Current:Home > StocksDepartment of Justice sues Maine for treatment of children with behavioral health disabilities -Infinite Profit Zone
Department of Justice sues Maine for treatment of children with behavioral health disabilities
View
Date:2025-04-15 20:34:05
Maine unnecessarily segregates children with behavioral health disabilities in hospitals, residential facilities and a state-run juvenile detention facility, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday in a lawsuit seeking to force the state to make changes.
The actions violate the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Supreme Court’s 1999 Olmstead ruling that aimed to ensure that people with disabilities aren’t needlessly isolated while receiving government help, federal investigators contend.
The Justice Department notified Maine of its findings of civil rights violations in a June 2022 letter, pointing to what it described as a lack of sufficient community-based services that would allow the children to stay in their homes.
At the time, the department recommended that Maine use more state resources to maintain a pool of community-based service providers. It also recommended that Maine implement a policy that requires providers to serve eligible children and prohibit refusal of services.
“The State of Maine has an obligation to protect its residents, including children with behavioral health disabilities, and such children should not be confined to facilities away from their families and community resources,” Kristen Clarke, an assistant attorney general with the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said in a statement.
The governor and Legislature have worked to strengthen children’s behavioral health services, said Lindsay Hammes, a spokesperson for the state Department of Health and Human Services. The DHHS has also worked with the Justice Department to address its initial allegations from 2022, she said.
“We are deeply disappointed that the U.S. DOJ has decided to sue the state rather than continue our collaborative, good-faith effort to strengthen the delivery of children’s behavioral health services,” Hammes said. “The State of Maine will vigorously defend itself.”
In 2022, Mills said improving behavioral health services for Maine children was one of her goals. Her administration also said that the shortcomings of the state’s behavioral health system stretched back many years, and that the COVID-19 pandemic set back progress.
Advocates welcomed the lawsuit, noting that 25 years after the Olmstead decision, children in Maine and their families are still waiting for the state to comply with the ruling.
“Despite calls for more than a decade to ensure the availability of those services, Maine has failed to do so. Unfortunately, this lawsuit was the necessary result of that continued failure,” said Atlee Reilly, managing attorney for Disability Rights Maine.
The ADA and Olmstead decision require state and local governments to ensure that the services they provide for children with disabilities are available in the most integrated setting appropriate to each child’s needs, investigators said.
Services can include assistance with daily activities, behavior management and individual or family counseling. Community-based behavioral health services also include crisis services that can help prevent a child from being institutionalized during a mental health crisis.
The lawsuit alleges that Maine administers its system in a way that limits behavioral health services in the community.
As a result, in order for Maine children to receive behavioral health services, they must enter facilities including the state-operated juvenile detention facility, Long Creek Youth Development Center. Others are at serious risk of entering these facilities, as their families struggle to keep them home despite the lack of necessary services.
The future of Long Creek has been a subject of much debate in recent years. In 2021, Mills vetoed a bill to close the facility last year.
veryGood! (5)
Related
- Which apps offer encrypted messaging? How to switch and what to know after feds’ warning
- 2 bodies found, 4 people arrested in connection to missing Kansas women in Oklahoma
- These states have the highest property taxes. Where does yours fit in? See map.
- You Might’ve Missed This Sweet Moment Between Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift From Coachella 2024
- Krispy Kreme offers a free dozen Grinch green doughnuts: When to get the deal
- Banks, Target, schools, what's open and closed on Patriots' Day?
- How big is the Masters purse, and how much prize money does the winner get?
- From Stanley cups to Samsung phones, this duo launches almost anything into space. Here’s why.
- Intellectuals vs. The Internet
- As the Federal Government Proposes a Plan to Cull Barred Owls in the West, the Debate Around ‘Invasive’ Species Heats Up
Ranking
- North Carolina justices rule for restaurants in COVID
- Bayer Leverkusen wins its first Bundesliga title, ending Bayern Munich's 11-year reign
- Tax Day deals 2024: Score discounts, freebies at Krispy Kreme, Hooters, Potbelly, more
- Reba McEntire Reveals If She'd Get Married for a 3rd Time
- Spooky or not? Some Choa Chu Kang residents say community garden resembles cemetery
- The Civil War raged and fortune-seekers hunted for gold. This era produced Arizona’s abortion ban
- Fashion isn’t just for the eyes: Upcoming Met Gala exhibit aims to be a multi-sensory experience
- Loretta Lynn's granddaughter Emmy Russell stuns 'American Idol' judges: 'That is a hit record'
Recommendation
A Mississippi company is sentenced for mislabeling cheap seafood as premium local fish
Robert MacNeil, longtime anchor of PBS NewsHour nightly newscast, dies at 93
Another suspect charged in 2023 quadruple homicide in northern Mississippi
Are Americans feeling like they get enough sleep? Dream on, a new Gallup poll says
The Super Bowl could end in a 'three
Rep. McCaul says decision on Ukraine aid vote is a speaker determination
Is orange juice good for you? Why one woman's 'fruitarianism' diet is causing controversy.
Taylor Swift says Ryan Gosling, Emily Blunt's 'All Too Well' cover on 'SNL' was 'everything'