A Proskauer team, along with Disability Rights New York (DRNY), Children’s Rights New York (CRNY) and the National Health Law Program (NHeLP), reached a preliminary settlement agreement with the State of New York in C.K. v. McDonald, a federal class action lawsuit addressing the State’s failure to provide Medicaid-eligible children with intensive home-and community-based mental health services.
Background
The case was filed on March 31, 2022, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York and is now overseen by Judge Nusrat J. Choudhury. Plaintiffs asserted claims under the Medicaid Act’s Early Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment (EPSDT) provisions, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. The lawsuit alleged that the state systematically denied Medicaid-enrolled children access to the intensive community-based mental health services required under federal law, leaving them at risk of institutionalization and long-term harm.
The lawsuit was brought on behalf of four children — C.K., C.W., C.X. and C.Y. — through their guardians, representing similarly situated Medicaid-eligible youth across New York. Each of these children experienced significant barriers to accessing appropriate mental health care despite recommendations from licensed practitioners that they receive intensive home-and community-based services. Instead, they and their families faced unnecessary institutionalization, emergency room visits and extended stays in psychiatric facilities. For example, one plaintiff, C.W., was admitted to a residential treatment facility for three years after the State failed to provide the services her guardian repeatedly sought.
Expanding Access to Critical Services
This settlement marks a significant milestone for more than 2.5 million children enrolled in Medicaid across New York State. For years, children with serious mental and behavioral health conditions have lacked access to the timely, community-based services they need to stay safely at home and thrive. Instead, families were too often forced to rely on emergency rooms, psychiatric hospitals or institutional placements that failed to provide lasting solutions.
The agreement requires New York to redesign its system of care by expanding and strengthening three core services: Intensive Care Coordination (ICC), Intensive Home-Based Behavioral Health Services (IHBBHS) and Mobile Crisis Services (MCS). Over the next 18 months, the State will develop and implement a comprehensive plan to ensure these services are available statewide, in the least restrictive environment, and with robust quality oversight and accountability.
