Federal Court Rules in Favor of Nursing Facility Residents, AARP Foundation

The District of Columbia failed to offer residents in-home care they were entitled to

Emily Paulin,

AARP

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Published January 02, 2025

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After 14 years of litigation, AARP Foundation secured a win Tuesday for nursing facility residents after a federal judge ruled that the District of Columbia had violated their rights. The D.C. government failed to offer and help facilitate in-home care alternatives that the nursing facility residents were entitled to, the judge ruled in a class-action lawsuit.

The “ruling affirms the right of thousands of people with disabilities to choose how and where they live,” said Kelly Bagby, vice president of litigation at AARP Foundation, which represented several hundred nursing facility residents as plaintiffs in the suit. “For far too long, thousands of people forced to live in D.C. nursing homes were denied this right … People with disabilities around the country are applauding the court’s recognition of their civil rights.”

A long-running case

AARP first filed the lawsuit in 2010, alleging that between 500 and 2,900 people with disabilities in D.C. were unnecessarily institutionalized in nursing facilities. We have long argued that state and local governments must provide community-based services to people with disabilities whenever possible, as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act and the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1999 landmark decision in Olmstead v. L.C.

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“Unnecessarily segregating people in institutions is illegal discrimination,” we reiterated in a statement on the ruling. “If people with disabilities who are institutionalized in nursing facilities are to benefit from the promise of the [Americans with Disabilities Act’s] integration mandate, they necessarily require that governmental entities provide them with information and assistance.”

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Meanwhile, attorneys for the District of Columbia have argued that a lack of affordable and accessible housing prevented residents from transferring out of the nursing facilities.

But federal judge Paul L. Friedman ruled in favor of the plaintiffs Tuesday, ordering the District to make sure sufficient in-home services are available. Friedman also ordered city officials to inform nursing facility residents upon admission and at least every three months after that about community-based alternatives. District officials are also required to determine and plan for nursing facility residents’ care preferences.

AARP Foundation’s co-counsel for the lawsuit are Disability Rights D.C., attorney Marjorie Rifkin, and the law firm of Terris, Pravlik & Millian, LLP.

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“Judge Friedman has let the District of Columbia know in clear terms that it cannot rely on nursing facilities, but rather, the District itself must provide effective transition assistance to help residents of nursing facilities move out of the institutions and receive their Medicaid services in the community,” said attorney Kathleen L. Millian of Terris, Pravlik & Millian in a statement.

AARP Foundation, a charitable affiliate of AARP, works to end poverty for older adults and reduce financial hardship. Read more about the work of our AARP Foundation attorneys, who advocate for the legal rights and interests of people over 50.

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Emily Paulin is an editor at aarp.org who covers nursing homes, health care, and federal and state policy. Her work has also appeared in Broadsheet, an Australian lifestyle publication.