DOJ memo stokes fear among disability advocates of a return to institutionalization

On June 18 th , the DOJ issued a legal opinion on the 1999 Omstead Supreme

Court decision which recognized institutional isolation of people with disabilities

as discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

For more than 25 years, Omstead has helped people with disabilities fight for the

supports they need to live at home and in their communities.

This legal opinion argues that states do not have to provide in-home or

community based care to people with disabilities opening the door for states to

cut these services.

The memo comes in the midst of switching special needs education from the

Department of Education to HHS, imposing strict requirements on the definition

of “medical frailty” for new Medicaid work requirements, and the President’s

campaign to institutionalize the unhoused, among other attacks on people with

disabilities.