Department of Justice sues Maine for treatment of children with behavioral health disabilities

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.

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