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A Blueprint for Advocates: Recommended Next Steps to Advance California's Implementation of the Supreme Court's Olmstead Decision 

Like the similar civil rights decision of Brown v. the Board of Education, the Supreme Court's 1999 Olmstead decision, validating the rights of people with disabilities to live in community settings instead of institutions, has been slow in making the large-scale changes that advocates expected. The economic recession has impeded progress and even set back California's implementation efforts. However, the 2010 passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, known as health care reform, is driving immense changes to long-term living programs and services that will potentially have a lasting impact on Olmstead implementation in the state. This Blueprint for Advocates provides an overview and context for the major change processes the state is undergoing, and suggests key strategies for advocates to continue to promote Olmstead implementation in a rapidly evolving landscape. Read the full report... 

Californians for Olmstead is a project of the California Foundation for Independent Living Centers, Inc. (CFILC). Funded by the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, this public policy and education program advances changes that will remove the bias toward institutionalization of people with disabilities and promote the implementation of the 1999 U.S. Supreme Court Olmstead decision. In this decision, the Supreme Court ruled that under the Americans with Disabilities Act, people with disabilities have the right to live in the community and not to be institutionalized.

The project has three main purposes:

1) To provide support for a coalition of disability rights organizations to organize and promote the implementation of Olmstead;

 

2) To educate and to be a resource for change for policy makers, the media, nursing facilities, hospitals, ombudsman programs and individuals who are institutionalized; and

 

3) To empower people with disabilities to become effective advocates in promoting Olmstead implementation at the state and local levels.

Systems change requires the sustained efforts and collaboration of consumers, providers and government agencies. Please join us and get involved in promoting the implementation of Olmstead in California.