Developmentally Disabled Californians Win Class Action

Disabled Californians who currently live in hospitals and nursing homes have won the right to explore other options for accommodation including moving back to their own communities and living in smaller nursing homes. This is part of a settlement of a lawsuit filed in 2002 by advocacy groups for the disabled that alleged that the state was not fulfilling its legal requirements.

Currently, some 200,000 developmentally disabled people in California receive state aid, as mandated by a state law passed in 1969. The cost per person for annual care at the hospitals, or developmental centers, is about $270,000, more than it would cost to live in a smaller center, or private home.

APRIL-28-09: Settlement gives developmentally disabled help [SF GATE: DEVELOPMENTALLY DISABLED BENEFIT FROM SETTLEMENT]