The Bazelon Center Congratulates Justice Stephen G. Breyer on His Retirement and Celebrates His Legacy of Supporting Disability Rights

January 27, 2022 – The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law congratulates Justice Stephen G. Breyer on his retirement from the United States Supreme Court after almost 28 years of distinguished service.  Justice Breyer has been a strong voice for disability rights and other civil rights during his time on the Court. His track record includes upholding and clarifying the ADA, the Affordable Care Act, Olmstead, standards to educate students with disabilities, and more. With Justice Breyer’s retirement, President Biden now has the opportunity to select and have a new Supreme Court Justice confirmed by the Senate. President Biden has stated that he will appoint a Black woman to the Supreme Court. This is something that the Bazelon Center applauds. We urge President Biden to appoint a nominee who, like Justice Breyer, would interpret disability rights statutes broadly, as Congress intended, and who is aware of the impact of Supreme Court judgments on disabled persons. Read our full statement (PDF)  here. 

Longtime mainstay of Bazelon Center, Jennifer Mathis, Joins Biden Administration as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in Civil Rights Division

December 6, 2021 – Jennifer Mathis, Director of Policy & Legal Advocacy at the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law & Deputy Legal Director, joined the Biden Administration as a Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, where she will help lead its disability rights work.  Mathis supervised the Center’s policy advocacy and litigated complex lawsuits establishing the rights of individuals with mental disabilities. Her work promoted community integration and affording people with psychiatric disabilities the opportunity to lead the same kinds of lives as people without disabilities. Mathis helped coordinate the disability community’s efforts in the Supreme Court in the Olmstead case and has successfully litigated integration cases in states across the country. Read the Press Release (PDF) here.

Bazelon and partners submit recommendations for responding to California’s Felony Incompetent to Stand Trial Crisis and for the Decarceration of People with Mental Illness

November 17, 2021 – California has failed to divert from jail people with psychiatric disabilities and fails to provide constitutionally sufficient mental health care to the tens of thousands of people languishing in California’s prisons.  The incarceration of people with psychiatric disabilities does a disservice to both the individuals and the public. The Bazelon Center and 16 other civil, human, and disability rights organizations have provided recommendations and guidance to California’s Governor and others on the decarceration of people with mental illness, including those deemed incompetent to stand trial.  Read the recommendations (PDF) here.

CVS Health Partners with Disability Community in Commitment to Affordable and Equitable Access to Health Care

CVS Health, the American Association of People with Disabilities, the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, and the National Council on Independent Living today announced that they are working together to seek policy solutions to protect equitable access to health care for all Americans and continue to protect the fundamental rights of people with disabilities. Read our full joint statement  (PDF) here. Access the Writ of Certiorari Dismissed document (PDF) here.

The Bazelon Center Commends Progress as U.S. Dept. of Education’s Office of Civil Rights Reaches Agreement to Resolve Restraint and Seclusion Compliance Review of Saco, Maine Public Schools

The Bazelon Center, Disability Rights, and Civil Rights Groups file Amicus Briefs and Urge the Supreme Court to Reject CVS’ attempt to Dismantle Civil Rights Protections for People with Disabilities

October 29, 2021 – The Bazelon Center, disability rights groups, and civil rights groups file amicus briefs to the urge Supreme Court to uphold protections against disability discrimination by rejecting CVS’ attempt to dismantle non-discrimination protections under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. The case, CVS v. Doe, involves a CVS-managed prescription drug plan that requires people who need “specialty medications” to receive them by mail, instead of at their local pharmacy. Five individuals living with HIV sued over the requirement, arguing that it effectively prevents them from receiving needed care for their condition and represents discrimination based on their disability. CVS is arguing in the case that Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act does not protect against claims of “disparate impact,” or when neutral policies or practices have disproportionate impacts on a protected class, in this case people with disabilities. CVS’ position is not only legally wrong, but threatens the rights of people with disabilities everywhere.  Read our Amicus Brief (PDF) here. Read our press release (PDF) here.

Bazelon Center and Fellow Advocates Reach Interim Settlement Agreement with Oregon Department of Education for Students with Disabilities

The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law and fellow advocates for children with disabilities have reached an interim settlement agreement as part of a class action lawsuit with the Oregon Department of Education (ODE).  The agreement outlines the parties’ commitment to ensuring that Oregon students with disabilities who have been placed on shortened school days because of their behavior receive a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment. It also requires the parties to select an expert to examine the use of shortened school days across the state, and to provide recommendations on what actions, if any, ODE should take to ensure that children with disabilities receive an appropriate education for a full school day whenever possible. The Bazelon Center filed the lawsuit in 2019 along with the National Center for Youth Law, the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA), Disability Rights Oregon, and pro bono attorneys.  The plaintiffs, including COPAA and four individual students, are “heartened by this interim agreement” which they hope will lead to systemic changes ensuring that students with behavior-related disabilities are included in school for a full day with their classmates. Read the press release (PDF) here. Read the Interim Settlement Agreement (PDF) here.

Judge Rules Kanawha County Special Education Lawsuit can Proceed as Class Action

On August 27, 2021, the lawsuit filed by the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, Mountain State Justice, Disability Rights of West Virginia, The Arc of the United States, and the law firm  Latham  Watkins LLP for two Kanawha County students with disabilities was certified as a class-action lawsuit. See the case (PDF) here. See the press release (PDF) here.

Judge Berger’s decision that the case should focus on all children removed from their classrooms for behavior related to their disabilities will expand its impact to hundreds of Kanawha County’s students. Lewis Bossing, Senior Staff Attorney of the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, says “Judge Berger’s opinion makes clear that KCS’s failures to support its students with disabilities are systemic, and that systemic changes are needed. We hope that KCS will work with us to address the problems that Judge Berger has identified.

The judge suggested parties try to negotiate a resolution. If parties are unable to resolve their differences, the trial will be scheduled August 2022.

Letter to HUD to Withdraw 2020 Rule

On August 24th, 2021, The Bazelon Center joined the Consortium  for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) Rights and Housing Task Forces to support HUD’s proposal to withdraw the 2020 rule’s applications to disparate impact discrimination and reinstate it’s 2013 rule. The 2020 rule created overwhelming obstacles and shifted the burden onto communities the Fair Housing Act was to protect. For example, those who face discrimination are burdened with proving that a less discriminatory policy would be equally effective or not as costly, which is information that only the entity, not those who are being discriminated against, have access to.

HUD itself has noted that this new rule did not clarify any part of the previously established discriminatory effects framework from 2013 but instead “introduced new concepts that had never been part of disparate-impact caselaw without fully explaining their meaning.” Those with disabilities are already facing a national shortage of accessible and affordable housing, and withdrawing the 2020 rule to return to the 2013 rule would help fight this disparity. 

The 2013 Rule would return to the decades of legal precedent from both courts and HUD itself of interpreting the FHA and would prohibit not just intentional discrimination but policies that result in discrimination as well. Thankfully, due to litigation, the 2020 Rule has not taken effect, but it is important that HUD takes this step to affirm the 2013 Rule is still in effect. Read our full letter (PDF) here.

Bazelon Joins 196 Organizations to Call for Congress to Pass John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act

On August 23rd, 2021, The Bazelon Center joined other members of a coalition with more than 220 national organizations, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, to call upon Congress to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (H.R. 4). The Leadership Conference urged that we must act now, or we risk losing all progress that we have made since Congressmen Lewis and 600 others began marching in the name of equal voting rights. The Conference also argued that recent court cases like Shelby County v. Holder and Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee set a dangerous standard for voting rights moving forward. Shelby v Holder  eliminated important provisions in Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that ensured changes to voting rules were public and transparent, which made voting much more simple for those with disabilities to use. This ruling has allowed other factors, such as felon disenfranchisement, voter ID laws, and restrictions to early voting, that discriminates against people with disabilities and BIPOC communities. Brnovich v Democratic National Committee disregarded the purpose of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA), which was meant to protect communities against racial discrimination in voting and representation. 

The Voting Rights Act has been reauthorized before in a bipartisan manner, and the Conference believes that protecting those from discrimination should be bipartisan work. H.R. 4 would restore the VRA by updating criteria for “triggers” for identifying states and localities that must obtain federal review before implementing changes in voting, provide public and easy notice to all voters, including those who are disabled or blind, of voting changes, and give the DOJ the authority to challenge changes that would lead to discrimination. The need to update voting rights has never been stronger as elements of voter suppression are on the rise. Congress must act now so that the words spoken by President Lyndon Johnson when he signed the original VRA, “today we strike away the last major shackle of … fierce and ancient bonds,” can hold full meaning. Read the full letter (PDF) here.

Bazelon Submits Comments to DOJ for Acting on Interim Rule

On August 16th, 2021, The Bazelon Center, along with the Co-chairs for the CCD Rights Task Force, released a response in support of the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) decision to revoke two Interim Final Rules, Prohibition on the Issuance of Improper Guidance Documents Within the Justice Department and the Processes and Procedures for Issuance and Use of Guidance Documents rules. On November 6th, 2020, The Bazelon Center and 17 other advocacy organizations called on the DOJ to reconsider and withdraw the Interim Final Rule and Request for Comments. This Rule created a public comment process for any guidance that went through the DOJ. Further, the Rule limited the DOJ’s ability to issue necessary guidance on a timely basis to stakeholders about compliance with laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and more. By allowing this process, the agency’s Guidance Portal would significantly drain agency resources and create an ongoing state of uncertainty about the future of any guidance that came through. Although the Rule recognizes the importance of equal opportunity to comment by people with disabilities, there is little done to ensure this opportunity. In addition to the Interim Final Rule creating instability, uncertainty, not offering equal opportunity, stretching agency resources, limiting efficiency and the issuance of guidance, it is also in clear violation of Executive Order 13891, the Administrative Procedures Act (APA). Guidances that come from agencies do not have the force of law, unlike regulations directly related to rulemaking. The APA clearly states that notice and comment are required “only for formal rules.” The DOJ’s decision to revoke such rules validates and further confirms the “many…concerns we raised” in our November comments. Read our full letter (PDF) here. 

Letter to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra

August 3, 2021, The Bazelon Center joined 16 other organizations in a letter to Secretary Xavier Becerra urging the HHS to rescind a Trump-era rule, which expanded short-term limited duration health plans that dodge the ACA. The authors of this letter allege that the Trump Administration’s rule is unlawful in several respects. More specifically, the rule redefines “short-term” away from the plain English meaning to a 364 day period. It was also explicitly created to undermine the ACA with another alternative. By providing low, medically underwritten premiums to healthy costumers, this rule makes ACA plans increasingly expensive. Thus, we urge the HHS to rescind the 2018 rule and return to the 2016 Obama-era STLDI as it better aligns with the ACA’s language and spirit. See our letter (PDF) here.

Call to Action to Protect the Right to Family Life & Prevent Institutionalization
for all Children

On July 21, 2021, The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law and over 100 organizations across the globe joined a Call to Action calling on the United Nations to recognize the right of all children to live and grow up with a family rather than in an institution or other facility.  The Call to Action highlights that all children can live safely and thrive in families.  It calls on the U.N. and other stakeholders to support family-based care instead of  large or small institutions; to promote and enhance support services for children with disabilities and their families to facilitate the inclusion of children with disabilities in community life; to enhance implementation of other rights that prevent institutionalization such as affordable healthcare and inclusive education; and to develop and ensure access to support services in the community, including personal assistance, as well as peer support, for young persons with disabilities in their transition to adulthood. We hope these recommendations will be considered at the U.N.’s Day of General Discussion on Children’s Rights and Alternative Care in September 2021. Read our letter (PDF) here. 

The Bazelon Center Responds to National Institute for Standards and Technology Request for Information Concerning Voter Accessibility

On July 16, 2021, the Bazelon Center submitted comments to NIST regarding voting access for people with disabilities. A large number of individuals with disabilities who are competent to form political opinions, have candidate preferences, and vote are being denied their fundamental right to participate in the political process, solely because they are under guardianship, a status often imposed for family or financial convenience. A majority of states either deny the right to vote to individuals under guardianship or impose voter capacity requirements that unfairly target such individuals or subject them to a higher standard than others.

Disability service providers have sometimes made their own capacity judgments and refused to permit individuals with disabilities to vote. A number of studies found that long-term care facility staff routinely screened residents for voting capacity before permitting them to vote or helping them vote—including in states with no voter capacity requirement.

The National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) permits states to impose voter capacity requirements if they choose to do so. Any such requirements, however, must comply with the ADA. The ADA prohibits public entities from excluding qualified people from voting based on their disability, and from imposing greater burdens on voters with disabilities than on other voters. Any voter competence standard that a state chooses to use must be imposed on all voters, not just voters with disabilities or subgroups of voters with disabilities such as people under guardianship.

See our recommendations to address obstacles like these here (PDF).

The Bazelon Center Joins 62 other Organizations in Urging HHS to Issue Guidance Encouraging Youth Mobile Crisis Teams That Do Not Involve Law Enforcement

On July 16, 2021, the Bazelon Center joined The Center for Law and Social Policy and other organizations in urging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to “issue guidance and provide technical assistance for implementation to states that promote and stress the importance of youth mobile response models that do not involve law enforcement.”

In light of the significant adverse effects that the COVID-19 pandemic had on young people with mental health disabilities, and particularly those who are people of color, it is more important than ever that youth and young adults have access to quality mental health services. The unnecessary involvement of law enforcement in mental-health related crises is often more dangerous than not, and mobile response services without police involvement have been proven to reduce further trauma and harm.

The letter calls on HHS to issue guidance urging states to ensure that mobile response teams receive training focused on disability awareness and de-escalation, that they have their own telephone line, that they are accessible without contacting law enforcement, and that a broader array of community-based services are available so that youth and young adults can receive aid beyond the initial crisis response and to prevent crises from occurring. Read the full letter here.

Bazelon Center and Partners Send Recommendations to Office of Management and Budget on Strategies to Increase Equity and Address Discrimination in Procurement and Contracting for the Disability Community

In May 2021, the Office of the Management and Budget put out a  “Request for Information” to consult with members of communities that have been historically underrepresented or subject to discrimination in the Federal Government as well as in its policies and programs to identify effective methods to assess whether agencies policies and actions equitably serve all eligible individuals in communities. Disability is a key dimension of equity and significantly underrepresented in the labor workforce.

The Bazelon Center collaborated with a coalition of disability and labor advocates to respond to the Office of Management and Budget and provide recommendations (link recommendations PDF here) about strategies to increase equity and address discrimination in federal procurement and contracting. The comments were filed on July 6, 2021.

We made recommendations in a number of areas related to federal contracting, including recommendations to strengthen requirements under Section 503 concerning federal contractors’ obligations to take affirmative action to employ people with disabilities across all parts of their workforce. We also recommended modifications to the AbilityOne program to promote competitive integrated employment rather than segregation.  

Disability rights advocates and organized labor have historically made a common cause to promote the integration of people with disabilities into the workforce. Bazelon Center and partners continued this tradition in our submission. See our letter (PDF) here

Thank you to all partners: The Arc of the United States, American Association of People with Disabilities, Association of People Supporting Employment First (APSE), Association on Higher Education and Disability, Autistic Self Advocacy Network, Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, Center for Public Representation, Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, Disability Policy Consortium, Easter Seals, National Down Syndrome Society, TASH, United Cerebral Palsy, Viscardi Center, Communications Workers of America, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Service Employees International Union, SEIU Local 49, SEIU 32BJ, Strategic Organizing Center, Transport Workers Union of America, National Employment Law Project

Bazelon Center Writes Letter Urging Health & Human Services OCR to Provide Clarity While Implementing Section 1557 of the ACA to Prevent Segregation of People with Disabilities

On June 7, 2021 The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law writes to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil rights to urge new regulations implementing Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act to have greater clarity on how the benefit design of health care coverage may discriminate based on disability. It is important that regulations implementing Section 1557 prohibit covered entities from taking actions that result in the segregation of people with disabilities. Read our letter (PDF).

Bazelon Center Opposes Modifications that Would Weaken HIPAA  Privacy Protections

On May 6, 2021, we submitted comments to the HHS Office for Civil Rights in response to proposed modifications that would dramatically weaken privacy protections under the HIPAA Privacy Rule.  We opposed a number of the proposed modifications because they would cause significant harm to individuals with disabilities and interfere with their ability to receive needed services.  In addition, the proposed modifications were not based on actual evidence or data but rather on generalized comments and speculation. As such, these modifications are beyond OCR’s authority to promulgate.  The proposed modifications include removing the requirement that covered entities use “professional judgment” in determining whether five exceptions to the Privacy Rule apply, modifying the exception allowing disclosures necessary to avert a “serious and imminent threat” to require only “serious and reasonably foreseeable harm” and creating a presumption that any asserted harm is reasonably foreseeable, and eliminating the requirement that disclosure for coordination of care be the minimum information necessary.  Read more (PDF) here.

Bazelon Center Submits Comments on Discussion Draft for HCBS Legislation

The Bazelon Center submitted comments on a discussion draft of legislation called the Home Community Based Services (HCBS) Access Act released by members of Congress who solicited feedback from stakeholders. The draft legislation aims to create a set of home and community-based services for people with disabilities that must be covered by states participating in the Medicaid program.  Our comments focus in part on ensuring that these services are inclusive of people with psychiatric disabilities See the letter (PDF) here.

States Must Take Advantage of New Funding for Community-Based Mental Health Services

The Bazelon Center, NAMI, Mental Health America, and NASMHPD urge all states to take advantage of new funding for community-based mental health services available through the American Rescue Plan. The American Rescue Plan is the most recent COVID-19 relief law enacted by Congress. It provides a significant increase in federal Medicaid funding for states that provide any of a specified set of home and community-based services, including mental health services, through the Medicaid program. Learn more here.

LAWSUIT CHALLENGES NEW YORK CITY’S SEGREGATION OF STATEN ISLAND STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

Attorneys filed a major class-action lawsuit challenging New York City’s segregated school system for students with disabilities on Staten Island. The lawsuit alleges that the borough’s separate school district for children with disabilities, known as District 75, denies these students an equal education, forcing them into segregated schools and classrooms without adequate resources and with no meaningful opportunity to be integrated into their community schools. Disability Rights New York, The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, and Disability Rights Advocates work together to support the plaintiffs, three Staten Island students with disabilities. They are not seeking monetary damages; rather, they seek reforms that will compel the New York City Department of Education to provide the resources necessary so that every Staten Island District 75 student has the opportunity to attend their neighborhood schools if they choose. Read the press release (PDF) here. View Class Action Complaint (PDF) here.

U.S. Department of Labor Office of Disability Policy Looking for States to Apply to Newly Launched ASPIRE

• Policy Coordination
• Program Integration
• Evidence-based employment services to promote competitive integrated employment for individuals w/ mental health conditions

Bazelon Center and Other Advocates File Lawsuit Challenging New York City’s Segregation of Staten Island Students with Disabilities

North Carolina Adopts Non-discriminatory COVID-19 Medical Rationing Provisions in Response to Civil Rights Complaint by Bazelon Center, Disability Rights NC, and Other Advocacy Groups

With Objectives Achieved, Plaintiffs Seek Dismissal of Suit for COVID-19 Protections for State Psychiatric Hospital Patients

Bazelon Center and Other Leading Mental Health Organizations Call on States to Prioritize Individuals in Psychiatric Hospitals for Vaccination

Bazelon Center, AAPD, DREDF and 16 Other National Disability Rights Groups Closely Watching Supreme Court Case Challenging the Affordable Care Act

National disability groups are closely following the Supreme Court’s consideration of the challenge to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) brought by Texas and 19 other states and supported by the Trump Administration. Texas argues that the ACA’s individual mandate is unconstitutional and that the entire law must be struck down. The Supreme Court heard arguments in the case, California v. Texas, on Tuesday, November 10. The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF), and 16 other leading disability rights organizations, represented pro bono by law firms Dentons and Baker Hostetler, filed an amicus brief with the US Supreme Court highlighting the crucial health care protections that Congress provided for people with disabilities in the ACA. The ACA prevents people from being denied coverage or charged more due to pre-existing conditions and made coverage of needed services available and affordable to millions of people with disabilities for the first time. Read the press release (PDF) here. Read the amicus brief (PDF) here.

Bazelon Center Applauds Introduction of the Mental Health Justice Act

The Bazelon Center applauds the November 9, 2020 introduction of the Mental Health Justice Act by Reps. Katie Porter, Tony Cárdenas, Mary Gay Scanlon, and Ayanna Pressley. Individuals with mental illnesses and intellectual and developmental disabilities are more likely to experience police violence during arrest, with one out of every four deaths caused by law enforcement officers being a person with a mental illness. Moreover, these individuals are often needlessly incarcerated rather than receiving the community-based services they need. The Mental Health Justice Act would address this by creating a grant program to pay for hiring, training, salary, benefits and additional expenses for mental health provider first responder units. These mental health providers would act as a mental health emergency response team, deployed in lieu of law enforcement officers when 911 is called because someone is in a mental health crisis or related situation. Grant recipients would also receive expert advice through technical assistance from the Disability Rights Section of the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice (DOJ) and from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Read more about the Mental Health Justice Act here.

Bazelon Center and 13 Prominent National Disability Organizations Join Together to Encourage Disability Community to Vote on November 3rd

Bazelon Center Updates Voting Rights Guides, Highlighting Voter Rights for People with Disabilities

Bazelon Center and Partner Organizations Release Principles for Protecting Student Data Privacy and Equity in the Pandemic

Bazelon Center and Other Disability Organizations Send Letter to Senate in Opposition to Nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett

Read the Opposition Nomination letter (PDF) here.

Bazelon Center and 14 Other Disability and Civil Rights Organizations Urge Chief Justices to Endorse Bar Applicants’ Diploma Privilege During Pandemic

Today (October 6), the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, together with fourteen other disability and civil rights groups, sent a letter to the Conference of Chief Justices urging the conference to endorse the widespread adoption of temporary diploma privilege, for individuals applying for admission to the bar during the ongoing pandemic. In-person bar examinations during the COVID-19 pandemic pose a significant danger for communities of color and people with disabilities because of the disproportionate infection and death rates in those communities. This policy would allow qualified law school graduates to practice law without sitting for the bar exam during the pandemic. Read the press release here (PDF). Read the letter (PDF) here.

Bazelon Center and More Than 50 Other Disability Organizations Send Letter to Senate in Opposition to Nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett

Today (October 5), the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, together with more than 50 other organizations representing people with disabilities, sent a letter to the Senate leadership, urging them to reject the nomination of Judge Barrett to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The coalition also states that Congress should not act on any nomination to the Supreme Court until it has passed and the President has signed a COVID-19 relief bill. Read the letter (PDF).

Bazelon Center Releases Review of  Amy Coney Barrett’s Record on Issues Affecting People with Disabilities

Today (September 30), the Bazelon Center released a new report reviewing the U.S. Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett’s record on issues affecting people with disabilities. The review outlines her judicial decisions and other writings on healthcare/the Affordable Care Act, the “public charge” rule, and other disability rights issues. Read the full report here (PDF).

HHS OCR Resolves Federal Complaint Filed Against State of Utah by Bazelon Center and Partners

Today (August 20), the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced the resolution of a federal complaint filed against Utah. The complaint, brought by the Utah Disability Law Center and a coalition of national groups— the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, The Arc of the United States, Center for Public Representation, Autistic Self Advocacy Network, Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund and Samuel Bagenstos—is one of nearly a dozen complaints that have been brought nationwide challenging states’ plans for rationing medical care during the COVID-19 pandemic as discriminating against people with disabilities. Today’s resolution sets a national precedent, with OCR building off earlier resolutions of complaints regarding plans in Alabama, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee and weighing in on the discriminatory impact of a number of provisions common in many states’ rationing plans. Read the announcement. Read the press release (PDF). Read the original complaint (PDF).

Bazelon Center and Partners File Lawsuit against Alameda County for Its Failed Mental Health System

Today (July 30), the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, along with Disability Rights California (DRC), Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, and the Oakland-based law firm Goldstein, Borgen, Dardarian & Ho filed a federal lawsuit under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) against Alameda County and Alameda Health System. The lawsuit challenges the unnecessary and illegal segregation of people with mental health disabilities — especially Black people with disabilities — in psychiatric institutions and the failure to ensure people with disabilities are provided the services they need. Read the press release (PDF).  Read the amended complaint (PDF). A video providing an overview of the lawsuit is available, with personal stories of people who have faced institutionalization in Alameda County.

Bazelon Center and Partners File Federal Complaints Challenging Crisis Standard of Care Plans in COVID-19 Hotspots Arizona and Texas

(July 23) A coalition of state and national disability and civil rights advocacy groups have filed complaints with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights (OCR) challenging the crisis standard of care plans in Arizona and Texas, two states hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. These crisis plans are used to decide who receives life-saving treatment.  Along with state partners, the national groups—the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, The Arc, the Center for Public Representation, Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, and Justice in Aging—argue that the plans discriminate against people with disabilities, older adults, and people of color, placing these communities at risk of substantial and imminent harm—and the real risk of being denied basic and emergency treatment—during the pandemic. Read the press release (PDF). Read the Arizona complaint (PDF). Read the Texas complaint (PDF).

July 20 Letter from Bazelon Center, ACLU, Disability Rights Maryland and NAACP-LDF Demands Urgent Action Following Baltimore Police Shooting of Ricky Walker Jr.

(Updated July 22) The Bazelon Center decries the July 1 shooting of Mr. Ricky Walker, Jr., a Black Baltimore resident with mental health issues, by Baltimore City police officers responding to a 9-1-1 call at his family’s home.  Yesterday, Bazelon, Disability Rights Maryland, the ACLU of Maryland, and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund sent a letter to Baltimore’s mayor, police commissioner, State’s Attorney, and the CEO of Baltimore’s behavioral health authority demanding that they take immediate action to prevent more tragedies like Mr. Walker’s.  The letter asks that Baltimore’s 9-1-1 system dispatch non-law enforcement mobile crisis teams on calls responding to individuals in crisis, and that Baltimore expand and enhance its behavioral health system, including its crisis response system but also longer-term supports, including housing services.  Bazelon calls on Baltimore and all communities to consider a reduced role for the police and additional spending on community-based measures that promote the well-being of all. Read the press release (PDF). Read the full letter (PDF).

HHS OCR Resolves Federal Complaint Filed Against State of Tennessee by Bazelon Center and Partners

Today (June 26), the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced the resolution of a federal complaint filed against Tennessee, one of nearly a dozen complaints filed by a coalition of national disability advocates – the Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, the Center for Public Representation, The Arc of the United States, Autistic Self Advocacy Network, Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund and Samuel Bagenstos — challenging states’ plans for rationing medical care during the COVID-19 pandemic as discriminating against people with disabilities. Medical rationing policies have disproportionately impacted Black people with disabilities, who have higher rates of COVID-19 infection and hospitalization. Today’s resolution sets a national precedent, with OCR building off earlier resolutions of complaints regarding Alabama’s and Pennsylvania’s plans and weighing in for the first time on the discriminatory impact of a number of provisions common in many states’ rationing plans. Read the announcement (PDF). Read the press release (PDF). Read the original complaint (PDF).

Bazelon Center and Partners File Preliminary Injunction Addressing Undue COVID-19 Risk at Mental Health Facilities

The Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, the Connecticut Legal Rights Project, and Center for Public Representation this week (June 10) filed a motion for a preliminary injunction in a class action case challenging Connecticut’s failure to take adequate steps to protect residents of two state psychiatric hospitals from contracting and dying from COVID-19. Both hospitals, Connecticut Valley Hospital (CVH) and Whiting Forensic Hospital (WFH), have had outbreaks of the virus. Five patients at CVH have died from COVID-19. At CVH and WFH, Defendants have confirmed 73 cases of COVID-19 among patients and 64 cases among staff, since testing began. Read the full press release (PDF).

Bazelon Center and Eighteen Other Leading National Disability Rights Organizations File Amicus Brief in California v. Texas, Defending the Affordable Care Act 

This week (May 13), the Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, American Association of People with Disabilities, the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, and 16 other leading disability rights organizations, represented pro bono by law firms Dentons and Baker Hostetler, filed an amicus brief with the US Supreme Court highlighting the crucial health care protections that Congress provided for people with disabilities in the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The ACA prevented people from being denied coverage or charged more due to pre-existing conditions and made coverage of needed services available and affordable to millions of people with disabilities for the first time. In March, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case, formerly known as Texas v. US and now known as California v. Texas, which it will hear in the fall. Read the full press release (PDF). Read the amicus brief (PDF).

Bazelon Center and Partners Release Guidance on COVID-19 Hospital Visitation Policies

Today (May 15), the Bazelon Center and partners have released a guide setting forth what hospitals and doctors’ offices must do to comply with the ADA and other disability rights laws when there are no-visitor policies in place due to COVID. The guide explains the requirement to make reasonable modifications to such policies and to allow a person to bring someone else to support them when necessary to accommodate the person’s disability. Read the guide (PDF).

Bazelon Center Joins Connecticut Legal Rights Project in Federal Class Action Lawsuit Addressing the Spread of COVID-19 in Two Connecticut Psychiatric Hospitals

Yesterday (May 7) the Bazelon Center joined the Connecticut Legal Rights Project in a federal class action lawsuit addressing the spread of COVID-19 in two Connecticut psychiatric hospitals, where patients face grave risks to their health and safety as a result of the facilities failure to take adequate measures to protect residents, in violation of the Constitution, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and other laws.  The plaintiffs ask the state to take steps to ensure the safety of patients in two state psychiatric hospitals by discharging individuals to community services and ensuring adequate safety measures for those remaining in the hospitals. Read the complaint.

Bazelon Center Urges Decrease of Number of Individuals in Psychiatric Hospitals during COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has created enormous health risks for people confined in psychiatric hospitals. Today (April 15), the Bazelon Center released a statement urging states and localities to decrease the number of individuals in psychiatric hospitals during this pandemic by reducing admissions and accelerating discharges. Read a copy of the statement (PDF)

Bazelon Center and Partners Release Rationing Evaluation Tool

Together with other partners, the Bazelon Center today (April 9) released a tool for evaluating Crisis Standard of Care plans that ration scarce medical resources, in order to determine whether they comply with federal laws prohibiting disability discrimination. The tool contains six questions that are useful for scrutinizing these rationing plans. It is a companion to the guidance (PDF) that we and our partners released on April 3, 2020 applying HHS Office of Civil Rights’ bulletin concerning disability discrimination in medical rationing schemes. The tool, “Evaluation Framework For Crisis Standard of Care Plans,” is available to download (PDF). (Updated 11/30/20)

Alabama Withdraws Discriminatory Ventilator Rationing Policy and Issues Directive About Non-Discrimination in Accessing Life-Saving Treatment

On April 8, in response to a complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) by the Alabama Disability Advocacy Program (ADAP), the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, and other disability rights advocates, the state of Alabama has withdrawn its discriminatory ventilator rationing policy and instructed hospitals across the state that they cannot discriminate against people with disabilities in accessing treatment. The previous policy placed the lives of disabled adults and children at serious risk, in violation of federal law, by ordering hospitals to “not offer mechanical ventilator support for patients” with “severe or profound mental retardation,” “moderate to severe dementia,” and “severe traumatic brain injury.” Read the Press Release (PDF) and read the original complaint (PDF).

Bazelon Center Statement on the Urgency of Reducing the Jail Population During the COVID-19 Crisis

Today, April 6, 2020, the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law released a statement urging all jurisdictions to: (1) Immediately release a majority of the individuals with mental illness held in jails, and (2) Take immediate steps to divert from jail the majority of individuals with mental illness who are arrested. Read the Bazelon Center Statement (PDF).

Large Coalition of National Disability and Health Advocacy Organizations Endorse Guidance On Preventing Disability Discrimination in COVID-19 Treatment Rationing

The Bazelon Center and partners released today (April 3) a guidance document for states and hospitals on avoiding disability discrimination in the event of rationing of life-saving medical treatment.  The guidance is based on the bulletin that the US Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights issued on March 28 concerning the requirements of federal disability rights laws in the context of rationing scarce medical treatment.  The guidance explains how the principles in HHS’s bulletin would apply in practical terms, what those principles mean for covered entities developing and implementing rationing protocols, and what concrete steps can be taken to comply with federal law.  The guidance is endorsed by nearly 90 national disability rights organizations. Read the press release (PDF) and the guidance (PDF) here.

Bazelon Center and Partners File Additional Complaints of Disability Discrimination in COVID-19 Treatment Rationing

On Tuesday, March 24, the Bazelon Center, together with the Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program, the Arc of the United States, the Center for Public Representation, and Samuel Bagenstos, filed a complaint today with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) contending that Alabama’s ventilator rationing plan discriminates against people with intellectual and cognitive disabilities, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other laws. The complainants are ADAP and The Arc, on behalf of Alabamians with intellectual and cognitive disabilities who will likely die if medical professionals are allowed to withhold health care services from them on the basis of their disabilities. The complaints ask HHS to take immediate action to address this discrimination and assist local jurisdictions and providers to develop non-discriminatory approaches before there are lethal consequences to application of these illegal policies. The day before, we filed a complaint challenging Washington state’s discriminatory scheme to ration COVID-19 treatment. Read the Press Release (PDF)..

On Friday, March 27, we filed two additional complaints for the states of Kansas (PDF) and Tennessee (PDF). Read more about our Kansas complaint (PDF) and the Tennessee complaint (PDF).

JOIN THE COALITION FOR SMART SAFETY AND THE CONSORTIUM FOR CITIZENS WITH DISABILITIES RIGHTS TASK FORCE ON FEBRUARY 3, 2020 FOR HOUSE AND SENATE-SIDE BRIEFINGS

January 30, 2020 – On February 3, 2020, the Coalition for Smart Safety, a coalition of mental health, disability, civil rights, education, and privacy groups convened by the Bazelon Center and the National Disability Rights Network, together with the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities Rights Task Force, is hosting congressional briefings titled Debunking the Myths:  Mental Health and Gun Violence. The House side briefing, presented in conjunction with Representatives Langevin and Napolitano, will be at 1 pm. The Senate side briefing, presented in cooperation with Senators Blumenthal and Casey, will be at 3 pm. See the invitations for details on the speakers and RSVP.

2/3/20 – Debunking The Myths: Mental Health and Gun Violence (PDF) – 1 PM House-side Briefing Invite and RSVP (PDF)

2/3/20 – Debunking The Myths: Mental Health and Gun Violence – 3 PM Senate-side Briefing Invite and RSVP (PDF)

THE BAZELON CENTER FOR MENTAL HEALTH LAW: DIVERSION TO WHAT? EVIDENCE-BASED MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES THAT PREVENT NEEDLESS INCARCERATION

October 1, 2019 – The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law has released a report describing the essential community mental health services that must be expanded to divert people with significant psychiatric disabilities from the criminal justice system: Diversion to What? Evidence-Based Mental Health Services That Prevent Needless Incarceration (PDF).

Diversion to What? is designed to provide guidance to stakeholders engaged in efforts to reduce incarceration of people with psychiatric disabilities, laying out the types of services that should be the focus of such efforts. The report describes what those services do and how they are structured, and identifies the evidence demonstrating their success in reducing incarceration.

Download the “Diversion to What?” (PDF). The Bazelon Center gratefully acknowledges essential support for this report provided by the MacArthur Foundation’s Safety and Justice Challenge and the Ford Foundation.