Today, Governor Cuomo released the state’s historic Olmstead Plan. The administration’s commitment to fulfill this obligation was long awaited by our community, as it meets the standard set by many other states and directed through a federal mandate to ensure integrated settings for persons with disabilities. The plan—attached below through web link—details how the state will pursue this process.
In 1999, the Supreme Court upheld the Olmstead court case and held that public entities must provide community-based services to persons with disabilities when a) such services are appropriate, b) the affected persons do not oppose community-based treatment, and c) community-based services can be reasonably accommodated, taking into account the resources available to the public entity and the needs of others who are receiving disability services from the entity.
New York’s Olmstead Plan details the policy, fiscal, and service resources necessary to adequately transition persons with disabilities into the most integrated setting possible. It reflects not only institutional care in settings such as nursing homes and adult homes, but also the issue of sheltered workshops, transportation, and the criminal justice system, and how they pertain to equal rights in community based settings.
NYAPRS is active on the Most Integrated Setting Coordinating Council (MISCC), a body that has continuously advocated for effective implementation of the Olmstead mandate, as well as the DOH Adult Home Advisory Board. We will continue these and relative efforts to ensure that each member of our community receives appropriate treatment in the least restrictive setting possible, in order to achieve full livelihood and recovery.
Find the pdf report of the New York State Olmstead Plan here: http://www.governor.ny.gov/assets/documents/olmstead-cabinet-report101013.pdf