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ATTORNEYS FILE CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT AGAINST STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE FOR ITS FAILURE TO
PROVIDE ADEQUATE MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES TO CITIZENS WITH MENTAL ILLNESS
CONCORD, NH – FEB. 9 – Six state residents with psychiatric disabilities whose lives have been interrupted, disrupted, and even destroyed by prolonged or needless stays at state institutions today sued New Hampshire for its failure to provide adequate community-based mental health services. A class action lawsuit, filed this morning in U.S. District Court in Concord, charges Gov. John H. Lynch and other state officials with violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Rehabilitation Act, and the Nursing Home Reform Act (NHRA) for their failure to provide clinically necessary and cost-effective community services to avoid the needless institutionalization of individuals with disabilities. Read the entire press release here.
Press Kit
Press Coverage
- Nashua Telegraph editorial, Feb 19, 2012: NH in denial over mental health suit
- Concord Monitor: N.H. mental health: from success to suit, Decline attributed to funding, politics
- NHPR: Group Sues the State over Mental Health System
- Nashua Telegraph: Disability advocacy group files class action suit against state
- Concord Monitor: State sued over mental health system
- WMUR: Advocates For Mentally Ill Sue State
- AP: Advocates for the mentally ill sue NH
- Valley News: Newport Woman Joins Mental Health Lawsuit
- Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law Press Release: Advocates File Lawsuit Against NH’s Failing Mental Health Care System
Background Documents
December 9, 2011: US Department of Justice responds to NH Attorney general's letter, standing by its conclusions and noting that NH itself had already declared the mental health system "broken" and "in crisis". See letter from US Assistant Attorney General Perez to NH Attorney General Delaney.
December 6, 2011: NH Attorney General and DHHS Commissioner respond to the US Department of Justice report, disagreeing with the DOJ findings.
April 2011: US Department of Justice finds that NH "fails to provide services to qualified individuals with mental illness in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs in violation of the ADA." See DOJ Report with findings and recommendations here.
November 2, 2010: DRC contacted state officials by letter, insisting that mental health services improve, and setting forth numerous suggestions for improvement.
August 2008: Addressing the Critical Mental Health Needs of NH’s Citizens A Strategy for Restoration: the Mental Health Ten Year Plan by NH Department of Health & Human Services, New Hampshire Hospital Bureau of Behavioral Health and The Community Behavioral Health Association, commonly known as the Ten Year Plan.
Press:
- January 15, 2012, Concord Monitor: State deserves suit over mental health
- December 10, 2011, Concord Monitor: Feds hit N.H. on mental health reply - Effort not enough, prosecutor says
- December 10, 2011, Nashua Telegraph: Justice official says state AG’s claims about mental health treatment in NH ‘simply incorrect’
- December 9, 2011, NHPR: Feds Blast NH Mental Health System
- December 7, 2011, Concord Monitor: N.H. officials blast mental health critics Justice Department threatens lawsuit
- December 6, 2011, WMUR: NH Responds To Report That Blasted Mental Health System
- April 15, 2011, Keene Sentinel: We are no longer in the vanguard of mental health treatment
- April 13, 2011, Concord Monitor: Lawmakers, advocates react to mental health suit threat: Justice probe adds urgency to issues
DRC Received a grant from the Impact Fund to help support this project.
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