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Justice Department Memo Says Federal Law Does Not Require States to Provide Community Care for Disabled Americans
A new Office of Legal Counsel opinion reverses decades of federal enforcement under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act. Disability advocates say the change removes a key barrier to institutionalization.
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The Justice Department released a memo this week from the Office of Legal Counsel stating that states are not required to provide in-home or community-based care to people with disabilities who need support. The memo, written by Lanora Pettit, principal deputy assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel, argues that federal law prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability but does not impose an integration mandate on states.
It states that the Supreme Court’s 1999 Olmstead v.
C. ” Alison Barkoff, a health law and policy professor at George Washington University who led disability law and policy efforts during both the Obama and Biden administrations, said the memo marks a fundamental shift. “It is now the position of the United States government that people with disabilities don’t have a right to be part of their communities,” Barkoff said.
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act have long been interpreted to require services in the most integrated setting appropriate. In Olmstead v. , the Supreme Court held that states have a legal responsibility to provide support that integrates disabled Americans into their communities.
4 million Americans were receiving home- and community-based services through Medicaid. ” Jennifer Mathis of the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law described the daily restrictions of institutional life: “Who you can see, when you can go out, when you eat, what you eat. Who your roommate is, who you talk to, what your environment is.
The Justice Department did not respond to an NPR request for an explanation of its position. The memo arrives as Republicans have passed deep cuts to Medicaid, the primary funding source for community-based services. It also follows President Trump’s July 24, 2025 executive order intended to make it easier for state and local governments to police homelessness through involuntary institutionalization.
