Lawsuit Claims State is Denying Mental Health Services to Medicaid-Eligible Children

‘The state’s current approach is not only a serious violation of federal law, it is very poor public policy,’ Steven Brown, Executive Director of the ACLU of Rhode Island

The lawsuit says the state is in violation of the Medicaid Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Rehabilitation Act.
The lawsuit says the state is in violation of the Medicaid Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Rehabilitation Act.
cmh2315fl / Flickr
Share
The lawsuit says the state is in violation of the Medicaid Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Rehabilitation Act.
The lawsuit says the state is in violation of the Medicaid Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Rehabilitation Act.
cmh2315fl / Flickr
Lawsuit Claims State is Denying Mental Health Services to Medicaid-Eligible Children
Copy

A group of advocacy organizations filed a class action lawsuit yesterday against the state of Rhode Island for denying Medicaid-eligible children access to mental health care. The 68-page federal lawsuit, brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island and advocacy groups Disability Rights Rhode Island and New York-based Children’s Rights, says this puts children at higher risk of being unnecessarily institutionalized.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court, was brought on behalf of Medicaid-eligible children under 21 years old who require intensive home and community-based services. The complaint says the state is in violation of the Medicaid Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act.

This story was reported by The Public’s Radio. You can read the entire story here.

An independent monitor says the district and RIDE have met the terms of a 2023 settlement that required faster evaluations and placement for 3- to 5-year-olds with disabilities, effectively closing the federal class action case
Food insecurity is getting worse in Rhode Island, and the recent disruption of SNAP benefits is only partly to blame
Public health leader Amy Nunn talks about the ripple effects of federal policy shifts, the threat of SNAP cuts and rising insurance costs, and what Rhode Island can do to protect community health in the months ahead
Attorney General Peter Neronha is negotiating with Prospect Medical to keep the financially troubled hospitals open through the end of the year while a potential buyer works to finalize financing — or another steps in
Ørsted executives say they are ‘committed’ to finishing project despite financial headwinds
But D.C. federal judge’s ruling Tuesday means a major setback to the already struggling project