Virginia and the Justice Department could reach an agreement by the summer over the state’s treatment of the mentally disabled after the DOJ issued a scathing critique in February saying that the state needlessly institutionalizes the disabled and does not provide adequate community services, Secretary of Health and Human Resources Bill Hazel said Monday.
The department threatened a lawsuit if the state does not sufficiently address the issues.
“Things take time,” Hazel said. “Discussions are ongoing.”
The General Assembly this year approved $30 million to deal with the situation, and the agency was pleased with steps Virginia has taken to address the problem, the AP reported.
About 1,100 people with mental disabilities live in state-run institutions at a cost of nearly $200,000 per person per year; Virginia is only one of five states that still operate such facilities.
About 8,600 people in the state receive support in their home communities using Medicaid waivers worth an average of $76,400 each, but more than 6,000 people are on a waiting list for aid.
Hazel also talked about consolidating Virginia’s waiver structure to make them based on need rather than diagnosis, according to the AP. The state currently issues separate waivers for people with intellectual versus developmental disabilities.
The Justice Department’s probe began three years ago with the Central Virginia Training Center outside of Lynchburg, and has since expanded statewide. About 140 of the 170 patients eligible for discharge from the center have been on the list since 2007 or earlier, with some eligible for more than a decade.
