The state has reached a settlement in a class action lawsuit that will result in the transfer of more than 600 developmentally disabled nursing home residents to community living facilities.
Waltham-based Arc of Massachusetts - an advocacy group for the developmentally disabled - served as an organizational plaintiff in the lawsuit, which was filed in 1998 on behalf of some 700 people with developmental disabilities in nursing homes throughout the state.
The suit argued that residents were inappropriately confined to nursing homes and many weren't receiving the "specialized services" they needed.
Leo Sarkissian, executive director of Arc, said yesterday that negotiations on the settlement began in earnest last fall.
"By January an agreement was in pretty good shape," Sarkissian said. According to the terms of the settlement, 640 individuals will be placed into community care environments, such as group homes, over a four-period beginning in 2009.
A press release issued yesterday by the state Department of Mental Retardation said the other nursing home residents have conditions or personal circumstances that preclude them being moved to community settings, but they will continue to receive "active treatment."
Health and Human Services Secretary Judy Ann Bigby said in the release that the settlement is part of the state's initiative to shift care for the developmentally disabled to community living.
"This is an important step in moving forward with our Community First agenda," Bigby said. "It accelerates the process of community placement for hundreds of individuals over the course of a four-year period.
"The settlement of this long-standing case from previous administrations is a collaborative effort between state agencies, the Attorney General and the plaintiffs."
A previous settlement in the case was reached in 1999, which resulted in about 800 individuals placed into community facilities between 2000 and 2007.
However, negotiations between the two sides stalled over the "quality of specialized services" that residents who remained in the nursing facilities were receiving, Sarkissian said.
U.S. District Court Chief Magistrate Judge Kenneth P. Neiman ruled last April that the Department of Mental Retardation had not provided nursing facility residents with adequate care. He ordered the parties to select a court monitor to review the services provided to those residents.
Sarkissian said the settlement showed that state officials are committing to provide those with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities with community care options.
"What we're pleading with the Legislature and the governor to do is make an even larger investment in community services," Sarkissian said.
Richard Conn can be contacted at 781-398-8004 or rconn@cnc.com.
