According to a recent report from The Carrboro Citizen, the U.S. Department of Justice has informed the state of North Carolina that it has violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and needs to improve its standards for mental illness patients.
The department told the state it has failed to provide adequate community-based accommodations for citizens with mental illness. The justice bureau recently completed an eight-month investigation that discovered thousands of mentally handicapped residents are unable to be served in their local neighborhood, and thus, are needlessly institutionalized.
Officials with the Labor Department expressed that services and support need to be made available within communities for these individuals. However, the agency’s report to the state relays, “as the state has acknowledged, individuals with mental illness end up in adult care homes because existing housing programs are woefully inadequate.”
State officials have since agreed that integrated, community-based services would be “appropriate and effective.”
The case highlights the importance of companies or government bodies abiding by regulations and other industry standards, lest they be fined or brought to court for professional liability failures.
