Civil rights for people with disabilities: obstacles related to the least restrictive environment mandate

State and other social service agencies as well as service providers are governed by laws that often provide unclear guidance regarding the rights of people with disabilities. Although some standards can be, and have been, developed to protect the rights of people with disabilities, all people with disabilities are not the same and therefore, each can require very different types of accommodations. Some aspects of disability rights must be individually based, including the requirement that people with disabilities receive educational services in the least restrictive environment and care in the most inclusive setting. The current interpretation of these mandates suggests that agency decisions rely on professional judgments. Unless professionals work with their clients, this reliance can serve to disempower those whom the law was intended to protect. Though much debated, the legal definition of a person with a disability is unclear. This article examines the concept of disability and that of the least restrictive environment as well as that of the "most inclusive setting," explains to whom they apply, discusses how they have been defined both in statutes and case law, and elaborates on the role of social workers as a result of the law's reliance on professional judgment in ascertaining client rights.