Non-Verbal Man Wins Housing After Disability Lawsuit
Author: New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYLPI)
Published: 2024/06/04 - Updated: 2026/01/31
Publication Type: Announcement
Category Topic: Laws and Rights - Related Publications
Contents: Synopsis - Introduction - Main - Insights, Updates
Synopsis: This announcement details a successful civil rights settlement between disability advocacy groups and New York State's Office for People with Developmental Disabilities that secured appropriate community housing for a non-verbal young man with autism and intellectual disabilities. The information is particularly valuable because it documents a real-world case demonstrating how legal advocacy can address systemic failures in state placement systems for individuals with complex developmental disabilities. Families and advocates working with similar populations will find the outcome instructive, as it shows that even after prolonged inappropriate institutional placements - in this case, 16 months in a psychiatric unit - it's possible to obtain suitable community-based housing with necessary support services through litigation and negotiation - Disabled World (DW).
Introduction
New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYLPI), Mental Hygiene Legal Service, First Department (MHLS), and Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP (Kasowitz) announced an important civil rights settlement with the New York State Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) that allowed P.D., a young man with intellectual disabilities to transfer from a hospital psychiatric unit, where he was held for over a year, to appropriate housing and support services, in his family's community, that provide him with the complex, specialized care he needs.
The inability of OPWDD to place P.D. in a community-based residential setting with appropriate supports for such an extended period, which was resolved only after this litigation was filed, reflects broader problems in the placement system OPWDD administers, which are being litigated in a related federal class action. OPWDD's failure to provide appropriate community placements to patients with complex intellectual and developmental disabilities - many of whom, like P.D., languish in hospitals, nursing homes or developmental centers for many months, if not years, is a systemic concern impacting New Yorkers with disabilities throughout the State.
Main Content
P.D. has autism and other intellectual disabilities that make him unable to speak or otherwise communicate with most people. P.D. had been thriving, pre-COVID, in his educational placement, but experienced an increase in self-injurious behaviors and tremendous distress when the pandemic cut him off from the educational and medical services he needed to remain stable. Shortly thereafter, P.D. turned 22 and was no longer eligible for special education services, and OPWDD failed to provide him with appropriate services in the community.
During the pandemic, P.D. was hospitalized three times, in each instance returning to his family's home with inadequate support services and the mere hope that OPWDD would find him an appropriate community placement, as he could not remain at home because of his self-injurious behaviors. P.D. was last hospitalized for 16 months in 2021-2022 in a locked in-patient psychiatric unit that was not suitable for extended stays or for individuals such as P.D. with intellectual disabilities. As a result of such a lengthy hospitalization, P.D.'s condition deteriorated greatly.
NYLPI, MHLS and Kasowitz, acting on a pro bono basis, initially attempted to negotiate with OPWDD to provide P.D. with an appropriate placement, but eventually filed suit in federal court. After successfully defending against OPWDD's motion to dismiss, and extensive negotiations with respect to an appropriate placement, counsel entered into a settlement with OPWDD that ultimately placed P.D. in a community residence in Brooklyn. OPWDD also agreed to continue to fund the level of services P.D. receives for as long as necessary in order for him to remain in the community.
As a result of this settlement, P.D.'s behavior has stabilized and improved, and he is doing well in his community placement, which is located near his family's neighborhood, so they can regularly visit P.D. and P.D. is able to come home for special visits.
"We are delighted that after such an agonizingly long hospital stay that was entirely inappropriate for someone with his special needs, OPWDD was finally able to place our client in a community home, with proper supports, where he is thriving and able to function in the community," noted David J. Abrams, Kasowitz partner and Chair of the Kasowitz Pro Bono Committee.
Roberta Mueller, Senior Supervising Counsel at the Disability Justice Program of New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, stated:
"We are relieved that, after P.D. spent over a year in a psychiatric hospital, which caused him and his family extensive damage, and violated his rights, we were able to get P.D. into a community setting which provides the services he needs."
"Psychiatric hospitals are not appropriate long-term placements for people like P.D., who have complex developmental disabilities," said Sadie Z. Ishee, Deputy Chief Attorney for Mental Hygiene Legal Service. "It's been wonderful to watch P.D.'s positive transformation after he finally moved out of the hospital environment into a suitable community setting."
P.D.'s mother and guardian, H.D., stated:
"The incredibly lengthy amount of time that our son was held in an inappropriate hospital setting, is something he never should have gone through. We are however, extremely grateful that he is now able to live in the neighborhood he grew up in, close to our home. With each day that passes, his resilience and strength bring him stability, and he is getting back to his happy, sweet self."
Insights, Analysis, and Developments
Editorial Note: While this settlement represents a victory for one individual and his family, it also highlights a troubling reality: the case required federal litigation to achieve what should have been standard practice. The fact that a young man with complex needs had to endure over a year in an unsuitable psychiatric setting before receiving appropriate community placement points to systemic deficiencies that likely affect countless others. As advocates continue pursuing broader class action remedies, cases like this one serve as both cautionary tales about bureaucratic failures and proof that persistent legal pressure can open doors that state agencies claim are closed - Disabled World (DW).Attribution/Source(s): This quality-reviewed publication was selected for publishing by the editors of Disabled World (DW) due to its relevance to the disability community. Originally authored by New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYLPI) and published on 2024/06/04, this content may have been edited for style, clarity, or brevity.