IN THE UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE
JOY
EVANS, et al.,
)
Plaintiffs,
)
)
and
)
)
Plaintiff-Intervenor,
) Civ. No. 76-293
(SSH)
)
)
v.
)
)
)
ANTHONY WILLIAMS, et
al., )
Defendants.
)
)
)
SETTLEMENT
AGREEMENT
Pursuant to the attached
Consent Order, the parties and the Quality Trust for Individuals with
Disabilities, Inc., (hereinafter the “Quality Trust” or “QT”), hereby agree to
the following:
I. Structure of the Quality
Trust
A. The bylaws of the Quality Trust
shall provide that the Quality Trust will have an independent Board of Directors
and a body of non-voting members.
The Mayor shall appoint the initial board from a list of nominees jointly
developed by Defendants, Plaintiffs and Plaintiff-Intervenor. Each nominee on the list of proposed
board members shall be agreed to by all parties. The Board shall thereafter be
self-perpetuating.
Specifically:
1. The composition and
responsibilities of the Board will be established by the organization’s bylaws
and will include the following:
a. Each director shall be a natural
person of adult age. A director
need not be a citizen of the
b. The initial Board of Directors
shall consist of the directors named in the Quality Trust’s Articles of
Incorporation and shall hold office until their successors have been duly
appointed and qualified.
c. At all times following the
appointment of the first full thirteen member Board of Directors, the full Board
of Directors shall consist of thirteen adult persons designated as follows:
i. Two family members of people with
mental retardation and/or developmental disabilities. The initial terms of family members
shall be two years, and all subsequent terms shall be three
years;
ii. Two non-legal advocates for persons who
have mental retardation and/or developmental disabilities. The initial terms of the non-legal
advocate members shall be two years, and all subsequent terms shall be three
years;
iii. Three persons who have mental retardation
and/or developmental disabilities.
The initial terms of these members shall be one year, and all subsequent
terms shall be three years;
iv. Two professionals with at least ten years
background in a service delivery system for people who have mental retardation
and/or developmental disabilities.
The initial terms of professional members shall be three years and all
subsequent terms shall be three years;
v. Two attorneys licensed to practice
law. The initial terms of attorney
members shall be three years, and all subsequent terms shall be three years;
and
vi. Two citizens residing in the
d. Following the initial term of each
Board Member, the remaining Board Members, whose terms are not ending, will vote
to replace the departing Board Member.
A majority vote of those remaining Board Members is required to fill a
vacancy. Further, the Board Member
must replace a departing Board Member with an adult person who fits the
designated category (e.g., family member, non-legal advocate, person with
mental retardation and/or other developmental disability, professional with ten
years experience, attorney, citizen residing in the District of Columbia) of the
departing Board Member. A Board
Member may succeed himself or herself.
A Board Member may resign prior to the expiration of the full term. If a Board Member resigns prior to the
expiration of the full term, the other Board Members shall replace that Board
Member for the remainder of the unexpired term through the voting process
outlined in this section. Votes
regarding the appointment, removal, or replacement of a member of the Board of
Directors may not be delegated to a committee of the
Board.
2. The Quality Trust will be a member
organization with non-voting members.
The non-voting members shall be individuals with mental retardation, as
well as people with other developmental disabilities, who are applicants for or
are receiving protections, supports and services in the
B. The Quality Trust’s scope of
activities shall include review of services to all Evans class members,
as well as non-class members who are applicants for or are receiving
protections, supports and services in the District of Columbia’s developmental
disabilities service delivery system.[1] Pursuant to the attached Consent
Order and this Settlement Agreement, the Quality Trust will monitor the
protections, services and supports provided to these individuals and offer legal
services and provide lay advocacy services to these “consumers.” The term “consumers” refers to all
recipients and applicants for services from the
II. Control and Use of the Quality Trust
Fund
A. The investment fund, created with
the eleven million dollars paid by the Defendants and/or
B. From the outset, the earnings from
the fund shall be reinvested to increase the principal. The earnings of this fund shall not be
used to support the operations of the Quality Trust until
C. Nothing in this Settlement
Agreement shall preclude the Quality Trust, in accordance with applicable law,
from creating a separate corporate entity, consistent with the Quality Trust’s
mission, to achieve the Quality Trust’s operational goals.
III. Obligations of the Quality
Trust
In general, the Quality
Trust shall: advance the individual
and collective interests of consumers with developmental disabilities, and in
particular Evans class members; monitor the health, safety and welfare of
these consumers; and monitor the protections, services and supports provided to
these consumers. The Quality Trust
also shall provide for individual and/or collective legal services and lay
advocacy services for consumers as set forth in greater detail below. The Board of Directors shall
periodically determine how to apportion its resources among monitoring, legal
representation services and lay advocacy or other strategies, consistent with
the Quality Trust’s mission and functions, to advance the individual and/or
collective interests of consumers with developmental disabilities, and in
particular Evans class members.
This process shall be informed by the Defendants’ and/or the District of
A.
Monitoring
The Quality Trust shall
create a Monitoring Unit which shall:
1. Develop an annual monitoring plan
with input from the parties, consumers, families, providers and
advocates.
2. Monitor the adequacy, safety and
quality of consumers’ residential and habilitation programs and
supports.
3. Receive and review with regard to
consumers from the District’s Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities
Administration (“MRDDA”) or its successor, all of MRDDA’s serious incident
reports and investigation reports of serious incidents, including deaths, and
aggregate information regarding all incidents.
4. Write annual reports, and, in
addition, such other periodic reports as the Quality Trust may determine to be
necessary. Such reports are to be
made public and provided to: (A) the Special Master and the parties’ counsel of
record (until this case is no longer subject to Court supervision); (B) the
Defendants and/or the branches of the District of Columbia, including the
Departments of Human Services and Health (or their successors), the Chief
Financial Officer and the Mayor; and (C) the District of Columbia Council. The reports shall make observations with
regard to the adequacy of the protections, services, and supports provided to
consumers and offer recommendations for any needed improvements. The Defendants and/or the
5. Receive and review information with
regard to the
6. Annually inform the Defendants
and/or the District of Columbia of the consumer needs, based on information
collected during monitoring activities, in a timely manner, to permit such
information to be considered in developing the District of Columbia’s proposed
budget for the service delivery system for individuals with developmental
disabilities for the following Fiscal Year.
7. Apply at least the following
standards in its monitoring and reviews: (A) the specific outcome criteria
developed as part of the Evans 2001 Plan;
(B) certification and
private accreditation standards; (C) the District of Columbia’s own standards
including licensing requirements; (D) Medicaid and Medicare regulations and
conditions of participation; and
(E) the
8. Be physically co-located with the
Evans Independent Court Monitor so as to enhance communication regarding
monitoring activities in order to avoid redundancy, until the Evans case
is no longer subject to regular Court supervision. The Independent Court Monitor shall
remain directly responsible to the Court, and not to the Quality Trust. As each Evans Order is vacated by
the Court, monitoring of corresponding operations shall be transferred from the
Independent Court Monitor to the Quality Trust, and shall no longer be subject
to Court supervision.
B. Legal
Services
1. The Quality Trust shall work to
raise the level of advocacy among court-appointed attorneys by, for example,
providing training, drafting model pleadings and developing in-house appellate
advocacy capacity. The Quality Trust’s legal representatives will supplement
(not replace) the existing pool of attorneys appointed by Superior Court and
will seek to be appointed in cases of consumers who have heretofore been
deprived competent representation.
2. The Quality Trust shall contract
with or otherwise arrange for legal representation services for consumers. The scope and content of the contract
shall be negotiated by the Quality Trust and the provider. The Quality Trust will oversee the
performance of the provider under this contract to ensure that the consumers are
getting the legal representation services they require.
3. The Quality Trust shall not provide
direct legal representation to any individual but may contract or make other
arrangements for direct representation from other independent legal services
providers. Nothing herein shall
preclude lay advocates from assisting consumers in administrative
proceedings.
C. Lay Advocacy
Services
Because some of the advocacy
needs of the consumers do not require the services of an attorney and can be
provided more effectively and less expensively through the availability of lay
advocates, the Quality Trust will create a Lay Advocacy Program which shall
provide the following services:
1. Attend Individual Support Plan
(“ISP”) and other team meetings for consumers for whom they are responsible and
advocate for the needs and choices of the consumers at these meetings. The advocates will attempt at all times
to facilitate the consumers’ self-expression, or in the alternative, will
consult with duly appointed representatives or surrogate decision-makers, where
appropriate.
2. Regularly interact with the case
managers of the consumers on their caseloads to keep abreast of any issues
impacting on the protections, services and supports provided to
consumers.
3. Receive and review serious incident
reports and investigation reports for consumers for whom they are responsible,
and advocate for the consumers’ safety and well-being in the course of such
investigations.
4. Receive and review all monitoring
reports related to the consumers on their caseloads and follow up to ensure that
necessary corrective action is taken.
5. Periodically visit consumers
receiving residential and day treatment services to ensure that consumers are
safe and satisfied with the services and supports they are receiving and that
the services and supports are adequate to meet the individualized needs of the
consumers.
6. Advocate on behalf of individuals
and/or groups of consumers to ensure that their complaints are investigated in a
timely fashion and that the consumers are satisfied with the resolution. In the event that the time frames
required for resolution are not complied with or that the proposed resolution is
otherwise unsatisfactory, the advocate shall consult with the consumer(s), or
other appropriate decision-maker, to determine the appropriate course of
action.
a. The Lay Advocacy Program and the
Legal Services component shall establish a program to facilitate the immediate
referral and coordination of cases requiring the assistance of an
attorney.
b. Consumers may seek immediate
referral to the Legal Services component from the Lay Advocacy
Program.
7. Attend court hearings for the
consumers on their caseloads and work with the assigned attorneys in ensuring
that consumers’ needs for protections, services and supports are
met.
8. Some consumers will have family
members, guardians or friends who will serve as their advocates while others
will rely on the services of paid lay advocates. The advocacy program will provide
training not only to the lay advocates, but also to such volunteer
advocates.
9. This advocacy unit will supplement
(not replace) the existing pool of advocates acting on behalf of family,
friends, or those appointed by Superior Court or appointed pursuant to existing
Orders in this case. The Lay
Advocacy Program will prioritize cases of consumers who heretofore have not
received advocacy services.
IV. Quality Trust’s Right to Access and
Information
A. The employees, contractors and
consultants retained by the Quality Trust shall have full access to information
that the Quality Trust deems reasonably necessary and appropriate in performing
the monitoring and lay advocacy duties described in the Settlement
Agreement. More specifically, the
employees, contractors and consultants retained by the Quality Trust shall have
full access to consumers, and their residences, facilities, buildings, programs,
services, documents, records (including medical and departmental) and other
materials that the Quality Trust deems reasonably necessary and appropriate in
performing the duties of the Quality Trust’s monitoring and lay advocacy
functions. The Quality Trust may
obtain copies of the aforementioned documents, records, and other
materials. The Defendants and/or
the
B. Attorneys who provide direct legal
representation of consumers under a contract or other arrangements with the
Quality Trust shall have the right to access their clients’ records and any and
all information regarding their clients that flow from their attorney-client
relationship. In litigation
involving the Defendants and/or the
C. The Quality Trust shall safeguard
the information obtained pursuant to paragraph IV.A., as required by all
applicable laws and Court Orders protecting the confidentiality of such
information.
D. The Defendants and/or the
1. The portions of the budget that
address specific consumer needs for residential and day program services,
equipment, medical and clinical care, etc.;
2. The portions of the budget that
address system needs for managing, monitoring, and overseeing the system of
services for consumers;
3. The portions of the budget that
address any capital appropriations that may be required to meet the needs of the
consumers (e.g., for construction or renovation of program sites or
residences);
4. The amount of the appropriation
being requested by the Mayor from the City Council to meet consumer
needs;
5. The final appropriation;
and
6. The
V. Legislative
Principles
The Plaintiffs and the
Defendants agree that if the appropriate legislative body does not enact
legislation to implement the Legislative Principles (attached to the
Evans 2001 Plan), before the end of the 2001 legislative session, the
parties will accomplish the objectives of the Principles through alternative
means. The
VI. Judicial Review
Until the Evans case
is dismissed, this Court shall retain jurisdiction to enforce the Settlement
Agreement as to class members only, with remedies available to the parties to
the Settlement Agreement under applicable contract law. Upon dismissal of this action, the
Settlement Agreement shall be enforceable as a contract in the Superior Court of
the
/
Respectfully
submitted,
FOR THE PLAINTIFFS:
FOR THE PLAINTIFF-INTERVENOR:
STEVEN H.
ROSENBAUM
Chief
Special Litigation
Section
ELIZABETH
JOHNSON
Deputy
Chief
Special Litigation
Section
____________________________
_____________________________
JOSEPH B. TULMAN, No.
297671 RICHARD J. FARANO, No.
424225
Counsel for Plaintiffs United
States Department of Justice
UDC
David A. Clarke
Civil Rights Division
4200
Building 38, Room 207
202-274-7317
____________________________
KELLY BAGBY, No.
462390
Counsel for
Plaintiffs
University Legal
Services
300
I Street, NE,
202-547-0198
FOR THE
DEFENDANTS:
ROBERT R.
RIGSBY
Corporation Counsel,
DC
JOHN
GREENHAUGH
Senior Corporation
Counsel
____________________________
ROBERT UTIGER, No.
437130
Deputy Corporation
Counsel
____________________________
MARIA C. AMATO, No.
414935
Senior Counsel for
the Equity Division
441
Room
6S059
202-724-6642
FOR THE QUALITY
TRUST:
____________________________
Dated: ________,
2001
[1] The extension of
the Quality Trust functions to class members and non-class members does not
extend the Court’s jurisdiction to non-class members.