Colorado has violated Americans with Disabilities Act and the rulings of the major Supreme Courts, and has “unnecessarily” isolated disabled people in nursing facilities, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday.
According to a news release from the Department of Justice, the findings detailed in a letter to Colorado Governor Jared Polis are the result of a three-year survey of the state’s disability care system.
The study found that “a significant number” of residents of Medicaid-funded long-term care facilities in Colorado are interested in transitioning to a community-based environment and can successfully transition with appropriate support. got it. However, according to the Ministry of Justice, most people with disabilities who want to move from a long-term care facility cannot move because most people do not know the services that help them make the transition.
The director of the Legal Department of the Department of Health Policy and Finance, which oversees the Medicaid department, said the complaint was confidential and did not share details about the number or location of nursing facilities under investigation.
ADA and the Supreme Court Olmsted’s decision requires state and local governments to make services available to people with disabilities in “the most integrated environment that suits their needs,” regardless of age or disability. However, according to a study conducted by the Civil Rights Department’s Disability Rights section, many Colorado citizens with disabilities receive the services they need in their homes and communities, such as bathing, changing clothes, dosing, and preparing meals. not. With the help of a US law firm in Colorado.
“People with disabilities are too often illegally quarantined in facilities like nursing facilities,” Assistant Secretary of Justice Kristen Clarke said in a news release. “The Civil Rights Department actively exercises the right of disabled people, including the elderly, to access the community-based services they need to age in place and prosper at home.”
Mark Williams, a spokesman for the Colorado Department of Health Policy and Finance, said his office is working to build a system that ensures that people with disabilities always receive community care.
For the past decade, he said his department has been working to enhance and enhance home-based and community-based services available to people with disabilities. About 80% of people with Medicaid receive long-term service and support from Colorado at home, up from 76% six years ago, he said.
“We have achieved this through many initiatives,” he said. Colorado, for example, was the first state to implement a program to support people with disabilities by helping people with disabilities return to the community from facility settings. Since its inception in 2019, the program has helped 687 people return home, ensuring that they continue to be serviced there, he said.
Colorado has nearly 500 million to improve its system after Congress passed the U.S. Rescue Planning Act in March and provided state federal funding to enhance community-based services for people with disabilities. It was the first state to receive $ 30 million. The 65 projects included in the plan are working to make people accessible to the community, Williams said.
This Ministry of Justice investigation began in November 2018. Williams said the State Department received the findings on Friday. The department will help compare the outcomes of home and community-based services with the findings of the Justice Department to identify additional ways to address the gap.
Elderly and disabled people in Colorado are increasingly expecting to stay home as their needs grow, said Cole Finegan, a US lawyer in Colorado.
The desire is exacerbated during the pandemic, as it has been reported that a significant number of deaths from COVID-19 are associated with nursing homes and other long-term care facilities. By allowing people to move from these facilities to the community, research leaders say, they can mitigate that risk and become ADA compliant.
Mr. Finegan said he hopes to improve the situation so that disabled people are no longer isolated.
Williams said the medical sector has promised to work with the Justice Department to address the issues identified in the investigation. “The department’s commitment to ensuring that people receive care at home has and will continue to drive all the work we do.”
