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Delivering on the Promise
Table of Contents

U.S. Department of Justice
[Complete Report: HTML = 179K / PDF = 187K]
Table of Contents ~ Executive Summary
Final Report: Part I ~ Part II ~ Part III ~ Part IV ~ Appendix A

Self-Evaluation to Promote
Community Living for People with Disabilities

Report to the President
on Executive Order 13217

Final Report of the Attorney General

As an enforcement agency, the Department's focus is on how most effectively and meaningfully to fulfill the President's mandate of swift implementation of the United States Supreme Court decision in Olmstead v. L.C., 527 U.S. 581 (1999), where the Court construed title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to require States to place individuals with disabilities in community settings, rather than institutions, whenever appropriate. The Department is committed to the community placement of individuals with disabilities. In Helen L. v. Didario, 46 F.3d 325 (3^rd Cir.), cert. denied, 516 U.S. 813 (1995), the Department successfully argued as amicus curiae that the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare's refusal to provide attendant care in the home for an individual with a mobility impairment who was qualified for attendant care, and who needed services to live with her children in her home, violated the requirement of the ADA that services be provided in the most integrated setting appropriate to the needs of people with disabilities. The Department of Public Welfare had required the woman to enter a nursing home to obtain the assistance she needed. The Department subsequently made similar arguments regarding the integration requirement of title II in Williams v. Wasserman, 937 F. Supp. 524 (D. Md. 1996).¹ Additionally, the Department of Justice worked closely with HHS in developing the government's position in Olmstead, where again, as amicus curiae, the Department asked the Supreme Court to rule that unnecessary institutionalization may be a violation of title II. The Court agreed and ruled that a community placement is required where the State's treatment professionals have determined that it is appropriate, the individual does not object to it, and where it can be reasonably accommodated considering the resources available to the State and the needs of other persons with disabilities served by the program at issue.

The ADA, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101 et seq., broadly protects the rights of individuals with disabilities. The Civil Rights Division's Disability Rights Section is responsible for implementation of regulations and enforcement of titles II and III of the ADA and for litigation of employment claims under title I involving State governments. Title II applies to State and local government entities, and, in subtitle A, protects qualified individuals with disabilities from discrimination on the basis of disability in services, programs, and activities. Title III covers, among others, private businesses known as places of public accommodation, including, among others, the offices of health care providers, child care centers, and a variety of community-based service providers. The Disability Rights Section is also responsible for coordination of Federal agencies' implementation of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, 29 U.S.C. § 794 (Section 504 or Rehabilitation Act of 1973), which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in federally funded and federally conducted programs.

The Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1997 (CRIPA), concerns the rights of individuals who reside in institutions operated by or on behalf of a government. Under CRIPA, the Department may initiate a civil action where there is reasonable cause to believe that a State or political subdivision of a State is engaged in a pattern or practice of subjecting institutionalized individuals to conditions that deprive them of the rights secured by the United States Constitution or Federal laws. The Civil Rights Division's Special Litigation Section enforces CRIPA and handles the majority of the Department's work under Olmstead. See Appendix A for a list of Special Litigation's Olmstead-related efforts. In its investigations of health care institutions, the Department collects evidence to determine whether there are violations of Federal statutes and regulations, including the ADA, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, title XIX of the Social Security Act, and various Medicaid programs.

The Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 3601 et seq. (FHA), prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in all types of housing transactions. The Civil Rights Division's Housing and Civil Enforcement Section shares responsibility for enforcing the FHA with the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Under the FHA's accessibility requirements, newly constructed, multi-family housing must be accessible to and adaptable for use by individuals with disabilities. The FHA's accessibility requirements are more modest than those of the ADA, most notably with respect to spaces inside individual units where the FHA typically requires only that a space can be made usable by individuals with disabilities, including persons who use wheelchairs. The Department also works to ensure that zoning and other regulations concerning land-use are not employed to hinder the residential choices of individuals with disabilities; such hindrances include unnecessarily restricting communal or congregate-residential arrangements, such as group homes. These sorts of residential arrangements are frequently used for community placement of individuals with disabilities

The breadth of the Department's enforcement authority regarding the rights of individuals with disabilities, therefore, reaches both institutional settings and a great variety of the government services and private businesses that are necessary to implement and sustain effective community-based care. In addition to enforcement of these statutes within the Civil Rights Division, the Department has, in undertaking the review required by the Executive Order, identified other components, such as the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) and the Community Relations Service (CRS) that may help facilitate the goals of the Executive Order. The Civil Rights Division is leading the Department-wide review and has formed an Olmstead committee comprised of members of the Disability Rights Section, the Housing and Civil Enforcement Section, and the Special Litigation Section. The Department's goal is to continue vigorous enforcement within the Civil Rights Division in cooperation and with the support of other components of the Department.

This Final Report provides a list of the Department's accomplishments to date that is relevant to the community placement of individuals with disabilities, a discussion of recognized barriers, and a blueprint for solutions and the future implementation of the Olmstead decision.

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1. These arguments were ultimately rejected after a long bench trial. On September 27, 2001, the court in Williams v. Wasserman, 2001 WL 11481175 (D. Md.), found that the State's progress with community placement of the plaintiffs and other similarly situated individuals was acceptable when considering the need to balance funding between institutional and community treatment. The Court also found that an immediate shift of resources to community care constituted a fundamental alteration of the State's resources under Olmstead.

Last revised: April 20, 2002