Feds investigating whether Louisvillians are unnecessarily being put into mental institutions
The United States Department of Justice announced Tuesday that is is opening a civil rights investigation into how the Commonwealth of Kentucky is handling mental health services.
The DOJ said that the purpose of the investigation is to look into whether or not the state is unnecessarily institutionalizing adults with serious mental illness that are living in the Louisville/Jefferson County Metro area.
The justice department said it wants to know if Kentucky segregates people with serious mental illness in psychiatric hospitals and places them at risk of run-ins with law enforcement by failing to provide mental health services that are based in the community first in order to avoid such encounters.
"When people do not receive the community-based mental health services they need, they often get caught in a cycle of psychiatric hospital stays," said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. "This investigation also seeks to ensure that people with serious mental illness are not unnecessarily brought into contact with law enforcement. The Civil Rights Division is committed to enforcing the ADA so that people with disabilities are able to receive the services they need and qualify for, and that their civil rights are protected."
According to a Kentucky official, the state is welcoming the investigation and the opportunity to make sure Kentuckians with mental disabilities are being best served.
"A state must make reasonable accommodations and provide appropriate community-based services to people with disabilities," said United States Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky, Michael A. Bennett. "Our office will vigorously enforce the ADA. Our fellow citizens with mental health disabilities deserve nothing less."
People with information relevant to this investigation are encouraged to contact the DOJ by email at community.kentucky@usdoj.gov
They can also go through the Civil Rights Division's portal here.
This investigation is not connected in any way with the ongoing pattern or practice investigation that it is being conducted with the Louisville Metro Police Department and the city's government.