DOJ Reversal on Disability Rights Threatens 30 Years of Community Care Progress
A Justice Department memo challenges protections requiring states to provide community-based care for disabled Americans, raising fears of a return to institutionalization.
June 22, 2026 · Source: NPR
What Happened
The Justice Department released a memo from its Office of Legal Counsel arguing that states are not legally required to provide in-home or community-based care to people with disabilities who need support. This reversal challenges decades of settled civil rights law and has prompted swift backlash from disability advocates, legal experts, and advocacy organizations.
The memo directly contradicts the legal interpretation established by the 1999 Supreme Court case Olmstead v. L.C. and reinforced by nearly three decades of federal court decisions holding that states must provide services in the most integrated setting appropriate to disabled individuals' needs.
Why This Matters
Community-based care allows millions of disabled Americans to live independently, maintain employment, and participate in their communities rather than being segregated in institutions or nursing homes. Without federal requirements, cash-strapped states could eliminate these services, effectively returning to the pre-1999 era when institutionalization was routine for people with disabilities—a practice disability rights advocates describe as segregation and warehousing.
The timing is significant: as of 2023, 8.4 million Americans were receiving home- and community-based services through Medicaid. A federal policy reversal could affect millions of people's ability to live with dignity and autonomy.
Connection to CGP Policy
The Common Good Party's policy framework emphasizes three critical areas affected by this memo:
- Safety-Net Protections: CGP supports robust social safety net programs that protect vulnerable populations. Community-based care is a cornerstone of disability support infrastructure. Removing federal requirements effectively dismantles protections for one of the most vulnerable groups in America.
- Disability Rights: This memo directly challenges the legal foundation of modern disability civil rights. CGP believes in full inclusion and equal access for people with disabilities—including the fundamental right to live in one's community rather than institutional settings.
- Racial Justice: Institutionalization has disproportionately affected Black Americans and other communities of color, who face higher rates of institutionalization and systemic discrimination in access to community services. Removing these protections risks exacerbating existing racial disparities in disability outcomes.
Read the original reporting: NPR