[NYAPRS Enews] Paterson Submits Paltry Adult Home Suit Response

[Harvey Rosenthal]

NYAPRS Note: The Paterson Administration's Friday evening response to
federal Judge Garaufis' ruling that they offer alternative community
housing for 4,300 adult home residents with psychiatric disabilities
represents an embarrassing outrage to all New Yorkers.  

Over the course of its 17 page summary, the state appears to challenge
the Judge's standing to require them to offer more substantive responses
than what they actually offer, which amounts to near cursory annual
notices to residents of their rights to live in more integrated
community settings and access to 1,000 supported housing alternatives
over the next 6 years (none next year and 200 a year for the following 5
years). 

Along the way, the state distorts the 2002 Adult Care Facilities Work
Group's recommendations that identified a group of 800 residents that
the Work Group had viewed as ready to leave immediately over 2002-3 and
suggesting that the 1,000 they currently offer bests that total. A
simple reading of the report
(http://www.health.state.ny.us/facilities/adult_care/workgroup_report/10
-2002/pdf/workgroup_report.pdf) demonstrates that the Work Group found
that 800 could be moved promptly (2002-3), and that we expected an
additional 5,200 be appropriate for and desiring of both supported and
congregate community alternatives over the years that followed
(ironically all 6,000 would have been moved by now had the State
followed the Work Group's plan and offered the substantive actions
anticipated by the Judge). Advocates are planning numerous responses:
stay tuned for details.


 


State Proposes 1,000 Housing Units For NYC Adult-Home Residents


By Cara Matthews Gannett News Service  November 7, 2009


  State officials on Friday evening filed a U.S. District Court-ordered
remedial plan for how to ensure that residents of adult homes in New
York City have the opportunity to live in settings that are more
integrated into the community. District Court Judge Nicholas Garaufis
ruled in September that about 4,300 people with mental illness living in
New York City adult homes were not getting adequate care. The judge said
that was a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the
Rehabilitation Act, which mandate that they live in the least
restrictive setting possible.

   Under the plan, which has to be approved by the court, the state
would fund 200 units of supported housing per year for five
years-2011-12 through 2015-16-for a total of 1,000 units. The housing
and other elements of the plan, which include educating adult-home
residents about the supportive-housing option and performing clinical
evaluations of their eligibility, are contingent on the Legislature's
passing budgets that include adequate funding, according to the plan.

   If the number of people eligible for supported housing exceeded the
number of units available, the state would seek additional funding
through the budget and assistance from the federal government.

   If state officials believe the number of individuals who want to move
into supported housing is less than the number of units being provided,
they would ask the court to modify the order and reduce the number of
units. If the opposite were true, the state would submit a proposal to
deal with the shortfall, the plan said.

   The U.S. Department of Justice requested permission to intervene in
the lawsuit, which Disability Advocates Inc. filed six years ago on
behalf of the adult-home residents. Adult homes are for-profit
institutions that have long been criticized for their conditions and
treatment of the mentally ill. The Justice Department told the court
that the state's remedy may serve as a model for other courts around the
country with similar cases.

Remedial Plan <http://www.scribd.com/doc/22242738/Remedial-Plan>  

http://statepolitics.lohudblogs.com/2009/11/07/state-proposes-1000-housi
ng-units-for-nyc-adult-home-residents/ 

--------------

State Of New York Submits Remedial Plan In Adult Home Litigation
Proposal Would Provide New Supported Housing Opportunities to Adult Home
Residents with Mental Illness 

Paterson News Release   November 6, 2009

Governor David A. Paterson today announced that the State of New York
has submitted a plan that, if implemented, would offer Supported Housing
to individuals with mental illness who currently reside in certain adult
homes in New York City. The plan was prepared in compliance with a
recently issued court order in a lawsuit that commenced in 2003.

"One of the biggest challenges facing government is how to allocate
limited resources among the State's vulnerable populations with diverse
needs, especially now given the budgetary constraints imposed by the
financial crisis facing the State," said Governor Paterson. "This is why
it is so important that we act to cut current year spending immediately.
I have called the Legislature to convene in extraordinary session on
Tuesday and urge lawmakers to act on my Deficit Reduction Plan at that
time."

The lawsuit was brought in federal court in the Eastern District of New
York more than six years ago. Two months ago, following a bench trial,
United States District Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis issued a decision
finding that individuals with mental illness who live in adult homes are
not sufficiently integrated into the community in violation of the
Americans with Disabilities Act as interpreted by the Supreme Court's
1999 Olmstead v. L.C. decision. The court ordered the State to submit a
remedial plan in conformance with its decision. 

If implemented, the plan, which was filed with the court on November 6,
2009, would not require an adult home resident to move to Supported
Housing if he or she does not want to move, and a resident would not be
offered Supported Housing if he or she is not clinically appropriate for
such environment, in the judgment of a qualified clinician. 

Supported Housing units funded by the Office of Mental Health are
apartments occupied by individuals with mental illness who are able to
prepare meals, clean, budget and manage medication with minimal
assistance. Adult homes are licensed by the Department of Health, but
are not State operated.

The State is represented in the litigation by the Office of the Attorney
General. The court is expected to rule on the State's plan and issue a
final judgment in the case in the near future. At that time, the State
will evaluate its options for appeal. The State would not be required to
implement the plan unless it is accepted by the court and not reversed
on an appeal, if an appeal is pursued.

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