Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022 | 3:36 p.m.
Nevada has been found in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act for institutionalizing children with behavioral health disabilities who could have remained with their families if provided sufficient resources, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The state has segregated hundreds of children with behavioral health disabilities each year, sending them to hospitals and residential treatment facilities, an investigation by the Justice Department found.
Children with disabilities could stay with their families given adequate, necessary and community-based services, the Justice Department said.
The state is lacking in community-based services, including intensive in-home services, crisis services, intensive care coordination, respite, therapeutic foster care and other family-based supports, the Justice Department said.
Nevada also fails to connect children with behavioral health disabilities to services that would allow them to successfully return to the community, according to the Justice Department.
Hundreds of children are segregated for months, and over a quarter of those isolated in residential treatment facilities stay for more than a year, the Justice Department said. Many are often placed out of state and far from their homes, the investigation found.
“Children with disabilities should receive the services they need to remain with their families and in their communities,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a statement.
“The Civil Rights Division looks forward to working with Nevada to bring the state into compliance with federal law and prevent the unnecessary institutionalization of children,” she said.
State officials have been eager to work with the department to make that happen, the Justice Department said.
Over the last year, Nevada has used federal resources to invest in and provide resources to families and children in need of community-based behavioral health services, Gov. Steve Sisolak said in a statement.
He cited millions of dollars in funding for things such as care coordination, in-home treatment and crisis response. Funds are also being built into the recommended state budget for additional changes, he said.
“For far too long, Nevada has not invested in the appropriate health resources for our children and our families — this new report shines a bright light on that fact,” Sisolak said.
