GOVERNOR WARNER ANNOUNCES OLMSTEAD INITIATIVE
January 2004

COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA
Office of the Governor

Mark R. Warner FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Governor January 7, 2004

Contact: Ellen Qualls
Phone: (804) 786-2211, x2379
Cell Phone: (804) 393-9429
Governor of Virginia website

~Budget includes $42.5 million to improve services for Virginians with disabilities~

RICHMOND -- Governor Mark R. Warner today signed Executive Order Number 61, which establishes the Olmstead Initiative, the next step in the Commonwealth's effort to comply with the U.S. Supreme Court's Olmstead decision. The 1999 Supreme Court ruling in L.C. & E.W. vs. Olmstead interpreted the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to mean that states must provide services in the most integrated setting appropriate to the needs of qualified individuals with disabilities. The ruling directs states to make "reasonable modifications" in programs and activities.

"While there will always be a need for state facilities for some Virginians with disabilities, our goal is to help every person have the opportunity to live with as much dignity and independence as possible and to live in a setting of their choice," Governor Warner said. "This plan complies with the federal guidelines and helps increase community-based services and support for Virginians with disabilities."

Governor Warner's executive budget, released December 17, 2003, includes $42.5 million to fund programs to comply with the Olmstead decision and to improve services for Virginians with disabilities. This includes:

• Developing a Medicaid "Buy-in" Program for disabled individuals.
  
• Funding 77 discharge assistance plans so that individuals in state mental health facilities may move to and stay in more integrated settings;
  
• Funding 160 additional mental retardation waiver slots to allow for more people with mental retardation to live in integrated settings;
  
• Creating three additional Programs of Assertive Community Treatment teams to prevent unnecessary re-institutionalization;
  
• Increasing community mental health services for children and adolescents to prevent unnecessary institutionalization;
  
• Increasing inpatient treatment purchased in community hospitals to prevent unnecessary placement in state facilities;
  
• Funding 25 new slots for individual and family developmental disabilities support waivers so that more people may live in integrated community settings;
  
• Expanding the public guardian and conservator program to assist individuals in making decisions about their services and supports; and
  
• Developing a waiver for persons with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias to prevent unnecessary institutionalization.

The Governor also announced today that he has appointed Julie A. Stanley of Hanover, currently Assistant Commissioner of the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation, and Substance Abuse Services, to serve as the Governor's Office staff member responsible for the Olmstead Initiative. Ms. Stanley will serve as Director of Community Integration for People With Disabilities. She will chair the inter-agency team charged with Olmstead implementation. Ms. Stanley will also provide staff support to a fifteen-member citizen Oversight Advisory Group that the Governor will appoint.

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