Trump Policies Signal Return to Disabled Institutions
A series of Trump administration policy actions — including a Department of Justice memo challenging the disability integration mandate, the transfer of special education oversight to the Department of Health and Human Services, and an executive order promoting civil commitment of homeless individuals — have disability rights advocates warning of a dramatic reversal of decades of progress toward community-based care for people with disabilities.
The DOJ Memo That Changed Everything
On June 18, the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel issued a memo arguing that neither the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) nor Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act requires states to provide services in the most integrated setting. Written by Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Lanora Pettit, the memo contends that the Supreme Court’s landmark 1999 Olmstead v. L.C. decision “held only that a state cannot institutionalize such patients without justification” and that “what counts as adequate justification remains an open question.”
Notably, the memo itself acknowledges its interpretation is “out of step with the common understanding of that decision within the federal courts.”
“It is now the position of the United States government that people with disabilities don’t have a right to be part of their communities,” said Alison Barkoff, a health law and policy professor at George Washington University who led disability policy efforts under both the Obama and Biden administrations. “I can’t overstate how significant this change in position is.”
Special Education Shift Raises Alarm
Just two days before the DOJ memo, the Department of Education announced it would shift oversight of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) to HHS, led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. This moves administration of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) — an education law — into a health-oriented agency. The Office for Civil Rights was simultaneously moved to the Department of Justice.
Advocates have warned that moving special education to a health department marks a return to the “medical model” of disability, which views disability as a defect to be cured rather than a natural variation in human experience that society should accommodate. The NPR report on the transfer quoted former staffers who warned the change could send disability rights “50 years backwards.”
Zoe Gross, director of advocacy at the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, raised concerns about Kennedy’s history of linking vaccines to autism and his comments suggesting autistic children would “never write a poem” or hold a job. “Will he execute that faithfully, or does he consider disabled students a lost cause until we find some medical cure?” Gross asked.
A Broader Pattern of Policy Changes
The moves fit into a wider pattern. In July 2025, President Trump signed an executive order titled “Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets” that endorsed civil commitment and involuntary institutionalization of homeless individuals, particularly those with mental illness or substance use disorders. The order argued that “shifting homeless individuals into long-term institutional settings for humane treatment through the appropriate use of civil commitment will restore public order.”
Meanwhile, Republicans passed deep cuts to Medicaid through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Medicaid is the primary source of funding for home- and community-based services (HCBS), which by 2023 were supporting 8.4 million Americans to live in their communities rather than institutions.
A pending lawsuit, Texas v. Kennedy, brought by Texas and eight other states, challenges the integration mandate of Section 504. The DOJ memo effectively aligns the federal government with the plaintiffs in that case.
What the Law Says — And What the Memo Changes
Since the 1960s, legislation and court decisions have steadily expanded protections for people with disabilities. Section 504 (1973) was the first federal civil rights law prohibiting disability discrimination by recipients of federal funds. The ADA (1990) broadened those protections significantly. And the Supreme Court’s 1999 Olmstead ruling established that unjustified segregation of people with disabilities constitutes discrimination.
As STAT News reported, the new memo “breaks with decades of disability law and practice” and argues that the integration mandate is not actually a mandate, especially for people with “severe mental illness or disabilities.”
While the memo does not change the law itself, it signals how the Justice Department will enforce — or decline to enforce — civil rights protections. Legal experts note that the department is expected to stop enforcing the integration mandate, potentially emboldening states to cut community-based services and move people into institutions.
Voices of the Disability Community
Selene Almazan, legal director for the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, described the policy shift as “a direct, frontal assault on the rights of people with disabilities to live their lives the way that people who are nondisabled live their lives.”
The American Association of People with Disabilities warned that the administration’s interpretation “will open the doors for states to revert to warehousing people with disabilities out of sight and out of mind in institutions.”
For families already navigating these systems, the uncertainty is deeply personal. Lindsey Althaus, a disability rights advocate in Ohio whose 12-year-old son Whitman has autism and apraxia, relies on home- and community-based services funded through a Medicaid waiver program. Those services allow Whitman to spend time in the community with his grandmother while his parents work.
“It’s just starting to feel like Whitman’s not going to be welcome anymore,” Althaus said. “We’re going back to this: You’re either perfect, or you’re not in the light.”
Analysis: A Coordinated Shift in Policy
Legal experts and advocates view these actions not as isolated bureaucratic moves but as a coordinated assault on the legal framework that has supported community integration for people with disabilities. The DOJ memo aligns with the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 blueprint, which proposed converting IDEA funding into no-strings block grants distributed by HHS — a plan whose author, Lindsey Burke, now works at the Education Department.
Critically, research shows that community-based care is more cost-effective than institutional care. Yet the administration’s policy direction appears to prioritize institutional settings despite the economic evidence.
Claudia Center, legal director at the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, described the administration’s approach bluntly: “It’s dark, and it’s awful. And I think it’s contrary to the majority view in our country.”
What to Watch For
Several key questions remain unanswered. Will the DOJ memo face legal challenges, and how will courts respond to an interpretation the government itself acknowledges is “out of step” with precedent? How will states respond — will they cut HCBS and expand institutionalization, or will they resist? And what will be the practical impact of moving special education oversight to an agency led by a secretary who has questioned the capabilities of autistic people?
For now, disability advocates are preparing for a long fight. As the Bazelon Center’s Jennifer Mathis cautioned, the memo “is not the law” — Congress makes laws, not agencies. But with the administration signaling its enforcement priorities and a supportive lawsuit working its way through the courts, the legal landscape for disability rights in America may look very different in the months ahead.