Lawsuit Forces NY State to Give Mentally Disabled Couple a Home

Filed under: NewsBy Kevin DolakA newly married, mentally disabled couples dream of living together -- up until now beset by legal troubles and care facilities that refused their wishes -- is about to come true. New York state is providing them with a home of their own. Paul Forziano, 30, and Hava Samuels, 36, (both pictured above) who both have mild to moderate mental disabilities, met seven years ago at a day program run by the Maryhaven Center of Hope, which is part of Catholic Health Services of Long Island. After they met, each immediately began telling their parents about their new friend. It wasnt long before they were calling each other "boyfriend" and "girlfriend."On April 7, 2012, they married on Long Islands North Shore. The wedding initially was pushed back because the couple wanted to be able to live together once they were married. So before their big day, their parents began trying to figure a way for the two, who lived in separate group homes three miles apart, to establish a home together."They started dating and gradually got more and more serious about each other," Pauls mother, Roseann Forziano, told ABCNews.com. "Four years ago, they started talking about getting married. At the time, I didnt know if people with developmental disabilities could be married. So I started doing research."Forziano said that she "naively" approached the Independent Group Home Living Program, which has housed her son since 2009, and asked if this could be facilitated. She told ABCNews.com that the state-sanctioned nonprofit that ran the home told her that the couple would not be allowed to share a living space within the IGHL program. Eventually, the families would file a lawsuit in January 2013, claiming that the IGHL, the Maryhaven Center for Hope, where Hava lived, and the state were violating the couples rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Fair Housing Act and the 14th Amendment.According to that suit, IGHLs clinical director had concluded that Paul and Hava were not capable of cohabitation. The director stated that if a person "cannot wash, cook, iron, and take care of money for themselves, then that person cannot take care of another person," according to the complaint. Undeterred by this conclusion, Forziano and her husband decided to research the rights of their son and his wife-to-be. "We went to the law library and looked up regulations," she said. "They said that agencies cannot deny peoples civil rights. The state has to regulate the agencies, and ensure that they uphold [Paul and Havas] civil rights."Forziano said that she and her future in-laws then had her son and his bride-to-be assessed by psychologists at the YAI Agency in Manhattan to determine whether they were emotionally and mentally mature enough for a sexual relationship. The couple attended relationship counseling, and based on this, a psychologist from the Cody Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities at Stony Brook University concluded that the couples desire to marry was appropriate.Still, the families continued to hit roadblocks in trying to secure housing for the couple, with representatives from IGHL unresponsive to the couples desires, according to the suit. Ultimately, Forziano and her husband, along with Havas parents, decided that IGHL, Maryhaven and the state had failed to provide adequate assistance in finding Paul and Hava a home. Thats when they decided to sue.Norman Samuels, Havas father, told ABCNews.com that he and his wife, Bonnie, were repeatedly told by Maryhaven that they didnt feel Hava was clinically capable of being in a marriage.Read the rest of this story on ABC News.See more on ABC News:Oklahoma Tornado: Before and After ImagesEllen and Portia Buy Home for $26.5 Million5 Biggest Food and Exercise MistakesMore on AOL Real Estate:Find out how to calculate mortgage payments.Find homes for sale in your area.Find foreclosures in your area. See celebrity real estate.Follow us on Twitter at @AOLRealEstate or connect with AOL Real Estate on Facebook. Permalink | Email this | Commentshttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2013/05/23/lawsuit-forces-ny-state-to-give-mentally-disabled-couple-a-home/ @ uwad.com