On October 26, 2026, CPR and its partners submitted a friend of the court brief urging the First Circuit to affirm a U.S. District Court’s decision rejecting proposed changes to a December 2024 Settlement Agreement between the State of Maine and the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). The Agreement resolved alleged violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act by reforming the State’s behavioral health system, expanding access to community-based services, and preventing the unnecessary institutionalization of children with disabilities.
Previously, CPR and partners at the ACLU of Maine, Disability Rights Maine, and GLAD Law successfully opposed these same changes proposed by the DOJ and the State of Maine. Their joint proposal would have significantly weakened the Settlement Agreement by limiting families’ access to information about new community service options, removing provider training requirements, preventing timely clinical assessments and transition planning for justice-involved youth, and eliminating key safeguards in place to monitor children’s receipt of integrated services. The Coalition’s recent press release can be found here