Don’t the children need to be in institutions?
The proper question to address is: What do children and youth need? Fundamentally, children and youth need families, friends, a home and a community, as well as the services and supports that allow them to grow up and thrive at home. More than 30 years of research clearly demonstrates that living in an institution is harmful to the cognitive and social development of children. Children do not need to grow up in segregated, congregated facilities. Children and youth with similar disabilities currently live in family homes and attend their neighborhood schools in Georgia, so it is possible for children to live outside of institutions. As of June 2004, 16 states had no children or youth in state institutions, including 9 states that no longer operated state institutions for any individuals with disabilities.
