Office for Civil Rights

Preventing Discrimination Against People with Disabilities in Health Care and Social Services

More about Olmstead and the New Freedom Initiative

In March 2002, in response to President Bush's Executive Order 13217, Community-Based Alternatives for People with Disabilities, HHS committed to broadly disseminate individual accounts of how its civil rights compliance activities have facilitated community integration. (See Delivering on the Promise, HHS' Report to the President on Executive Order 13217, available at www.hhs.gov/newfreedom/final/hhs.html.) Accordingly, OCR is providing the following accounts of satisfactorily resolved complaints affecting approximately 250 individuals.

More than 160 individuals involved in these cases moved from institutional to community settings, and more than 80 individuals who resided in the community avoided institutionalization as a result of OCR's work. As can be seen from these accounts, the resolution of these matters varied according to each set of facts and circumstances, and was tailored to appropriately and practically address the interests of the parties involved. Complainants, government entities and other parties worked cooperatively with OCR, often devising creative solutions to the issues involved in the complaints.

Some of OCR's activities resulted in systemic change. In Georgia, a statewide resolution agreement brings together multiple resources to assist individuals in moving to their home communities. In Kentucky, OCR obtained a Voluntary Resolution Agreement in which the State agreed to undertake a variety of actions to identify, assess and transition to the community individuals residing in State-owned and -contracted psychiatric hospitals. In Virginia, following OCR's intervention and assistance, the State provided community services to OCR complainants with developmental disabilities and established a Task Force for the development of an Olmstead Plan. Virginia also issued an Executive Order which, among other things, increased the State's Medicaid waiver slots for individuals with mental retardation. In Oklahoma, OCR was already working with the State on its Olmstead planning and identification of barriers to community living when OCR began investigating complaints alleging that eligibility criteria for one of the State's Medicaid waiver programs put complainants at risk of unnecessary institutionalization. Following OCR's intervention, the State requested and received approval from the HHS Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to amend the waiver program's eligibility criteria in a manner that addressed the complainants' concerns. In Delaware, OCR's investigative and case resolution strategies resulted in the community placement of more than 50 individuals who had resided in a State psychiatric facility. In addition, as some of these examples reflect, OCR continued its efforts to serve as a catalyst for the development of State "comprehensive, effectively working plans" for services to people with disabilities discussed in the Olmstead decision. Click here to read more about OCR’s enforcement results. (Additional information about state planning efforts is available from the website of the National Conference of State Legislators, at http://www.ncsl.org/programs/health/ONCSLrep.htm .)

Descriptions of these cases follow. The summaries are grouped by state, and identified by the governmental or other entity against whom the complaint was filed. Some personal details about the complaints have been omitted to protect the complainants' privacy. For more information about these cases, please contact OCR, using the OCR docket number or numbers provided at the conclusion of each description.

The text of Executive Order 13217, more information about the New Freedom Initiative and HHS' role in carrying out the initiative can be found at www.hhs.gov/newfreedom.) OCR works with the HHS Office on Disability (www.hhs.gov/od), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (www.cms.hhs.gov/NewFreedomInitiative/ ) and other HHS and other federal agency offices in joint ventures to promote the community integration of people with disabilities. OCR will continue both the investigation and resolution of complaints, and broad-based systemic activities as part of its continuing work in this important civil rights area.

Click here to return to the New Freedom Initiative, Olmstead and Disability Discrimination page.

Last revised: September 2, 2008

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