Lawsuit Claims State is Denying Mental Health Services to Medicaid-Eligible Children

‘The state’s current approach is not only a serious violation of federal law, it is very poor public policy,’ Steven Brown, Executive Director of the ACLU of Rhode Island

The lawsuit says the state is in violation of the Medicaid Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Rehabilitation Act.
The lawsuit says the state is in violation of the Medicaid Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Rehabilitation Act.
cmh2315fl / Flickr
Share
The lawsuit says the state is in violation of the Medicaid Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Rehabilitation Act.
The lawsuit says the state is in violation of the Medicaid Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Rehabilitation Act.
cmh2315fl / Flickr
Lawsuit Claims State is Denying Mental Health Services to Medicaid-Eligible Children
Copy

A group of advocacy organizations filed a class action lawsuit yesterday against the state of Rhode Island for denying Medicaid-eligible children access to mental health care. The 68-page federal lawsuit, brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island and advocacy groups Disability Rights Rhode Island and New York-based Children’s Rights, says this puts children at higher risk of being unnecessarily institutionalized.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court, was brought on behalf of Medicaid-eligible children under 21 years old who require intensive home and community-based services. The complaint says the state is in violation of the Medicaid Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act.

This story was reported by The Public’s Radio. You can read the entire story here.

Rhode Island and the rest of the Northeast sweltered through record-breaking heat, with temperatures soaring into the 90s and beyond—before a sharp cool-down is expected to bring dramatic relief by week’s end
A U.S. House vote to rescind funding threatens about 10% of the operating budget for The Public’s Radio and Rhode Island PBS—jeopardizing local journalism, education programs, and community coverage
As fish stocks slowly recover, tighter regulations, climate change, and corporate consolidation are transforming the once open-access, family-run world of commercial fishing
Complaint centers on meaning of five-word clause in federal regulations
Funded largely by the CDC, the new Providence facility will track everything from STIs to PFAS to wastewater pathogens — with more space, better tech, and room to respond to the next health crisis