Virginia Announces End of Settlement Agreement with DOJ

Virginia’s Governor Glenn Youngkin announced recently that the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia concluded a 12-year settlement agreement by approving a permanent injunction jointly proposed by the Commonwealth and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on Virginia’s system of services for people with developmental disabilities (DD). In 2012, Virginia entered into a settlement agreement with DOJ, after an investigation alleged Virginia failed to provide services to individuals with developmental disabilities in the most integrated settings appropriate to their needs. Since the settlement agreement was first announced in 2012, Virginia has undertaken tremendous efforts to ensure people with DD have access to quality services in integrated community settings, to expand community providers in a variety of settings, to build a quality and risk management system to monitor those settings, and to support independent housing and employment options for people with DD across the Commonwealth. In addition, Virginia closed four of its five outdated institutions for people with intellectual disability, called training centers, from 2014 – 2020. The permanent injunction will terminate and replace the settlement agreement and minimize the need for active court oversight. It contains expectations for services and supports to individuals, a quality management system, compliance monitoring, maintaining a publicly accessible document library, and retains the Independent Reviewer for another two years. In addition, the injunction requires Virginia to conduct rate studies of certain services and then to make best efforts during upcoming legislative sessions to fund implementation of the rates recommended by the studies. Although the settlement agreement has ended, the permanent injunction reflects the Commonwealth’s ongoing commitment and plan of action for supporting Virginians with developmental disabilities.

Through investments by the General Assembly over the past decade, Virginia’s transformed its system of care for individuals with developmental disabilities. In December 2023, Governor Youngkin accelerated this commitment and announced a proposal to fund enough Priority 1 waiver slots for every Virginian on the waitlist, which is a key priority in the Governor’s transformational Right Help, Right Now plan. The General Assembly agreed to a phased approach to add 3,440 slots and provide a three percent increase in rates paid to providers of certain waiver services each year of the biennium. The Commonwealth’s demonstrated commitment to improving services for people with DD was a significant factor in the Commonwealth’s ability to finalize the permanent injunction.

“We want to make it very clear to Virginians: we will not stop here,” said Nelson Smith, Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services. “We will keep working to ensure individuals with developmental disabilities and their families have even better access to quality providers and life-changing waiver services, and this work is an enduring commitment. We are committed to giving Virginians with disabilities the supports and services they need to live their best lives, full of possibilities, in their communities.”