In Brown v. District of Columbia, the firm is co-counsel on behalf of a class of people living in nursing facilities funded by the District of Columbia Medicaid program, who challenged the District’s systemic failure to comply with its obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act, as interpreted by the Supreme Court in Olmstead v. LC ex rel. Zimring, 527 U.S. 581 (1999).

Under the “integration mandate” of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Olmstead, state and local governments must provide community-based services to people with disabilities whenever possible. Unnecessarily segregating people in institutions is illegal discrimination. The Brown Plaintiffs alleged that the District’s program for transitioning Medicaid beneficiaries from nursing facilities to the community, where they can live a less restricted life, is fundamentally inadequate.

On December 31, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a resounding judgment for the Plaintiff class, finding that the District has violated the rights of D.C. Medicaid beneficiaries with disabilities. The Court’s decision followed a trial in 2021, in which the Plaintiffs proved that the District failed to inform D.C. nursing facility residents who receive Medicaid that they could leave nursing facilities and receive home health services in their communities and failed to assist them to do so. The District government also failed to help people access community-based services and housing options needed to transition back to the community.

The Court recognized that individuals living in nursing facilities often need help learning about and applying for available community services to help them transition out of the institution and into their own homes. Even when residents learn about services, navigating the complicated Medicaid-funded long-term care program can cause confusion and anxiety that sometimes causes facility residents to lose hope that they can live in their own homes again.

The Court’s judgment is the culmination of 14 years of litigation. The suit was filed in 2010. After two appeals, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ordered a remand trial in 2019. Since remand, Terris, Pravlik & Millian, LLP, has been representing the Plaintiffs, along with lead counsel AARP Foundation, and Disability Rights DC at University Legal Services.

For more information, please contact Todd Gluckman at tgluckman@tpmlaw.com or 202-204-8482.

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