Advocate Urges NJ Department of Human Services to Follow Federal Guidelines Transitioning People with Disabilities from Crowded Settings to Protect Them from COVID-19

More than 9,000 New Jerseyans with disabilities continue to live in crowded, congregate settings that put their lives at grave risk as the pandemic surges to new heights.

PRINCETON, NJ – December 15, 2020 — Community Options, Inc. CEO Robert Stack issued an urgent call to New Jersey Department of Human Services Commissioner Carole Johnson to follow new federal guidelines from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to quickly transition thousands of New Jerseyans with disabilities out of crowded, congregate facilities. Stack noted that these state residents are in grave danger from the ravages of the pandemic and called for their transition to home- and community-based settings.

“We urge the state of New Jersey to take immediate action on these guidelines,” Stack wrote. “As the COVID-19 pandemic surges, we need to quickly transition more than 9,000 New Jerseyans with disabilities out of crowded, congregate settings to protect their lives.”

In New Jersey, approximately 1,470 persons with disabilities remain in state-run institutions, while nearly 8,000 are housed in nursing homes. CMS issued a 66-page toolkit earlier this year designed to encourage their transition from these facilities. But Stack noted that more should have been done sooner, given the U.S. Supreme Court’s historic ruling in Olmstead v. L.C. in 1999 that found unjustified segregation of persons with disabilities constitutes discrimination in violation of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

“To date, fewer than 15 states have abolished state-funded large facilities in favor of community-based programs,” Stack wrote. “New Jersey is unfortunately not among them… Now these crowded, outdated forms of care are literally costing lives among a population particularly vulnerable to the pandemic.”

The nonprofit FAIR Health in November released a report finding that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are three times more likely to die of COVID-19. An adjunct professor at Syracuse University issued a similar report earlier this year finding that pandemic mortality rates for the developmentally disabled was 16% in New York and 14% in Pennsylvania, compared to 8% among the general population.

Stack noted that the disability community believes that mortality and infection rates likely are much higher than these reports, because data through most state health departments is inconsistent or nonexistent. This lack of information prompted U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Patty Murray (D-WA) and Margaret Wood Hassan (D-NH) to write a letter to CMS requesting that it issue guidance for mandatory comprehensive data collection and reporting on congregate care settings to better understand and address the impact of COVID-19 on people with disabilities and older Americans in these settings.

Meanwhile, community-based settings have been safer for people with disabilities as the pandemic surges. Of the nearly 4,100 people in the care of Community Options nationwide, only seven have passed away due to COVID-19, or .0017 percent of the people the nonprofit supports.

“It is time for states to finally abandon the practice of warehousing people with disabilities,” Stack concluded. “We urge the state of New Jersey to act promptly on the guidelines provided in the CMS digital toolkit to protect the lives of more than 9,000 New Jerseyans with disabilities. For their sake and their families and loved ones, we cannot afford further delays.”

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About Community Options, Inc.:

For over 30 years, Community Options has developed housing and employment supports for people with disabilities – supporting thousands of people from over 40 offices across 10 states. Community Options provides advocacy assistance to empower people with disabilities because all people – regardless of ability level – should live and work in the community with dignity, choice and self-determination. For more information please visit our website: www.comop.org and to follow along with the #AllItTakes campaign, search #AllItTakes on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.