2009-09-08 State Discriminated Against Mentally Ill

2009-09-08 James Barron New York Times \US healthcare/mental\New York City\healthcare/mental/homes http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/09/nyregion/09mental.html State Discriminated Against Mentally Ill, Judge Rules State Discriminated Against Mentally Ill  New York State discriminated against thousands of mentally ill people in New York City by leaving them in privately run adult homes, which effectively replaced state-run psychiatric hospitals more than a generation ago but turned out to be little more than institutions themselves, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday.

The judge, Nicholas G. Garaufis of Federal District Court in Brooklyn, ruled that the state was violating the Americans With Disabilities Act by housing more than 4,300 mentally ill people in New York City in more than two dozen adult homes. He said the residents had little hope of mingling with anyone in the wider community.

The nonprofit group that sued the state had asked Judge Garaufis to tell state officials they could no longer steer mentally ill people into adult homes. He stopped short of that but directed the state to submit a "remedial plan" by mid-October.

&ldquo;New York State discriminated against thousands of mentally ill people in New York City by leaving them in privately run adult homes, which ... turned out to be little more than institutions themselves.&rdquo;   