Are you passionate about ensuring that people with disabilities have the right and opportunity to thrive in the community of our choice? Consider joining the Ohio Olmstead Task Force (OOTF)
For the better part of the last two centuries, people with disabilities were often forced into institutions because it was believed that we were not worthy of living life in a community setting. Despite disability advocates fighting for decades for our right to thrive in communities, it was not until June 22nd, 1999, nearly nine years after the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), that the United States Supreme Court decided that the unjustified segregation of people with disabilities was a violation of the landmark piece of legislation that granted and protected the right of people with disabilities to access many areas of public life in the Olmstead Decision, according to www.ada.gov/olmstead.
A brief history of Olmstead, found here, details how the Olmstead lawsuit originated with two women from Georgia, Lois Curtis and Elaine Wilson, both diagnosed with mental health conditions and intellectual disabilities. They frequently cycled in and out of state mental health hospitals. After each hospital stay, they would return home, but without adequate support, they struggled and ultimately required readmission. Lois and Elaine requested assistance from the state of Georgia to receive treatment in the community, aiming to avoid the need for intermittent stays at the state mental hospital. Their doctors confirmed that, with appropriate support, they could thrive in a community setting. Unfortunately, they waited years for these services to be established.
Sue Jamieson, an attorney at the Atlanta Legal Aid Society, filed a lawsuit advocating for Lois (and later including Elaine) to secure community-based services. This case, known as “Olmstead v. L.C.” or “the Olmstead decision,” reached the highest court in the nation, the United States Supreme Court. The case is named after Tommy Olmstead, the Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Human Resources, who was the defendant.
The Supreme Court sided with Lois and Elaine, ruling that under the ADA, it is illegal for the state to discriminate against individuals based on their disabilities. The Supreme Court determined that the state discriminated against them by forcing them to reside in a mental health hospital instead of providing community services. By confining them, the state was effectively segregating them with others who have disabilities. Furthermore, The Supreme Court affirmed that individuals with disabilities, like Lois and Elaine, have the right to receive necessary treatment in an integrated environment, provided that this preference is supported by their doctors and does not fundamentally alter the state’s service delivery for individuals with disabilities.
Unfortunately, even though The Supreme Court upheld the right of people with disabilities to live, participate, and thrive in community settings with the Olmstead decision nearly 26 years ago, many people with disabilities are still in institutions due to not having access to needed community supports due to a nationwide direct care workforce crisis. The advocates who make up the OOTF work to change that.
According to OlmsteadOhio.com, the Ohio Olmstead Task Force (OOTF) is a statewide grassroots coalition of Ohioans with disabilities of all ages, family members, advocates and organizations advocating for the right to live, work and participate in their communities. Formed in 2002, OOTF supports the Supreme Court’s decision that held that unnecessary institutionalization is discrimination against people with disabilities.
The task force found new life in 2020 after becoming a subcommittee of “Breaking Silences,” a group which advocated for emergency preparedness and essential services for people with disabilities during the pandemic. The task force played an integral part in addressing the direct care workforce crisis by hosting public forums to allow legislators, as well as the general public, to hear directly from their consumers whom the crisis greatly impacts, and to urge state leaders to take action by increasing funding for community-based services. In addition to hosting public forums, members of the OOTF testified to several legislative bodies to demonstrate the need for increased funding for community-based services. Fortunately, the hard work of the taskforce paid off and the average wage of direct support providers in Ohio increased to $19 an hour on July 1st ,2024. The OOTF was pleased with the increase but has no plans of discontinuing advocacy around community-based services. The task force is going to ask for an even greater increase in funding for such services in future state budgets.
Anyone who is passionate about ensuring that people with disabilities have the right to live, work and participate in their communities can join the OOTF and take part in its advocacy. Meetings are held virtually via Zoom on the first Wednesday of each month from 1:00pm to 3:00p.m. To be added to the task force listserv and receive meeting notifications, email [email protected]. For more information on the OOTF, visit https://ohioolmstead.com/
