Houston Chronicle Tuesday May21, 1996

Headline: 5 arrested after building is taken over in protest
[page has a crease down the middle so some text is hidden, most was able to be figured out]
by Lisa Teachey -- Houston Chronicle

About 400 disabled people took over a westside building Monday until police arrived to move the protest outside.

Members of American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today, most of them in wheelchairs, blocked the entrance and elevators leading to Living Centers of America at 15415 Katy Freeway at about 10:30 a.m.

Five people who refused to leave the building were arrested for criminal trespass, said Houston police Capt. D.E. Watkins. None of the arrested was wheelchair bound.

The protest was staged because ADAPT wants a larger share of the federal money dedicated to nursing home care to go to programs that provide in-home care or community-based care for the disabled.

“We're tired of the nursing home industry keeping a lock on over 85 percent of the long-term care money,” said protester Diane Coleman.

“If a person needs long-term care, they should be able to say where they [obscured partially here] get, not the system.”

Federal money is set aside through Medicaid for nursing home care as well as for attendant-care and community-based programs, said Katherine Hinson, of the Texas Health Care Association, a trade organization that represents long-term care facilities.

“They want to take money from one under funded program and put it in another under-funded program,” Hinson said. “There’s not enough money to go around. We've asked them to join us to get more funding for all.“

Living Centers is a long-term health care corporation that operates nursing facilities, rehabilitation centers a other types of facilities.

“Their main quarrel is with the government,” said Edward Kuntz, Living Centers chief executive officer. “They want additional funding."

Kuntz said he agrees with ADAPT's call for more money, “but not at the cost of long-term nursing facilities."