Historical Perspective of Independent Living Councils
A Grassroots Movement
In the late 1960s in California, a group of Berkeley students with severe disabilities recognized that their options for self-determination were greatly limited by the existing medical and rehabilitation systems. They knew that with certain skills and support services, they could control their own lives. Attempts to acquire the necessary network of supports were met with resistance from the medical and rehabilitation communities.
Professionals were unwilling to believe that persons with such severe disabilities were capable of surviving without their “care.” When, in 1972, the Berkeley activists established the first Independent Living Center and began using the methods of the now growing self-help movement to prove otherwise, Independent Living became a full-fledged civil rights issue.
People with disabilities were now taking an active role on local, state, and national levels in shaping issues that affected their lives. Active, effective advocacy by people with disabilities for people with disabilities became the essence of the movement. Community-based groups are formed to address problems, identify barriers, and develop action plans to educate their communities and influence policymakers.
Landmark Legislation
In 1973, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, sometimes called the Civil Rights Act for the Disabled, was implemented. This legislation, which prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities in programs, services, and benefits that are federally funded, set the foundation for future generations of individuals with disabilities to have access to and be able to engage in life pursuits not afforded previous generations of individuals with disabilities. Pursuits their able-bodied counterparts had taken for granted – education, employment, housing, transportation, entertainment, etc.
By 1978, under Rehabilitation Act Amendments, the Federal Government began to provide funding to establish Independent Living Centers in virtually every state and U.S. territory.
As part of the 1992 amendments to the Federal Rehabilitation Act, each state needed to establish a State Independent Living Council (SILC).