Tuesday, July 01, 2003

Suit Says State Is Segregating Mentally Ill (New York)
New York Times story - "awyers for thousands of mentally ill residents of New York adult homes, many of which have long served as little more than psychiatric flophouses, plan to file a federal lawsuit today to force the state to make the kind of wide-ranging improvements in care that were won for the mentally retarded through the courts a generation ago. The legal papers, to be filed in United States District Court in Brooklyn, assert that the state is violating the Americans with Disabilities Act by segregating the mentally ill in sprawling and poorly run adult homes, where they are essentially warehoused with few if any opportunities to rejoin society. Many residents can and should be moved to apartments in neighborhood settings that are no more costly to the government and far less isolating, the lawyers argue." [Viewing New York Times resources requires registration, which is free].