June 12th, 2009

Reports the Times-Leader:

An advocacy group for disabled persons has filed a federal class-action lawsuit against the state Department of Public Welfare challenging the department’s practice of holding mentally retarded adults at state psychiatric hospitals.

The suit, filed Thursday on behalf of eight mentally retarded adults, including two from Luzerne County, alleges DPW is not doing enough to transfer persons who are institutionalized into community-based programs that would better suit their needs.

It further alleges DPW has failed to provide adequately trained staff at psychiatric hospitals to deal with the issues that afflict those with mental retardation and psychiatric illnesses.

The suit was filed by the Philadelphia-based Disability Rights Network of Pennsylvania.

…

Part of the problem is that the staff at the hospitals is not trained to provide mental health services to persons with mental retardation in a manner that takes into consideration their intellectual disabilities, said Robert W. Meek, an attorney with the Disability Rights Network.

Find out more at the Times-Leader.