People with disabilities do best when we live in our communities and make our own choices — not when we are put in institutions, separated from everyone else. For decades, people with intellectual and developmental disabilities have been fighting to get out of institutions and back into our communities. But a lot of resources explaining the history and policy of institutions are not accessible to the people who need them most. That’s why we’ve released two new toolkits: "Institutions: The Old, The New, and What We Should Do", and "The Cycle of Institution.”These toolkits are available in both Easy Read and Plain Language formats and answer many important questions, such as:

People with disabilities don't want to live in institutions. We want to live in our communities. These toolkits can help activists and self-advocates understand the different ways institutions have rebranded themselves over the years, how institutions keep hurting people with disabilities, and why people keep opening new institutions anyway. Understanding all of this can help us fight for better policies that help all people with disabilities live in our communities — and close institutions for good. We hope you'll take a look at these toolkits and share them widely!