Deinstitutionalization of the Retarded: Trends in Public Policy

Abstract

Essential public policy features of the national movement to return institutionalized mentally retarded people to community settings include issues related to institutional census trends, class action litigation, cost "savings," and funding. The deinstitutionalization of retarded people is following a different course from that of the mentally ill; it started later and is occurring more gradually. Right-to-habilitation lawsuits in Alabama and Pennsylvania illustrate the class action suit; gains from litigation in the 1970s have been mixed, however. Comprehensive community care is not necessarily any cheaper than comparable institutional care. Trends in state construction expenditures, the Reagan Administration's proposal for block grants, and impending human services budget cuts are current funding issues. So that advocates of the disabled can more closely monitor future developments in state and federal policy, three continuing annual studies are proposed: a comparison of states' funding of programs for retarded people; and evaluation of nationwide data obtained in accreditation surveys; and a historical and contemporary description of the operations of each of the 50 state service systems.