Justice Department to Investigate New York State Policy of Moving Mentally Ill to Nursing Homes

The U.S. Justice Department has opened a review to determine if New York Gov. George Pataki's (R) administration's policy of moving mentally ill patients out of state psychiatric hospitals and placing them in nursing home units is a violation of civil rights laws, the New York Times reports (Levy, New York Times, 10/12). According to a Times investigation published last week, since 1996, mentally ill patients have been discharged from state hospitals and moved to isolated floors in nursing homes, where they have almost no ability to oppose their detention and are restricted from leaving the facilities. State Assembly Democrats have said they intend to investigate the policy (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 10/11). Lawyers from the DOJ's civil rights division have begun interviewing mental health experts, officials and others to determine if the nursing home conditions violate the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act, which allows the attorney general to investigate and bring suits pertaining to "conditions of confinement," the Times reports. While the Institutionalized Persons Act pertains to state-run facilities, federal officials "might say that they have jurisdiction because the units are being filled with patients from state-run psychiatric wards," according to the Times. Lawyers might also investigate whether the nursing home units violate a 1999 Supreme Court ruling that under the Americans with Disabilities Act the mentally ill have a right to live in the "least-restrictive, most integrated setting appropriate to their needs." The DOJ has not decided on whether to begin a full-scale investigation, but the "matter is under review," Casey Stavropoulos, a spokesperson for the Justice Department, said. "We are gathering information and looking to see whether any alleged violations meet the standards under the statutes," she added. Robert Hinckley, a spokesperson for Pataki, said, "We are confident that the continual and thorough monitoring performed by the New York Health Department, which is routinely shared with the federal government, is ensuring that residents in nursing homes are getting appropriate care" (New York Times, 10/12).