COLUMBIA, S.C. — The federal government has sued South Carolina, saying the state has not done enough to make sure people with serious mental illnesses are taken out of group homes and helped to get back into the community where they can work and lead independent lives.
The lawsuit filed Monday said the state violates the Americans with Disabilities Act by opting, through money and policy decisions, to leave people with mental illnesses in group homes where they can’t choose what to eat, pick their own roommate, find a way to work at a job or go to church and other activities.
The state has known about the issues since a different 2016 lawsuit and federal officials warned them of the problems and possible legal action in a 23-page report in May 2023, U.S. Justice Department lawyers said in court papers.
“People with disabilities in South Carolina can and must be able to receive services in their own homes, rather than being isolated in institutions,” Kristen Clarke, an assistant attorney in the agency’s Civil Rights Division, said in a statement.
While Republican South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster questioned the timing of the lawsuit, coming in the final weeks of Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration, he is working on solutions to the problems brought up in the suit, spokesman Brandon Charochak said in a statement.
One idea is to combine the state Department of Mental Health and the Department of Disabilities and Special Needs and put the new agency in the governor’s cabinet under his supervision.
“The fact remains that our state’s healthcare delivery system is fractured with non-cabinet agencies that are unaccountable and inefficient. The governor believes the time to change this is now,” Charochak said.
Federal officials suggested spending more money and making sure the state’s Medicaid program makes adequate payments for programs called assertive community treatments.
Under the prgrams, teams visit people with serious mental illnesses in their home. There is at least one psychiatrist, two psychiatric nurses, specialists in employment and substance abuse, and other professionals.
Research has found the teams often can head off a mental health crisis. They also can provide crisis teams that can respond quickly to prevent bigger issues, from police involvement to psychiatric hospital stays, the Justice Department investigation found.
There are only four teams in South Carolina — in Columbia, Greenville and Dillon — and they don’t…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at ABC News: Health…