N.H. Agrees to $30M Mental Health Class Action Settlement

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The state of New Hampshire has agreed to a $30 million class action lawsuit settlement over allegations that the state institutionalized people with serious mental illness instead of providing adequate resources.

The settlement should resolve a class action lawsuit filed in February 2012 by the Disability Rights Center and the Department of Justice on behalf of six plaintiffs with psychiatric disabilities who were allegedly subjected to prolonged or needless stays in state institutions. The class action cited violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The class action settlement calls for the state of New Hampshire to spend an additional $30 million on expanding services for its mental health system over the next 4 years.

Specifically, the state would divert people from hospitals and institutions by:

– Expanding community-based crisis teams so they are available 24 hours a day in all areas of the state.

– Creating three mobile crisis teams and crisis apartments for people who would otherwise be sent to the emergency room or New Hampshire Hospital.

– Expanding supported employment and housing for people with mental illness.

“Addressing our deeply strained mental health system is one of the most pressing challenges facing our state. Continuing the lawsuit would undoubtedly have cost the state millions of dollars in legal fees and untold millions more per year if the state had not prevailed in its case,” Gov. Maggie Hassan said in a statement.

The class action lawsuit observed that 35% of patients that were discharged from New Hampshire Hospital were readmitted within 180 days.

The class action also highlighted the 150% increase in annual admissions to the state hospital since 1989 when it had 900 patients, to 2,300 it admitted in 2010.

The settlement agreement will now go before U.S. District Court Judge Steven McAuliffe, for preliminary approval, and a final hearing before the agreement will take full effect. No hearing date has been set yet, but it is anticipated that it will be scheduled for February 2014.