Waskul

Case Status: In Progress

Plaintiffs and Defendant Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) reached a settlement on 12/1/2023. The court approved the agreement in January 2025, and MDHHS has begun to implement the consent decree incorporating the agreement.

Case filed (started): March 2016

Main Concern

That people in Washtenaw County trying to hire Community Living Supports (CLS) staff have the money in their budgets to hire those staff, participate in community life, and get services in the least restrictive setting.

Summary

CLS is a medically necessary service meant to help a person participate in the community and keep their independence. Self-determination (SD) is a system where the person getting the CLS chooses and hires the staff to provide the CLS. This lawsuit claims that in 2015, Washtenaw County Community Mental Health (WCCMH) reduced the amount SD CLS recipients had in their budgets to hire those staff and participate in community life. Now, people in Washtenaw County who need CLS workers to live and maintain their independence cannot hire staff or get into the community.

In January 2025, the court approved a statewide settlement. The settlement would have increased HSW SD CLS rates to $31/hour, adjusted for inflation, but the Region PIHP’s refusal to sign a new Medicaid contract triggered a contingency failure. Instead, a statewide “costing out” policy will be implemented, which will require individual CLS budgets to be built up (“costed out”) based on the component CLS costs of each recipient’s person centered plan of care. Additional policy reforms concerning self-determination, person-centered-planning, and due process have been issued for public notice and comment and are expected to be implemented on October 1, 2025.

Case Documents

• Complaint
• Settlement
• Notice of Proposed Settlement
  • Amended Notice of Proposed Settlement
• Reply Brief Concerning Approval
• Reply Brief Concerning Enforceability
• Supplemental Brief Concerning Comments and Objections to the Settlement
• Order Denying WCCMH Motion to Delay Hearing
• Approval Order
• Proposed Policy Draft

DRM Explainers

• Settlement Summary Slides

Outcome

Once implemented, the consent decree will effect major statewide reforms impacting self-determination rights, person-centered-planning and due process rights, and the way HSW SD CLS budgets are created. In the meantime, Plaintiffs are working to ensure that they can enforce the consent decree directly against Local Defendants (the Region 6 PIHP and Washtenaw County CMH).