[Blindtlk] [acb-l] Fwd: Justice Department Obtains Comprehensive AgreementRegarding the State of Delaware's Mental Health System

[Chris Nusbaum]

 Chris

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?Justice Department Obtains Comprehensive Agreement Regarding the 
State
of Delaware's Mental Health System

Please circulate.

WASHINGTON - The Justice Department today announced that it has 
entered
into a comprehensive agreement with the state of Delaware that 
will
transform Delaware's mental health system and resolve violations 
of the
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).  The ADA and the Supreme 
Court's
landmark decision in Olmstead v.  L.C.  afford individuals with
disabilities the right to receive services in the most integrated
settings appropriate to their needs, and today's agreement will 
ensure
individuals in Delaware can exercise that right.

The Justice Department in 2008 began its investigation of 
Delaware's
state hospital, and modified the scope of the investigation in 
2010 to
focus on violations of the ADA throughout the mental health 
system.  The
state worked cooperatively with the Justice Department to 
negotiate an
agreement resolving alleged violations of the ADA.

"Across the country we are enforcing the rights of people with
disabilities, affirmed by the Supreme Court more than a decade 
ago, to
live and receive services in their communities," said Thomas E.  
Perez,
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights.  "The services that 
the
state of Delaware has agreed to provide under this agreement will 
enable
people with mental illnesses living in Delaware to reside 
successfully
in their homes and communities, rather than entering costly 
segregated
facilities.  As states around the country work to breathe life 
into the
rights promised by the ADA and Olmstead, this agreement 
demonstrates
Governor Markell and Attorney General Biden's vision and 
leadership."

The agreement expands community mental health services so that 
Delaware
can serve people with severe and persistent mental illness in the 
most
integrated settings appropriate to those individuals' needs.  
Over the
next five years, Delaware will prevent unnecessary 
hospitalization by
expanding and deepening its crisis services, including a hotline, 
crisis
walk-in centers, mobile crisis teams, crisis apartments and short 
term
crisis stabilization programs.  Delaware will also provide 
assertive
community treatment teams, intensive case management, and 
targeted case
management to individuals living in the community who need 
support to
remain stable.  In addition, the state will offer scattered-site
supported housing to everyone in the agreement's target 
population who
needs that housing support.  Finally, Delaware will offer 
supports for
daily life, including supported employment, rehabilitation 
services and
peer and family supports.

The Civil Rights Division enforces the ADA, which authorizes the
attorney general to investigate whether a state is serving 
individuals
in the most integrated settings appropriate to their needs.  
Visit
www.justice.gov/crt
<http://www.justice.gov/crt><http://www.justice.gov/crt> to learn 
more
about the Olmstead decision, the ADA and other laws enforced by 
the
Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.

The agreement in this case protecting the rights of individuals 
with
mental illness in Delaware are due to the efforts of the 
following
Special Litigation Section attorneys: Jonathan Smith, Chief; Judy
Preston, Deputy Chief; Alison Barkoff, Special Counsel for 
Olmstead
Enforcement; David Deutsch and Deena Fox, Trial Attorneys.  In 
addition,
the division received support and assistance from Shannon Hanson,
Assistant U.S.  Attorney for the District of Delaware.

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