Community Inclusion

People with disabilities have the right to live, work, and be included in their communities and to live as independently as possible.

Many years ago, people labeled with developmental disabilities were often forced to live in institutions because there was no such things as community-based services. Some of these institutions abused and neglected people. Institutions segregate people away from their family, friends, and communities.

In recent decades, there has been a shift away from institutions and toward services that can be provided in people’s own homes and communities. In 1999, the U.S. Supreme Court decided a very important case for disability rights, called Olmstead . The Court said that forcing people labeled with disabilities to live in institutions when they can live in their communities was discrimination. This decision resulted in the shift away from institutions to home and community-based services.

In Maine, we call these home- and community-based services “waiver” services. People who receive waiver services have the right to access and be a part of their communities as much as people who don’t receive these services. Another way of saying this is that waiver services are meant to support people in accessing their communities, and should not be a barrier to it.

One of the rules that ensures that people’s services respect this right is the Home and Community Based Settings Rule .