Settlement in New Jersey Olmstead Suit

Somehow I missed this a couple of weeks ago, but New Jersey has agreed to settle Disability Rights New Jersey's longstanding Olmstead litigation challenging unnecessary institutionalization of individuals with intellectual disabilities in the state's Developmental Centers.  The agreement provides that the state will, over the next five years, place 600 individuals currently residing in Developmental Centers into the community.  The agreement also provides for diversion and pre-admission review so that individuals are not unnecessarily placed in Developmental Centers in the first instance.  And it provides that the state's executive branch will seek sufficient funding from the legislature for community-based services and will expand community-based supports through the state's Medicaid waiver.  (I should note that while I was at DOJ, I argued the summary judgment motion in this case representing the United States, which filed as an amicus in support of the plaintiffs.  The US was not a party to this agreement.)