Contact: Melissa Marshall, 860.916.6786, melissa@disasterstrategies.org
The Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies (The Partnership) condemns the Executive Order on “Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets” issued on July 24, 2025. The order will facilitate the forced institutionalization of disabled people before, during, and after disasters by targeting people with mental health conditions, people with substance use disabilities, and people who are “unable to care for themselves.”
The executive order reverses a decades-old trend to provide people with disabilities services in the community where services are more effective, cost less, and, with the exception of involuntary outpatient commitment, do not constitute a significant deprivation of liberty. It makes antiquated assumptions based on stereotypes about the propensity of people with mental health conditions to commit crimes. Promoting civil commitment of unhoused people will have a particularly egregious impact on people with mental health conditions and other co-occurring disabilities, such as intellectual and developmental disabilities in disasters.
“As it is now, disasters lead to increased institutionalization of disabled people. This was made clear during the first Trump administration in the 2019 National Council on Disability Report, Preserving Our Freedom: Ending Institutionalization of People with Disabilities During and After Disasters. Even prior to the executive order, localities pressured unhoused people to go to disaster shelters, where they reasonably fear that they will be unnecessarily civilly committed to a psychiatric institution. This executive order mandates this unnecessarily restrictive practice, although it has been understood for decades that people get sick more often and die earlier in institutions. We know, however, that with the right supports and services, disabled people can succeed in the community,” said Shaylin Sluzalis, Co-Executive Director of The Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies.
“It is a myth that people get services that are good, adequate, or even remotely helpful in institutions. This order appears to prioritize removing people that are perceived by the administration to be unsightly over providing permanent housing and community support. Shifting the focus of the government from embracing community living to enforcing broad-based civil commitment, an outdated, expensive, and cruel approach moves not just disabled people, but our entire community backwards,” said Melissa Marshall, Director of Policy and Programs of The Partnership.
About The Partnership
The Partnership is the only U.S. disability-led organization with a focused mission of equity for people with disabilities and people with access and functional needs throughout all planning, programs, services and procedures before, during and after disasters and emergencies.
Read more from our friends and partners:
National Disability Groups Condemn Executive Order Taking Away Civil Liberties
ACLU Condemns Trump Executive Order Targeting Disabled and Unhoused People
National Homelessness Law Center condemns Trump’s misguided Executive Order on homelessness
EO Will Lead to Civil Commitment of Unhoused Disabled People
Updated: July 30, 2025 by admin
Contact: Melissa Marshall, 860.916.6786, melissa@disasterstrategies.org
The Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies (The Partnership) condemns the Executive Order on “Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets” issued on July 24, 2025. The order will facilitate the forced institutionalization of disabled people before, during, and after disasters by targeting people with mental health conditions, people with substance use disabilities, and people who are “unable to care for themselves.”
The executive order reverses a decades-old trend to provide people with disabilities services in the community where services are more effective, cost less, and, with the exception of involuntary outpatient commitment, do not constitute a significant deprivation of liberty. It makes antiquated assumptions based on stereotypes about the propensity of people with mental health conditions to commit crimes. Promoting civil commitment of unhoused people will have a particularly egregious impact on people with mental health conditions and other co-occurring disabilities, such as intellectual and developmental disabilities in disasters.
“As it is now, disasters lead to increased institutionalization of disabled people. This was made clear during the first Trump administration in the 2019 National Council on Disability Report, Preserving Our Freedom: Ending Institutionalization of People with Disabilities During and After Disasters. Even prior to the executive order, localities pressured unhoused people to go to disaster shelters, where they reasonably fear that they will be unnecessarily civilly committed to a psychiatric institution. This executive order mandates this unnecessarily restrictive practice, although it has been understood for decades that people get sick more often and die earlier in institutions. We know, however, that with the right supports and services, disabled people can succeed in the community,” said Shaylin Sluzalis, Co-Executive Director of The Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies.
“It is a myth that people get services that are good, adequate, or even remotely helpful in institutions. This order appears to prioritize removing people that are perceived by the administration to be unsightly over providing permanent housing and community support. Shifting the focus of the government from embracing community living to enforcing broad-based civil commitment, an outdated, expensive, and cruel approach moves not just disabled people, but our entire community backwards,” said Melissa Marshall, Director of Policy and Programs of The Partnership.
About The Partnership
The Partnership is the only U.S. disability-led organization with a focused mission of equity for people with disabilities and people with access and functional needs throughout all planning, programs, services and procedures before, during and after disasters and emergencies.
Read more from our friends and partners:
National Disability Groups Condemn Executive Order Taking Away Civil Liberties
ACLU Condemns Trump Executive Order Targeting Disabled and Unhoused People
National Homelessness Law Center condemns Trump’s misguided Executive Order on homelessness
Category: Announcement, Disability Advocacy, News, Public Policy and Legislation