New
Jersey
Mental
Illness
Case
Settled
–
Similar
Case
Pending
in
Illinois
In July,
2009 an
important
mental
health
case was
settled
in New
Jersey.
According
to the
Bazelon
Center
for
Mental
Health
Law, the
terms of
the
settlement
require
the New
Jersey
Department
of Human
Services
to
release
hundreds
of
people
from the
state
psychiatric
hospitals
– often
after
years of
institutionalization
– and to
provide
them
with the
services
they
need to
live
independent,
integrated
lives in
the
community.
Of
particular
interest
to us in
Illinois,
the New
Jersey
also
agreed
to
develop
more
than a
thousand
new
permanent
supportive
housing
(PSH)
units in
community
settings.
PSH
provides
individuals
their
own
apartments
and the
services
they
need to
support
their
recovery.
A large
body of
research
shows
that
supportive
housing
is less
costly
and
provides
more
improvement
in the
mental
health
symptoms
of the
residents
than
other
mental
health
placements.
The
individuals
who live
in PSH
also
prefer
it to
other
types of
disability
housing.
The
reason
this
case is
of
interest
to us in
Illinois
is that
there is
a very
similar
case
working
its way
through
federal
courts
in
Illinois.
The
plaintiffs
are
being
represented
by Equip
for
Equality
and the
American
Civil
Liberty
Union.
The
case,
originally
named
Williams
v.
Blagojevich,
but now
renamed
Williams
v. Quinn,
was
filed by
several
residents
of a
special
type of
Illinois
nursing
home
called
an
institute
for
mental
disease
or IMD.
IMDs are
like a
regular
nursing
home
except
their
clients
are
people
with
mental
illness.
Illinois
currently
houses
more
than
17,000
people
with
mental
illness
in
regular
nursing
homes
and IMDs
and
leads
the
nation
in the
number
of
people
with
mental
illness
in this
type of
housing.
Like the
New
Jersey
case,
Williams
alleges
that the
state's
failure
to
provide
community
services
for
these
people
violates
its duty
under
the
Americans
with
Disabilities
Act
(ADA)
and the
U.S.
Supreme
Court's
Olmstead
decision.
In the
Olmstead
case,
the
Supreme
Court
said
that
individuals
with
disabilities
have to
be given
services
in the
least
restrictive
environment.
Both the
New
Jersey
and
Williams
cases
show
that
services
given
through
community
bases
permanent
supportive
housing
are much
less
restrictive
and have
much
better
outcomes
than
nursing
home or
other
types of
institutional
placements.
PSH is
much
cheaper
than
nursing
home or
IMD
placements.
According
to the
Supportive
Housing
Providers
Association,
nursing
home
placements
cost the
State of
Illinois
an
average
of $117
per
person/per
day,
while
PSH for
persons
with
mental
illness
costs
the
state
only of
$28 per
person/per
day on
average.
The
state
could
pay for
four
units of
supportive
housing
with the
same
amount
of money
that it
currently
pays for
one
person
in a
nursing
home.
The good
news is
that the
Illinois
Department
of
Health
and
Human
Services
is
working
on an
out of
court
settlement
in the
Williams
case
While
the
terms of
the
agreement
are
still
under
negotiation
in
court,
it is
widely
expected
that the
result
will be
similar
to the
one in
New
Jersey.
If that
turns
out to
be the
case, it
will be
a
win-win
for
everyone
involved.
People
with
mental
illness
will
receive
much
better
treatment.
More
people
will be
able to
be
housed
and the
State
will
save
more
money.
What’s
not to
like?
An
excellent
summary
of
recent
developments
in the
Williams
case can
be found
at:
http://www.truthout.org/1113093
And for
more
information
you can
visit:
http://www.equipforequality.org/news/pressreleases/williamsblagojevichfiles.php
For more
information
about
the New
Jersey
case,
visit
the
Bazelon
Center’s
website:
http://www.bazelon.org//newsroom/2009/7-29-07NJPAsettles.htm
