Sunday, June 22, 2025, marked the 26th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1999 landmark decision in Olmstead v. L.C. The Supreme Court’s decision established that unjustified institutional segregation of people with disabilities is a form of discrimination, and states must provide community-based services in the most integrated setting appropriate for their needs.
We sat down with Dianne DeLair, the legal services director at Disability Rights Nebraska, to talk about the significance of the Olmstead decision and how it affects the lives of Nebraskans with disabilities.
“Why is this case from 1999 so important?”
D: It’s about people having options and choices. Before Olmstead and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), people with disabilities were in institutions, and their experiences of typical life were very restricted, sometimes nonexistent. The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Olmstead tells us that unjustified segregation – that separation of people from the everyday community around them – is a violation of the ADA. The Olmstead decision empowers individuals with disabilities to make choices about where they live, work, and how they participate in community life.
Because changes to state systems take time, the court ruled that if a state created a plan that shows the steps they are taking to reduce institutionalization, they could rely on their plan as a defense to violations of the ADA under Olmstead. These plans are about how states plan and implement changes to the system so that people with disabilities have access to the services and supports they need in the community, rather than having to be confined to an institution, facility, or congregated setting.
“What has been the impact of the Olmstead decision 26 years later?”
D: One of the changes that occurred as a result of work done by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), and other advocates across the United States, is that the Olmstead decision has helped to reduce segregation in housing. The settings definitions have expanded from nursing homes and institutions to now include “institution-like” settings such as assisted living facilities (ALF’s) and large group homes – basically, to include any type of setting that limits a person’s privacy and choices about who they have relationships with and what activities they pursue. The people who are confined to these restrictive settings also tend to have little interaction with the general public or people without disabilities. This is not true community living. People don’t have access to valued community roles like a typical person would.
Also, there was recently a decision on a case in Texas. Many people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (I/DD) were being housed in nursing homes instead of being able to live in the community. Often, they were placed in institutional settings without their consent. The court ordered that “all individuals with I/DD be provided information, opportunities, services, and supports that would allow them to make an informed and meaningful choice whether to enter or remain in a segregated nursing facility.” In addition, the court ordered that people be given, “timely transitions into the State’s community service system.”
In essence, the judge was informing the state of Texas that people with disabilities should have a voice and choices about where they want to live and receive their services. The judge included that the state was required to provide those things in the community and not to force people into institutions. The decision in this case will help create more integrated, inclusive policies across the country.
“Where are we at in the Olmstead Plan process in Nebraska? Do we have a working plan yet?”
D: Back in May of 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) concluded an investigation and found reasonable cause that the State of Nebraska had caused some adults with mental illness to be unnecessarily institutionalized in assisted living facilities and day programs, in violation of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). DOJ officials determined that there was enough evidence to support the claim. They noted that instead of providing services to people in the community, the state subsidized their stay in institution-like settings where they had little contact with people without disabilities, and often only leaving the settings for medical appointments and group visits to grocery and convenience stores. Critical services that would allow adults with mental illness to instead live in their own homes and communities are not sufficiently available across the state. The DOJ officials traveled to Nebraska and held a series of town hall meetings across the state to hear from people about their concerns on this topic.
The state is actively working to address the problems cited in the letter of findings; they are in the process implementing a Medicaid waiver that would provide more support for people with serious mental illness (SMI) to have access to services like targeted case management, supported housing, and supported employment in the community of their choice.
It is unclear if the work by the U.S. DOJ into the state’s behavioral health system will continue. Disability Rights Nebraska and the designated Olmstead Advisory Committee for Nebraska will continue to push for fully supportive community services for people with serious mental health disabilities.
“What’s next?”
D: We’ll be monitoring the elimination of the waiting list for people with I/DD; we’re seeing so far that InterRAI, the new evaluation tool used to determine the services a person receives, seems to be more efficient and effective, meeting people where they are at. We will continue to support the implementation of a mental health services waiver and push for further changes that were recommended in the DOJ’s Letter of Findings. We’ll continue to conduct monitoring visits to assisted living facilities, group homes, and day programs. We will also advocate for all Nebraskans with disabilities to realize the promise of Olmstead v. L.C. But community living isn’t just a preference, it’s a civil right. That’s the legacy of the Olmstead decision. You have the right to choose your community and the right to access the supports you may need in your home, rather than in a facility. The most recent version of Nebraska’s Olmstead Plan was submitted to the Nebraska Legislature in July 2025. (You can view it here.)
Disability Rights Nebraska is a member of the Olmstead Advisory Committee and Dianne DeLair chairs the Transportation work group. Dianne has worked at Disability Rights Nebraska since the year 2000.
Interviewer Sharon Ohmberger serves as the Community Engagement Director at Disability Rights Nebraska.
