Community Integration

More training and technical assistance materials for P&As/CAPs available in password-protected TASC section. If you do not have a username and password, please contact your Executive Director or webmaster@ndrn.org.

Page last updated: 06/24/2008

Steve Gold’s treasured bits of Olmstead information (June 2008

A Natural Partnering: The Role of The Protection and Advocacy Systems To Implement The Recommendations of The New Freedom Initiative Commission on Mental Health (April 2008)

Termination of Parental Rights of Parents with Mental Disabilities, by the Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law (February 2008)

Report on Olmstead Enforcement in Illinois

The HHS Office of Civil Rights July 2005 report on Olmstead/community integration complaints filed with OCR and state compliance activities to promote community integration.

Olmstead litigation docket from HSRI, Updated May 29, 2006

EEOC FACT SHEET - Reasonable Accommodations for Attorneys with Disabilities (EEOC 5-23-2006)

Fact Sheet - The Impact of the Buckhannon Decision: FIve Years Later - Bazelon Center & DLP describe lower courts decisions and strategies to assist plaintiffs' counsel when there is no court order for relief. (6-2006)

Q&A on Challenges to Mental Health Policies Imposed by Colleges (05/2006)

The Law of Attorneys' Fees - What You Need to Know - Prepared by the Disabilities Law Project, this comprehensive manual contains an outline of the law on attorneys’ fees, an index of important attorneys’ fees and costs cases, and sample fee petitions and related documents and has been updated in response to the Supreme Court’s decision in Buckhannon.(Rev 04/2006)

TASC/NDRN Fact Sheet - The Impact of the Buckhannon Decision: FIve Years Later - Prepared by the Bazelon Center & DLP describes how the lower courts have interpreted Buckhannon and suggests strategies to assist plaintiffs' counsel to obtain fees when there is no court order awarding relief. (06/06)

Summary of Rosie D:  Obtaining Medicaid coverage for mental health services for kids

Evaluating the need for home based services for children with mental health needs

Transition Q&A:  What are the Transition Requirements under the IDEA

Standards for Supporting People with Disabilities in Emergency Rooms

Q&A: Interpreters in Emergency Rooms

In 1990 the U.S. Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and declared that individuals must have access to all aspects of society.  Since that time, P&As and disability advocates have argued that this must include access to health care in their communities.  In 1999, the U.S Supreme Court, in Olmstead v Lois Curtis and Elaine Wilson, confirmed this and ruled that it was a violation of the ADA to unnecessarily segregate an individual into an institution to receive care when these supports could be provided in the community. The Court stated:

“Institutional placement of persons who can handle and benefit from community settings perpetuates unwarranted assumptions that persons so isolated are incapable or unworthy of  participating in community life. Confinement in an institution severely diminishes the everyday life activities of individuals, including family relations, social contacts, work options, economic independence, educational advancement, and cultural enrichment.”

Supreme Court's Olmstead decision

The P&A system is the primary federal enforcer of this “Olmstead” integration mandate in the nation, having filed half of all federal cases seeking to enforce the Olmstead. Litigation, however, is just one small part of how the P&As seek enforcement of the Olmstead integration mandate.  P&A Olmstead efforts require a continuum of coordinated effort, including: demanding a systemic shift of how we look at health financing away from one-size fits all services designed by medical professional and towards a flexible menu of community supports that can be designed around the strengths of individuals and families.  This systemic change is accomplished by group litigation and also by working collaboratively at the grassroots level to offer legal and policy information.  On the other end of the continuum, P&As work one on one to assist individuals navigate and fill gaps in the patchwork of community options. Individual advocacy also involves oversight of community programs, to ensure individuals receive the quality supports they are promised.

• Statutes and Regulations
• Resources
• Progress Reports on Olmstead v. L.C. Implementation