Olmstead: Community Integration for Everyone
In 2009, the Civil Rights Division launched an aggressive effort to enforce the Supreme Court's decision in Olmstead v. L.C., a ruling that requires states to eliminate unnecessary segregation of persons with disabilities and to ensure that persons with disabilities receive services in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs. President Obama issued a proclamation launching the "Year of Community Living," and has directed the Administration to redouble enforcement efforts. The Division has responded by working with state and local governments officials, disability rights groups and attorneys around the country, and with representatives of the Department of Health and Human Services, to fashion an effective, nationwide program to enforce the integration mandate of the Department's regulation implementing title II of the ADA.
What's New?
Faces of Olmstead: The personal stories of a few of the thousands of people whose lives have been improved by the Olmstead decision and the Department’s Olmstead enforcement work. Read More
Steward et. al. v. Perry et. al. 5:10-CV-1025 (W.D. TX 2010)
On November 12, 2012, the United States filed a Supplemental Brief in Support of Plaintiffs' Amended Motion for Class Certification, arguing that the court should certify a class of individuals with developmental disabilities where the state has multiple policies that perpetuate unnecessary confinement in nursing facilities and deny those individuals the opportunity to receive services in the community.
Supplemental Brief in Support of Plaintiffs' Amended Motion for Class Certification (Word) | (PDF) - filed November 12, 2012
DOJ Findings Letter to Florida (September 2012) The United States issued a Findings Letter in September 2012 concluding that Florida is violating the ADA's integration mandate in its provision of services and supports to children with medically complex and medically fragile conditions. After a comprehensive investigation, the Department found that the State of Florida plans, structures, and administers a system of care that has led to the unnecessary institutionalization of children in nursing facilities and places children currently residing in the community at risk of unnecessary institutionalization. Read More
U.S. v. Virginia - 3:12CV059 (E.D. VA 2012)
On January 26, 2012, the Division filed in District Court a Complaint and a simultaneous Settlement Agreement resolving its ADA Olmstead investigation into whether persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Virginia are being served in the most integrated settings appropriate to their needs.
After taking public comment and holding a fairness hearing, the Court approved the settlement agreement subject to certain modifications, which were agreed to by the Commonwealth and the United States. The Court entered the settlement agreement as a final order on August 23, 2012. Read More
U.S. v. North Carolina, No. 5:12-cv-557 (E.D.N.C. 2012)
On August 23, 2012, the United States entered a comprehensive, eight-year settlement agreement with the State of North Carolina resolving the Civil Rights Division’s ADA Olmstead investigation of the State’s mental health service system, which currently serves thousands of individuals with mental illness in large adult care homes. The Agreement will expand access to community-based supported housing – integrated housing that promotes inclusion and independence and enables individuals with mental illness to participate fully in community life. Read More
T.H. et al. v. Dudek et al., 0:12-cv-60460-WJZ (S.D. Fla. 2012)
On June 28, 2012, the United States filed a Statement of Interest opposing Florida officials’ Motion to Dismiss. The plaintiffs’ complaint alleges that the State of Florida unnecessarily institutionalizes Medicaid-eligible children who are medically fragile in nursing facilities, or places them at risk of institutionalization, by limiting access to medically necessary services in the community, in violation of the ADA, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment (“EPSDT”) provisions of the Medicaid Act. The complaint also alleges that Florida has violated the Pre-Admission Screening and Resident Review (“PASRR”) provisions of the Nursing Home Reform Amendments to the Medicaid Act by failing to fully evaluate children before admitting them to nursing facilities. Read More
DOJ Findings Letter to Oregon (2012)
The United States issued a Findings Letter in June 2012 concluding that Oregon is violating the ADA’s integration mandate in its provision of employment and vocational services. After an extensive investigation, the Department found that the State of Oregon plans, structures, and administers its system of providing employment and vocational services to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities in a manner that delivers such services primarily in segregated sheltered workshops rather than in integrated community employment settings, causing the unnecessary segregation of individuals in sheltered workshops that are capable of, and not opposed to, receiving employment services in the community. Read More
For the thirteenth anniversary of the Olmstead v. L.C. decision, Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez testified before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions on the Civil Rights Division’s enforcement of the ADA and Olmstead. To read AAG Perez's remarks, click here.