North Carolina Court Issues Order Requiring State to Clear Waitlists in Ten Years

A North Carolina Superior Court issued an order in Samantha R., et al. V. North Carolina requiring the state to provide community-based services to the 16,314 people currently on the waiting list within a ten-year period.

In February 2020, summary judgment was granted to the Plaintiffs on their Persons with Disabilities Protection Act claim that the state unnecessarily institutionalized, or placed at risk for institutionalization, people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. After failing to implement recommendations to address the violation, the court issued an order which creates reporting requirements and benchmarks for the state to divert and transition individuals from institutionalization, increase access to home- and community-based services and address the direct support professional deficit.