A San Antonio federal judge ruled the state of Texas has unnecessarily pushed thousands people with intellectual and developmental disabilities into nursing homes over recent decades, denying them assistance services required under law, Texas Public Radio reports. U.S. District Court Judge Orlando Garcia of the Western District of Texas on Tuesday ruled that the state deprived 4,500 individuals of “pre-admission screenings, professionally appropriate assessments of their habilitative needs, specialized services to meet those needs, and active treatment,” according to a copy of the ruling shared by the news outlet. Garcia further called the violation “severe and ongoing,” adding that it’s resulted in “irreparable injury” to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
