"Overall we're pleased with the decision because it means we can return our focus to helping people with disabilities receive services," said Carol Sisco, public information officer for the Utah Department of Human Services.

"This opens an opportunity to have more dialogue with the advocate community. We can sit down and talk to each other now — we're not in litigation. We can look at solutions for reducing the waiting list and look at services and ways to help while they're waiting," Cisco said.

She said the disabilities division last year served 4,233 Utahns with disabilities, but about 1,900 are still waiting for assistance.

The idea of sitting down and talking about ways to improve things was good news for Fraser Nelson of the Disability Law Center. "We certainly look forward to working with them to develop a plan to meet the needs of these citizens," Nelson said. "We both share a common goal, which is to get efficient and effective services to people with disabilities."

She noted the timing of Kimball's ruling, which came on the final day of the 2006 legislative session.

"It's time for everybody here to realize the solution to this problem is in this building," she said from the State Capitol Wednesday.

She hopes the lawsuit, as well as discussions during the just-ended session, have raised public awareness of the problems posed by the nearly 2,000-person waiting list enough to force lawmakers to finally address the issue.

Advocates this year pushed hard for full funding of the waiting list — estimated at $8.2 million — but received just $1.6 million in ongoing funding.

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E-mail: lindat@desnews.com; awelling@desnews.com