Several dozen Tennesseans with disabilities sued the state’s Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (DIDD) for eliminating funding for critical home care and personal assistance services.
The lawsuit was filed in a Nashville federal court on July 11. It alleges that DIDD’s budget cuts violate the Supreme Court’s Olmstead decision, which requires states to place people with mental disabilities in home- and community-based settings whenever appropriate.
The plaintiffs, who range in age from 7 to 52 years old, say that the cuts would require them to move into group care homes.
They are joined in the lawsuit by People First, a nonprofit group that advocates for people with disabilities, and by the Legal Aid Society.
DIDD Cuts Reduce Hours
In June, the DIDD, tasked with trimming millions of dollars in spending as part of statewide budget cuts, imposed a cap on the number of hours that individuals with disabilities can receive certain types of in-home care.
One-on-one nursing services are now limited to 12 hours a day under the DIDD’s new plan, while personal assistance services are capped at 215 hours a month, or approximately 7 hours a day.
These cuts affect an estimated 680 Tennesseans, many of whom say that their disabilities are so severe they essentially require round-the-clock services.
For example, Christopher Hughes, a 34-year-old Campbell County resident with cerebral palsy, had for years relied on the care of two personal assistants, who provide more than 300 hours of care a month.
Because of the cuts, his mother says, Christopher will be forced to move into a group home, an hour’s drive from his family.
Lenny Croce, a Legal Aid attorney, told The Tennessean that the cuts will be responsible for “segregating individuals” with disabilities by removing them from their communities and placing them in group homes.
– by Matthew Ozga
