DOJ Announces Settlement With South Carolina Over Claims Of Warehousing People With Mental Illness

The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a settlement agreement with South Carolina to ensure the state serves individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs, provided the individuals (or authorized decisionmakers) elect those settings.

“The department and South Carolina are working together to ensure that people with serious mental illnesses can be served in the community when they want to be,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

In 2023, the DOJ released investigation findings, notifying South Carolina that it unnecessarily segregated adults with SMI . . .