On September 11th, Steven Schwartz, was the distinguished honoree and award recipient at the TASH Outstanding Leadership in Disability Law Symposium held in Washington D.C. An afternoon symposium, attended by nearly 100 professionals in the disability rights field, included panels on The Future of Deinstitutionalization Litigation, Preserving the Memory of Institutions: Sites of Conscience, Places of Remembrance, and Advancing Competitive Integrated Employment Through Innovation, and was followed by an awards ceremony in celebration of Steven.
Sam Bagenstos, General Counsel for the Department of Health and Human Services, was the keynote speaker at the awards dinner. As a longtime friend and colleague, he spoke of three major contributions Steven has made in disability law field: developing the strategy and tactics for disability rights and community integration litigation; creating, developing and adapting a model for building sustainable public interest legal organizations; and tirelessly representing people with disabilities with “a respect for people as they are and an idea that people get to write their own stories in life.”
Ruby Moore, Executive Director of the Georgia Advocacy Office, and decades-long collaborator with Steven on integrated employment for people with disabilities, said: “You’ve touched so many lives and mentored generations of leaders in our collective work for freedom.” Ruby also read a note from Lyn Rucker, a court monitor in several of CPR’s cases, who said of his work on behalf of people with disabilities: “Steven has lifted some of us up, up so our voices are heard, to live lives of our own choosing, so we can learn and become better than we could have without him.”
Cathy Costanzo, CPR’s Executive Director and co-collaborator on many cases and projects, said: “For his whole adult life, he had demonstrated an unwavering fidelity to people with disabilities and deep commitment to the inclusion in all aspects of the case. Steven has been a fearless litigator but central to the leadership is really his kindness and compassion and the generosity of his spirit.”
With family, friends and colleagues present, Steven was presented with the Outstanding Leadership in disability Law award by TASH’s Board President, Jean Gonsier-Gerdin, who noted the annual award “celebrates those who have made history in the disability field, who have worked tirelessly in the legal field for equity opportunity, and inclusion for people with disabilities.”
Steven ended the ceremony with moving remarks of his own. His life’s work began over 50 years ago as he witnessed, personally and professionally, the psychiatric treatment of individuals who were institutionalized or at risk for institutionalization. Vowing to change systems and to never leave anyone behind, he was inspired to create the Mental Patients Advocacy Project in 1976 and the Center for Public Representation in 1982, for which he served as executive director for over forty years.
Expressing deep gratitude to his family, friends, colleagues, and the many teachers and professionals who shared and implemented his vision, he acknowledged the ‘heroes’ he met along the way — people confined in institutions, and their teachings about the commonality of disability, the tragedy of confinement overlaid on racism, the inevitable risks of freedom, and the possibility of the seemingly impossible. Steven concluded with a challenge to the audience, “May your heroes inspire you to never stop challenging the systems that confine and devalue people with disabilities. May they call you to forever end their segregation by dismantling the places that segregate them. May they remind you to never give up.” And with a final nod of gratitude, Steven reaffirmed his commitment to his life’s path, “I am forever determined not to leave anyone behind.”