By the late 1980s, momentum was growing to move away from institutional care and toward community-based living for people with developmental disabilities. In Washington State, that momentum was intensified by a reckoning with the conditions inside state-run institutions.

In 1987, federal surveyors decertified five of Washington’s six institutions for people with developmental disabilities from the Medicaid program, citing widespread failures to meet basic standards of care. This action exposed deep systemic problems and made clear that the institutional model was not ensuring the health, safety, or dignity of the people who lived there.

In response, Washington expanded funding for community residential services and tenant support, helping individuals with developmental disabilities live in stable housing within their communities rather than in large, segregated settings. At the same time, the state developed and adopted Residential Services Guidelines that set clear expectations for health and safety, protection from abuse and neglect, personal choice, relationships, and overall quality of life.

The Washington State Developmental Disabilities Council was an active participant in the development of these Residential Services Guidelines, working alongside people with developmental disabilities, family members, service providers, advocates, and state agencies. This collaborative effort helped ensure that the guidelines reflected lived experience and emphasized individual rights, accountability, and community integration rather than institutional convenience.

Together, these changes marked a decisive shift in direction. Community living was no longer treated as an alternative or pilot approach, but as a necessary and more humane model of support. Individuals were increasingly supported as tenants and neighbors, with services designed around stability, independence, and participation in everyday community life.

The legacy of this work remains visible today. Washington’s supported living system and residential oversight standards grew directly out of this late-1980s turning point, when institutional failure and collaborative reform accelerated the state’s commitment to community-based supports.

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