Litigation Updates

On January 3, 2024, CPR and its co-counsel team filed litigation on behalf of Medicaid-eligible children in Georgia who are being deprived of the mental health services they need to treat their conditions and to remain at home with their families.

After months of negotiation, CPR and its partners, the Disability Rights Center (DRC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ), have reached a new settlement agreement to provide community residential alternatives to class members who are institutionalized at the Glencliff Home, New Hampshire’s only publicly-operated nursing facility.  

Six people with disabilities who are unnecessarily institutionalized in nursing facilities, joined by the Massachusetts Senior Action Council, filed a class action lawsuit today in federal district court in Boston. Their complaint claims that Governor Charlie Baker and other state officials have failed to provide community residential services and supports, and this failure has forced thousands of people with disabilities to live in segregated nursing facilities rather than in the community. The Commonwealth’s failure violates the Americans with Disabilities (ADA) and the Medicaid Act and disproportionately impacts people of color.

On 8/12/22, Judge John Acosta of the United States District Court issued a final decision in Lane v Brown, finding that the State had substantially complied with all requirements in the Settlement Agreement and dismissing the case.

Judge John Acosta of the United States District Court has scheduled a final hearing to determine if the State of Oregon has complied with its obligations under the Settlement Agreement in Lane v. Brown.

On April 17, 2022, the district court found the State of New Mexico finally achieved compliance with a 2019 settlement agreement and dismissed the case of Jackson v. Los Lunas Community Program.  The class action litigation was originally filed in 1987 on behalf of hundreds of persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities who lived in the state’s two public institutions.

Based upon its successful ADA class action litigation in Oregon, CPR partnered with Disability Rights North Carolina (DRNC) to pursue an initiative and potential litigation to expand supported employment services and eliminate reliance on segregated sheltered workshops in North Carolina. 

On September 27, 2021, Judge Michael Ponsor approved the Joint Motion for Dismissal in Hutchinson v. Patrick, finding the defendants to be in substantial compliance with the 2013 Amended Settlement Agreement.  This Order concludes a 14-year class action lawsuit which dramatically expanded outreach, transition planning, and home and community-based services for individuals with Acquired Brain Injuries (ABI) in Massachusetts.

On August 24, 2021, CPR joined Massachusetts officials in requesting dismissal of Hutchinson v. Patrick, an ADA class action lawsuit which dramatically expanded outreach, transition planning, and home and community-based services for individuals with Acquired Brain Injuries (ABI).  Originally filed in 2007, the Hutchinson case was brought on behalf of thousands of persons with ABI who were unnecessarily institutionalized in nursing and long-term rehabilitation facilities.

CPR and its partners, the Disability Rights Center of Kansas, AARP Foundation, and the law firm Shook, Hardy & Bacon, have reached an agreement with the State of Kansas to expand mental health services and provide more community residential options for individuals living in, or at risk of being admitted to, Nursing Facilities for Mental Health (NFMHs).