PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — Multiple advocacy organizations have released reactions to the Department of Justice’s agreement with the State of Rhode Island to resolve violation of federal disability laws. The original report accused the state and the Department of Children, Youth, and Families of neglecting children with disabilities, in some cases leaving children in need of mental health services hospitalized for up to a year despite being ready for discharge. The agreement requires DCYF to comply with multiple federal laws it was accused of violating. Rhode Island Coalition for Children and Families Executive Director Tanja Kubas Meyer said that the agreement would “[address] critical shortcomings in the state’s response to children with serious behavioral health needs:” The Rhode Island Coalition for Children and Families welcomes the settlement between the US Department of Justice and the State of Rhode Island that addresses critical shortcomings in the state’s response to children with serious behavioral health needs. The resolution represents a significant step forward in ensuring the safety, well-being, and rights of vulnerable children in our state. Many of the proposed reforms outlined in the settlement align closely with recommendations that RICCF has been advocating for. We are honored to have been named to participate in this settlement and look forward to working collaboratively with the state to implement necessary changes. However, we must underscore the magnitude of the work ahead. Complying with this consent decree is no small task and will require careful planning, investment of new resources, and a commitment to comprehensive improvements in how the state’s children’s behavioral health system operates. Ultimately, this settlement represents a path toward meaningful reform, and RICCF remains committed to ensuring its success. Our top priority will always be the safety and health of Rhode Island’s children and we thank all parties for their critical work in negotiating a meaningful settlement on their behalf.  Meanwhile, Disability Rights Rhode Island, the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island, and Children’s Rights said that the issues the agreement seeks to resolve are much broader than the children or youth who are admitted to Bradley Hospital,” who were specifically named in the consent decree. The groups also said that they had filed a class action lawsuit in November accusing the state of denying “Medicaid-eligible children and youth their right to appropriate mental health care:” Our organizations applaud any effort to address the state’s serious and long-standing failure to protect the rights of children with disabilities from harsh, unnecessary, and counter-productive institutionalization. But the existing problem is far broader than children or youth who are admitted to Bradley Hospital for mental health treatment instead of appropriate community-based settings. There are many, many other Rhode Island children and youth placed in other restrictive residential care settings when their mental health conditions could be, and the law requires them to be, adequately treated in less restrictive family-like settings. The current level of dysfunction in segregating youth with mental health needs is exacerbated by the lack of adequate access to intensive in-home services and mobile crisis services that are legally mandated to be available to eligible children and youth under Medicaid. The proposed consent decree offers to address only one small part of this much bigger problem that our lawsuit tackles. The proposed consent decree also lacks specific benchmarks for addressing the problem, and saves the adoption of actual implementation plans for a later time. So while this proposal is a step in the right direction, it is critical to emphasize that much more needs to be done. That is why we will vigorously press forward with our lawsuit and seek to ensure that stronger and broader remedies are available for the population covered by this proposed decree and the many other youth not covered by it at all. Categories: News, Rhode Island