We pursue impact litigation, policy reform, and public education to ensure the civil rights and human dignity of people with mental disabilities.
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Joined July 2009
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Join us next Wednesday, October 21st at 11 AM for the second annual Housing Now! National Day of Action rally, hosted by the National Coalition for the Homeless.
Meet us in front of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Headquarters at 2415 Eisenhower Avenue, Alexandria, VA 22314.
We hope to see you there!
Thousands of people with disabilities in Arkansas are waiting years for services that would allow them to live at home with their families rather than in institutions.
Arkansas is not an isolated case. Across the country, funding gaps in community-based services continue to put people with disabilities at risk of unnecessary institutionalization. Looming Medicaid cuts could make already lengthy wait times even longer.
States have an important role to play in protecting these rights. As our Deputy Director Jennifer Mathis told USA Today, advocates should try to secure commitments from state leaders that they will support the integration mandate and reject the federal government's view that people with disabilities have no right to receive services in their own homes and communities.
States can invest in community-based services and ensure that people with disabilities have the support they need to live with their families and participate fully in community life.
At the same time, the federal government is abandoning its longstanding role in enforcing the right to community living. The Trump administration has reversed decades of federal policy, arguing that disability rights laws do not require states to provide services in the most integrated setting appropriate to people's needs.
The Supreme Court's landmark Olmstead decision remains the law, but the federal government's changing position raises serious concerns about how these rights will be enforced.
Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law retweeted
Hundreds of parents raising children with disabilities joined a rally at the Arkansas capitol last month to demand state officials fully fund programs that allow people with disabilities to live at home as required by federal law.
More than 2,400 people in Arkansas – and 650,000 nationwide – appear on waitlists for those Medicaid services. bit.ly/4ANuD1c
For decades, the federal gov’t helped protect the right of people with disabilities to live and receive services in their communities. To work, get an education, and participate in community life like everybody else.
It is now stepping away from that role.
The right remains. What’s changing is the federal government’s commitment to enforcing it.
npr.org/2026/10/01/nx-s1-598…
We urge state legislatures to use this misguided and harmful ruling as a wake up call to enshrine the right of disabled people to live in their communities in state law.
Today, a judge agreed with the US Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Louisiana, and Montana in the Texas v. Kennedy case. The court eliminated the community integration regulations from HHS’ 2024 updates to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
Specifically:
The judge’s order vacates the definition of the most integrated setting in the 2024 section 504 healthcare rule and eliminates two specific portions of the rule that require community integrated settings and services be prioritized in the delivery of health and social services.
This is a step backward, but it's important to remember that we still have rights.
Let’s say that again: we still have rights, and we still have each other.
The Americans with Disabilities Act is still the law.
Section 504 is still the law.
The Olmstead decision is still the law.
Community integration is a foundational civil right for people with disabilities. There is no right more foundational than the right to make our own choices.
AAPD will continue to protect, advance, and enforce disability rights. Read our full statement at: aapd.com/aapd-statement-on-r…
ID: White text on a navy background: "There has been an update in the Texas v. Kennedy case. It’s serious. Today, a judge sided with the Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and Texas, Alaska, Florida, Louisiana, and Montana in the Texas v. Kennedy case. This will end some of the 2024 community integration regulations under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. This is a step backward for our community. However, the judge did not find that Section 504 or the community integration mandate are unconstitutional. Remember: We still have rights. The Americans with Disabilities Act is still the law. Section 504 is still the law. The Olmstead decision is still the law. AAPD will continue to protect, advance, and enforce disability rights. We will update our community as more information becomes available."
ALT Today, a judge sided with the Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and Texas, Alaska, Florida, Louisiana, and Montana in the Texas v. Kennedy case.
ALT This will end some of the 2024 community integration regulations under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
ALT This is a step backward for our community. However, the judge did not find that Section 504 or the community integration mandate are unconstitutional.
ALT Remember: We still have rights. The Americans with Disabilities Act is still the law. Section 504 is still the law. The Olmstead decision is still the law.
ICYMI: The Trump admin weakened a key tool for expanding employment opportunities for people with disabilities.
Section 503 of the Rehab Act requires certain federal contractors to take affirmative action to employ and advance qualified people with disabilities. Until now, federal contractors had concrete ways to measure those efforts, including a goal of 7% representation of people with disabilities in their workforce. If they fell short, they had to examine potential barriers and take steps to address them.
A new Department of Labor rule eliminates that goal and the analysis tied to it. Without the numbers, goals, and benchmarks, how do you meaningfully measure progress?
The DOJ moving to eliminate community integration for disabled folks.
It's time to ask your state lawmakers, governors, and attorneys general to commit to Olmstead and vow that they will not join these shameful attacks on disability rights.
At a time when the federal government is requiring people to work in order to keep desperately needed Medicaid benefits, it is dismantling tools that help people with disabilities get and keep jobs.
Last month, the Department of Justice issued an alarming memo saying that federal courts have misinterpreted the rights of individuals with disabilities to be integrated in their communities. This opinion flies in the face of the Supreme Court precedent in Olmstead, decades of law, and the will of Congress.
These attacks on disability rights protections remind us of the core lesson of Olmstead: people with disabilities belong in their communities - and the systems meant to support them must afford the opportunity to be served in the most integrated setting appropriate.
"The basic notion behind [Trump's] executive order seems to be that these people who are unhoused don't deserve housing. They're either criminals or they're problem people, and we should basically be forcing them into treatment because it's just their own fault. It's just wrong at its core."
Jennifer Mathis, Deputy Director at the Bazelon Center
cbsnews.com/news/trumps-home…
New Medicaid requirements could put people with disabilities at risk of losing health coverage - even when they are eligible or exempt.
direct care workers should be asking the right questions as states implement H.R. 1: Who is exempt from work requirements? What documents are needed? When are eligibility checks due? What rights do people with disabilities have if the process is inaccessible?
That’s why we teamed up with the National Center for Housing + Health, powered by CSH, to create a new toolkit for direct care workers, including case managers, peer support specialists, housing staff, outreach workers, family members providing care, and other supporters.
Read the toolkit here: bazelon.org/wp-content/uploa…
Being forced to live in an institution impacts every aspect of people's lives, including who they spend time with, what they eat, when they eat, who they live with, and how they spend their day. It generally makes things like work and education impossible.
#olmstead #disabilityrights
REMINDER: The DOJ memo on Olmstead is not the law. People have not lost rights and states still have obligations.
But the Trump administration's misrepresentation of Olmstead is alarming. People should be concerned.
Call your members of Congress and state governors and speak out against the memo!
Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law retweeted
ACB’s Amanda Wickstrom attended an Olmstead briefing on Capitol Hill hosted by @BazelonCenter. ACB was proud to alongside advocates working to advance the promise of Olmstead: that people with disabilities have the right to live, work, and participate fully in their communities.
ALT Amanda Wickstrom standing outside the Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill