Today, on December 22, 2017, the Ohio Provider Resource Association (OPRA), filed a Motion to Intervene in the lawsuit titled Ball v. Kasich, Case No. 2:16-cv-00282 (the “Lawsuit”), a proposed class action lawsuit currently pending in the United State District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.  By filing the Motion to Intervene, OPRA seeks to join the Lawsuit as a named party and represent OPRA members as the Lawsuit progresses.  OPRA’s intervention is necessary in order to adequately represent and protect the interests of OPRA’s members providing the full continuum of services including both ICF providers and community based providers, as well as the interests of individual’s residing in OPRA member facilities, as any decision in this case will necessarily impact service providers and the lives of those individuals residing in OPRA member ICFs.  OPRA leadership has been closely watching this lawsuit since it was filed in 2016.  In the lawsuit, plaintiffs allege that Ohio's administration, management, and funding of its service system for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities such as plaintiffs puts them at serious risk of segregation and institutionalization in violation of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act as interpreted by the Supreme Court's decision in Olmstead v. L.C., 527 U.S. 581 (1999), and the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1396n(c)(2)(B) & (C).   

Many family members of individuals residing in ICFs, as well as the Ohio Association of County Boards, and others have intervened in the lawsuit in order to ensure that their voices are heard. It has become clear in recent months that the interests of OPRA’s members are not adequately represented in the Lawsuit. While initial filings in the Lawsuit had simply advocated for more funding for community based providers so that individuals with developmental disabilities would have access to more choices with regard to their care, recent filings submitted by the plaintiffs and amicus curiae have called for the wholesale restructuring of the service provider system and the defunding of ICFs all together, in favor of a system centered entirely on non-ICF community based care.  OPRA has always taken the position that there should be choice in the system so that individuals may choose between care in an ICF and a community setting. OPRA’s view is that ICFs are located in the community today and that plaintiffs’ depiction of ICFs as segregated facilities is not accurate. Intervening in the Lawsuit protects the interests of OPRA’s members regardless of their service array.  Procedurally, the other parties to the Lawsuit will have the opportunity to respond to OPRA motion, so a ruling from the court on OPRA’s motion will likely take several months. 

OPRA will be issuing a series of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) after the holidays in order to address any member questions.  If you have particular questions that you would like OPRA to address in the FAQs or have other questions, please email Anita Allen directly at aallen@opra.org (please do not use the OPRA listserv please).  In the meantime, the filing is attached.

Sincerely,