June 29, 2006

GA To Offer In-Home Services

From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution July 29, 2006:

The state has settled a civil rights lawsuit from seven Georgians with physical disabilities by creating more opportunities and funding for thousands of disabled people to live in their homes and communities instead of nursing homes.

The agreement, announced Wednesday, cites a state program that will spend
$4.3 million during the fiscal year beginning July 1 to offer community
services to 1,000 more people, ranging from home-delivered meals and home
health aides to physical, speech and occupational therapy.

The lawsuit, filed in 2003, alleged that forcing the physically disabled to
live in nursing homes violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and
other laws. The suit demanded the state provide services so they could move
into a community setting if they chose that alternative.

The suit aimed to "change the way the state looks at long-term care," said
attorney Charlie Lester of Sutherland Asbill & Brennan, which represented
the plaintiffs pro bono. . .

Settlement will give disabled more home care (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Posted on June 29, 2006