Column: The promise of the Olmstead decision is too important to abandon

This piece ran in the Salem News on July 31, 2026.

By Christopher Tuttle

For more than half a century, our nation has moved steadily toward a simple but powerful principle: people with disabilities deserve the same opportunity as everyone else to live, work, and participate in their communities.

Beginning with the deinstitutionalization movement of the 1970s, we started to move away from a system that isolated individuals in large institutions and separated them from their families, neighborhoods, and opportunities.

That progress continued through the disability rights movement, the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990, and ultimately the landmark 1999 Supreme Court decision in Olmstead v. L.C., which established that unnecessary institutionalization is a form of discrimination.

Together, these milestones reflected a national commitment to dignity, inclusion, and greater independence.

The recent U.S. Department of Justice opinion concerning the interpretation and application of Olmstead raises serious concerns for disability advocates, service providers, families, and the thousands of individuals who rely on community-based supports every day. It argues that neither the ADA nor Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act requires states to provide services in the least restrictive setting appropriate to an individual’s needs. While the opinion does not overturn Olmstead or change existing law, it signals a dramatic shift in the federal government’s interpretation of disability rights and could influence future enforcement, litigation, and policy decisions.

For organizations like the human services agency that I run, and the people who we serve, the stakes could not be higher.

Every day, we support individuals with autism, intellectual and developmental disabilities, mental health conditions, substance use disorders, and complex medical needs. We help people live in homes of their choosing, participate in their communities, build relationships, secure employment, and pursue self-directed, meaningful lives. These opportunities exist because our society made a commitment that disability should never be a reason for exclusion.

The Olmstead decision did not merely change policy. It changed lives.

It allowed people who were once confined to institutions to become neighbors, coworkers, volunteers, taxpayers, and active members of their communities. Families gained choices. Individuals gained independence and autonomy. Communities became stronger and more inclusive.

The DOJ’s recent opinion threatens to undermine that progress by weakening the protections that have helped ensure community-based services remain a priority. If implemented broadly, the result could be reduced investment in community-based services, fewer opportunities for independent living, and renewed pressure toward institutional models of care that many believed were firmly in the past.

This is not simply a policy debate. It is about real people and real lives.

The consequences of moving away from community integration would be felt by individuals, families, providers, and communities alike, pointing us toward a past when individuals with disabilities were isolated from their communities, denied meaningful choice, and treated as less than full participants in society.

Now is the time to speak up.

I urge family members, advocates, community leaders, and concerned citizens to contact their elected officials. Tell them that community-based services matter. Tell them that the promise of Olmstead must be protected. Tell them that people with disabilities deserve the same opportunities for independence, inclusion, and self-determination as every other member of society.

I also call on policymakers at both the federal and state levels to publicly reaffirm their commitment to community integration and to reject policies that weaken the civil rights principles established by Olmstead.

The progress achieved over the last quarter-century did not happen by accident. It happened because individuals, families, advocates, providers, and lawmakers worked together to build a more inclusive society, and we cannot move backward.

The promise of Olmstead is more than a legal principle; it is a reflection of our values and our belief that every person deserves the opportunity to live with dignity, purpose, and connection.

The time to protect that promise is now.

Christopher Tuttle is the president and CEO of the Peabody-based human services agency Bridgewell.