In August 2008, the US Department of Justice(DOJ) initiated an investigation into conditions of confinement at the Central Virginia Training Center serving people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. In April 2010, the Department of Justice enlarged its investigation to include the provisions of community services throughout the state. DOJ issued its letter of findings in February, 2011 – DOJ found that conditions at the training center and in the community for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities violate the US Constitution and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
After nearly a year of negotiations, in January 2012, the Department of Justice and the Commonwealth of Virginia reached a settlement agreement. The Federal court entered that agreement, with some revisions made at the court’s request, in August of 2012.
Among other things, the agreement requires regular oversight reports from an independent reviewer.
In May of 2019, a federal court order was filed tasking the parties to the 2012 Agreement with creating a document system, or “library”, to ensure that the Commonwealth will perform all provisions of the Settlement Agreement. The purpose of the library is to enable interested parties to review documentation of the Commonwealth’s compliance, even after the consent decree terminates. This website is created to meet that need.
The current expected date that the VA Settlement Consent Decree will be met is in 2023.
The Consent Decree and the Independent Review Reports