Texas is illegally keeping people with disabilities in nursing homes, federal judge rules
Texas has been violating federal law for decades by sequestering individuals with severe disabilities in poorly run nursing homes without offering them alternative living options and services in the community, a federal judge has ruled.
U.S. District Court Judge Orlando Garcia from the Western District Court of Texas ruled on Tuesday that the state has caused irreparable injury to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities by denying them specialized services, including federally-required services within the community.
“Although community programs are the most integrated setting appropriate to meet their needs, they remain unnecessarily institutionalized in nursing facilities, or at serious risk of such institutionalization. They are harmed by such institutionalization and deprived of living in a community setting and participating in integrated community programs,”
The decision stems from a class action lawsuit, filed in 2010 by disability rights advocates and six institutionalized plaintiffs between the ages of 26 and 46, that alleges that state social services officials have violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by failing to provide appropriate treatment to some 4,500 Texans living in nursing homes.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/texas-illegally-keeping-people-disabilities-192309537.html