Undocumented immigrants also avoid seeing a doctor either for fear that they will be discovered or they simply cannot communicate with caretakers because they don't speak English. The study recommends adding more non-English speaking employees to hospitals and clinics as well as setting up clinics that serve both adults and children, making it easier for families to receive care. In 1999, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the Olmstead decision that states would be required to give institutionalized people the option of living in the least restrictive settings, if clinically appropriate. Now, in response to that ruling, Washington is offering some institutional residents the opportunity to move into less restrictive settings. The move shouldn't come as a surprise.
Studies show that the number of people living in institutions has been declining.
Since 1994, the state has reduced the number of Medicaid recipients in nursing homes from 17,800 to 13,400, while the number of developmentally disabled residents in residential centers has also decreased from approximately 1,500 to 1,100. Although the statistics show a decline, opponents of the state's new plan abound. Family members and the Washington Federation of State Employees are fighting to preserve the choice of institutional life and argue that the state has been searching for years for a way to shut down residential facilities. They've now found it in the Olmstead Act. Cantrell is also a guardian for a mentally retarded cousin at Fircrest and a disabled woman who lives in the community.