From ProPublica/St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

A decade after the Supreme Court handed down a landmark ruling aimed at helping people with disabilities move out of institutions, hundreds of thousands of people who want to live on their own are still waiting to be released from nursing homes, rehab centers and state hospitals.

Disability rights advocates worry that President Obama won’t deliver on his promise to give more people with disabilities the option to live at home. Some 270,000 nursing home residents surveyed recently said they would prefer community-based services, and advocates say demand is rising as baby boomers increasingly demand alternatives to nursing home care.

“If you can’t hear the thunderstorm coming, you’re not listening,” said disability advocate Mark Johnson of Atlanta. Living at home “is what people would want for themselves and their families.”

Today marks the tenth anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in Olmstead v. L.C., which held that the unnecessary segregation of individuals with disabilities in institutions may constitute discrimination based on disability. The Court said limiting services for Medicaid recipients to institutional settings was a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

See also:

• Tenth anniversary of freedom for people with disabilities, by Mike Ervin in The Progressive
• Columbus rally to celebrate disability ruling — Columbus [GA] Ledger-Inquirer

Earlier posts here.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 22nd, 2009 at 9:27 am and is filed under Community Choice Act, NOT2BEMISSED, Obama administration, advocacy, civil rights, community services, history, housing, institutionalization, law, nursing homes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.