2/24/26 - Housing innovation and a new attack on Section 504

Greeting

Today let's revisit a couple of long-standing disability issues – accessible housing, and state of one of the oldest, most basic disability rights laws.

An Accessible Housing Model Built to Be Scaled

Christina Poletto, New York Times - February 20, 2026
Source: Rebecca Cokley's Facebook page

"The needs of disabled people are not often prioritized in conversations around solving the country’s affordable housing crisis. According to nonpartisan group the National League of Cities, 26 percent of people have a disability, yet it’s estimated that less than 6 percent of the national housing supply is made to be accessible ... The Kelsey aims to demonstrate that even in one of the nation’s most expensive markets, it’s possible to build affordable housing with support services. And it can be replicated."

When I first heard about The Kelsey, back when it was just getting started, my first emotional reaction was skepticism. Every year we see dozens of new, supposedly innovative projects that claim to provide some kind of comprehensive system of housing and services for people with disabilities. Most of them are spearheaded by wealthy parents of teenagers or young adults with autism or intellectual disabilities, and basically amount to highly regulated institutions that look pretty and homey, but can't really hide their true mission – to make non-disabled relatives feel better. But The Kelsey really does seem different. It really does appear to be what it claims to be, affordable, accessible housing with support services, not "care" or "supervision." The article doesn't highlight it much, but I know that the disabled residents have a lot of say in how the building is run and how its support services are designed and delivered – at lot more say than in any group home or traditional care facility. Plus, there are lots of non-disabled residents too. It would be great to see an article on how they feel about living at The Kelsey.

Texas and Eight Other States Renew Attack on Section 504 and the Right of Disabled People to Live in their Communities

Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund - January 28, 2026

"On January 23, 2026, Texas and eight other states – Alaska, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, and South Dakota – renewed their attack on Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the integration mandate. The integration mandate is a requirement under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). It allows people with disabilities to receive services in the community rather than in institutions. In 1999, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld this mandate in its landmark Olmstead v. L.C. decision. We cannot let these states take away that right."

Nine states challenge federal mandate that disabled people receive care in community

O. Rose Broderick, STAT - January 29, 2026

"The new filing submitted last week is the latest iteration of a lawsuit filed in 2024, when 17 states argued that the entire Section 504 statute was unconstitutional, including the 2024 update that added gender dysphoria as a protected disability. Several states withdrew from the litigation in 2025, after President Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services nixed that update and published other rules that restricted care for transgender minors and adults."

This is a potentially devastating attack on Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, which covers many aspects of basic disability rights that are related to federal departments and funding. It was very much a first step in US disability rights law. The better-known Americans with Disabilities Act was in some ways an extension of Section 504's protections into the private sector. States have low-key resented 504 off and on since the law passed in the 1970s. Now the climate seems right for more deep and serious attempts to dismantle it. And the latest target is the principle that states providing disability support services must provide them in integrated settings – in other words, not just in nursing homes and other congregate, segregated facilities. Please do catch up on the latest on this issue in these two articles. And if you live in one of the states bringing this most recent challenge, take some action through the link below.

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