Olmstead

The Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) (of which ANCOR is a member) and the Technical Assistance Collaborative (TAC) publish a study every two years which documents the housing crisis for people with disabilities. The study compares average HUD fair market rents for one-bedroom and efficiency apartments with the average SSI benefit for a person with a disability living in the community. It finds that the national average rent for a modestly priced one-bedroom apartment is greater than the entire SSI payment of a person with a disability.

Governor John Kitzhaber (D-OR) issued an Executive Order dated April 10 that "affirms our statewide commitment to offering integrated employment services to people with Intellectual and/or Developmental Disabilities". The order comes shortly after the Department of Justice filed to intervene in a sheltered workshop case.

On April 2, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (MD, SC, VA and WA) denied the state's request for a rehearing in Pashby v. Delia, a class action lawsuit filed against the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services that seeks to block planned cuts to in-home personal care services.

On March 27, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a Motion to Intervene in the case of Lane v. Kitzhaber, 12-CV-00138, (D. OR 2012). The case is a pending class action lawsuit against the state of Oregon, in which Plaintiffs claim the state has violated Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, which require individuals with disabilities not receive services in segregated settings.

On February 5, Representative Gregg Harper (R-MS) reintroduced the "Transition toward Excellence, Achievement and Mobility" ("TEAM") Act, which is a package of legislation designed to support youths with significant disabilities from adolescence to adulthood and focus federal resources on improved outcomes in post-secondary education and integrated employment. The legislation would ensure schools work proactively with children with disabilities and their families to transition them from school into adulthood.

On January 10, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a comprehensive agreement filed in federal court to resolve a long running litigation (United States of America v. State of Tennessee, et al., U.S. Dist. Ct. Western Dist. of Tenn., No. 92-2062) with the state of Tennessee.

In a settlement proposal thought to be dated December 14, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) tells the state of Florida it must stop slicing in-home nursing services for children with disabilities, stop ignoring requests from doctors who treat these children and stop sending hundreds of children to geriatric nursing homes where they are often isolated from their families and peers in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Olmstead court ruling.

In a paper titled The Economics of Supported Employment: What New Data Tell Us (Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation 37 (2012) 109-117), author Robert Cimera reviews literature on supported employment costs and benefits from the 1980s and 1990s and also examines the findings from more recent research on this topic.

On September 18, the National Council on Disability (NCD) released its annual report on national disability policy. The report makes numerous specific recommendations pertaining to a number of areas of interest to ANCOR membership, including the proposed Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ definition of community, federal oversight of state managed care programs, and FMAP incentives for home and community-based services.

On September 4, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) wrote a letter to Florida's attorney general, outlining several violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regarding children in the state.