COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The federal government has sued South Carolina, saying the state hasn’t done enough to ensure people with earnest mental illnesses are removed from group homes and helped return to the community where they work and can lead an independent life.
The lawsuit filed Monday said the state is violating the Americans with Disabilities Act by choosing through monetary and political decisions to keep people with mental illnesses in group homes where they cannot make their own decisions about what they eat , choosing their own roommate and not being able to find a way to work at a job or go to church and do other activities.
The state has been aware of the problems since another lawsuit in 2016, and federal officials warned it of the problems and possible legal action in a 23-page report in May 2023, U.S. Justice Department lawyers said in court filings.
“People with disabilities in South Carolina can and must have the opportunity to receive services in their own homes rather than being isolated in institutions,” Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney in the agency’s Civil Rights Division, said in a statement.
While Republican South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster questioned the timing of the lawsuit, which comes in the final weeks of Democratic President Joe Biden’s term, he is working on solutions to the issues raised in the lawsuit, spokesman Brandon Charochak said in an explanation.
One idea is to combine the state Department of Mental Health and the Department of Disabilities and Special Needs and place the fresh agency in the governor’s Cabinet under his supervision.
“The fact remains that our state’s health care system is fragmented by non-Cabinet agencies that are unaccountable and inefficient. The governor believes now is the time to change this,” Charochak said.
Federal officials proposed spending more money and ensuring the state’s Medicaid program makes adequate payments for programs called assertive community treatment.
As part of the programs, teams visit people with earnest mental illnesses in their homes. There is at least one psychiatrist, two psychiatric nurses, employment and substance abuse specialists, and other professionals.
Research shows that teams can often avert a mental health crisis. They can also provide crisis teams that can respond quickly to prevent major problems, from police involvement to psychiatric hospital stays, the Justice Department investigation found.
There are only four teams in South Carolina — in Columbia, Greenville and Dillon — and they don’t provide statewide coverage. They also have low staffing levels.
Around 1,000 people currently live in shared apartments. Many of them told federal investigators they wanted to live alone but encountered problems.
Federal officials spent months studying so-called congregate care facilities, talking to residents, administrators and people who treat independently living people with mental illnesses outside their homes.
The identities of those who spoke were kept anonymous for privacy reasons, including one dormitory resident who suggested that living conditions were not much different than decades ago, when people with mental illness were housed in huge centers with no private rooms and little individual attention were .
Residence residents are often only allowed one monthly trip to Walmart or Dollar General. They have no opportunity to work because they cannot get transport to their workplace. Sometimes the house is fenced with locked doors and surveillance cameras.
“Something like a little institution in here,” the resident told investigators.
Homes are required by law to display calendars of activities. Investigators found that nearly all of the events were home-based events such as arts and crafts, Name That Tune, Bible study, bingo, bubble fun and painting, federal officials told the state.
“There is no vision of ever getting out. There is no vision of a real life. …There is no vision of anything. You just feel stuck. “It’s almost like hospitals used to be 150 years ago,” a state employee who regularly visits a home told investigators.
The report cited the case of a 40-year-old man who had been living independently for three years when a break-in at his home triggered a mental health crisis that led to him being hospitalized in a psychiatric hospital for several months. He was released to a group home where he has lived for 11 years. He told investigators he wanted to live independently, but was not offered any aid.
A 43-year-old woman told investigators she had a mental health crisis in 2020 and went to a group home because her parents thought it would aid her regain her independence. Now her parents are trying to get her out because she hasn’t received any aid to support herself.
Others had a financial crisis that was accompanied by a mental health crisis and needed aid with affordable housing or job skills.
