Arizona Reaches Settlement In Class Action Suit, Agrees To Capacity Targets For Community-Based Services

On January 8, 2014, the Arizona Department Of Health Services (ADHS) reached a settlement agreement in the 1981 Arnold v. Sarn class action lawsuit that protested the state’s failure to provide adequate community-based services for Maricopa County residents with serious mental illness (SMI). Under the agreement, ADHS agreed to specific capacity targets for community-based services, and will exit court oversight by mid-2014.

An earlier agreement signed in May 2012 set one hard benchmark related to Arizona State Hospital, defined the minimum crisis service system, and specified the degree by which supported housing arrangements must be integrated . . .