Olmstead Community Integration Plan - DC One Community for All

Current Olmstead Plan

Update December 2024: Please see the final, published 2025-2027 District Olmstead Plan.

What Is Olmstead?

In 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law, prohibiting state and local governments from discriminating against people with disabilities by excluding them from participating in, or receiving benefits from, government services, programs, or activities. The ADA requires state and local governments to administer services, programs, and activities in the most integrated setting appropriate to the needs of qualified individuals with disabilities. This is often called the ADA’s “Integration mandate.”

The first case to challenge this integration mandate was, Olmstead v. L.C., in which the Supreme Court ruled that people with disabilities have the right to live and receive care in the community rather than in an institutional setting. In this 1999 decision, the Supreme Court also indicated that states could have a “comprehensive, effective working plan” to demonstrate compliance with the ADA’s integration mandate. These plans are often referred to as “Olmstead plans.”

Under Olmstead, states must demonstrate that they are able to provide services to people with disabilities in integrated settings, within certain limits:

the person must want community-based services;
the person’s treatment team must consider community-based services appropriate;
and it must be reasonable to accommodate the community-based services, taking into account state resources and the needs of others with disabilities.

The Office of Disability Rights has created a Faces of Olmstead project to highlight District residents with disabilities who live successfully in the community through community-based services.

Olmstead Planning in the District of Columbia

Update October 2024: The 2025-2027 District Olmstead Plan Second Draft fine tunes strategies and metrics for the priorities of housing, healthcare, employment, and transportation. Agencies responsible for metrics are currently adding missing baseline data and benchmarks. Please note that ODR is planning to publish the final version of this plan in December 2024.

Update June 21, 2024: The Olmstead Working Group was developed with the advice and recommendations of ODR and other agencies serving people with disabilities. The Group is comprised of representatives from District agencies as well as community stakeholders, including people with disabilities and advocates for people with disabilities. Together, the Working Group advises District Government agencies on what the Plan should look like and what the priorities should be.

The District has gathered community input and development of its 2025-2027 Olmstead Plan. The first townhall on February 26, 2024, the second townhall on June 18, 2024, and the third townhall on October 1, 2024 all provided valuable input on how the District should revise its existing Olmstead Plan.

The 2025-2027 District Olmstead Plan First Draft focuses on the priorities of housing, healthcare, employment, and transportation. Please note that ODR is planning to draft two more versions of this plan before issuing a finalized version by the end of December 2024.