Four years ago, attorneys from Utah’s Disability Law Center say, they began noticing several worrisome trends when visiting care facilities for the state’s intellectually disabled.
The places, located throughout Utah, were packed. They lacked privacy, with several people to a bedroom and many sharing the same bathroom. Residents said they were tired of the rigorous structure of life in these facilities, which often deprived them of pursuing personal goals. Many wanted desperately to leave, but — under the state’s system for delivering care services — they could not, said Nate Crippes, a Disability Law Center attorney.
Again and again, attorneys heard the same question from facility residents: “Can you help me get out of here?