Protecting the rights of the developmentally disabled: alternatives to the existing statutory and regulatory scheme

The Developmentally Disabled Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 1975 and related HEW regulations require each state to establish a system for the protection and advocacy of the rights of developmentally disabled persons as a condition to receiving specified federal funds. This Note contends that, under the present statutory and regulatory scheme, states and governors have broad powers to interfere with the proper functioning of protection and advocacy systems. The Note examines the principal legal remedies, contractual and constitutional, presently available to parties interested in reducing or eliminating such interference, and concludes that such remedies are ineffectual. Instead, the author proposes, the HEW regulations should be revised to strengthen the autonomy of protection and advocacy systems or, alternatively, Congress should amend the 1975 Act to provide for federal administration of such systems.