Capitol Correspondence - 08.20.18

District of Columbia Faces Mental Health, Disability Class-Action Suit on ADA

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According to Politico Pro:

“A class action lawsuit was filed this week against the District of Columbia for allegedly violating the Americans with Disabilities Act and failing to provide children essential services, raising the likelihood that they will be institutionalized. Mental health and disability advocacy groups filed the complaint on behalf of children who have been ‘needlessly institutionalized’ or are at risk of institutionalization due to a lack of adequate community-based care for children provided by the DC’s mental health system. As a result, they claim, ‘the District’s children suffer drastically curtailed life opportunities, cycling in and out of psychiatric hospitals, psychiatric residential treatment facilities that are often hundreds or thousands of miles away from their families, other residential treatment centers, juvenile detention facilities, and group homes.’”