State Rep. Dennis O’Brien joins Vision for Equality and other groups to speak out against Abuse

Nov. 1, 2011 - PRLog -- The disability  community is outraged over the discovery of four individuals with intellectual disabilities who were kidnapped, locked in a basement, abused and neglected in Philadelphia, PA. Like many of us they are asking how can we, as a state and society, allow this to happen?

In 2010 the Adult Protective Services Act was passed into law to protect adults with intellectual and physical disabilities from abuse, however, funding wasn’t allocated  to implement the legislation.   Without an effective coordinated system to detect, investigate, intervene and prosecute abusers, these horrific incidents will continue and more lives will be lost.

Audrey Coccia, founder and Co-Executive Director of vision For Equality, a disability rights advocacy group based in Philadelphia  sais: We applaud our state officials for passing the law and ask them to use their political power to ensure the health and safety of our most vulnerable populace by allocating funding for this important law. State officials, we ask you to join the citizens of Philadelphia in our outrage, and use this opportunity to prioritize funding for the Adult Protective Services Law!

Special Guest speaker PA State Representative Dennis M. O’Brien will speak at the Walk Against Abuse together with Audrey Coccia and  other prominent advocates within the disability community.

The event is taking place at Independence Mall on 5th and Market on November 2nd, 2011 at 12pm -1pm.