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Summary: At least 200 children with disabilities and significant medical needs were "unnecessarily segregated" in nursing homes for long-term care.
[22 July 2013] - The US Department of Justice on Monday sued Florida over its alleged failure to provide adequate care to disabled children, who wound up being wrongfully institutionalised in nursing home facilities.
In its complaint, alleging violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Justice Department said nearly 200 children with disabilities and significant medical needs were "unnecessarily segregated" in nursing homes for long-term care.
The lawsuit, seeking compensatory damages for the affected children, said they could have been treated in their homes or other community-based settings, but the state failed to provide access to the necessary services to make that possible.
The Justice Department said it had met with Florida officials on numerous occasions since late last year to resolve the alleged ADA violations previously highlighted in a so-called findings letter.
But it said "serious, systemic and ongoing" violations continued in the state, due to a lack of sufficient community-based alternatives to care for disabled children in nursing facilities.
In some cases, Florida health officials had left children in nursing homes for years before the children even got the screening needed to evaluate whether they required institutional treatment, the Justice Department said.
"The ADA requires public entities to ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided services in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs," the DOJ said.
Florida officials could not be reached for immediate comment on the lawsuit, which was filed in US District Court in Fort Lauderdale.
Further Information:
- BULGARIA: Court finds Bulgaria in breach of human rights convention over care home deaths (19 June 2013)
- UKRAINE: A city adapts to the needs of children with disabilities (11 December 2012)
- RUSSIA: State discourages doctors from diagnosing autism at an early age to shake-off the responsibility (12 September 2012)
- BULGARIA: Close all children's institutions, urges UN (16 August 2011)
- SERBIA: Historic victory against segregation of children with disabilities (2 August 2011)
- KENYA: Rights groups accuse govt of patient abuse (3 March 2011)
- DISABILITY: Abandoned & Disappeared - Mexico’s Segregation and Abuse of Children and Adults with Disabilities (Disability Rights International, November 2010)
- More on children's rights in the United States