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DOJ report: West Virginia violating disabilities act in connection with children

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia is in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act in the way it manages services for children with significant mental health conditions, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

A 30-page report issued by the DOJ’s civil rights division after a yearlong investigation criticizes the state for taking too many kids out of their communities—and sending many of them out of state—for treatment.

MORE: Read the DOJ report

“The state has needlessly segregated thousands of children far from family and other people important in their lives. With adequate services, the state could successfully treat these children in their homes and communities,” the report concluded.

State DHHR Secretary Karen Bowling.
State DHHR Secretary Karen Bowling.

The report cited the state Department of Health and Human Resources for systematically failing “to provide critical in-home and community-based mental health services also places children with mental health conditions who currently live in the community at risk of unnecessary institutionalization.”

State DHHR Secretary Karen Bowling said the problems have existed for years, and that she has worked to address it during her two-year stint as secretary.

“I believe right now the stars are aligned” for change, she told MetroNews Tuesday. “We believe that everyone is focusing on children and providing children’s services. We are getting cooperation from all branches of government and I think we can change things.”

Bowling said providing services for children with significant mental health problems in their communities faces several hurdles including safety and the rural nature of the state.

“It is going to have to be a focus and a push, but it’s also going have to be about collaborating with stakeholders and understanding what the needs are and try to figure out how to serve people in a rural state,” Bowling said.

The report said the DHHR has not developed “a sufficient array of in-home and community based services. Unnecessary placement in segregated residential treatment facilities, and removal from their families and communities, can harm children.”

Out-of-state placements cost the state $20 million during fiscal year 2012, the report noted, and as much as $6,000 per month could be saved per child with in-state placement.

Bowling said she doesn’t believe the DOJ report is putting the state on notice but hopes the agency can be an aid to West Virginia as it tries to deal with a number of issues with children and families.

“We have to address this sort of generally across our whole state. How do we create stable families? How do we provide behavioral health/mental health services in a rural state where it can be challenging? How do we ensure that all three branches of government understand that and focus on that?”

Bowling said non-compliance by the state could have some legal ramifications but she doesn’t believe that will be an issue.

“It’s an issue that we feel pretty strongly about and that we are moving on and have been moving forward on it for the last two years and now it’s a matter of us coordinating that with the Department of Justice and their findings,” Bowling said.





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