People
Worth Protecting
Background
& Overview
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this, and the next few pages, we want to provide general information
on the Seven Hills Pediatric Center and a brief history of
the legal struggles we are facing to protect our family members.
This is not a fight we can win alone, any and all support
you can lend to help our cause is greatly appreciated. |
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The
De-Institualization Movement |
 Since
the 1970s, there has existed an originally well-intentioned
movement to take individuals inappropriately placed in nursing
homes and mental institutions away from those settings and find
ways for them to live “in the community,” for example
in small group homes. An individual who suffers from mental
retardation may be capable of living on his or her own with
a modest amount of professional assistance, even perhaps holding
a job (for instance, helping to bag groceries at a supermarket).
In the late 1990s, attorneys representing an individual named
Loretta Rolland and a few other named individuals brought suit
against the state of Massachusetts to require that Rolland and
other mentally retarded individuals then being cared for in
nursing homes should be helped to live in community settings.
This suit has gone through several stages at which Massachusetts
agreed to move certain numbers of individuals out of nursing
homes and into community settings on certain timetables. A Court
Monitor has overseen the process. The Court Monitor’s
web site provides substantial information about the history
of the case. It can be viewed here.
(Link will open in new window) |
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