On March 20, 2001 People First of Tennessee and several developmentally disabled individuals filed suit against the Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration and the Tennessee Department of Education in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. They alleged that the defendants had violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Medicaid Act, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. They claimed that the defendants failed to provide timely community-based treatment, denied such treatment or the right to apply for such treatment to eligible individuals, did not make accommodations for individuals so that they could be treated in an integrated setting, did not properly notify individuals when they were denied services, and failed to provide Medicaid payments for services school-aged children were entitled to.

The court (Judge Robert L. Echols) consolidated the case with Brown v. Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration (Clearinghouse PB-TN-0001) on May 7, 2002 solely for the purposes of discovery. On May 7, 2003 the court (Judge Echols) certified the case as a class action. The parties then reached a settlement agreement, which the court (Judge Echols) approved on January 7, 2004. The settlement adds to the settlement reached in Brown, which included various measures to ensure more eligible individuals received community based treatment. The settlement in this case requires the state to conduct a public information campaign to make eligible individuals aware of community based treatment options and to compile data regarding the number of individuals eligible for such services who do not receive them.

Michael Perry - 03/10/2011


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