{"id":11289,"date":"2026-08-24T08:15:47","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T08:15:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/after-years-of-federal-oversight-georgias-disability-care-system-faces-a-new-test\/"},"modified":"2026-08-24T08:15:47","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T08:15:47","slug":"after-years-of-federal-oversight-georgias-disability-care-system-faces-a-new-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/after-years-of-federal-oversight-georgias-disability-care-system-faces-a-new-test\/","title":{"rendered":"After years of federal oversight, Georgia\u2019s disability care system faces a new test"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure><figcaption>\n<p style=\"font-size:12px\">The Olmstead litigants, Lois Curtis (right) and Elaine Wilson (center), pose for a photo with their attorney, Sue Jamieson, in this undated photo. Photo courtesy of the Center on Human Development and Disability, the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, the University of Georgia<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<aside class=\"snrsInfobox\">\n<div class=\"auxContainer snrsInfoboxContainer\">\n<div class=\"snrsInfoboxSubContainer\" style=\"padding-top:24px\">\n<p><strong>Key Points<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A June memo from the Department of Justice argues states no longer have to provide certain community-based services to people with disabilities, raising concerns from disability advocates.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Despite the memo, a state agency leader said he plans to stick to requirements from a 2010 settlement between the federal government and Georgia.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Georgia\u2019s next governor will inherit a disability care system at a crucial point \u2014 potentially without federal oversight for the first time in over a decade.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>These key points were written by a Georgia Recorder journalist.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Justice Department has signaled that the federal government no longer plans to enforce a landmark court ruling that has shaped Georgia&#8217;s mental health and disability care system for nearly two decades, although the leader of the state agency responsible for disability services says nothing has changed in his mind.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A June <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/olc\/media\/1446701\/dl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">memo<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> from the U.S. Department of Justice argues that federal disability laws do not require states to provide community-based care to people with disabilities that limit their ability to do what the Americans with Disabilities Act considers \u201cmajor life activities,\u201d such as eating. These services allow many people with disabilities to live and receive care in their communities rather than be institutionalized in state hospitals.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The memo adds that the federal government doesn\u2019t have the authority to oversee and monitor whether states are providing those services, despite requirements in the law. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2026\/06\/20\/nx-s1-5865100\/doj-memo-trump-disability-civil-rights-institutionalization\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Disability advocates<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> warn this could reduce pressure on states to fund and expand community-based services.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">D\u2019Arcy Robb, executive director of the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities, said she is worried a lack of federal oversight could deter progress in disability care reforms.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cWe know that our state still has great needs that are not being met,\u201d Robb said. \u201cWe anticipate we\u2019re not going to have as much federal pressure, if any federal pressure, on integrating people (into the community) \u2014 and yet, Georgians want it.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, a Democrat who is up for reelection this year, has pressed the Justice Department to rescind what he called a \u201cshameful document\u201d in a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Sen.-Ossoff-letter-on-Olmstead-slip-opinion.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">letter<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to then-acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_44302\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width:100%;width:225px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-44302 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/georgiarecorder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/IMG_5729-225x300.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/georgiarecorder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/IMG_5729-225x300.jpeg 225w, https:\/\/georgiarecorder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/IMG_5729-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/georgiarecorder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/IMG_5729-1152x1536.jpeg 1152w, https:\/\/georgiarecorder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/IMG_5729-1536x2048.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/georgiarecorder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/IMG_5729-scaled.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" title=\"\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">D\u2019Arcy Robb, executive director of the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities, advocates for waiver funding on the last day of the 2026 legislative session. Jill Nolin\/Georgia Recorder<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ossoff said the new interpretation of a longstanding court ruling could leave Georgians with disabilities vulnerable at a time when states are bracing for Medicaid cuts that were packed into the GOP\u2019s tax break and spending bill last year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cI am deeply concerned about recent reports of U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) efforts to undermine the scope and enforcement of rights for Americans with disabilities,\u201d Ossoff wrote in the Aug. 6 letter.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Some advocates, though, said they remain hopeful that the DOJ\u2019s opinion will not have the effect that others fear.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Devon Orland, litigation director at the Georgia Advocacy Office, said the federal memo challenges a legal precedent established in Olmstead v. L.C., a 1999 Supreme Court decision. Orland emphasized the memo is a statement of the federal government\u2019s position and does not overturn the law or legal precedent on its own. Orland\u2019s organization, a private, nonprofit organization that advocates for people with disabilities and mental illness, is named as a party in federal litigation about disability rights in Georgia.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cMy hope is that the statement of focus by the Department of Justice won\u2019t change anything,\u201d Orland said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t change the status of the law. We have decades of legal precedent since Olmstead v. L.C.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In that case, the court ruled that unjustified institutionalization of people with disabilities can violate the Americans with Disabilities Act. Olmstead v. L.C. originated in Georgia, where plaintiffs Lois Curtis and Elaine Wilson were involuntarily institutionalized in a state hospital despite medical professionals clearing them to live in their communities while receiving care.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The federal government later entered into a 2010 agreement with Georgia, known as the Olmstead settlement, which required more options for Georgians with disabilities and mental illnesses to receive care in their communities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A federal court released Georgia from the mental health portion of the Olmstead settlement in February. Now, only requirements related to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities remain to be addressed by the state.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Among the remaining provisions is improving statewide clinical oversight, maintaining a high-risk surveillance list and providing crisis services and medical professionals that serve people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Robb said it\u2019s unclear to her whether the remaining parts of the settlement will be enforced at all.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The DOJ did not respond to the Recorder\u2019s requests for comment on whether they intend to enforce the remaining parts of the settlement.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Commissioner Kevin Tanner, who oversees state behavioral health and disability services, told the Recorder during an August interview that the department remains committed to complying with the remaining parts of the Olmstead settlement agreement. He noted the state has committed over $1 billion in funding to its disability and mental health care system over the past 16 years.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cI get up every day not worrying about the settlement agreement,\u201d Tanner said. \u201cWhen I became commissioner, I made it clear to the staff and to others that we were not going to focus on a settlement agreement. We were going to focus on building the best system of care. The settlement agreement will then take care of itself.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Tanner said Georgians should not be worried about the apparent loss of federal oversight.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cThey shouldn\u2019t be concerned that the DOJ may not have oversight,\u201d he said. \u201cBut we all should be concerned about these folks who did not ask for the situation they might find themselves in, and we all need to push to find better solutions.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_29933\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width:100%;width:2560px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-29933\" src=\"https:\/\/georgiarecorder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/P1060834-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1922\" srcset=\"https:\/\/georgiarecorder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/P1060834-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/georgiarecorder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/P1060834-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/georgiarecorder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/P1060834-1024x769.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/georgiarecorder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/P1060834-768x577.jpg 768w, https:\/\/georgiarecorder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/P1060834-1536x1153.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/georgiarecorder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/P1060834-2048x1538.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" title=\"\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kevin Tanner, commissioner of the state Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, speaks at Addiction Recovery Awareness Day in 2024. Jill Nolin\/Georgia Recorder<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"editorialSubhed\">What\u2019s at stake for Georgia\u2019s disability care system<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Before this summer\u2019s DOJ opinion, the federal government routinely monitored states for compliance with community care requirements, according to Robb. When a state was found in violation of those requirements, the federal government could bring lawsuits to enforce them. Robb said the Olmstead settlement agreement between Georgia and the federal government is an example of this oversight.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Without federal oversight, Robb said state officials will be more responsible than ever in determining the future of disability services for Georgians. But she emphasized that Georgia\u2019s advocacy community won\u2019t go anywhere.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cThe pressure may no longer be federal, but the pressure is going to be from the community,\u201d Robb said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Robb said a large part of community care for people with disabilities comes from two waiver programs. Waivers from New Option Waiver Program (NOW) and Comprehensive Supports Waiver Program (COMP) allow some Georgians to receive care in their homes through both Medicaid and state funding.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Tanner told the Recorder in August that more than 14,000 Georgians receive services through the waivers, but about 7,200 Georgians are still waiting for care on what the department calls its \u201cplanning list.\u201d Robb said in July that <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wrdw.com\/2026\/08\/04\/ga-spending-freeze-leaves-8000-disability-waiver-applicants-waiting\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">more than 1,200<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> of those waiting urgently need further care.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_45091\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width:100%;width:300px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-45091 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/georgiarecorder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/P1160466-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/georgiarecorder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/P1160466-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/georgiarecorder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/P1160466-1024x769.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/georgiarecorder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/P1160466-768x577.jpg 768w, https:\/\/georgiarecorder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/P1160466-1536x1153.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/georgiarecorder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/P1160466-2048x1538.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" title=\"\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gov. Brian Kemp defended the decision to sign a tax cut bill even though he said it meant making &#8220;a few difficult choices&#8221; on new spending. Gov. Brian Kemp announces $300 million in budget cuts on May 12, 2026. Also pictured is Richard Dunn, director of the governor\u2019s Office of Planning and Budget. Jill Nolin\/Georgia Recorder<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">When Gov. Brian Kemp signed the state budget in May, he signed off on funding for 100 NOW\/COMP waivers but withheld <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/gcdd.org\/news-a-media\/press-releases\/georgia-budget-allocates-100-new-now-comp-waivers-as-thousands-with-i-dd-remain-on-waitlist\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">$9.3 million<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> intended for hundreds of additional waivers as part of the <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">$300 million additional cuts<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to help pay for an income tax cut package that passed earlier this year. Kemp also announced <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">a spending freeze<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in August, signaling a potentially tight year ahead for agency budgets.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Despite the spending freeze, Tanner said the department has made progress in building community crisis centers across the state and providing other essential resources. Additionally, he noted Georgia created the\u00a0 Behavioral Health Reform and Innovation Commission on its own, without a federal mandate, and the commission was a big driver behind a <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">major mental health law<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> that passed in 2022.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Robb said there is still a lot of need from people with intellectual and developmental disabilities that the department must address, even outside of baseline compliance with the Olmstead settlement. She added that people with disabilities vastly prefer community resources over treatment in an institution.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cI cannot think of a time when someone has said to me, \u2018I want to live in an institution,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cPeople want to live in the community. Treatment professionals agree people can live in the community. We can support all developmental disabilities in the community \u2014 that\u2019s broadly known.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"editorialSubhed\">Commissioner says complete compliance is near, with new independent report planned for October<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Tanner said he believes his department is currently in \u201csubstantial compliance\u201d with most of the remaining parts of the settlement. But Tanner would not say which requirements have yet to be fully addressed. Instead, he said he thinks the department\u2019s greatest challenge has been demonstrating how much progress has been made toward complete compliance since 2010.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cI think that we have substantially complied with most of the provisions of the settlement agreement,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re definitely heading toward the time that we will be out of the settlement agreement. I\u2019m confident of that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Georgia\u2019s compliance with the Olmstead settlement has been evaluated by Elizabeth Jones, a court-appointed independent reviewer, for over a decade. Jones has monitored Georgia\u2019s behavioral health and disability care system and filed regular reports over the years.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">During a phone call with the Recorder, Jones said she will file her next report in October and that it will focus on the remaining intellectual and developmental disability requirements.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">No monitoring reports on the developmental disability provisions have been filed in federal court since September 2024, when Jones recommended scaling back active monitoring on some provisions. Her next report could provide an important snapshot of the state\u2019s progress.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jones said all parties involved in the settlement, including the state, continue to work toward compliance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cProgress is being made on the remaining obligations, and there\u2019s a commitment by the state to fulfill those obligations,\u201d Jones said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">As an independent monitor, Jones was appointed by the federal court, not the state of Georgia. She declined to comment on how the memo from the federal government may impact the settlement or her work.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_28633\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width:100%;width:1024px\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-28633\" src=\"https:\/\/georgiarecorder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/IMG-8161-1024x768-1-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/georgiarecorder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/IMG-8161-1024x768-1-1.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/georgiarecorder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/IMG-8161-1024x768-1-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/georgiarecorder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/IMG-8161-1024x768-1-1-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" title=\"\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The state is working toward satisfying the requirements of a 2010 settlement agreement with the Justice Department. Jill Nolin\/Georgia Recorder<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">One requirement of the Olmstead settlement was establishing 22 Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) teams. The <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/dbhdd.georgia.gov\/document\/publication\/dbhdd-act-team-overview\/download\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">program<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> provides 24\/7 mobile services and crisis response to people across Georgia, each team serving between 75 and 100 people at a time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Since January, though, the Recorder found the department has eliminated an ACT team that served 31 counties in north Georgia, most of them rural. Tanner attributed the cut to a lack of demand for resources and said the department redistributed the funding to other teams needing more support.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cThey just don\u2019t have the numbers to justify a full team where there&#8217;s not enough people being referred,\u201d he said. \u201cYou don\u2019t want to fund something just for the sake of funding it if the need is not there.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The number of ACT teams was among the settlement requirements that the federal court stopped actively monitoring in 2024.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"editorialSubhed\">Next governor will shape future of disability care<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">State Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver, a Decatur Democrat, said she was disappointed by the federal memo and called it a \u201cblatant disregard\u201d of civil rights. Oliver, a practicing attorney and a lawmaker who has been influential on mental health issues, said the memo creates new uncertainty.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_45843\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width:100%;width:300px\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-45843 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/georgiarecorder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DSC_8391-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/georgiarecorder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DSC_8391-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/georgiarecorder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DSC_8391-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/georgiarecorder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DSC_8391-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/georgiarecorder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DSC_8391-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/georgiarecorder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DSC_8391-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" title=\"\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver speaks at a legislative committee meeting in 2026. Ross Williams\/Georgia Recorder<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cIt\u2019s a direct message to the state that the Department of Justice is not going to enforce the civil rights of Georgia citizens,\u201d Oliver said. \u201cWe cannot count on politicians, even on a good day, to always be mindful of the constitutional rights of the people they represent.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oliver said many lawmakers are committed to helping people with disabilities but it\u2019s difficult to balance funding priorities. This year\u2019s gubernatorial race could lead to policy changes across Georgia\u2019s mental health and disability care system, she added.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In November, voters will choose between Republican Rick Jackson and Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms for Georgia governor. Whichever candidate wins will inherit a disability care system at a pivotal moment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Garrison Douglas, a Jackson campaign spokesperson, told the Recorder that the Republican candidate hopes to focus on individualizing care for people with disabilities and mental health issues if elected. He did not directly address the DOJ memo.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cGeorgia\u2019s challenge is capacity, which means more providers, especially in rural communities, more beds for patients with severe mental illness, and real answers to the provider shortage through better pay, recruitment, training, and retention,\u201d Douglas said in a statement.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Bottoms campaign did not provide a comment to the Recorder for this story.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Olmstead litigants, Lois Curtis (right) and Elaine Wilson (center), pose for a photo with their attorney, Sue Jamieson, in this undated photo. Photo courtesy of the Center [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11290,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[4433,3126,458,554,1301,2547,3227,1357,148],"class_list":["post-11289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lawyers","tag-care","tag-disability","tag-faces","tag-federal","tag-georgias","tag-oversight","tag-system","tag-test","tag-years"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11289"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11289\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}