By Sharon Krevor-Weisbaum, Eve Hill, and Jamie Strawbridge
In September 2024, the President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities released a new report titled “Advancing Independence and Community Integration for All: Supporting Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities through High-Quality Home and Community-Based Services.” The report is aimed at helping to ensure individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) have access to the support they need to live independently and meaningfully engage in their communities. A key focus of the report is the importance of high-quality home and community-based services for individuals with disabilities, including targeted recommendations with respect to four areas: direct support professionals, employment of persons with I/DD, community living and supports to promote independence and community inclusion, and federal supports, including programs like Supplemental Security Income, Medicaid, and Medicare.
The report notes that both home and community-based services are vital to enable people with I/DD to live at home as opposed to living in institutions like nursing homes. The report also identifies two problems in gaining widespread access to receiving home and community-based services from direct support professionals: the pool of available professionals is not keeping up with expanding demand, and direct support professionals too often lack specialized training they require to properly assist individuals with different disabilities. In a solution-based approach, the report recommends establishing new professional standards for direct support professionals as well as improved wages and access to benefits for such workers.
Another part of the report notes that hiring persons with disabilities is a cost-effective way to build an inclusive workforce, arguing that “individuals with significant disabilities are an asset to the company — not a risk,” partly because of the “diverse skill sets and unique insights” they offer. However, the report also notes several continued challenges with respect to employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities, including a lack of employer awareness of federal antidiscrimination requirements, such as requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act that employers may not discriminate against workers with disabilities. As a result, the report recommends increased access to inclusive apprenticeships and internships for individuals with I/DD, more targeted outreach and education on providing accommodations, if needed, to workers with I/DD, and strengthened efforts to enforce the ADA and other federal laws, as well as other proactive approaches aimed at expanding inclusivity in hiring.
With respect to to housing discrimination and availability, the report addresses that many individuals with I/DD continue to face barriers in securing affordable, accessible, and durable housing, also noting a similar struggle in unmet needs for accessible transportation. The report suggests that such individuals also face strict resource limits under federal programs like Supplemental Security Income and makes targeted recommendations in those areas as well to improve access to housing, transportation and more for individuals with disabilities.
Through its nationwide disability rights practice and its associated consulting practice (Inclusivity Strategic Consulting), Brown, Goldstein & Levy fights for the rights of individuals with disabilities, including in many areas outlined in the new report. Our firm represents individuals with disabilities across the country who face unlawful discrimination at school or at work, when receiving medical care or when casting a ballot during an election. Closer to our firm’s headquarters in Baltimore, we also represent individuals with disabilities in Maryland who face discrimination in housing or who do not receive the in-home healthcare services to which they are entitled under state and federal law. And with respect to employment, Inclusivity consults with and supports businesses that want to achieve real inclusion of people with disabilities in their workforces—offering strategic advice to start-ups, universities, and everything in between.
If you or a loved one has experienced discrimination, or if you want to ensure your business meaningfully includes individuals with disabilities, consider contacting us today to discuss your situation.