Residential Choice: It's the Law
Congress in the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act (DD Act) and the U.S. Supreme Court in its landmark Olmstead decision have confronted the same questions of community integration, individual needs and residential choice for people with severe intellectual and other disabilities. In each case, they have reached the same conclusion: While community integration is preferred for most individuals, some individuals have needs that are so great that they require facility-based care. The ultimate decision whether to leave a facility resides with the individual and his/her family/legal guardians, not with “professionals.”
