U.S. Department
of Justice
State of Rhode Island and Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth, and Families
On May 13, 2024, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Rhode Island, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights, sent a letter of findings to the State of Rhode Island, notifying the State that it is violating Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act by unnecessarily segregating children with mental health and developmental disabilities in an acute-care psychiatric hospital. Following an investigation into Rhode Island’s behavioral health care system for children in the care and custody of its state child welfare agency, the United States found that the State failed to provide services to children in the most integrated settings appropriate to their needs, resulting in children being routinely and unnecessarily segregated at a psychiatric hospital. Although the needs of children with behavioral health disabilities could be met in settings less restrictive than hospitals, hundreds of children in the care and custody of the State have instead languished at Bradley Hospital simply because the State has failed to ensure sufficient capacity of community-based services and prompt and effective discharge