Lawsuit Accuses NC DHHS Of ‘Warehousing’ Children With Disabilities Who Are In The Foster Care System

On December 6, 2022, Advocates for civil, disability, and children’s rights filed a federal lawsuit against the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NC DHHS). The complaint, Timothy B. v. North Carolina DHHS, alleges NC DHHS practices “warehousing” of foster-system children with disabilities in locked psychiatric residential treatment facilities (PRTFs), instead of providing them with integrated community-based housing and services for which they are eligible violates federal disability rights laws.

The lawsuit alleges that children in North Carolina PRTFs face physical traumas (such as broken bones, sprains, bruises, and dangerous physical and chemical restraints), abuse . . .