Child welfare agencies, health care providers and their contactors and other service providers should evaluate the adequacy and defensibility of their existing practices for accommodating and providing other services to individuals with disabilities and their families in light of the new joint technical assistance to state and local child welfare agencies and courts on the requirements of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act jointly announced by the Departments of Health & Human Services (HHS) and the Justice (DOJ) under a new HHS/DOJ partnership intended to help child welfare agencies protect the welfare of children and ensure compliance with nondiscrimination laws announced here August 10, 2015.

Federal child welfare and discrimination laws generally prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability, and require providers of government programs, services, and activities to make reasonable modifications to their policies and practices when necessary to avoid discrimination on the basis of disability, unless such modifications would fundamentally alter the nature of the program or the services.  The new joint technical assistance addresses disability discrimination complaints that HHS and DOJ say the agencies have received from parents who have had their children taken away or otherwise have not been given equal opportunities to become foster or adoptive parents.

The technical assistance provides an overview of Title II of the ADA and Section 504 and examples about how to apply them in the child welfare system, including child welfare investigations, assessments, guardianship, removal of children from their homes, case planning, adoption, foster care, and family court hearings, such as termination of parental rights proceedings.  It also underscores that Title II and Section 504 prohibit child welfare agencies from acting based on unfounded assumptions, generalizations, or stereotypes regarding persons with disabilities.

HHS and DOJ hope “[p]roviding this technical assistance to state and local agencies and courts will help ensure that families who have a member with a disability get equal access to vital child welfare services,” said Mark Greenberg, HHS’ Administration for Children and Families’ Acting Assistant Secretary.

The new child welfare technical assistance is part of a broader ongoing emphasis on investigation and enforcement of disability and other discrimination laws by HHS, DOJ and other agencies under the Obama Administration. Under the Obama Administration, HHS, DOJ and other agencies already have heavily sanctioned many child welfare, health care and other agencies and providers for alleged violation of these and other federal disability discrimination laws.  See, e.g., Health Care Employer’s Discrimination Triggers Medicare, EEOC Prosecutions; Hospital Will Pay $75K For Refusing To Hire Disabled Worker;  OCR Settlements Show Health Care & Disabled Housing Providers Face Growing Disability Discrimination Risks; Genesis Healthcare Disability HHS OCR Discrimination Settlement Reminder To Use Interpreters, Other Needed Accommodations For Disabled.   In the face of this emphasis, child welfare, health care and other agencies and their legal counsel and other service providers should expect greater deference and enforcement to the needs of children and parents with disabilities in child custody, adoption, divorce and other proceedings, as well as continued investigation and enforcement of disability and other discrimination laws against child welfare, health care, and other social service agencies, their legal counsel and other advocates and others providing services.  These and other organizations and service providers should  evaluate the defensibility of the existing policies, practices and recordkeeping practices of their own organization, as well as those of their contractors and subcontractors in light of these and other disability discrimination laws, regulations and enforcement practices.

For More Advice, Assistance Or More Information

If you need assistance reviewing or responding to these or other health care related risk management, compliance, enforcement or management concerns, the author of this update, attorney Cynthia Marcotte Stamer, may be able to help. Ms. Stamer is a highly regarded practicing attorney with extensive health industry legal and policy experience, also recognized as a knowledgeable and highly popular health industry thought and policy leader, who writes and publishes extensively  on health industry concerns. Vice President of the North Texas Health Care Compliance Professionals Association, Past Chair of the ABA Health Law Section Managed Care & Insurance Section, recognized as a “Top” lawyer in Health Care, Labor and Employment and Employee Benefits Law, Board Certified in Labor & Employment Law, and the former Board Compliance Chair of the National Kidney Foundation of North Texas, Ms. Stamer has more than 27 years experience advising health industry clients about these and other matters. Her experience includes advising and defending hospitals, nursing home, home health, physicians and other health care professionals, rehabilitation and other health care providers and health industry clients to establish and administer compliance and risk management policies and programs in response under CMS, OCR, HHS, FDA, IRS, DOJ, DEA, NIH, licensing, and other regulations; prevent, conduct and investigate, and respond to Board of Medicine, OIG, DOJ, DEA, DOD, DOL, Department of Health, Department of Aging & Disability, IRS, Department of Insurance, and other federal and state regulators; ERISA and private insurance, prompt pay and other reimbursement and contracting; peer review and other quality concerns; and other health care industry investigation, and enforcement and other compliance, public policy, regulatory, staffing, and other operations and risk management concerns. This experience includes extensive work advising and defending physicians, practices, hospitals and other health care organizations and others about Medicare and other health care billing and reimbursement practices,  as well as advising and defending providers against Medicare, Medicaid, Tricare and other audits, prepayment suspensions, provider exclusions and provider number revocation, and counseling and defending providers, medical staff and peer review committees, hospitals, medical practices and other health care organizations and others in relation to the conduct of audits and investigations, peer review investigations and discipline, employment, licensing board and other associated events.

The scribe for the American Bar Association (ABA) Joint Committee on Employee Benefits annual agency meeting with the Department of Health & Human Services Office of Civil Rights,  past Board President of the Richardson Development for Children and former Board Audit Committee Chair of the National Kidney Foundation of North Texas, Ms. Stamer has lead, advised, represented and conducted training and investigations of disability and other legal and operations risk management and compliance for early childhood intervention (ECI) and other childcare, health care, public and private schools, social service and other public and private organizations.  Ms. Stamer also  has worked extensively with health care providers, health plans, health care clearinghouses, their business associates, employers, banks and other financial institutions, and others on risk management and compliance with HIPAA and other information privacy and data security rules, investigating and responding to known or suspected breaches, defending investigations or other actions by plaintiffs, OCR and other federal or state agencies, reporting known or suspected violations, business associate and other contracting, commenting or obtaining other clarification of guidance, training and enforcement, and a host of other related concerns.  Her clients include public and private health care providers, health insurers, health plans, technology and other vendors, and others.  In addition to representing and advising these organizations, she also has conducted training on Privacy & The Pandemic for the Association of State & Territorial Health Plans,  as well as  HIPAA, FACTA, PCI, medical confidentiality, insurance confidentiality and other privacy and data security compliance and risk management for  Los Angeles County Health Department, ISSA, HIMMS, the ABA, SHRM, schools, medical societies, government and private health care and health plan organizations, their business associates, trade associations and others. Ms. Stamer continuously advises health industry clients about compliance and internal controls, workforce and medical staff performance, quality, governance, reimbursement, and other risk management and operational matters. Ms. Stamer also publishes and speaks extensively on health and managed care industry regulatory, staffing and human resources, compensation and benefits, technology, public policy, reimbursement and other operations and risk management concerns. Her insights on these and other related matters appear in the Health Care Compliance Association, Atlantic Information Service, Bureau of National Affairs, The Wall Street Journal, Business Insurance, the Dallas Morning News, Modern Health Care, Managed Healthcare, Health Leaders, and a many other national and local publications.  You can get more information about her health industry experience here. If you need assistance responding to concerns about the matters discussed in this publication or other health care concerns, wish to obtain information about arranging for training or presentations by Ms. Stamer, wish to suggest a topic for a future program or update, or wish to request other information or materials, please contact Ms. Stamer via telephone at (214) 452-8297 or via e-mail here.

About Solutions Law Press

Solutions Law Press™ provides business risk management, legal compliance, management effectiveness and other resources, training and education on human resources, employee benefits, compensation, data security and privacy, health care, insurance, and other key compliance, risk management, internal controls and other key operational concerns. If you or someone else you know would like to receive future updates about developments on these and other concerns from Ms. Stamer such as the following, see here:

• 10 Year Prison Sentence. $8M Civil Settlement Highlight Risks Of Wrongfully Billing Services Performed By Nonphysicians As Physician Services
• New HIPAA Settlement Highlights Internet Applications Safeguards, Whistleblower & Management Oversight Compliance Risks
• Great Time To Remind Patients, Employees To Check Their Immunizations Are Up To Date
• Former National Quality Forum Committee Co-Chair Pays $1M, Excluded From Medicare In Fraud Settlement
• State Exchange Problems Added ACA Threat Regardless of SCOTUS Decision In King v. Burwell
• Health Care Employer’s Discrimination Triggers Medicare, EEOC Prosecutions
• Health Care Providers, Provide ACO, Reimbursement Reform Input To HHS
• Extension for EPs participating in PQRS via EHR and QCDR

If you or someone else you know would like to receive future updates about developments on these and other concerns, please be sure that we have your current contact information – including your preferred e-mail – by creating or updating your profile here. For important information about this communication click here.THE FOLLOWING DISCLAIMER IS INCLUDED TO COMPLY WITH AND IN RESPONSE TO U.S. TREASURY DEPARTMENT CIRCULAR 230 REGULATIONS.  ANY STATEMENTS CONTAINED HEREIN ARE NOT INTENDED OR WRITTEN BY THE WRITER TO BE USED, AND NOTHING CONTAINED HEREIN CAN BE USED BY YOU OR ANY OTHER PERSON, FOR THE PURPOSE OF (1) AVOIDING PENALTIES THAT MAY BE IMPOSED UNDER FEDERAL TAX LAW, OR (2) PROMOTING, MARKETING OR RECOMMENDING TO ANOTHER PARTY ANY TAX-RELATED TRANSACTION OR MATTER ADDRESSED HEREIN. ©2015 Cynthia Marcotte Stamer.  Non-exclusive right to republish granted to Solutions Law Press, Inc.  All other rights reserved.