Lawsuit Asks Federal Court to Help Move DD Waiver Waitlist

Disability Rights Florida has filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida
The lawsuit, Dykes et. al v. Dudek et. al, seeks declaratory and injunctive relief on behalf of over 19,000 individuals with developmental disabilities ("DD") who are awaiting DD Medicaid Waiver services.

The lawsuit is on behalf of individuals with DD who, because they are unable to fully care for themselves, require various degrees of care, treatment, and/or habilitation. The lawsuit seeks appropriate DD Medicaid Waiver services such as therapies, day services, behavioral supports, residential placement, and other home and community based services that the plaintiffs and class members need to reside in the most integrated setting possible.

Some plaintiffs now reside in private ICF/DDs or nursing homes where they have been restricted to a category of waitlisted people that due to lack of funding, is never expected to move up in priority. Some plaintiffs reside in their families’ homes and have been on the waitlist for over five years. These plaintiffs will not be prioritized for the DD Medicaid Waiver until their caretakers succumb to incapacitation or death

Dykes v. Dudek seeks to compel Florida to design and implement a comprehensive effective working plan to enroll plaintiffs and all other people on the waitlist into the DD Medicaid Waiver in a reasonably prompt manner.

For more information, please contact:

Sylvia W. Smith, Director of Legislative and Public Affairs
850-488-9071 ext 9725
SylviaS@DisabilityRightsFlorida.org