Stop the Push to Re-Institutionalize Disabled People

Hi, my name is [YOUR NAME] and I'm a constituent from [YOUR TOWN, ZIP].

I'm calling about community living for disabled people. On September 23 a federal judge struck the community integration rules out of HHS's Section 504 regulations, nationwide, because the Justice Department and five states asked him to. That came after the Department's June 18 legal opinion claiming states aren't required to serve disabled people in their communities, and its July 20 notice saying it won't enforce the Olmstead guidance.

I'm asking [SENATOR / REPRESENTATIVE LAST NAME] to support writing the integration mandate into federal law itself, so it doesn't depend on a rule that can be struck.

One hundred members of Congress have already signed a letter asking the Department to rescind the June 18 opinion. If [SENATOR / REPRESENTATIVE LAST NAME] hasn't added their name, please ask them to.

[My son is autistic and relies on Medicaid and community based services. This is about whether he gets to keep a life outside an institution.]

Can you tell me where [SENATOR / REPRESENTATIVE LAST NAME] stands on protecting community living for disabled people? Thank you for your time.

Please protect community living for disabled people in federal law

Dear [SENATOR / REPRESENTATIVE LAST NAME],

I'm a constituent from [YOUR TOWN, ZIP], and I'm writing about something that affects disabled people and the families who love them all across our state.

On September 23, 2026, a federal judge in Texas entered final judgment in Texas v. Kennedy and struck the community integration provisions out of HHS's 2024 Section 504 rule, nationwide. The Justice Department and five states asked for that judgment together, so no one is appealing it. One of the provisions it struck let a family act when a decision put someone at serious risk of institutionalization, before they ended up in a facility. Section 504 itself is untouched, but that protection is gone.

That ruling is the latest step in a pattern. On June 18, 2026, the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel issued an opinion claiming that federal law never required states to serve disabled people in their communities rather than in institutions, and that the rule requiring it can be canceled. That rule is the integration mandate. It's backed by the Supreme Court's Olmstead decision, and it's the floor under group homes, Medicaid waivers, and community living.

On July 20, 2026 the Department published a notice, 91 FR 45287, declaring the 2011 Olmstead guidance unenforceable and saying it will not rely on that guidance when it enforces Title II of the ADA. Olmstead itself still stands and so does the ADA, but the agency that enforces them has said it is stepping back.

On August 13, 2026 it went further. In United States v. Florida, a case the United States itself brought in 2013 on behalf of hundreds of children with complex medical needs, the Department asked the Eleventh Circuit to vacate the ruling it had just won on March 31 and send the case back. It said that on remand it intends to seek an end to the injunction insofar as that injunction rests on children being at serious risk of institutionalization rather than already institutionalized. That is the federal government asking a court to undo its own win for disabled children.

Here's what worries me. This is no longer hypothetical. If a state can place a disabled person in an institution and just say it ran out of community funding, that turns the most common problem our families face into a legal excuse to institutionalize. Almost every state already has years-long waiting lists.

[My son is disabled and relies on exactly the kind of community based support this rule protects.]

I'm asking you to support writing the integration mandate into federal law itself, so the right of disabled people to live in their own communities no longer depends on regulations that can be vacated or abandoned. I'm also asking you to publicly oppose the June 18 opinion and to use your oversight role to protect community living.

On July 22, 2026, one hundred of your colleagues, 22 senators and 78 representatives, signed a letter calling on the Department to rescind this opinion. If you've already added your name, thank you. If you haven't, I'm asking you to.

Please tell me where you stand. I'd appreciate a written response.

Thank you,
[YOUR NAME]
[YOUR TOWN, ZIP]

Hi, my name is [YOUR NAME] and I'm a constituent from [YOUR TOWN, ZIP].

I'm calling about community living for disabled people. On September 23 a federal judge struck the community integration rules out of HHS's Section 504 regulations, nationwide. That follows a federal legal opinion that could let states institutionalize disabled people by claiming they ran out of community funding, and a Justice Department notice from July 20 saying it won't enforce the guidance that protects community living. In August the Department asked a federal appeals court to undo its own win against Florida in a case about children with complex medical needs.

I want [STATE LEGISLATOR / GOVERNOR LAST NAME] to support putting the right to live in the community into state law, and to commit publicly that our state will protect and fund home and community based services and never use any of this as a reason to put disabled people in institutions.

[My daughter is disabled and depends on a Medicaid waiver and community services to live here at home with us.]

Where does [STATE LEGISLATOR / GOVERNOR LAST NAME] stand on keeping disabled people in their communities? Thank you.

Protect home and community based services for disabled residents of our state

Dear [TITLE AND LAST NAME],

I'm a constituent from [YOUR TOWN, ZIP], writing about the future of disability services in our state.

On September 23, 2026, a federal judge in Texas struck the community integration provisions out of HHS's 2024 Section 504 rule, nationwide, after the Justice Department and five states asked for it together. That followed a U.S. Justice Department legal opinion on June 18, 2026 claiming states aren't required to serve disabled people in the community instead of in institutions, and a published notice on July 20 saying the Department will not enforce the federal Olmstead guidance that protects community living. On August 13 it asked a federal appeals court to vacate its own win in United States v. Florida, a case about hundreds of children with complex medical needs, and said it intends to seek an end to the injunction that protects children at risk of being institutionalized. The ADA's own integration rule still stands, but federal officials may still move against it too. Either way, more of this now lands right here, with our state.

Home and community based services, including Medicaid waivers, are what let disabled people live in their own homes instead of institutions. Our state already has waiting lists for these services. I don't want our state to ever treat a funding shortfall as a reason to institutionalize someone who could live in the community.

[My daughter is disabled and relies on a Medicaid waiver and community based support to live at home with us.]

I'm asking you to support putting the right of disabled people to live in their communities into state law, so it doesn't depend on federal rules that can be struck or abandoned. I'm also asking you to publicly commit to protecting and fully funding home and community based services, and to reject institutionalization as a response to budget pressure.

Please tell me where you stand. I'd appreciate a written response.

Thank you,
[YOUR NAME]
[YOUR TOWN, ZIP]

Heads up. On September 23 a federal judge struck the community integration rules out of HHS's Section 504 regulations, nationwide, because the Justice Department and five states asked for it. It follows a June legal opinion that could let states put disabled people back in institutions by claiming they ran out of community funding, a July 20 notice saying the Department won't enforce the guidance that protects community living, and an August move to undo its own win in a case about children with complex medical needs. Section 504, the ADA and Olmstead are all still law, but the protections under them are being pulled back one piece at a time. Please call your senators and representative at the U.S. Capitol switchboard, 202-224-3121, and ask them to write community living into federal law. Two minutes, and it really matters.