The Built Environment and Community Integration

Abstract

Olmstead v. L.C. upheld the civil rights of individuals with disabilities to live, learn, work, and socialize in the community of their choice. The built environment plays a role in the community integration of individuals with disabilities. The purpose of this study was to evaluate states’ Olmstead Plans to determine the extent to which they address the role of the built environment in community integration of individuals with disabilities. The majority of the reviewed plans did not demonstrate a reasonably clear acknowledgment of the role of the built environment in community integration. The Olmstead Plans did address housing and transportation. However, housing and transportation policies need to reach out beyond disability into the community to affect the community integration of individuals with disabilities. An important step toward community integration through community planning practices is the inclusion of individuals with disabilities in the standard community processes at the policy level.