A group of Clark County residents spoke out Friday against a class action lawsuit filed by an Ohio disability rights organization seeking to provide more choices for people with developmental disabilities.

Disability Rights Ohio met with the Clark County Parent Advocates for people with developmental disabilities at the Springfield City Hall Forum on Friday morning. About 50 people from the community attended, many wearing shirts that read: “Did you ask us?”

Parents believe the lawsuit could have a negative effect on TAC Industries, a sheltered workshop that employs more than 250 people in Springfield, many of them people with disabilities. Many parents spoke in support of TAC and don’t want to see it possibly go away.

“We’re so frustrated we could just scream,” New Carlisle resident Nancy Lubanobich said.

More than 5,800 people in Ohio live in large institutional integrated care facilities, many of whom would like to move out and live in community-based settings, according to a fact sheet about the lawsuit.

The state advocacy group recently filed a lawsuit against Ohio seeking to increase opportunities for people with disabilities who live in those facilities. More than 40,000 people in Ohio are on a waiting list seeking home- and community-based services. The average wait time for a person seeking to move out of a care facility is about 13 years.

“It’s a very isolating experience for these individuals,” attorney Kevin Truitt said. “We’ve heard from people over the years that’s it not right and we need to do something about it.”

The lawsuit is independent from other changes that could affect TAC, Truitt said. The goal is to change the state’s system to increase opportunities for people who wish to receive services outside of an institutional setting — not force people to leave ICFs or close sheltered workshops if they don’t want to.

“The system needs to be individualized — that’s the point,” Truitt said.

However, as more people choose community-based options, the number of beds at facilities may be reduced and workshops — like TAC — could downsize or close, according to the fact sheet.

Parents also spoke about how some community workplaces treated people with disabilities unfairly, including some who went unpaid for several months and others who were isolated from other employees.

If Disability Rights Ohio were to win the lawsuit, change wouldn’t occur for another 10 to 15 years, Truitt said.

“If you’re happy where you are, we don’t want to take that away from you,” Truitt said. “We’re pressuring the state to do its job.”

The lawsuit shouldn’t target everyone with disabilities based on a few isolated cases, said Roger Dailey of Enon.

“You see a fly on the wall and you’re going to use a shotgun to kill it,” Dailey said.

While some people with disabilities can make choices on a daily basis, others cannot, said state Rep. Kyle Koehler. Those individuals need structure at settings like TAC, he said.

“For you to say that every individual with developmental disabilities should be able to make choices for themselves, I don’t think you understand what you’re doing,” Koehler said.

TAC employs about 250 people and another 50 are provided with day services at its facility, Chief Executive Officer Mary Brandstetter said.

TAC has battles on a number of fronts on the federal and state legal landscape, including the class action lawsuit, changes to Medicaid rules and regulations and plans to phase out special minimum wage exemptions, she said.

“All of those things impact people on varying ways here,” Brandstetter said.

At the end of day, TAC wants people with developmental disabilities to have the best options available for them and their families, she said.

They plan to be in business for the foreseeable future, she said.

“In terms of community integration and employment, we have a long history of that here and we plan to continue to develop in those areas,” Brandstetter said. “We work for the people who come here. If people stop coming here, then we’re not in business. We’re not pulling people in and keeping them against their will and restricting their access to other things. … It’s important to be able to come in and talk to people and see what’s going on and witness it first hand.”