A Justice Department memo could imperil New Yorkers with disabilities.
The memo reinterprets the Supreme Court’s Olmstead v. L.C. case, which affirmed that people with disabilities have the right to community services that allow them to live independently. Now the memo says the Americans with Disabilities Act does not require states to provide those services.
Sharon McLennon-Wier, executive director of the Center for Independence of the Disabled New York, said access to stable housing is essential for disabled people living independently.
“If someone who may need supports to maintain that stable housing in the community does not receive those supports, we are afraid that he or she may end up in institutions unnecessarily,” McLennon-Wier said.
The memo does not change the law, but it signals that the DOJ may not be inclined to enforce these laws and allows states to limit obligations to provide these services.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, along with disability rights and legal groups strongly opposes the memo, and McLennon-Wier noted that groups like CIDNY will fight to preserve rights for people with disabilities.
A Center for Independence of the Disabled New York report finds that by providing housing assistance to thousands of people, the group saved the state more than $6.5 million.
This comes as federal Medicaid cuts are set to remove hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers from the program. McLennon-Wier said lawmakers need to understand better the situation to remedy the memo’s impacts.
“For legislators, I think the first thing is to have empathy and understand that you might become disabled and if that happens, and it’s a complex disability that you have, you would want to have the choice to either be institutionalized or not,” McLennon-Wier said.
McLennon-Wier added that the state and nation can’t go back to the days of institutions like Staten Island’s Willowbrook State School. An exposé on the deplorable conditions for patients led to its closure.
But several states nationwide have taken legal action to dismantle a section of disability law requiring states to provide community-based services.
Edwin is a reporter and producer in North Tonawanda, New York. He’s previously reported for the Niagara Gazette and the Ithaca Times. Edwin got an early start in radio interning for WBFO-88.7FM, NPR’s Buffalo affiliate. In 2018, he graduated from SUNY Buffalo State College with a B.A. in Journalism, and in 2022, graduated from Syracuse University with an M.S. in Communications.