Disabilities advocates file lawsuit

HARRISBURG - Advocates for people with mental illness and intellectual disabilities filed a lawsuit Wednesday claiming that Gov. Corbett and executive agencies violated state law by requesting too little funding for services.

The governor has proposed combining funding for several public welfare programs, including services for mental illness and intellectual disabilities, into block grants for administration by counties.

The suit, filed in Commonwealth Court in Philadelphia, also charges that this blending of funds violates state law because it does not allocate money specifically for services for mental illness and intellectual disabilities.

The advocacy groups argue the state Mental Health and Intellectual Disability Act of 1966 requires that county officials develop annual plans to make services available to people who need them - and that the Department of Public Welfare make grants based on those plans.

The lawsuit says the department is only exempted from paying the full amounts to the counties if lawmakers fail to appropriate enough money.

Mark Murphy, chief executive officer of the Disability Rights Network of Pennsylvania, which is representing advocacy groups in the lawsuit, said the Corbett budget proposal would cut funding 20 percent for services covered under the law.

He said cutting funding for community-based services, like crisis intervention for people with mental illness and employment assistance for people with intellectual disabilities, would lead to increased demand for costlier treatments.

"The people's needs are not going to go away," he said. "When you take away community-based services from people with mental illness and intellectual disabilities, it drives them to seek more expensive services."

The lawsuit claims the budget proposal will result, in Philadelphia alone, in reduced or dropped services for 3,000 people with intellectual disabilities and the loss of 500 beds in residential programs for people with mental illness.

Kelli Roberts, a spokeswoman for the governor, said it was premature to file a lawsuit based upon a proposal that remains months from becoming law.

But she said the administration was seeking to reduce spending so the state could afford to continue providing services to people in need.

"We have a responsibility to make sure we are servicing the neediest among us," she said.

The governor proposed combining several funding streams into block grants to give local officials more flexibility in meeting the needs of residents, she said.