The Thomas S. case: report on progress with court compliance issues.
Court-ordered community plans can move adults with ID out of institutions, but only steady behavior support and real daily choices keep them there.
01Research in Context
What this study did
McConkey et al. (1999) tracked 239 adults with intellectual disability after they left state institutions. Each person got a court-ordered service plan written just for them. The team checked progress for 6 to 24 months using court compliance markers like housing stability and day activity attendance.
What they found
Most adults met more compliance targets than before. Housing, health care, and daily activity scores moved up. Challenging behaviors dropped only a little. Paid jobs stayed rare.
How this fits with other research
Navas et al. (2025) ran a stronger study and found very-large gains in choice and daily skills when adults moved to community homes. Their numbers back up the early positive trend seen in Thomas S.
Lulinski et al. (2021) show the flip side: younger clients with behavior needs often slide back to institutions if community teams lack mental-health help. This warns that Thomas S. gains can unravel without ongoing behavioral support.
Bassette et al. (2023) asked adults, families, and staff how they felt six months after moving out. All groups praised the new freedom and mood, giving voice to the compliance numbers that Thomas S. started.
Why it matters
Use the Thomas S. roadmap when you write transition plans for adults leaving institutions. Hit the same compliance points: safe housing, medical care, and structured day programs. Then borrow from the newer work: add self-choice goals each month and secure behavior-health consultation up front. These two moves turn a good court plan into a lasting one.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The present paper is a brief summary of the progress which has been made in the Thomas S. case, a U.S. Federal Court lawsuit The suit focused on adults with intellectual disability who had been inappropriately placed in state psychiatric hospitals in conditions which violated their constitutional rights. These constitutional rights include safety, protection from harm, treatment under safe conditions, freedom from undue restraint, and minimally adequate habilitation or treatment The present report summarizes the progress made by the 239 class members after they had received a Thomas S. service plan for 6-24 months. Overall, the results suggest that the class members have made significant progress in several areas. Two areas needing continued attention are the challenging behaviours of some class members and their lack of employment opportunities.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 1999 · doi:10.1046/j.1365-2788.1999.00215.x