A bill to protect the interests of residents of Intermediate Care Facilities
for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities (ICFs/IID) in Federally-Financed Class Action Lawsuits
VOR, asks that contact your representatives in Congress, and ask them you support H.R. 6786, a bill introduced on September 12, 2018 by Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) to protect the families’ right to choose where their loved ones reside. Rep. Goodlatte’s bill would require that before any federally-financed class action lawsuit against a Medicaid-certified and funded ICF/IID can proceed, residents and guardians must receive notice of the proposed lawsuit and be given a time-limited opportunity to opt-out of the suit if they wish.
Click here to contact your representative
On March 6th, 2018 the House Judiciary Committee convened to examine the harmful effects of class action lawsuits aimed at closing Intermediate Care Facilites for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities (ICF's/IID). The hearing came at the request of Chairman Bob Goodlatte.
Testimony was presented by Martha Bryant, Mother, RN, BSN & VOR member, Caroline Lahrmann, Mother, VOR Ohio State Coordinator & past president, and Peter Kinzler, Father, longtime VOR Member, Director & Legislative Committee Chair. Alison Barkoff of the Center for Public Representation. 
spoke on behalf of those in favor of using class action lawsuits against ICF's/IID and opposed to providing notification to families and guardians of individuals residing in these homes.
Click here to read or download testimony of the participants.
Click here to view the hearing. Video begins at 5:18
Click here to read additional testimony submitted by VOR
UPDATE! FAMILIES FILE CROSSCLAIMS IN BALL v KASICH SUITOn March 31, 2016, Disability Rights Ohio (DRO) announced it filed a lawsuit in U.S. federal court against the Governor of Ohio and other state officials on behalf of six individuals and one organization for alleged non-
compliance of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 504, and Medicaid requirements.
VOR supports the rights of families in opposing this action.
In September, 2018 VOR sent out 2 Action Alerts, asking Congress to pause and reconsider HR 3506, the EMPOWER Act to renew the Money Follows the Person (MFP) program.
VOR's Ongoing Document:
Updated August 21, 2018
This document provides a bibliography of investigative media series, state audits and peer-reviewed research in more than half the states that detail systemic concerns with regard to quality of care in community-based settings for persons with developmental disabilities. Tragedies range from physical, emotional, and financial abuse, neglect and even death. Many of these outcomes are associated with a zest to move to a "community for all" vision people with developmental disabilities without adequately considering the ramifications of separating vulnerable people from specialized care and then doing away with a critical safety net (a/k/a deinstitutionalization). The lessons learned from more than 25 states should cause policymakers and lawmakers to take pause and recognize that a range of needs requires a range of service options.
This report, released in January, 2018 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,' Office of the Inspector General, Administraton for Community Liiving, and Office of Civil Rights acknowledged the systemic shortcomings in protecting residents of HCBS waiver group homes from incidents of abuse and neglect. OIG found that up to 99 percent of these critical incidents were not reported to the appropriate law enforcement or state agencies as required. The report stated, “Group Home beneficiaries are at risk of serious harm. OIG found that health and safety policies and procedures were not being followed. Failure to comply with these policies and procedures left group home beneficiaries at risk of serious harm. These are not isolated incidents but a systemic problem – 49 States had media reports of health and safety problems in group homes.”
