RALEIGH — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today released a draft of its 2024-25 Olmstead Plan designed to assist people with disabilities to reside in and experience the full benefit of inclusive communities. The plan is open for public comment through March 7, 2024. NCDHHS encourages all interested individuals and organizations to provide comment on the draft plan. The final, two-year plan will be published in April and implemented in calendar years 2024 and 2025.
The Olmstead Plan serves as a blueprint for the way NCDHHS and its state government partners make decisions central to improving the lives of children and families, youth, adults and older adults with disabilities. It reflects the department’s ongoing cross-divisional work to advance independence, integration, inclusion and self-determination for those with disabilities. In alignment with the U.S. Supreme Court’s imperative for community integration in the Olmstead v. L.C. decision, the plan seeks to divert people from entering institutions and support those wishing to leave by offering an array of community-based living services.
“The Olmstead Plan is about empowering individuals with disabilities with the services and supports they need to choose how and where they want to live in their communities,” said NCDHHS Deputy Secretary for Health Equity and Chief Health Equity Officer Debra Farrington. “Our goal is to ensure the right resources at the right time and in the right setting so North Carolinians with disabilities are able to thrive in their daily lives. We appreciate the contributions of our state government and community partners across the state as we work together to realize the promise of the Olmstead ruling.”
NCDHHS has established investing in behavioral health and resilience, as well as choice and inclusion, as key priorities for the department. Since the release of the 2022-23 Olmstead Plan, NCDHHS has secured a historic $835 million investment in behavioral health and home and community-based supports through the 2023 state budget, increased behavioral health Medicaid rates for the first time in ten years, added slots to the Innovations waiver for people with intellectual and other developmental disabilities and invested in the direct service workforce.
The department also continues to build on the foundation of its Transition to Community Living (TCL) and Money Follows the Person programs and expand its work to address social determinants of health at the heart of the Healthy Opportunities initiative. This ongoing work to improve North Carolina’s behavioral health system and home and community-based services will continue to strengthen the well-being of individuals with disabilities and their families across the state.
The 2024-25 draft Olmstead Plan focuses on five priority areas:
- Increase opportunities for individuals and families to choose community inclusion through access to Medicaid waiver home- and community-based services
- Strengthen opportunities that prevent individuals with disabilities from entering an institution or other congregate setting that separates them from the community
- Address gaps in community-based services such as housing, employment, transportation and services that impact community life
- Increase opportunities for pre-employment transition services for youth with disabilities and competitive, integrative employment opportunities for adults with disabilities
- Strengthen opportunities for individuals with disabilities transitioning from the criminal justice system to successfully reenter into inclusive communities
The draft Olmstead Plan was developed with the insights, expertise and lived experience of the Olmstead Plan Stakeholder Advisory (OPSA), whose 35 external stakeholders meet quarterly to advise NCDHHS on all aspects of the plan. The initiatives included in the plan will guide a changing system of services and supports to build more inclusive communities welcoming of individuals with disabilities in North Carolina. The final strategic plan, as well as its outcomes, data and related initiatives, will help shape policy, practices and funding decisions for NCDHHS moving forward.
To submit public comment regarding the draft Olmstead Plan, email the Technical Assistance Collaborative at ncolmstead@tacinc.org.
For more information about the North Carolina Olmstead Plan, visit ncdhhs.gov. To learn more about the Olmstead v. L.C. U.S. Supreme Court case, visit hhs.gov.
