OLRS Requests OCR Review of IO Waiver Placements

The Ohio Legal Rights Service (OLRS) has requested the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), United States Department of Health and Human Services, to investigate whether Ohio is violating two federal laws, the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, by using Home and Community Based Services/Individual Options (IO) waivers to fund the institutional placement of seven children. The federal laws require states to administer programs in a manner that serves individuals in the most integrated setting appropriate to the person's needs.

OLRS questioned the placement of seven children in a psychiatric residential treatment facility after an investigation determined that the conditions of the facility were institutional in nature, and did not demonstrate home and community characteristics, a requirement of the IO waiver program. All the residents receive educational and treatment services on the grounds of the facility, rather than in the community. More importantly, five of the seven children interviewed would prefer to live in a community-based placement rather than the facility.

The facility is located on 34 rural acres, in an unincorporated village in a national forest, eight miles from the nearest incorporated town.

Article posted November 28, 2007