In 1945, the institution was renamed the Beatrice State Home. Its resident population peaked at about 2300 in the late 1960s. From there it declined: new restrictions had been imposed on the use of unpaid labor by residents of institutions, and there was a national trend toward deinstitutionalization. In 1975, the "Horacek v. Exon" lawsuit was settled with a consent decree whereunder many of the residents of the Beatrice State Home were transferred to community-based mental health facilities. In that year, the institution's name was changed to the current Beatrice State Developmental Center.