Speaking out for People with
 Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities


VOR Response to ACLU/SEIU Call for Cuts to Congregate Care

In a petition dated June 23, 2020 filed with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the ACLU, SEIU, and several partner groups outlined concerns with the federal response to the novel coronavirus epidemic and used these concerns to call for a 50 percent reduction in congregate care nationwide.  The petitioners defined congregate care to include nursing homes, intermediate care facilities for individuals with intellectual disabilities (ICFs/IID), psychiatric facilities, and home and community-based services (HCBS) group homes. 

On July 1st, VOR issued a firm response in opposition to ACLU and SEUI’s irresponsible and unreasonable demand which would remove all forms of long-term care for the elderly and persons with mental disabilities, except for the family home or private residence.

People as Pendulums: Deinstitutionalization and People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

By Tamie Hopp, VOR Director of Government Relations & Advocacy in Nonprofit Quarterly, July 16, 2014 (and reprinted in the Summer 2014 Nonprofit Quarterly Print edition)

Early reforms were quite properly motivated by the need for a system of care and supports that responded to the very individualized and diverse needs of the entire population of people with I/DD. These reforms, however, also set the stage for decades of ongoing deinstitutionalization, resulting in the elimination of specialized housing, employment and education options for people with I/DD, leaving some to question the price of “progress.”

Letter from Lanny Edelsohn to the Washington Post on Biased Reporting Opposing 14(c)

Lanny Edelsohn wrote the following to the Washington Post in response to biased reporting on 14(c) programs.

September 10, 2024
Mr. William Lewis
Chief Executive Officer – Washington Post

Dear Mr. Lewis,

I was shocked and saddened after reading the three articles in the Washington Post related to the issue of section 14c of the Fair Labor Standards Act allowing some vocational programs to pay adults with intellectual disabilities a commensurate wage based on standardized assessments of productivity. In September of 2023 the Department of Labor announced that it was planning a comprehensive review of section 14c. Unfortunately, the authors presented a biased and inaccurate description of 14c Work Centers emphasizing the opinions of those advocating for their closure and ignoring the concerns of parents, guardians and people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) themselves who are happy and proud of the work they perform in such centers. I and others representing those who cannot advocate for themselves must respond to these inaccuracies.