disability, grassroots organization run by and for people with disabilities. Founded in 1982, NCIL represents thousands of organizations and individuals including: Centers for Independent Living (CILs), Statewide Independent Living Councils (SILCs), individuals with disabilities, and other organizations that advocate for the human and civil rights of people with disabilities throughout the United States.

An outcome of the national Disability Rights and Independent Living Movements, NCIL was founded to embody the values of disability culture and Independent Living philosophy, which creates a new social paradigm and emphasizes that people with disabilities are the best experts on their own needs, that they have crucial and valuable perspective to contribute to society, and are deserving of equal opportunity to decide how to live, work, and take part in their communities. Since its inception, NCIL has carried out its mission by assisting member CILs and SILCs in building their capacity to promote social change, eliminate disability-based discrimination, and create opportunities for people with disabilities to participate in the legislative process to affect change. NCIL promotes a national advocacy agenda set by its membership and provides input and testimony on national disability policy.

Sadly, our vision of equality has not yet been fully realized. Many people with disabilities remain imprisoned in nursing homes and our civil rights laws are undermined and devalued on an increasing basis. As a membership organization, NCIL needs the support of all our nation’s advocates in order to achieve our goals and advance the Disability Rights Movement. We hope you’ll join us! The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (as amended) included provision for the funding of Centers for Independent Living. As the Independent Living Movement began to grow, newly funded Centers found that the individual and systems advocacy they were able to provide locally was thwarted by policies being created at the state and national level.

Believing that the views of CIL consumers and people with disabilities as a whole were not being heard by the federal government, the Administration or the Congress, CIL Executive Directors worked to organize and establish the National Council on Independent Living, an organization governed by people with disabilities dedicated to advocacy for the development and expansion of a nationwide network of Centers for Independent Living. During the first 10 years of NCIL’s existence, the organization worked diligently to achieve increased funding for Title VII of the Rehabilitation Act, expanding the opportunity for grassroots, consumer-controlled CILs to be established nationwide.

Advocacy activities focused on ensuring that people with disabilities have control over the services provided to them under the Rehabilitation Act. The value placed on consumer control remains an integral part of our mission today. Since its inception, NCIL has worked with people with disabilities and other important community organizations concerned with the civil and human rights of the disability community to advocate for crucial legislation that gives legal standing to the rights of people with disabilities and expands the possibility for full integration and equal opportunity. Our most significant work has centered on the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1992 and 1997, the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act, the Assistive Technology Act, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

The National Council on Independent Living currently works on a wide array of disability rights issues, including passage of Community Choice Act (formerly MiCASSA, which will provide many people with disabilities the opportunity to choose where and how they receive personal assistance services in their homes and communities), the Mental Health Parity Act, which would provide parity between insurance coverage of mental health and other covered benefits, and the restoration of integrity of the Americans with Disabilities Act to its original intention as passed by Congress in 1990.