COLUMBIA — South Carolina agreed to bolster programs that help people with severe mental illness live on their own as part of a settlement agreement with the federal Department of Justice.
The federal agency sued the state last December, claiming South Carolina’s agencies kept people in restrictive residential housing longer than necessary. People in the state’s care had few opportunities to go out in public or learn necessary social skills, making it difficult to meet the requirements to transition out of state-run facilities and into their own housing, the lawsuit claimed.
Not providing adults with severe mental illness who are capable of taking care of themselves with the supports needed to live on their own violates the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, which protects people with disabilities from discrimination, the justice department’s Civil Rights Division argued…