If you have a disability or are the parent or guardian of someone with a disability, there’s a good chance you’ve never heard of Olmstead v. L.C. despite benefitting from it. You may even be counting on it.

In 1999, the Supreme Court ruled that states must provide services to people with disabilities in the most integrated setting appropriate. Whether that was at home and in their own community, it prevented people with disabilities from being warehoused in an institution or nursing home when appropriate. The Olmstead decision has been one of the bedrock protections keeping people with disabilities out of institutions and in their own homes and communities for a quarter century.

But now that protection is in danger.

What Changed

In June 2026, the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel published a memo taking the position that neither the Americans with Disabilities Act nor Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act actually requires states to treat people with mental disabilities in the most integrated setting. In plain English: the DOJ says it no longer believes it has to enforce the community-integration rule that Olmstead established.

To be clear: Olmstead is still good law. The Supreme Court didn’t overturn it, and nothing here changes what the courts have said the ADA and Section 504 require. What’s changed is that the federal government’s own lawyers have said they won’t stand behind it anymore. The DOJ even acknowledged in its memo that this new interpretation is out of step with how every other federal court reads the decision. But it’s taking the position anyway.

Where This Is Already Playing Out

This isn’t theoretical. We’re already seeing it show up in real cases.

In Florida, the DOJ sued the state to protect the rights of children with complex medical needs to receive at-home care. The DOJ won. A federal court ordered Florida to improve community-based care, and that order was upheld on appeal. Now the DOJ has reversed itself and is asking to have the case sent back down for reconsideration, directly opposing what it once fought for.

In Texas, a case called Steward v. Abbott concerns placing people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in nursing homes instead of their community. Private plaintiffs brought that case, and the DOJ had joined them, but has since dropped out entirely.

Advocates expect this pattern to continue. There’s a separate multi-state case, Texas v. Kennedy, challenging a 2024 update to Section 504 regulations. There’s real concern the DOJ will step back from that fight too, along with other Olmstead cases around the country.

Why This Matters Even Though the Law Hasn’t Changed

Rights on paper only go as far as someone is willing to enforce them. For a long time, the DOJ has been that enforcer; bringing cases, defending existing orders, and backing up individuals and families who didn’t have the resources to fight a state on their own.

Individual families and small nonprofits generally can’t fill that gap. Federal litigation is expensive and complicated, and most of the families I work with are already stretched thin just managing day-to-day care and services. If the DOJ steps back from case after case, the practical effect is that the community-integration requirement becomes harder to enforce, even though it’s technically still the law.

What Clients Should Know

This is a developing situation, and I’ll be watching it closely over the coming months. A few thoughts for now:

Olmstead protections still exist. Nothing about this DOJ memo changes what the law says. It changes who’s willing to go to court over it. If you or a family member are facing pressure toward institutional placement when a community-based option is appropriate, that legal right hasn’t disappeared.

Documentation matters more, not less. When the federal government isn’t reliably backing these cases, individuals and families need their own record: care plans, medical documentation, and a clear paper trail showing what services are appropriate and available, to make their case if it comes to that.

Don’t assume no news is good news. This is moving through the courts case by case, state by state. What happens in Florida or Texas today can shape what’s available to families elsewhere tomorrow.

If you have a family member with a disability who is receiving (or should be receiving) community-based services, and you’re worried about what this shift might mean, it’s better to ask questions now than find out the hard way later.

A little planning ahead of time makes an enormous difference down the road.

Marna Solarsh