Gov. Andy Beshear said his administration wants to fact-check the now-public findings of a U.S. Justice Department investigation into Kentucky’s reliance on psychiatric hospitals in Louisville.
Justice Department officials said Tuesday they have reasonable cause to believe Kentucky’s state government is violating the Americans with Disabilities Act. Their investigation, which started in 2022, found too many Louisville residents with serious mental illnesses are getting placed in psychiatric hospitals when there are better ways to assist them.
The Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, which is under the governor’s jurisdiction, oversees the operation of publicly funded mental health services in Louisville.
Beshear said his team heard nothing from the Justice Department for more than 11 months – until this week, when the agency announced the results of its investigation. He suggested some findings could be outdated because the state made improvements during that gap in communication.
“So we just want to make sure that we're on the right track, that we are serving everyone, that we are putting mental health first, but that the report is also accurate,” he told reporters during an unrelated visit to the city Wednesday.
Read the rest at Louisville Public Media.
Comments
