U.S. Department
of Justice
Maine Home and Community-Based Services
On June 4, 2021, the United States entered into a settlement agreement with the Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to resolve a complaint alleging that Maine’s restrictions on services placed a young man with intellectual disabilities at serious risk of having to move from his own home to a group home or institution. The United States issued a findings letter on February 10, 2020 concluding that Maine is violating Title II of the ADA's integration mandate in its provision of services under the State's "Home and Community Services for Adults with Intellectual Disabilities or Autism Spectrum Disorder" Medicaid waiver program. Following an investigation of a complaint, the Department found that Maine failed to provide the complainant with necessary services in the most integrated setting appropriate to the complainant's needs, and failed to reasonably modify its relevant service program to avoid discrimination, thereby placing the complainant at serious risk of unnecessary segregation. The settlement agreement requires DHHS to implement remedial measures, including establishing and implementing a process for individuals to obtain an exception to the waiver program's cap on in-home services, and modifying the program's service planning process to ensure that members' individual needs and preferences determine the services they receive and the setting(s) in which they receive them. For the complainant, the agreement requires DHHS to provide access to all needed in-home services and pay $100,000 in damages.