FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

**AADMD Joins Disability Community in Condemning DOJ Opinion Memo Undermining Olmstead and Threatening the Health and Rights of People with Disabilities**

[Warwick, NY] — [June 23, 2026] — The American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry (AADMD) strongly condemns the U.S. Department of Justice’s recent opinion memorandum asserting that the landmark Supreme Court decision Olmstead v. L.C. do not require states to provide services in the most integrated setting appropriate to a person’s needs.

This opinion threatens one of the core protections for people with disabilities: the right to live, receive services, and access health care in the community rather than in segregated institutional settings. If allowed to stand, it could weaken decades of progress toward community integration and put people with disabilities, especially people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), at greater risk of isolation, poorer health outcomes, and preventable harm.

AADMD joins the disability community in opposing this harmful interpretation and endorses the letters of opposition submitted by The Arc of the United States, the American Association on Health and Disability (AAHD), and many others. We share their concern that this memo opens the door to renewed institutionalization and undermines the legal foundation that has supported community living, autonomy, and inclusion for millions of people with disabilities.

For AADMD, this issue is not only about civil rights. It is also a public health issue.

People with intellectual and developmental disabilities already face major barriers to equitable, high-quality healthcare, including provider shortages, fragmented systems of care, and preventable health disparities. Community integration is essential to health, dignity, autonomy, and quality of life. By contrast, segregation and institutionalization are associated with poorer health outcomes, loss of autonomy, trauma, and increased vulnerability to neglect and abuse.

“As a medical and dental organization committed to improving health care for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, AADMD sees community integration as essential to health,” said Vincent Siasoco, MD, AADMD President. “Weakening Olmstead protections is not simply a civil rights setback. It is a direct threat to equitable access to quality care, to healthy aging, and to the safety and well-being of people with disabilities.”

That threat is particularly urgent as people with IDD are living longer than ever before. The American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD) has emphasized the need to identify and implement practices that promote healthy aging and longevity for people with IDD across systems of care and support. Policies that weaken community integration move in the opposite direction. They jeopardize the continuity, relationships, and individualized supports that help people with IDD live longer, healthier, and more self-determined lives.

AADMD urges policymakers, health systems, providers, and advocates to protect the promise of Olmstead and reaffirm that people with disabilities belong in their communities, with access to the services and supports necessary to live healthy, meaningful, and self-directed lives.

People with disabilities belong within our communities. Protecting that principle is essential not only to civil rights, but to public health, equitable health care, and the opportunity for people with IDD to live longer, healthier, and more independent lives.

About AADMD

The American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry (AADMD) is dedicated to improving the quality and availability of health care for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Through education, advocacy, and interdisciplinary collaboration, AADMD advances equitable, evidence-based care across the lifespan.

Media Contacts:

Kaitlin Aguilar

Communications

kaitlin.aguilar@aadmd.org

Courtney Fray

Operations

courtney.fray@aadmd.org

Additional Statements from Disability Organizations

AAHD: AAHD Continues to Support the Promise of Olmstead

AAPD: DOJ Memo Is Attempting to Turn Back the Clock on Integration and Olmstead’s Promise

Bazelon Center: Bazelon Center Statement on DOJ Memo Attacking Longstanding Protections for People with Disabilities

CCD: Consortium for Constituents with Disabilities Strongly Condemns Attacks on the Integration Mandate