Reports of Shortcomings in GA's Progress Towards Compliance with Settlement

In this review of articles published since the start of 2017, we've collected stories that expose the need for further state action towards the goals outlined in the settlement agreement.

AJC; April 10, 2017: Oversight lags as for-profit firms take on caring for the vulnerable

In this article, Alan Judd of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution examines the quality of care provided by the state-contracted care provider, ResCare. As the state transitions to full compliance with the settlement agreement, inpatients with developmental disabilities are transitioning to in-home care and group-home facilities, many managed by ResCare. But, as Judd reports, care provided by ResCare, a national for-profit company that is “the state’s largest provider of services for people with disabilities”, bears responsibility for various cases of abuse and severe neglect, some of which have resulted in deaths.


The Augusta Chronicle; April 30, 2017: State improving but concerns remain about care for patients moving out of Gracewood

In this article from The Augusta Chronicle, Tom Corwin reports on progress toward the community placement of developmentally disabled inpatients currently housed in the East Central Regional State Hospital. In order to satisfy the demands of the settlement agreement, over 200 patients living in East Central Regional Hospital must be placed in community care programs. Corwin reports, however, that the state has made slow progress towards this goal, and even at the current rate of progress, the state, in some cases, has failed to provide sufficient care for certain patients placed in the community.


Georgia Health News; May 2, 2017: Years after hospital closed, some former patients struggle for safe housing

In this article from Georgia Health News, Saleen Martin examines the struggle to find housing for patients transitioning into community based care in Rome, GA. In accordance with the settlement agreement, the Northwest Regional Hospital in Rome was closed in January 2011, and since the settlement was assumed in 2010, patients transitioning out of the hospital have sought safe and affordable housing. Martin, however, details obstacles many of these patients have faced, such as the limited availability of housing subsidies, overcrowding of group-home facilities and the hazards of living at certain properties. 

AJC; May 11, 2017: Deaths, delays paint grim picture of Georgia Mental health reform

In this article from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Alan Judd reports on issues facing an effective transition to full compliance with the settlement agreement. Among the issues Judd covers is the state’s failure to provide sufficient resources for patients transitioning to community based care. Judd reports on the limited availability of well-supported housing for patients with psychiatric disabilities, and he describes poor quality of care provided in group homes for patients with developmental disabilities (for more on group homes see AJC; April 10). Judd also mentions that advocates worry the Department of Justice, under new leadership, “may show little interest in enforcing Obama-era settlements such as the one with Georgia.”

The Philadelphia Tribune (reprint); May 12, 2017: Georgia still sending mentally ill people to homeless shelters