One week ago today I explained that my son has been home for 419 days (now 426 but who’s counting) because his day program for adults with disabilities is closed. This reality is especially wrenching, given that Gov. Phil Murphy announced this week that the state will remove fixed-capacity indoor limits for restaurants, retail businesses, churches, etc. My sentiments are shared with the 7,230+ parents of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities who have signed this petition that demands Murphy open adult day programs “at 100% capacity, dependent on the day program facility not the state guidelines, JUST like state-funded public schools.”

The letter below is from Thomas Arnone, Commissioner Director of the Monmouth County Board of County Commissioners. Arnone describes the Murphy Administration’s separate and unequal rules for adults with disabilities as “unfair” and “unjust”; we’re not asking for “special treatment” for our children, he says, just “what is right and what is equal.”