NY Lawmakers Question Closures

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Several New York state lawmakers raised concerns Tuesday about federal and state policies to move more disabled people from institutions to community residences and managed care for medical treatment.

The state Office for People with Developmental Disabilities currently supports 38,000 New Yorkers in residences and 80,000 with day services. It has about 400 people in institutional settings, a total the agency plans to reduce to 150, Deputy Commissioner Helen DeSanto told lawmakers.

Minn. Olmstead Plan Approved

After nearly four years, several revisions and numerous court filings, a federal judge approved the Minnesota Olmstead Plan Tuesday, giving people with disabilities a clearer vision for how the state would integrate them within the community.U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank said the latest version of the Olmstead plan submitted in August emphasizes key changes including concrete data, specific timelines to establish measurable goals and added commitments that make the plan an "evolving document."

Opinion: For People with Disabilities, One Size Just Doesn't Fit All

A well-intentioned plan to provide greater independence to people with disabilities is facing fallout from a surprising bunch:A small, but vocal group of families and caregivers of people with disabilities.At the final of four public listening sessions, this one in Rochester in August, parents of children with severe developmental disabilities shared their heightened concern about the state’s “Olmstead Plan.” The plan seeks to discourage institutional settings in favor of community-based living arrangements.

Limited Funds, Lingering Bias Has Delayed States' ADA Compliance

GWEN IFILL: It's been 23 years since the Americans With Disabilities Act became law.Judy Woodruff reports on the advances and the setbacks in the continued fight to implement the landmark legislation.

Opinion: Will Government Restrict Autism Housing Options?

From Age of Autism, post by Nancy Bernotaitis, parent of three children, her youngest, 15, diagnosed on the autism spectrum.  Nancy has been involved in the autism community for over 13 years serving as president of the Autism Society of America-Dayton Chapter, Goodwill/Easter Seals Assistive Technology Specialist, and webinar moderator for Moms Fighting Autism.  She is the Executive Director of Good Works Farm, Inc., a future farm community for adults with autism. 

As is typical of our government, a ruling meant to protect Americans with disabilities (Olmstead v. L.C. 1999) is being misconstrued to the detriment of this population.  In Olmstead v. L.C., a ruling 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 for their needs.” 

In 2009, President Obama issued a proclamation launching the “Year of Community Living” and directed his Administration to redouble enforcement efforts.

The U.S. Senate committee on Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions (HELP) lead by Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) is charged with this enforcement. 

In May of 2013, Jeff Rosen, Chairperson of the National Council on Disability (NCD), an independent federal agency charged with advising Congress and the executive branch on disability policy, wrote a letter to Shaun Donovan, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), interpreted the ruling to mean that individuals with disabilities move from provider-owned housing into their own homes or scattered-site housing and apartments, and urged HUD to issue “guidance to recipients of HUD funds on meeting the obligations of Olmstead and the integration mandate of the ADA.”  In his letter, Mr. Rosen seeks to define community living as “utilizing a definition that excludes gated communities, segregated farmsteads, clusters of group homes, settings that restrict personal choice and control, and other settings with the characteristics of an institution.”

Brain-Injured Suffer Major Treatment Gap

Larry Boswell sat slumped in a wheelchair. His sweatpants were soiled, his T-shirt soaked in saliva. Flies buzzed around his head.

He was able to walk when he arrived at Illinois’ Cobden Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in 2008, government records show, something he can’t manage now. Speech therapy for the 57- year-old ended shortly after he was admitted, according to a lawyer trying to persuade Medicaid to transfer him.
While much of what Boswell says is incomprehensible, he managed a clear “no” when asked if he wanted to stay where he was. Cobden officials didn’t respond to telephone calls.
Boswell is one of nearly 244,000 brain-injured people consigned to nursing homes, according to data compiled by Bloomberg from U.S. Medicare and Medicaid statistics. He’s also on the front line in a national battle to get people like him out of facilities that aren’t equipped to care for them.

Why Does Florida Place Children with Disabilities in Nursing Homes?

TAMPA, Fla. -- The letter from the U.S. Department of Justice is probably the best place to start.
It suggests in a simple, unadorned way how Florida has abandoned its most vulnerable citizens. Over the course of 22 dispassionate pages, it makes a point-by-point case of many of the state's shortcomings in caring for children with extreme medical conditions.
It highlights how Florida's apparent inclination to herd helpless kids into geriatric nursing homes is not only a violation of federal law, but also leads to the unnecessary ruin of families and can be an impediment to developmental progress.

Opinion: Don't Warehouse People with Disabilities

Guest column in The Record of Bergen County, N.J., by Lowell Arye, executive director of the Alliance for the Betterment of Citizens with Disabilities in Hamilton.


The urging of some to halt plans to close Vineland Developmental Center would move New Jersey in the opposite direction of 30 years of public policy toward community living for people with developmental disabilities.
In his budget, Governor Christie boldly announced the closure of a state developmental center over the next two years. New Jersey has not closed a developmental center since 1998, when it shut down North Princeton. It is far behind the national trend of deinstitutionalization.