FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
July 25, 2025
CONTACT:
Edie Surtees, Communications Director
esurtees@DRTx.org
512-407-2739
Disability Rights Texas Responds to July 24th Executive Order
AUSTIN—Disability Rights Texas (DRTx) strongly opposes the July 24th Presidential Executive Order encouraging weakened standards for the involuntary commitment of individuals with disabilities experiencing homelessness. This Order threatens to dismantle decades of Supreme Court precedent explicitly established to prevent arbitrary, unjust, and discriminatory institutionalization of vulnerable individuals.
Historically, policies like these led to the indefinite institutionalization of thousands of people with disabilities without adequate justification, resulting in prolonged neglect within overcrowded state psychiatric hospitals—often in forgotten and marginalized conditions. These practices devastated countless lives, violated fundamental human rights, and imposed overwhelming financial burdens on state governments.
The Supreme Court precedents now under threat by the Executive Order were carefully developed to provide critical due process protections against arbitrary confinement. They ensure that individuals’ liberties are removed only when absolutely necessary, and that individuals committed involuntarily receive meaningful treatment and support designed to facilitate their successful return to the community rather than indefinite warehousing.
Governments have long recognized that coercive institutionalization is an ineffective and costly response that fails to address the underlying causes of homelessness and mental health crises. “What unhoused people with disabilities need is not more policing or confinement, but permanent affordable housing, access to mental health services, and the support to live with dignity in their communities,” said Marlene Sallo, Executive Director of the National Disability Rights Network (NDRN).
Real, effective solutions demand substantial investments in community-based services and affordable housing. The President’s Executive Order coupled with the severe budget cuts recently enacted by the Texas Legislature only serve to exacerbate issues with an already underfunded and underserved community. (The Texas Legislature reduced adult metal health community-based services by $97.8 million, and substance use services by $54 million in the previous biennium.)
Rather than diverting resources toward forced institutionalization, DRTx strongly urges policymakers to prioritize evidence-based, community-centered supports such as affordable housing initiatives, accessible mental health services, and peer-led recovery programs. These proven strategies empower individuals to regain control of their lives and achieve lasting stability and independence.
“Decades of research and the lived experiences of individuals with disabilities demonstrate clearly that people flourish when empowered to make their own decisions rather than when their autonomy is stripped away,” said Sean Jackson, DRTx Executive Director. “Our agency remains steadfast in our commitment to protecting the legal rights of individuals with disabilities, ensuring they can live freely, safely, and with dignity in their communities, regardless of their housing status.”
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Disability Rights Texas is the federally-designated Protection and Advocacy agency in the State of Texas. Under federal law, it is charged with the responsibility for monitoring public and private institutions and programs that serve people with disabilities, protecting people with disabilities from abuse and neglect, and ensuring that the rights of people with disabilities are respected and fully enforced.