Official: Virginia-DOJ Agreement Possible

These are human lives we are talking about! How can states put a dollar value on providing a quality life for individuals with disabilities who have been warehoused and isolated? I recognize states are strapped for cash and tax payers are struggling. Hopefully an agreement can be struck.

RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia's top health official said Monday he thinks the state can reach an agreement with the Department of Justice over civil rights violations at homes for the mentally and physically disabled by the summer and begin making changes by the fall.
The Department of Justice threatened to sue in February because it said Virginia violates federal law by needlessly warehousing the intellectually and severely disabled and failing to provide adequate treatment in the community.

Editorial: State Must Make Case for Facilities

The timing is impeccable: Just as national "Sunshine Week" is about to get under way, calling attention to the undeniable need to pry open the workings of government, the state has been ordered to turn over records of developmentally disabled residents at a local facility that long has been the subject of concern in the community.
For years, state officials have resisted efforts to obtain confidential records from two institutions for the developmentally disabled that legal advocates say will prove residents have languished there. And one of those facilities is the Wassaic campus of the Taconic Developmental Disabilities Service Organization.