NAMI National has issued a statement on the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) June 18th opinion,  “Application of the Rehabilitation Act and Americans with Disabilities Act to State Institutionalization of Patients with Severe Mental Illness or Disabilities”.

This opinion runs contrary to the decades-long position held by the federal government that has sought to help people with disabilities, including people with mental health conditions, receive necessary health care services while living in their community. You can read NAMI National’s statement here.

 

What does someone have to do to make themselves worthy of living in the community? Is being human not enough? What degree of disability, exactly, strips a person of the basic dignity of human connection, belonging, and community life?

For 27 years, the Olmstead decision has affirmed a simple but profound principle: people with disabilities have the right to receive services in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs. As a nation, we have recognized that disabilities are not a justification for segregation. We have worked to ensure that people can live in their homes, participate in their communities, and build lives alongside their neighbors.

We also know that people with disabilities are particularly vulnerable to discrimination, neglect, and violations of their human rights within segregated systems of care. As a society, we have a responsibility to promote health, dignity, autonomy, and justice while preventing physical and psychological distress.

We cannot return to a time when people were routinely warehoused in institutions and separated from society. For decades, individuals were isolated from their families, communities, and opportunities for meaningful participation in their local life. We moved away from this model not only because it was costly and ineffective, but also because we recognized the profound harm that institutionalization inflicts on individuals, families, and communities.

The promise of Olmstead reflects the broader understanding that our communities are strengthened by inclusion. Any effort to weaken the premise of Olmstead raises a fundamental question: whose humanity are we willing to discount? People with disabilities deserve the same opportunities for connection, self-determination, and inclusion as everyone else. To devalue those rights because of a disability is not only dehumanizing but would also undermine decades of civil rights progress.

– Jacqueline Hubbard, Esq., Deputy Director of Policy, Advocacy, and Communications