Follow-up

Perseverance pays off

by Kristen Lombardi

It's official: the Cellucci administration has finally put an end to the class-action lawsuit that had been looming for more than 20 months (see "The Waiting Game," News and Features, September 22).

Last week, Health and Human Services Secretary William O'Leary and Attorney General Tom Reilly announced the details of a settlement that will funnel millions of dollars for services to mentally retarded adults now languishing on lengthy waiting lists. Under the agreement, the administration will spend $114 million over the next five years to eliminate 2225 people from the state's list.

The settlement flows from a July 14 court ruling, in which US District Court Judge Douglas Woodlock ordered all Medicaid-eligible mentally retarded adults in Massachusetts to be taken off the waiting list and provided housing and support services within 90 days. Five families had sued Governor Paul Cellucci, the Department of Mental Retardation (DMR), and other state agencies in March 1999 for denying them assistance in violation of the federal Medicaid Act.

State officials have hailed the settlement as a benchmark for serving the mentally retarded. "This plan makes us hands-down a national leader," says O'Leary spokesperson Rich Copp. "It sets in stone the governor's commitment to this population."

Maybe so. But it comes after sharp criticism of the Cellucci administration's handling of the case. Indeed, Woodlock denounced the administration for its "bush-league" behavior in March, when he discovered that state officials had tried to strike a deal with the federal government to thwart the plaintiffs' efforts. Last October, he blasted the administration again for its slow response to his July order.

But advocates have put the acrimony behind them. "We look at this settlement as a new chapter," says Leo Sarkissian, who heads the advocacy group ARC Massachusetts. He and his colleagues are especially happy that the plan calls for creating some 400 residential beds each year over the next five years. It also guarantees interim services such as respite care for those who must wait another four or five years for housing. "Not only does the settlement take care of an historical obligation," Sarkissian adds, "but it does so in a future-looking way."

Even state officials recognize that, ultimately, thousands of mentally retarded adults have had the final say. As Copp says, "The expectation is that we will never again have a wait list in Massachusetts."