July 4, 1776 

U.S. Dept of Justice Issues a Memo That Seeks to Narrow Protections  

THE BOTTOM LINE:  The opinion does not erase anyone’s rights overnight, but it could weaken the federal protection for community living and leaves the durability of that right to whoever controls the executive branch. 

Dear Friends and Colleagues, 
 
We should all be deeply alarmed and profoundly disappointed by the U.S. Department of Justice’s opinion issued last week that seeks to narrow the scope of protections afforded under Olmstead v L.C., one of the most significant civil rights decisions for people with disabilities in our nation’s history. 

Here’s the entire message

NYDA has developed the Federal Advocacy Toolkit, which includes:

• Federal Advocacy Leave-Behind

This toolkit provides information you need for meetings with U.S. Senators, Representatives, and their staff on protecting the right to community-based services. 
 
THE OPINION:  As you are aware, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel — the office that issues the executive branch’s official legal interpretations, including the administration’s executive orders — recently released an opinion on the “integration mandate,” the longstanding principle that people with disabilities should receive services in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs. It reaches three conclusions: (1) that the Supreme Court’s 1999 Olmstead decision did not actually require states to serve people in the most integrated setting; (2) that the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act do not require it by their text; and (3) that the federal regulations that have required it for decades go beyond what the law allows. An opinion like this does not change the law by itself. But it is the legal groundwork for the federal government to stop enforcing the integration requirement, to roll back the regulations, and to decline to defend them in a pending lawsuit — Texas v. Kennedy — in which several states are asking a court to strike them down.
  
THE ASK:  Urge Congress to enact legislation codifying a clear, enforceable statutory right to receive long-term services and supports in the most integrated setting appropriate to a person’s needs — including each individual’s right to choose among well-supported settings — so this principle no longer depends on a regulation that any administration can reinterpret or repeal.
 
 

Moving Special Education And Civil Rights Out Of The Education Department Risks A Patchwork Of Rights For Students With Disabilities
June 16, 2026/in Advocacy, Press Releases, Public Policy, by Jackie Dilworth

Today, the U.S. Department of Education announced plans to move the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). The Arc of the United States warns that the move disregards federal law placing the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) in the Department of Education and would make it harder for students with disabilities to access services, resolve discrimination, and hold states accountable under IDEA, the 50-year-old law that guarantees a free appropriate public education tailored to each child’s unique needs.

Link to the website: