Justice Department Reaches Agreement with Alameda County, CA to Improve Mental Health Services

Today, the Department of Justice announced a proposed settlement agreement with Alameda County, California and private plaintiffs to expand access to community-based mental health services. This settlement agreement will resolve the department’s investigation under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Through its investigation, the department concluded that it had reasonable cause to believe Alameda County violated the ADA by unnecessarily institutionalizing people with mental health disabilities who could otherwise avoid institutionalization – as well as incarceration – with access to appropriate community-based services. The settlement agreement will help ensure that individuals with mental health disabilities have access to needed community-based services and supports.

The settlement agreement requires the County to expand critical community-based services, including intensive mental health, housing, and employment services, and provide prompt mobile crisis response services on a county-wide basis. The County must improve connections to services for individuals at risk of unnecessary institutionalization or incarceration, as well as those currently in institutions or in Santa Rita Jail.

The Justice Department welcomes input regarding the implementation of the settlement agreement. People can contact the Department by email at alameda.spl@usdoj.gov, by phone at 844-491-4946, through the Civil Rights Division’s Civil Rights Portal, or by mail at Department of Justice, Special Litigation Section, Civil Rights Division, 950 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, D.C. 20530 (attn.: Alameda County Olmstead Team).

To learn more, please see the settlement agreement. To find out more about this settlement or the ADA, visit ada.gov or call the Justice Department's toll-free ADA information line at 1-800-514-0301 or 1-833-610-1264 (TTY).