Consider This from NPR - The value of community living for people with disabilities

Episode Date: August 21, 2026

Cody and Kaleigh Brendle grew up just inland of the Jersey Shore. The siblings, who both have disabilities, came of age knowing it is their right to live, learn and work in their community.Not long ago, millions of people like them could have been segregated in institutions. Then in 1999, in a case known as Olmstead, the Supreme Court ruled states must serve adults with disabilities in their communities when possible. Now, the Trump administration is trying to reverse course. NPR’s Jonaki Mehta spent time with the Brendles, who share what it means to live as disabled people integrated in their community.This episode was produced by Janet Woojeong Lee, Erika Ryan and Karen Zamora, with audio engineering by Ted Mebane. Our director is Jonas Adams.It was edited by Steve Drummond, Nirvi Shah and Sarah Handel. Our interim executive producer is Courtney Dorning.Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

It's consider this where every day we go deep on one big news story. Today, fighting to keep disability rights. Cody and Kaylee Brendel grew up just inland of the Jersey Shore. The siblings who both have disabilities came of age knowing it is their right to live, learn, and work in their community. Not long ago, millions of people like them could have been segregated in institutions. Who you can see, when you can go out, who you talk to for so many people, who are institutionalized, their life is literally a hallway. That's Jennifer Mathis of the Baselon Center for Mental Health Law.

She spoke to NPR in June. I have been on those hallways with people. It is deadening. Then in 1999, in a case known as Olmstead, the Supreme Court ruled all states must serve adults with disabilities in their communities when possible. Unnecessary segregation of persons with mental disabilities perpetuates unwarranted assumptions that such persons are unfit for or unworthy of participating in community life.

That's the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg reading the decision. Now, 27 years later, that could change again. Consider this. The Trump administration is trying to reverse course and challenge the rights of Americans with disabilities to be integrated into their communities and an entire system of community-based disability services that more than 8 million Americans rely on. From NPR, I'm Juana Summers. It's considered this from NPR. Siblings Cody and Kaylee Brendel, who were both in their 20s, grew up with the right to integration in their communities.

Now, they worry those protections for people with disabilities like them are being eroded. NPR's Janaki Meta spent time with the siblings and has this story. This is my older brother, Cody. He is 27 years old. He is a thrill seeker, and I wish I could be half as cool as he is. Have a great sister, Keeley, and she's so funny, so good. I love her. Kaylee, who's now 23, says she and Cody were always close growing up and helped each other navigate life as two blind kids.

They popped down on their parents' back patio, which overlooks the Matita Kunk River. It's one of their favorite places to hang out. We would play fun games together, like hang out, do everything. I was the annoying little sister that was. I was like, wait for me, wait for me. Moments like these are harder to come by because Kaylee's been really busy lately, running a disability rights organization. And when we met her, she was getting ready to move across the country for law school.

I aspire to practice disability rights law full time, whether that's at a protection and advocacy agency, if the government goes back to the way it needs to be, maybe a government job, you know. The government isn't where it needs to be, according to Kaylee, because she says the Trump administration is going after the kinds of programs that have made a fulfilling independent life possible for her and Cody. They're attacking the integration mandate, and that boils down to just disabled people deserve to receive our services in the community with our loved ones, not isolated in institutions. The integration mandate is a core promise that's built into civil rights laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act. The government made that promise after people with disabilities fought

against segregation in institutions, which have a long history of abuse and neglect. And the promise of integration has helped shape an entire generation of disabled people's lives, people like Kaylee and Cody. In terms of Cody's life, he's getting community-based support that we've shown as critical for him. And for me, the integration mandate is why I get to go to law school. And when the time comes that I'm a mom, the integration mandate is going to make sure that my kid's not taken because I'm disabled. But now there are looming threats. Texas is leading a lawsuit that calls the integration mandate into question. Then this summer, the Department of Justice put out

a legal opinion agreeing with the plaintiffs, saying that states do not have to provide community-based care to people with disabilities. It's a program that more than 8 million Americans rely on. NPR tried reaching the Trump administration for comment several times and did not hear back. And to be clear, the law itself hasn't changed, but Kaylee is concerned. Because laws are great, but laws have to have systems in place that make sure they're enforced. Now the DOJs essentially said we're not going to do that anymore. That affects everything. Integrated setting affects school.

It affects where you can work. It affects the community-based programs like what my brother uses. After high school and before Cody got into the program he's in now, Kaylee says he just wasn't himself. He was in a kind of limbo. He would text me and he would just be very sad. and I was like, it feels like I'm losing my brother. Then, Cody's family finally found the right fit.

A community-based program called Next Steps, a couple miles from home. It's the kind of Medicaid-funded program that disability rights advocates spent decades fighting for. Kaylee says it's helped Cody, who's blind and also has autism, to become more independent. It's a night and day change, and it brings him structure and opportunities to socialize with other disabled adults. We tagged along with Cody to his program. So if everybody could find a seat, that means phones away. Jen Dyer, the executive director of Next Steps, gathers a two or so dozen adults for a morning meeting. Everyone shares what they got up to over the weekend.

I had to go to my cousins in New York for a birthday part. They have a pool now, so I got to spend a day there. Cody, I saw you had your hand up. What was your question for Warren? Did you go in your pool at your house or someone else? Jen Dyer tells me later that was the first time Cody ever chimed in with a question. It's a big moment for him. He's usually pretty shy. As the morning meeting ends, it's time to get out in the community, learning life skills, like getting groceries.

We're going on the way to the store right now. I hop into the next steps van with Cody, and his shy exterior starts to melt away. Because I'm a good to tell him jokes and I love comedy. To pass the time, he hits me with some of his favorite one-liners. Why do husbands forget their? mistakes, why? There's no use in two people remembering the same thing. Once we get to the store, Cody navigates the aisles with the help of an aide and his cane. And he practices counting money and checking out.

Later, he heads to his favorite part of the program, job training. Wear Jersey Mike's and I'm going to be working here. He's wearing a blue dress shirt and a Jersey Mike's hat and heads to the back where the kitchen is to bop some lettuce. That's my favorite job, bobbing the lettuce. You have to take the whole head of lettuce and bang it down a couple of times to loosen the core. He cleans tables and stack shelves, too, but Cody says working here has taught him much more than that. I didn't do everything efficiently, work carefully, and being able to communicate or talk with all my

coworkers and my supervisor. Cody says he's going to use these skills to apply for a job at the local Papa Johns or an appliance store. This is the point of these programs to help adults gain the skills they need to be as independent as possible within their communities. Have a nice day, guys. Back at home on the patio, Cody tells me more than anything, it's the friendships he's building through next steps he loves most. He says it's the first time he's had that since high school.

I'm doing that stuff that I used to do, going to fun places, being new friends, going boating, going swimming. Another big reason, states have shifted to community-based programs. is because they also cost far less than institutions. But on top of the legal threats to these community-based services, the Trump administration has also cut roughly a trillion dollars from Medicaid, which pays for programs like Cote's. And Kaylee is afraid of what all this could mean in the long run.

I'm fearful of the possibility that he could be put at risk of institutionalization when that time comes when my parents aren't here. And I will do everything that I can to make sure that he has what he needs, But if he were institutionalized, it's deeply scary for me to think about. She worries the dark past for disabled Americans could become the future. It's why she's been traveling the country, meeting with lawmakers through her organization, Judy's League, and why she's studying disability law at UC Berkeley. And for now, she takes comfort in knowing that Cody has supportive parents

and access to a program that helps him do the things he loves. Like going out on a boat with his group at next steps. I'm driving the boat now. I make it go faster. If I'm feeling great, I'm loving it right now. Like a true Jersey shore guy, Cody says right here on the water, with the wind in his hair and friends by his side, he feels right at home. Janakimeta and Pier News, Brick, New Jersey.

This episode was produced by Janet Ujong Lee, Erica Ryan, and Karen Zamora, with audio engineering by Ted Mebain. It was edited by Steve Drummond, Nirvi Shaw, and Sarah Hay. handle. Our director is Jonas Adams. And our interim executive producer is Courtney Dorney. Thanks to our Consider This Plus listeners who support the work of NPR journalists and help keep public radio strong. Supporters also hear every episode without messages from sponsors and unlock bonus episodes of Consider This. Learn more at plus.npr.org. It's Consider This from NPR. I'm Wanda Summers.