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Thanks to advances in the law, health care, education and technology, more Americans with disabilities than ever before are taking their rightful place making important contributions to American life than ever before. Old stereotypes are beginning to be shattered and barriers are slowly but surely coming down.

HHS plays a role in making the promise of the ADA real in the lives of millions of people every day by:

• enabling toddlers with and without disabilities to learn and grow together in inclusive Head Start and child care programs,
• assisting states to improve the availability and quality of home and community based services for people with disabilities,
• affording people with disabilities the choices and supports they need to move out of nursing homes into their own homes,
• fighting to eradicate the stigma and discrimination that people with mental illness and other disabilities still face daily,
• expanding vital Medicare and Medicaid coverage to people with disabilities who work,
• investing in technologies and approaches that enable people with disabilities of every age to lead meaningful lives of their own choosing, and
• setting a clear agenda to enhance the health and wellness of people with disabilities in Healthy People 2010.

Achieving the success of these and other efforts has taken a great deal of time, creativity and commitment from the professionals at HHS, in state and local governments and in the disability community itself. Building on this level of dedication, I feel certain that the second decade of the ADA will provide even greater assurances of equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency for Americans with disabilities of all ages.

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