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Treatment Of The Mentally Disabled: Rethinking The Community-First Idea, Christopher Slobogin
Treatment Of The Mentally Disabled: Rethinking The Community-First Idea, Christopher Slobogin
Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications
In the past several decades the treatment, habilitation and education of the mentally disabled has been heavily influenced by what could be called the "community-first" movement. This movement which encompasses such developments as deinstitutionalization, the least restrictive alternative doctrine, normalization, mainstreaming,and outpatient commitment-is based on the idea that, in caring for the mentally disabled, we should favor placement in the community rather than in institutions segregated from mainstream populations. The community-first idea is not unanimously supported. But Congress, many courts, and countless advocacy groups composed of lawyers, mental health professionals and laypeople have rallied behind the community first standard as …