Disability Rights Nebraska is a nonprofit organization designated under federal law to serve as the protection and advocacy system for Nebraskans with disabilities. Since near the beginning of the pandemic, we have been conducting remote interviews from border to border, focusing on congregate living facilities such as group homes, assisted living facilities and long-term care facilities. Over and over, we’ve heard loud and clear: “Nebraska had little or no plan for how to ensure people with disabilities would be provided for in an emergency.”

As our recent report “A Widening Divide” documents, the consequences of this lack of planning are stunning. It impacted some facilities at the most basic level of food insecurity. Most had no help in acquiring personal protective equipment and, as of today, TestNebraska remains fundamentally inaccessible for many people, particularly those with disabilities. The only way to access and use the screening tool from TestNebraska is to go online, which leaves out people who are not able to use the internet. Even those who manage to get screened online must then get to a testing site, which is simply not feasible for many people with disabilities. Think of the residents in a dementia ward. Think of those Nebraskans living in a group home who do not have a driver’s license due to their intellectual or developmental disabilities. Think of those adults living below the poverty line in an assisted living facility in a small rural community where there is no public transportation. How are these Nebraskans supposed to use TestNebraska?

The state’s failure to make the testing program accessible is particularly inexplicable given the fact that the Center for Disease Control has repeatedly warned that COVID-19 is more likely to be deadly for people with underlying health conditions, the elderly and people with intellectual or developmental disabilities. The simple step of including a phone line alongside the website would go a long way to significantly improving the accessibility of TestNebraska. When deploying the National Guard to staff mobile testing sites across the state, the governor could easily have ordered them to visit the licensed congregate facilities on the state’s roster to do in-house testing.

This is why Disability Rights Nebraska filed a federal complaint against the State of Nebraska with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights. We’ve asked the federal authorities to review TestNebraska and order changes to allow every Nebraskan to get tested. The complaint is currently under review. Why has it taken so long for state officials to be responsive to the issues raised in our report? TestNebraska was unveiled in May, and we raised these issues directly with state officials during May and June. We filed the federal complaint in June. It’s now December and the state has still taken no steps to meet the Americans with Disabilities Act’s requirement that government programs work for everyone. Apparently the governor doesn’t realize: Nebraskans with disabilities are, in fact, “regular customers,” and deserve to be part of his planning against this deadly pandemic .

Let’s be brutally clear, the state’s failures have had, and will continue to have, fatal consequences for Nebraska’s most vulnerable citizens. According to data reported by the state to the federal government, 62% of COVID-19 deaths in Nebraska were people living in long-term care facilities. The numbers are ghastly: This year, 437 Nebraskans in nursing homes have died from COVID-19. Every single one of those we’ve lost left behind family, friends and a community made poorer for their loss.

Nebraskans have the reputation of being good neighbors who care for each other. Our report illustrates clearly why state officials must immediately take all necessary measures to protect the rights of Nebraskans with disabilities. As the state prepares to roll out a vaccination plan, it is essential that we get it right this time by creating a plan that does not leave behind Nebraskans with disabilities. We hope that in the coming months, state officials finally craft a testing program and vaccination plan that keeps all Nebraskans safe and healthy through the end of this pandemic.