Williams v. Quinn lawsuit:
In 2005, lawyers from the ACLU of Illinois, Equip for Equality and other organizations filed a class action on behalf of persons with mental illnesses residing in IMD nursing homes claiming that Illinois’ excessive reliance on these facilities violated the Americans with Disabilities Act.  The parties have reached an agreement which is embodied in a Proposed Consent decree.   United States District Court Judge William Hart has given his preliminary approval of this decree.  The matter has now been set for a “Fairness Haring” before Judge Hart on September 7, 2010 at 10:00 am in Courtroom 2243, in the Dirksen Building, 219 South Dearborn, Chicago.  Interested parties were invited to appear and testify.  IPS submitted written comments explaining our concerns regarding the proposed decree.  In sum, IPS wants to make sure the funding and resources are in place before decisions are made to transfer patients from IMDs.  In addition, IPS recommended including psychiatrists in the decision-making process.  IPS will post the results of the Fairness Hearing on this website.

To view IPS’ comments, click here.
To view the Court’s Consent Decree, click here.