Maine Mental Health Commissioner Says Mental Health System ‘Good Enough’ For State to Give up Control

Maine Mental Health Commissioner Lynn Duby on Oct. 28 told a superior court judge that the state's mental health system is "not perfect" but is in "good enough" condition for the court to lift its 12-year control over the system, the Portland Press Herald reports. The state is hoping to convince Kennebec County Superior Court Chief Justice Nancy Mills that Gov. Angus King's (I) administration has made "major improvements" in mental health services and that she should suspend a consent decree on the Augusta Mental Health Institute (Remal, Portland Press Herald, 10/29). The decree is the result of a class-action lawsuit against the state that alleged patients in state mental health hospital were housed in "fifthly conditions" and subject to "insensitive treatment," the Bangor Daily News reports (Bangor Daily News, 10/29). Peter Darvin, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, said that state officials have failed to meet the consent decree's requirements and have only completed the recommended improvements after Jan. 25, when they were asked to justify why they should not be held in contempt of court for failing to comply with the court order (Portland Press Herald, 10/29). The officials' failure to act quickly on improvements "could lead to findings of contempt or harsher sanctions," Darvin said (Bangor Daily News, 10/29). Assistant Attorney General Phyllis Gardiner, who represents officials from the state Department of Behavioral and Developmental Services and the Department of Human Services, said that the two sides may differ on how to judge successful compliance (Portland Press Herald, 10/29).