people. The law prohibits discrimination against those with disabilities and helps ensure opportunities for employment. According to the Census Bureau, there are about 40 million Americans with disabilities.

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believes her mental health declined when she moved into supported housing, contributing to her suicide.

Certainly, many people flourish when given the chance to live independently. A court-appointed monitor has interviewed more than 300 people who have moved out of adult homes and has said that for the most part, they are satisfied with the change.

“I’m sure some of them have their rough days because if you have serious mental illness, you have rough days,” said Cliff Zucker, a disability rights lawyer who led the court case that ended in the 2014 settlement. “But better to have it in your own home and live in freedom.”

David Lazarowitz, 45, said he takes his medication routine seriously and loves to shop and cook for himself, keep his apartment tidy and learn about gardening or auto mechanics on YouTube.

“This is a chance that otherwise, I would never have,” Lazarowitz said.

But in addition to the deaths, ProPublica and Frontline identified more than two dozen cases in which people in supported housing were not able to care for themselves, leaving them in unsafe or inhumane living conditions. Most of those people moved back to an adult home, but others ended up in a nursing home or a psychiatric ward. One resident landed in jail. One is missing, according to the police.

More than 20 people who have worked on the transition, from social workers to nonprofit executives, said the ideology behind the lawsuit endangered scores of people who were not ready to live alone with only minimal support.

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Video story available here

Presiding for two decades over the Belchertown case and its offshoots, Judge Tauro issued rulings that forced the state to spend millions more to care for the developmentally disabled and to create lifetime individual treatment plans for patients.

Judge Tauro “became a giant of the bench in pursuing justice for these children and people who have fewer rights in our society,” said Patti B. Saris, chief judge of US District Court in Boston.

In a career on the Boston federal court bench that had lasted a record 41 years when he switched to senior status in 2013, Judge Tauro crafted decisions that created national models not only for the care of the developmentally disabled, but also for the rights of the mentally ill to refuse unnecessary medication and avoid solitary confinement except in emergency situations.

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Iowa - REM Iowa Acquires St. Luke's New Horizons Program, Prevents Closure

The Gazette, November 30, 2018

REM Iowa has acquired a long-term care program for individuals with intellectual and physical disabilities, a move that will prevent the only such program in Cedar Rapids from shutting down.

REM Iowa, a Hiawatha-based provider of services for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities, announced this week it has reached an agreement with UnityPoint Health-Cedar Rapids to purchase the hospital’s New Horizons program.

The 26-bed program houses individuals with moderate to severe and profound disabilities who require nursing services in a group living environment.

The New Horizons program was set to discontinue operations early next year, forcing the families of 25 residents to move their loved ones to other facilities across Eastern Iowa. The closest location is in DeWitt, about 60 miles away.

The transaction with REM Iowa is expected to be completed Feb. 1.

“REM Iowa is delighted to welcome the individuals served by UnityPoint Health-Cedar Rapids to our residential programs,” said REM Iowa Executive Director Lisa Pakkebier in a news release.

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And that's going to depend on each kid. It might be learning to communicate with their family, it might be learning to walk, for a lot of these kids this is about getting them ready to start school a few years later. So our report, unfortunately, found that the Legislature has been cutting funding for this program over the last several years and that's had real consequences. One of the most concerning results of those cuts is that programs are shutting down around Texas. And this is something that the state's Health and Human Services Commission has recently warned the Legislature about."

Goudeau: When you talk about a reduction in funding, how much money are we talking here?

Clark: "Great question. And there's been reductions in multiple ways. So this report looked at the amount of funding provided by the legislature per child enrolled in ECI. And we found a 15 percent reduction over the last several years. If you look at funding, the direct dollar amount provided to ECI by the Legislature, without accounting for the number of kids, that has also declined over the last several years. We'll give the Legislature a little bit of credit, they did make a small increase last session, but overall the funding has declined for ECI in terms of the direct funding provided by the Legislature.

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most importantly, the people we support and their families.”

Payne began her career with the state more than four decades ago as a direct support professional at Clover Bottom Developmental Center. According to the agency, Payne held support and leadership roles at both Clover Bottom and the DIDD Middle Tennessee Regional Office.

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Greene Valley, which closed as a center for patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities in 2017, still houses some offices and facilities for the state Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Local officials and lawmakers have proposed several different uses for the facility and grounds, but the state has made no announcements about its next chapter.

Full article here