Arizona lawsuit seeks to restore services for disabled children

From The Arizona Star:

A public interest law firm filed suit April 15 seeking to force the Department of Economic Security to restore funding to programs for disabled children.

Legal papers filed in U.S. District Court here charge DES is violating federal laws that require states to provide early intervention services to all children younger than 3 who have or are likely to have "developmental delay."

Programs range from physical therapy and nutrition to psychological services and special instruction, which, the lawsuit says, would correct or reduce that delay.

Attorney JoAnn Sheperd from the Arizona Center for Disability Law said federal statutes require written notice to families of any change in services and an opportunity to contest the change.

In late January, lawmakers cut $580 million in state spending, with a large portion of the reductions directed at the DES. The agency, in turn, eliminated or reduced services, including early intervention programs.

According to Sheperd, that left about 3,900 vulnerable adults and toddlers either totally without or getting by on partial services, "putting them at risk for ongoing developmental delays." Other families received notices that there would be "adjustments" in their services.

The lawsuit lists three unidentified children and their parents as plaintiffs. But it seeks permission to represent all affected families.

Sheperd wants Judge David Bury to issue an injunction barring the DES from cutting off services while the merits of the suit are debated. No date has been set for a hearing.

DES spokeswoman Liz Barker said her agency has no comment on the suit. This is the second lawsuit against the DES related to budget cuts.

Last month, a state judge blocked the agency from cutting services to the state's estimated 30,000 developmentally disabled residents. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Joseph Heilman said he reached the "inescapable conclusion" that the haste with which the DES acted in cutting its spending "served to create nothing less than mass confusion, anxiety and uncertainty" among clients and the organizations providing the services.