AMHI Consent Decree - Advocacy Initiative Network of Maine

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AMHI Consent Decree

Monday, 17 December 2007

Progress Report (February 2008)
Cover Letter	Microsoft Word*	Adobe PDF*
Part I: Systems Development
Consent Decree Quarterly Report	Microsoft Word*	Adobe PDF*
Part II - Operation of the Mental Health System
BRAP - Wait List Monitoring Report	Microsoft Word*	Adobe PDF*
Consent Decree Paragraph 27 Report: Grievances filed from July 1, 2007 – December 31, 2007	Microsoft Word*	Adobe PDF*
DHHS contract with Maine Medical Center Department of Vocational Services		Adobe PDF*
MHRT/C Employment Competencies	Microsoft Word*	Adobe PDF*
DHHS & OMHS Un met Needs Cover Letter	Microsoft Word*	Adobe PDF*
Unmet Needs by CSN		Adobe PDF*	Microsoft Excel*
Supported Employment Services in Maine: Evaluating Fidelity, Services and Outcomes	Microsoft Word*	Adobe PDF*
Performance and Quality Improvement Standards - January 2008		Adobe PDF*
Public Education- Standard 34 (October-December 2007)	Microsoft Word*	Adobe PDF*
Performance Indicators and Quality Improvement Standards
Appendix: Adult Mental Health Data Sources	Microsoft Word*	Adobe PDF*
Part III - Riverview Psychiatric Center
Performance Improvement Report	Microsoft Word*	Adobe PDF*

Response to Court Master Letter

Court Master Progress Report

To read an article in the Kennebec Journal entitled, "2006 CONSENT DECREE AGREEMENT" click Read More.

2006 CONSENT DECREE AGREEMENT
Former judge: State not obeying law

Mon. Dec. 17, 2007
Kenebec Journal

AUGUSTA -- Daniel Wathen, charged by the courts with overseeing Maine's mental health system, said the state violated a court-ordered agreement when it awarded a contract to an outside firm without his permission. Wathen also said that the contract puts patients at risk of not being able to access the care mandated in a 1990 consent decree.
Wathen, a former Maine Supreme Court chief justice, has asked Superior Court Justice Nancy D. Mills to step in and direct the Maine Department of Health and Human Services to comply with the plan she approved in 2006. That plan aims to bring the department into compliance with the 17-year-old consent decree, signed to settle a class-action lawsuit brought by patients over conditions at the former Augusta Mental Health Institute following the deaths of several patients.
State mental health officials agreed to comply with the terms of the consent decree by 1995, but they have been found in contempt of court several times since then for missing court deadlines. "The agreement was entered into without my approval and, in my judgment, is not consistent with the principles and requirements of the (consent decree) settlement agreement and the comprehensive plan" approved by Mills in 2006, Wathen said.
State officials, however, believe Wathen is overreacting. They said they are working to address his concerns. Ronald Welch, the state's top mental health official, said his department sent proposed revisions to Wathen for his consideration. "We will keep working ahead on this and seek resolution" with the court master, the state director of adult mental health services said.
The contract Wathen is contesting was given to Innovative Resource Group LLC, doing business as APS Healthcare Midwest, for managed-care services. The company will control what mental health services will be funded by state programs and what services each patient is eligible for.
"Plainly and simply, the department has not yet completed the first step in discharging its responsibility under the plan to assure that each of the seven networks provide reasonable access to at least the eight core mental health services," he said.
Helen Bailey, a lawyer with the Augusta-based Disability Rights Center which represents more than 3,000 past and present Augusta Mental Health Institute and Riverview Psychiatric Center patients, said the state moved ahead with changes without the required OK from the court. "(The court master) did not approve the contract and the plan requires that he approve it," Bailey said. "They knew that and yet they went forward with
it."
The heart of the consent decree requires each patient to participate in planning his or her own treatment with other members of the medical team, she said. If representatives of the managed-care contractor can overturn those decisions, patient decisions can be overturned.
Services in some parts of Maine may need to be strengthened, Welch said, but he disagreed with the court master's overall assessment.
The Legislature and governor have mandated that state human services officials impose a new managed care system on mental-health treatment for both adults and children, and for drug and alcohol treatment.
The AMHI consent decree controls only adult mental health services.
Welch said the legislative mandate to quickly implement the umbrella managed care system in all three areas forced his hand to push forward with the program for adult mental health services as well. But he agreed with Wathen that the managed-care contract cannot shield state officials from their responsibilities under the consent decree. "I think he's right, we're the defendants (in the court case) and we can't contract out our being the defendants," Welch said.
Wathen said he was asking the judge to step into the case now because he has been unable to work out a voluntary resolution. "Because those two things (managed care and the missing services identified by the court master) are so central to the (1990) settlement agreement and the
comprehensive plan (approved by Mills in 2006), it is appropriate for the judge to enter and exercise supervisory authority," Wathen said.
Gary Remal -- 621-5642
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 06 February 2008 )