Civil Rights for People With Disabilities: Obstacles Related to the Least Restrictive Environment Mandate ELIZABETH PALLEY School of Social Work, Adelphi University, Garden City, New York, USA State and other social service agencies as well as service providers are governed by laws that often provide unclear guidance regard- ing the rights of people with disabilities. Although some standards can be, and have been, developed to protect the rights of people with disabilities, all people with disabilities are not the same and therefore, each can require very different types of accommoda- tions. Some aspects of disability rights must be individually based, including the requirement that people with disabilities receive edu- cational services in the least restrictive environment and care in the most inclusive setting. The current interpretation of these man- dates suggests that agency decisions rely on professional judg- ments. Unless professionals work with their clients, this reliance can serve to disempower those whom the law was intended to pro- tect. Though much debated, the legal definition of a person with a disability is unclear. This article examines the concept of disability and that of the least restrictive environment as well as that of the ‘‘most inclusive setting,’’ explains to whom they apply, discusses how they have been defined both in statutes and case law, and ela- borates on the role of social workers as a result of the law’s reliance on professional judgment in ascertaining client rights. KEYWORDS disability, law, least restrictive environment, most inclusive setting, policy Although the disability rights movement relied on other civil rights precedents when advocating for the rights of people with disabilities, their Address correspondence to Elizabeth Palley, Associate Professor, School of Social Work, Adelphi University, 1 South Avenue, Garden City, NY 11530-0701. E-mail: palley@adelphi.edu Journal of Social Work in Disability & Rehabilitation, 8:37–55, 2009 Copyright # Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 1536-710X print=1536-7118 online DOI: 10.1080/15367100802665565 37