Eric Russell
Portland Press Herald
The federal agency sued the state in September, saying Maine was violating the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Maine must strengthen its community-based services for children with behavioral health challenges to keep them from being placed outside the home, according to an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice filed Tuesday in federal court.
The agreement ends a lawsuit filed in September by the federal agency, which said the state has been violating the Americans with Disabilities Act by “unnecessarily segregating children with behavioral health disabilities in hospitals, residential facilities and a state-operated juvenile detention facility.”
Maine officials were put on notice in 2022 about alleged violations of the ADA, and the Justice Department filed suit this year after failing to see adequate progress.
Kristen Clarke, an assistant attorney general with the Justice Department, said the agreement ensures “that children with disabilities can live at home surrounded by the love and support of their families rather than isolated away in facilities.
“We know that too many children with behavioral health disabilities end up in juvenile justice settings or in out-of-home placements, often in different states far from their families, disrupting their lives in ways that can cause permanent harm,” she said. “Under this agreement, more children will have access to community-based services and in-home behavioral health services so that they can grow up surrounded by family and loved ones.”
Gov. Janet Mills, in a written statement announcing the agreement, said her administration has been working for more than two years to address the concerns.
“I shared many of the U.S. DOJ’s concerns, many of which preceded my administration, and we have worked closely with the Legislature to invest hundreds of millions of dollars to strengthen the system – important reforms which we believe in and we that we continue to implement,” she said.
Mills said she believed the state would have prevailed had the matter gone to trial but that a settlement was a better outcome.
“Protracted, expensive litigation would only have detracted from what’s most important – continuing to improve our children’s behavioral health system,” she said.