Community Residences and Zoning Ordinances

With the trend toward deinstitutionalization have come attempts to establish group homes and halfway houses for former patients in the community. The mental health and social service professionals called upon to establish the homes are faced with the difficult and unfamiliar task of interpreting complicated and frequently outdated local zoning codes. The author discusses how the codes are often used to hinder development of community residences, and he describes some of the court cases growing out of the disputes. He also examines legislation recently passed in some areas of the country to permit the development of group homes, and he discusses the need for state legislation to help ensure the right of the mentally disabled to live in residential communities.