The U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday that it has sued the state of Maine for unnecessarily segregating children with behavioral health disabilities in hospitals, residential facilities and a state-operated juvenile detention facility.The DOJ said Maine is in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Supreme Court’s decision in Olmstead v. L.C., which require state and local governments to ensure the services they provide for children with disabilities are available in the most integrated setting appropriate to each child’s needs. These 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.According to the Justice Department’s lawsuit, Maine administers its system in a way that limits behavioral health services in the community. As a result, children in the state must enter in- and out-of-state facilities, or even the Long Creek Youth Development Center, in order to receive those services. The department also alleges other kids are at serious risk of entering these facilities, as their families struggle to keep them home despite the lack of necessary services.The DOJ said Maine children with disabilities enter emergency rooms, come into contact with law enforcement and remain in institutions when they could remain with their families if the state provided them with sufficient community-based services.”Families across Maine must be able to access to local community-based services for their children with behavioral health disabilities,” U.S. Attorney Darcie N. McElwee for the District of Maine said in a statement. “The alleged violations identified by the Justice Department must be remedied so that these children and their families can obtain services in their own communities, as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act.”The Justice Department said it previously notified Maine of its findings of civil rights violations in a June 2022 letter, which identified the steps the state should take to remedy those violations.”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,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a statement. “The Civil Rights Division is committed to ensuring that people with disabilities can get the services they need to remain at home with their families and loved ones, in their communities.”In its lawsuit, the Justice Department said the Maine Department of Health and Human Services operates a crisis hotline that dispatches mobile crisis teams that provide in-home assistance to children experiencing mental health crises. The state claims the crisis hotline is available 24/7, but the DOJ said parents and advocates report the crisis hotline and mobile crisis teams are frequently unavailable because either no one answers the phone or no teams are available to come to the child’s home to health.The DOJ said Maine also has crisis stabilization units, where children can receive short-term, inpatient care during a mental health crisis. The Justice Department, however, said parents and providers report that CSU beds are frequently unavailable.The lawsuit also states Maine claims to offer assertive community treatment, an intensive, team-based service that includes crisis response to children who are eligible for MaineCare services. But according to the DOJ, the state has only one ACT MaineCare provider and very few children in Maine can find a provider and access the service.In addition, the DOJ cited recent publicly-available data which indicates Maine reported that from March to June, the average time a child was on a waitlist for rehabilitative and community support services for cognitive impairments and functional limitations was 167 days. That data also reportedly states the average time a child was on a waitlist for specialized rehabilitative and community support services for cognitive impairments and functional limitations was 357 days.The Justice Department said Maine maintains separate waitlists for each community-based behavioral health service it offers to children with behavioral health disabilities, and that at least 400 children waited to receive at least one community-based service between January 2023 and June of this year.A representative of the Office of the Maine Attorney General told Maine’s Total Coverage that their office cannot comment on pending litigation.A spokesperson for the Maine DHHS sent the following statement to Maine’s Total Coverage in response to the DOJ’s lawsuit:”The State of Maine agrees with the Department of Justice that Maine – like every state – has an obligation to protect children with behavioral health disabilities and that such services should be provided within communities to the greatest extent possible. That is why over the past six years, the governor and the Legislature have provided significant new investments to strengthen children’s behavioral health services, and why the Maine Department of Health and Human Services had been working closely with the Department of Justice to address its initial allegations from March 2022. 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. The State of Maine will vigorously defend itself and, throughout the litigation, will continue to work hard to strengthen the delivery of what we all agree are vital services.”
The U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday that it has sued the state of Maine for unnecessarily segregating children with behavioral health disabilities in hospitals, residential facilities and a state-operated juvenile detention facility.
The DOJ said Maine is in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Supreme Court’s decision in Olmstead v. L.C., which require state and local governments to ensure the services they provide for children with disabilities are available in the most integrated setting appropriate to each child’s needs. These 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.
According to the Justice Department’s lawsuit, Maine administers its system in a way that limits behavioral health services in the community. As a result, children in the state must enter in- and out-of-state facilities, or even the Long Creek Youth Development Center, in order to receive those services. The department also alleges other kids are at serious risk of entering these facilities, as their families struggle to keep them home despite the lack of necessary services.
The DOJ said Maine children with disabilities enter emergency rooms, come into contact with law enforcement and remain in institutions when they could remain with their families if the state provided them with sufficient community-based services.
“Families across Maine must be able to access to local community-based services for their children with behavioral health disabilities,” U.S. Attorney Darcie N. McElwee for the District of Maine said in a statement. “The alleged violations identified by the Justice Department must be remedied so that these children and their families can obtain services in their own communities, as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act.”
The Justice Department said it previously notified Maine of its findings of civil rights violations in a June 2022 letter, which identified the steps the state should take to remedy those violations.
“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,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a statement. “The Civil Rights Division is committed to ensuring that people with disabilities can get the services they need to remain at home with their families and loved ones, in their communities.”
In its lawsuit, the Justice Department said the Maine Department of Health and Human Services operates a crisis hotline that dispatches mobile crisis teams that provide in-home assistance to children experiencing mental health crises. The state claims the crisis hotline is available 24/7, but the DOJ said parents and advocates report the crisis hotline and mobile crisis teams are frequently unavailable because either no one answers the phone or no teams are available to come to the child’s home to health.
The DOJ said Maine also has crisis stabilization units, where children can receive short-term, inpatient care during a mental health crisis. The Justice Department, however, said parents and providers report that CSU beds are frequently unavailable.
The lawsuit also states Maine claims to offer assertive community treatment, an intensive, team-based service that includes crisis response to children who are eligible for MaineCare services. But according to the DOJ, the state has only one ACT MaineCare provider and very few children in Maine can find a provider and access the service.
In addition, the DOJ cited recent publicly-available data which indicates Maine reported that from March to June, the average time a child was on a waitlist for rehabilitative and community support services for cognitive impairments and functional limitations was 167 days. That data also reportedly states the average time a child was on a waitlist for specialized rehabilitative and community support services for cognitive impairments and functional limitations was 357 days.
The Justice Department said Maine maintains separate waitlists for each community-based behavioral health service it offers to children with behavioral health disabilities, and that at least 400 children waited to receive at least one community-based service between January 2023 and June of this year.
A representative of the Office of the Maine Attorney General told Maine’s Total Coverage that their office cannot comment on pending litigation.
A spokesperson for the Maine DHHS sent the following statement to Maine’s Total Coverage in response to the DOJ’s lawsuit:
“The State of Maine agrees with the Department of Justice that Maine – like every state – has an obligation to protect children with behavioral health disabilities and that such services should be provided within communities to the greatest extent possible. That is why over the past six years, the governor and the Legislature have provided significant new investments to strengthen children’s behavioral health services, and why the Maine Department of Health and Human Services had been working closely with the Department of Justice to address its initial allegations from March 2022. 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. The State of Maine will vigorously defend itself and, throughout the litigation, will continue to work hard to strengthen the delivery of what we all agree are vital services.”
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