Subject of CL Story to leave mental institution

Rhonda Davidson, who has lived for six years in Milledgeville’s Central State Hospital, the largest mental institution in Georgia, is on her way to leaving the segregated corridors for a more integrated, community-based setting.

On Jan. 13, Davidson’s lawyer, Atlanta Legal Aid attorney Sue Jamieson, met with state Division of Mental Health officials to find a place for Davidson to live in Warner Robins, near her family. Davidson, a 33-year-old who suffers from schizophrenic affective disorder and borderline personality disorder and was the subject of a CL cover story, has wanted to leave the institution for three years - a desire that the state must honor as a result of a 1999 U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

Under the Olmstead ruling, the mentally and physically disabled have the option under the law to leave a state institution or nursing home if a doctor believes they are capable of living in the community. In December 2002, Davidson’s doctor deemed her eligible for community living.

But, as is the case with hundreds of other people trapped in nursing homes and mental institutions across the state, little had been done to move Davidson - until now.

In December, CL reported that Georgia, the birthplace of the Olmstead ruling, is among the slowest states when it comes to moving patients out of institutions and into community-based settings. Some patients have waited more than two decades to move into a less segregated home.

Jamieson says Davidson wants to live in an apartment, which would be funded by a federal voucher and staffed with an assistant to help Davidson with daily activities. State officials also are considering moving Davidson into a 16-bed assisted living facility that’s primarily an elderly home. Jamieson says Davidson would prefer to live on her own.

“I’m thrilled we’re finally getting the chance to try to move Rhonda,” Jamieson says. “I just hope she can live in an apartment where she ultimately wants to be.”

To read more about Davidson and the Olmstead ruling, visit atlanta.creativeloafing.com/2004-12-16/cover.html.