DDS

Nearly 15 years after passage of the landmark Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act (Lanterman Act), a group of persons with developmental disabilities sued the state Department of Developmental Services (Department) and other defendants to secure their entitlement to community living arrangements under the Lanterman Act. (Coffelt v. Department of Developmental Services (Super. Ct. S.F. City and County, 1994, No. 916401) (Coffelt).) In 1994, Coffelt was resolved with a stipulated class action settlement.

The current lawsuit is the second major suit prosecuted to enforce the right of persons with developmental disabilities to live in the least restrictive environment commensurate with their needs, thereby avoiding unnecessary institutionalization. The focus is on the systemic failure of the state agencies and regional centers to provide proper oversight and enforce constitutional, statutory and regulatory mandates to place individuals in less restrictive community settings when appropriate. Only injunctive and declaratory relief is sought. Cognizant that individualized outcomes were not being sought, the trial court nonetheless concluded that proof would focus…