Case: United States v. Rhode Island

1:14-cv-00175 | U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island

Filed Date: Jan. 6, 2014

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Case Summary

On January 6, 2014, the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice sent a findings letter to the attorney general for the State of Rhode Island. The letter reported that the Division's investigation of Rhode Island's educational, vocational, and shelter services for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) found that Rhode Island violated Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, by "unjustifiably" isolating persons with intellectual and developmental …

On April 8, 2014, the Civil Rights Division filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island against the State of Rhode Island under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12131-12134. The DOJ asked the court for declaratory and injunctive relief, alleging that the defendant discriminated against people with I/DD by failing to provide state services in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs and by putting Rhode Island high school students with I/DD at "serious risk of segregation" by failing to inform them of or provide them with state services that would allow them to work in an integrated workplace. The plaintiff further claimed that Rhode Island failed to reasonably modify its delivery of its services to prevent them from causing unnecessary segregation on the basis of disability.

On the same day that the complaint was filed, both parties submitted a proposed consent decree to settle the lawsuit; presumably, they had been engaged in negotiations since the issuance of the January findings letter.

On April 9, 2014, the District Court (Senior Judge Ronald R. Lugueux) approved a consent decree between the parties that would last for ten years. The Decree required ten outcomes by Rhode Island regarding four target populations.

The four target populations included:

(1) Individuals with I/DD that received day activity services in settings where they perform sheltered workshop tasks, “Sheltered Workshop Target Population.”

(2) Individuals with I/DD that received day activity services in facility-based day program settings, “Day Target Population.”

(3) Individuals with I/DD that were transition-age youth attending a Rhode Island secondary school, “Youth Transition Target Population.”

(4) Individuals with I/DD that were transition age youth who exited a Rhode Island secondary school during the 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16 school years, “Youth Exit Target Population.”

The ten outcomes stated:

(1) By January 1, 2015, defendant needed to provide all individuals within the Youth Exit Target Population person-centered planning which will result in career development plans.

(2) By October 1, 2014 and September 1 of every following year, defendant needed to provide all individuals within the Youth Transition Target Population with services necessary to introduce them to work in integrated setting.

(3) Defendant needed to engage in an annual person-centered planning process with all individuals within the Youth Transition Target Population.

(4) Defendant needed to cease placement and funding for new entrants to the facility-based day programs.

(5) By January 1, 2015, defendant needed to provide career development plans for all individuals within the Youth Exit Target Population, and by January 1, 2016, defendant must provide career development plans for all individuals within the Sheltered Workshop and Day Program Target Populations.

(6) Defendant needed to institute a program that provides benefits planning information and counseling to all individuals within the Youth Exit, Sheltered Workshop, and Day Program Target Populations within one year of the individuals’ scheduled transition to supported employment placement and integrated day services.

(7) By September 1, 2014, defendant was to issue a direction to ensure that the Supports Intensity Scale assessment process will be administered with the presumption that individuals with the most severe disabilities can work in integrated settings and receive services. Defendant will also ensure the resource allocation decisions are made in a manner consistent with individuals’ support needs.

(8) Annually, the defendant was to provide Support Employment Placements and Integrated Day Services to all individuals within the Rhode Island Youth Exit Target Population, pursuant to year that group left school. Following this, through January 1, 2019, the defendant will annually provide at least fifty additional individuals within the Sheltered Workshop Target Population with the above services. This figure will then increase to at least one hundred additional individuals annually through January 1, 2024.

(9) Annually, the defendant was to provide Support Employment Placements and Integrated Day Services for individuals in the Day Target Population. At least twenty-five additional individuals annually by 2015 and 2016, at least fifty additional individuals annually in 2017 and 2018, at least seventy-five additional individuals in 2019, at least one hundred additional individuals in 2020, at least 200 additional individuals in 2021 and 2022, and at least 225 additional individuals in 2023.

(10) The defendant was to document for continuous review by the court monitor its efforts to provide the target populations Supported Employment Placements and Individual Day Programs.

Over the next year, defendant made progress and initiated programs related to Outcomes 1-10, issuing the required direction in Outcome 7 in October 2014. However, by April 10, 2015, the defendant had not met any of the deadlines or benchmarks required by the consent decree.

The DOJ determined that additional action was necessary for the defendant to come into compliance with the consent decree, and moved for a proposed order on May 6, 2016, which was granted on May 18, 2016. The order required the defendant to

(1) appropriate additional money in the Governor’s budget for the fiscal year 2017,

(2) create a live database to allow for efficient tracking of each member of the target populations,

(3) provide the plaintiff and the court monitor with access to the database or list of database entries by July 29, 2016 to allow the plaintiff and court monitor to verify progress for individuals within the target populations,

(4) comply with all deadlines within the Consent Decree,

(5) supply additional reports regarding progress with the Consent Decree, and

(6) receive a sanction, after a show-cause hearing coordinated by the court, of $5,000 per day for each provision violated, with an additional payment of $100 per day for each member of a target population whose employment or day services are delayed due to the violation, until the violation is remedied. Each ordered sanction was not to exceed $1,000,000 per year.

The defendant met or conditionally met the court order provisions 1, 2, 3, and 5 by July 29, 2016. Evaluation of provision 4 was deferred.

By October 31, 2016, the defendant was meeting or exceeding the supported employment placement benchmarks for the Sheltered Workshop and Day Target Populations. However, it failed to meet a number of the other benchmarks. Youth Exit Target Population supported employment placements were below consent decree requirements. Career Development Planning for all target populations also fell below required benchmarks . The state also had not met all requirements related to various other outcomes. That said, the court monitor reported that the defendant had made progress in the development of required plans and programs to assist in their compliance with the consent decree.

By July 20, 2017, supported employment placement for the Youth Exit and Sheltered Workshop Target Populations fell below their benchmarks, but the Day Target Population greatly exceeded the benchmark. Career development planning and benefits planning for all target populations remained below the required benchmarks. The defendant had not yet met the integrated day services requirements with regard to target populations. Finally, the defendant had not yet reached provider capacity requirements that would enable the ability to provide the required services of the consent decree. While the defendant had not reached all required benchmarks, the court monitor reported that the defendant continued to make significant progress in the development of required plans and programs to assist in reaching compliance.

Two such programs were a sheltered workshop and a facility-based day service provider, both of which were operated by Community Work Services and Birch Academy.

The Court Monitor’s report on October 29, 2018, showed significant improvement since 2017. Career development planning for members of the Birch Look Back Target Population and the TTP Target Population significantly improved over the past year. TTP target population met its benchmark as acceptable career development plans were increased from 42 to 94%. However, the quality of person-centered career development planning did not increase sufficiently since the previous report. The Court Monitor noted that further action was required to improve employment placements and day services to be more personalized and self-directed. The Youth Exit Population met its benchmark.

On February 14, 2019, the Court Monitor also noted that the Governor’s recommended budget for 2020 appeared adequate to meet funding requirements necessary to comply with the Consent Decree.

Judge McConnell appointed Dr. A. Anthony Antosh to replace the Court Monitor on February 28, 2020. Monitoring continued. On March 18, 2020, in light of the COVD-19 public health emergency, the court ordered the Court Monitor to engage in conversations with the State, providers, family advocates, and the DOJ to make recommendations to the Court on orders that could (1) lessen the administrative burden on providers and the State; (2) assist class members and their families in maneuvering the system and securing essential services; (3) any other recommendations the Court Monitor deems appropriate.

The Court Monitor identified fiscal and administrative barriers to effective implementation of the Consent Decree. The court issued a proposed order on July 9, 2020 identifying sixteen issues that the state needed to establish a strategy for addressing; a timeline for addressing the issue; and pinpointing which state agency held primary responsibility for resolving each issue; the parties were given until July 23, 2020 to show cause for why the proposed order should not be adopted. In response, the Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospital (BHDDH) put together five short-term workgroups to address the sixteen issues. The workgroup categories consisted of: Eligibility, Appeals, Contracts, Fiscal Concerns, and Individual Budgets. BHDDH shared a summary of the workgroups conclusions on October 7, 2020.

On March 16, 2021, the court entered an order clarifying Rhode Island's responsibilities under the consent decree and reiterating that the state needed to take prompt systemic action in order to the meet the terms of the consent decree in the remaining three years of monitoring. DOJ filed a motion for contempt against Rhode Island on August 16, 2021. The parties proceeded with discovery, including the execution of subpoenas at various sheltered workshops and facility-based day programs in the state on September 13, 2021.

The court, on recommendation of the court monitor, issued an order with a plan for the state to be in compliance by June 30, 2024. The action items ranged from increasing funding and recruitment efforts; revising processes for assessing individual needs; simplifying application processes; and improving access to programs by improving family support and increasing transportation options. The plan was broken down into a table which dissected each of the consent decree benchmarks, current progress on each benchmark, the remaining required action, and target completion date.

	Document
1:14-cv-00175	Docket [PACER] United States v. State of Rhode Island	March 20, 2019	March 20, 2019 Docket
1:14-cv-00175	Findings Letter USA v. State of RI No Court	Jan. 6, 2014	Jan. 6, 2014 Findings Letter/Report
1 1:14-cv-00175	Complaint	April 8, 2014	April 8, 2014 Complaint
5 1:14-cv-00175	Consent Decree USA v. State of RI	April 9, 2014	April 9, 2014 Order/Opinion
7 1:14-cv-00175	Report to the Court Monitor on Progress on Consent Decree 2014-2015	Sept. 17, 2015	Sept. 17, 2015 Monitor/Expert/Receiver Report
10 1:14-cv-00175	Report to the Court Monitor on Progress on Consent Decree 2015	Jan. 20, 2016	Jan. 20, 2016 Monitor/Expert/Receiver Report
14 1:14-cv-00175	Consent Decree Progress Status Update	March 18, 2016	March 18, 2016 Monitor/Expert/Receiver Report
27 1:14-cv-00175	Report of the Court Monitor	April 29, 2016	April 29, 2016 Monitor/Expert/Receiver Report
35 1:14-cv-00175	Order United States v. State of Rhode Island	May 18, 2016	May 18, 2016 Order/Opinion
38 1:14-cv-00175	Report of the Court Monitor on Defendant's Third Status Report	July 22, 2016	July 22, 2016 Monitor/Expert/Receiver Report

ECF Number	Description	Date	Link Date / Link
1	COMPLAINT filed by United States of America. (Attachments: # 1 Civil Cover Sheet)(Farrell Pletcher, Paula) (Entered: 04/08/2014) 1 Civil Cover Sheet View on PACER	April 8, 2014	April 8, 2014 Clearinghouse
2	NOTICE of Appearance by Marc DeSisto on behalf of State of Rhode Island. (Farrell Pletcher, Paula) (Entered: 04/08/2014)	April 8, 2014	April 8, 2014 PACER
3	Joint MOTION for Entry of Consent Decree with Supporting Memo filed by United States of America. Responses due by 4/25/2014 (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order, # 2 Proposed Consent Decree, # 3 Supporting Memorandum)(Kline, Regina) (Entered: 04/08/2014) 1 Text of Proposed Order View on PACER 2 Proposed Consent Decree View on PACER 3 Supporting Memorandum View on PACER	April 8, 2014	April 8, 2014 PACER
4	ORDER granting 3 Joint Motion for entry of consent decree; Consent Decree shall be entered as a final order and judgment in this case; the Court shall retain jurisdiction over the case to enforce the Consent Decree until this case is dismissed; the Court shall have the power to enforce the Consent Decree. So Ordered by Senior Judge Ronald R. Lagueux on 4/9/14. (Cavaco, Janice) (Entered: 04/09/2014)	April 9, 2014	April 9, 2014 PACER
5	CONSENT DECREE entered. So Ordered by Senior Judge Ronald R. Lagueux on 4/9/14. (Cavaco, Janice) (Entered: 04/09/2014)	April 9, 2014	April 9, 2014 Clearinghouse
6	ORDER OF RECUSAL. Senior Judge Ronald R. Lagueux recused. Case reassigned to Judge John J. McConnell, Jr. for all further proceedings. So Ordered by Senior Judge Ronald R. Lagueux on 9/16/2015. (Cavaco, Janice) (Entered: 09/16/2015)	Sept. 16, 2015	Sept. 16, 2015 PACER
7	STATUS REPORT on Consent Decree submitted by Charles Moseley EdD, U.S. District Court Monitor. (Farrell Pletcher, Paula) (Entered: 09/17/2015)	Sept. 17, 2015	Sept. 17, 2015 Clearinghouse
	Notice of Hearing	Oct. 23, 2015	Oct. 23, 2015 PACER
	NOTICE of Hearing: Status Conference set for Tuesday, 12/8/2015 at 02:00 PM in Judge McConnell Chambers - Room 211 (Barletta, Barbara)	Oct. 23, 2015	Oct. 23, 2015 PACER
8	NOTICE of Appearance by Lindsey M. Weinstock on behalf of United States of America (Weinstock, Lindsey) (Entered: 11/05/2015)	Nov. 5, 2015	Nov. 5, 2015 PACER
9	NOTICE of Appearance by Victoria Thomas on behalf of United States of America (Weinstock, Lindsey) Modified on 11/5/2015 to correct name (Barletta, Barbara). (Entered: 11/05/2015)	Nov. 5, 2015	Nov. 5, 2015 PACER
	Notice of Hearing	Dec. 4, 2015	Dec. 4, 2015 PACER
	REVISED NOTICE of Hearing: Status Conference set for Tuesday, 12/8/2015 at 02:00 PM in Courtroom 3 before Judge John J. McConnell, Jr.; PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS CONFERENCE WILL NOW BE HELD IN COURTROOM 3(Barletta, Barbara)	Dec. 4, 2015	Dec. 4, 2015 PACER
	Hearing Cancelled	Dec. 7, 2015	Dec. 7, 2015 PACER
	HEARING CANCELLED: The Status Conference scheduled for Tuesday, 12/8/15 at 2:00 p.m. before Judge John J. McConnell, Jr. is cancelled and will be rescheduled (Barletta, Barbara)	Dec. 7, 2015	Dec. 7, 2015 PACER
	Notice of Hearing	Dec. 9, 2015	Dec. 9, 2015 PACER
	REVISED NOTICE of Hearing: Status Hearing is RESET to Tuesday, 1/26/2016 at 11:00 AM in Courtroom 3 before Judge John J. McConnell, Jr.(Barletta, Barbara)	Dec. 9, 2015	Dec. 9, 2015 PACER
10	Report of Court Monitor for 1/1/15 through 9/30/15 (Attachments: # 1 Consultant Report) (Barletta, Barbara) (Entered: 01/20/2016) 1 Consultant Report View on PACER	Jan. 20, 2016	Jan. 20, 2016 Clearinghouse
	Notice of Hearing	Jan. 29, 2016	Jan. 29, 2016 PACER
	NOTICE of Hearing: Status Conference set for Monday, 5/2/2016 at 01:30 PM in Courtroom 3 before Judge John J. McConnell, Jr.(Barletta, Barbara)	Jan. 29, 2016	Jan. 29, 2016 PACER
	Notice of Hearing	Feb. 23, 2016	Feb. 23, 2016 PACER
	NOTICE of Hearing: Telephone Conference set for Wednesday, 2/24/2016 at 02:30 PM before Judge John J. McConnell, Jr.; Court to initiate call(Barletta, Barbara)	Feb. 23, 2016	Feb. 23, 2016 PACER
	REVISED NOTICE of Hearing: Telephone Conference is RESET to Wednesday, 2/24/2016 at 01:30 PM before Judge John J. McConnell, Jr.; PLEASE NOTE TIME CHANGE(Barletta, Barbara)	Feb. 24, 2016	Feb. 24, 2016 PACER
	Telephone Conference	Feb. 24, 2016	Feb. 24, 2016 PACER
	Minute Entry for proceedings held before Judge John J. McConnell, Jr.: Telephone Conference held on 2/24/2016; Victoria Thomas, Marc DeSisto and Charles Moseley participated (Barletta, Barbara)	Feb. 24, 2016	Feb. 24, 2016 PACER
	Notice of Hearing	Feb. 24, 2016	Feb. 24, 2016 PACER
	NOTICE of Hearing: Status Conference set for Monday, 3/14/2016 at 10:00 AM in Courtroom 3 before Judge John J. McConnell, Jr.; Counsel for the United States is granted leave to appear by telephone(Barletta, Barbara)	Feb. 24, 2016	Feb. 24, 2016 PACER
11	Joint MOTION for Hearing filed by United States of America. Responses due by 3/18/2016 (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order, # 2 Certificate of service)(Thomas, Victoria) (Entered: 03/01/2016) 1 Text of Proposed Order View on PACER 2 Certificate of service View on PACER	March 1, 2016	March 1, 2016 PACER
12	NOTICE of Appearance by Nicole K. Zeitler on behalf of United States of America (Zeitler, Nicole) (Entered: 03/03/2016)	March 3, 2016	March 3, 2016 PACER
	Notice of Hearing	March 3, 2016	March 3, 2016 PACER
13	ORDER granting 11 Motion for Hearing and outlining remedial action plan- So Ordered by Judge John J. McConnell, Jr. on 3/3/2016. (Barletta, Barbara) (Entered: 03/03/2016)	March 3, 2016	March 3, 2016 PACER
	NOTICE of Hearing: Evidentiary Hearing set for Friday, 4/8/2016 at 10:00 AM in Courtroom 3 before Judge John J. McConnell, Jr.(Barletta, Barbara)	March 3, 2016	March 3, 2016 PACER
	Status Conference	March 14, 2016	March 14, 2016 PACER
	Minute Entry for proceedings held before Judge John J. McConnell, Jr.: Status Conference held on 3/14/2016. Nicole Zeitler for Plaintiff. Marc DeSisto for Defendant. Dr. Charles Mosley (Court Monitor by Telephone). Evidentiary Hearing to proceed on 4/8/2016. Court adjourned. (Court Reporter Kare Wischnoswky in Courtroom 3 at 10:08 am.) (McGuire, Vickie)	March 14, 2016	March 14, 2016 PACER
14	Court Monitor's Progress Status update dated 3/9/16 (Barletta, Barbara) (Entered: 03/18/2016)	March 18, 2016	March 18, 2016 Clearinghouse
15	TRANSCRIPT ORDER for proceedings held on 3/14/2016 before Judge McConnell.. (Weinstock, Lindsey) (Entered: 03/18/2016)	March 18, 2016	March 18, 2016 PACER
	Notice of Hearing	March 30, 2016	March 30, 2016 PACER
	NOTICE of Hearing: Telephone Conference set for Friday, 4/1/2016 at 02:00 PM before Judge John J. McConnell, Jr.; Call in instructions to be provided to counsel(Barletta, Barbara)	March 30, 2016	March 30, 2016 PACER
16	STATUS REPORT by State of Rhode Island. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit 1, # 2 Exhibit 1.1, # 3 Exhibit 1.2, # 4 Exhibit 2, # 5 Exhibit 3, # 6 Exhibit 4-summary, # 7 Exhibit 6, # 8 Exhibit 6.1, # 9 Exhibit 6.2, # 10 Exhibit 7, # 11 Exhibit 8, # 12 Exhibit 8.1, # 13 Exhibit 9)(DeSisto, Marc) (Entered: 04/01/2016) 1 Exhibit 1 View on PACER 2 Exhibit 1.1 View on PACER 3 Exhibit 1.2 View on PACER 4 Exhibit 2 View on PACER 5 Exhibit 3 View on PACER 6 Exhibit 4-summary View on PACER 7 Exhibit 6 View on PACER 8 Exhibit 6.1 View on PACER 9 Exhibit 6.2 View on PACER 10 Exhibit 7 View on PACER 11 Exhibit 8 View on PACER 12 Exhibit 8.1 View on PACER 13 Exhibit 9 View on PACER	April 1, 2016	April 1, 2016 PACER
	Status Conference	April 1, 2016	April 1, 2016 PACER

Case: United States v. Rhode Island

1:14-cv-00175 | U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island

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