The investigation adds to years of evidence that Maine is institutionalizing children with disabilities, instead of providing necessary supports in the community.

An investigation into Maine’s children’s behavioral health system by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) finds statewide failures that create a significant risk of segregating and institutionalizing children with disabilities, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Department of Justice issued its findings on the 23rd anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision 奥姆斯特德诉LC, which found that unnecessarily segregating people with disabilities into institutional settings violates the Americans with Disabilities Act. Yet, the DOJ investigation 结论 that “Maine unnecessarily segregates children with mental health and/or developmental disabilities, in psychiatric hospitals, residential treatment facilities, and a state-operated juvenile detention facility.” In the findings letter, DOJ concluded that:
  • 缅因州以社区为基础的行为健康系统未能提供足够的服务。结果，每年有数百名儿童被不必要地隔离在机构中，而其他儿童则面临着被送入机构的严重风险。
  • “儿童无法在家中和社区获得行为健康服务——这些服务是州政府通过医疗补助计划（MaineCare）向家庭宣传的一系列现有计划的一部分，但并没有以有意义或及时的方式提供。”
  • “缅因州有行为健康需求的儿童有资格并且适合享受州政府提供的一系列社区服务，但他们要么仍然被隔离，要么面临被送进收容机构的严重风险。”
  • 缅因州的家庭和儿童绝大多数都愿意在融合环境中接受服务。事实上，家长们表示，他们强烈希望孩子在家接受服务，因为据报道，他们的孩子在缅因州内外的寄宿机构中遭受过创伤、忽视和虐待。
The significant deficiencies highlighted by DOJ are the result of years of disinvestment in Maine’s children’s behavioral health system. In response to these deficiencies, a coalition of organizations – Disability Rights Maine, ACLU of Maine, GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) and the Center for Public Representation – have been working together to advocate for concrete and urgent reforms at the state level. The coalition has expressed its serious concerns about the state’s failure to provide critical behavioral health services in children’s homes and communities, and is in active discussions with the state about specific ways Maine can improve and build on its existing services. The following statements can be attributed as noted: Carol Garvan, Legal Director, ACLU of Maine  “All children should have the opportunity to lead rich, full lives in their communities. The state must provide critical community-based behavioral health services to make that a reality. Because the state has disinvested in its children’s behavioral health system for years, we are unnecessarily putting children with disabilities into institutions — in prison, in emergency rooms, in psychiatric facilities. This kind of segregation violates the basic right of children with disabilities to be free from discrimination.” Atlee Reilly, Legal Director, Disability Rights Maine  “Despite years of notice, Maine has not yet come to terms with the scope of the problem it faces, the significant harm being done to a generation of youth and families, and the enormous future costs that will continue to mount unless the longstanding deficiencies in the children’s behavioral health system are addressed with the urgency required.  Maine must turn away from expensive and ineffective institutional solutions and toward a system that supports youth in their homes and communities.” Mary L. Bonauto, Civil Rights Project Director, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD)  “Young people have limitless potential when they receive the care and support they need.  Maine’s longstanding failure to provide the full measure of needed mental and behavioral health care services is no secret.  As the Department of Justice report states in its Findings Letter of June 22, 2022, this has led to an emphasis on confinement in institutions, including residential facilities, psychiatric hospitals and Long Creek, a juvenile detention facility, rather than with families in homes and communities. This is a solvable crisis, and now is the time to do so.” Steven Schwartz, Legal Director, Center for Public Representation  “Children and youth thrive when they grow up in their homes, stay in their communities, and remain near their friends and neighbors. Removing them to distant institutions is expensive, unnecessary, and simply harmful. Several other states, including neighboring Massachusetts and Rhode Island, have created a comprehensive system of intensive home-based services that allow children to receive needed treatment while remaining with their families and in their neighborhood schools. Maine needs to do the same.”   背景 The state is on notice about the significant failures in its children’s behavioral health system, which primarily serves low-income children who are eligible for MaineCare. An 独立评估 of the system in 2018 identified many of the same deficiencies as the DOJ investigation, finding that children’s behavioral health services were not available when needed, or not available at all. A separate 独立评估 of the juvenile justice system in 2020 found that many youth are detained and incarcerated at Long Creek because they couldn’t access appropriate community-based services for their behavioral and mental health needs. Because of years of disinvestment, conditions on the ground for youth and families have continued to deteriorate. Community-based services — such as access to behavioral health providers in home and at school — are unavailable for many youth when and where they need them. When the state fails to meet children’s mental and behavioral health needs, their situation is more likely to escalate into a crisis. This leads to the unnecessary institutionalization of children in emergency departments, in psychiatric facilities, and in prison. As a result, Maine youth are separated from their communities and families and sent to institutions far from their homes. Maine youth are stuck in hospitals, emergency departments and crisis units for long periods of time because the services needed to support a safe discharge home are not available. And Maine continues to put children in prison because the state is failing to provide these youth with appropriate community-based services.