Community Mental Health Settlement Agreement (Amanda D. Case) DRCNH

Litigation Team:

Disability Rights Center-NH, Center for Public Representation (CPR), Devine, Millimet and Branch, PA, and the United States Department of Justice (as intervenors)

Case Summary:

In 2014, following litigation by our office, the court approved the Community Mental Health Agreement (CMHA). The agreement requires New Hampshire to provide community-based services and supports so that people with serious mental illness can live in the community rather than in institutions like New Hampshire Hospital or Glencliff Home.

These services include mobile crisis teams and crisis apartments, assertive community treatment (ACT), supported housing, supported employment, and peer and family supports. For nearly a decade, compliance with the CMHA has been monitored by an independent Expert Reviewer who issues semi-annual public reports which are available below.

In 2021, we worked with the U.S. Department of Justice and notified the State that it was not meeting certain CMHA requirements, particularly those related to transitioning people out of Glencliff and expanding community-based housing. After working with the State, the court approved a modified agreement on March 29, 2023. The updated agreement requires new long-term community residential options, including housing for people leaving or at risk of entering Glencliff, and caps Glencliff’s population at 75 residents.

Unfortunately, the State has not implemented the modified Community Mental Health Agreement as promised, leaving key obligations unfulfilled. This represents a serious broken promise to people with mental illness and to their families and friends who were told that community-based supports would be put in place to reduce unnecessary institutionalization. We will continue to use every available tool to ensure the State and its leaders meet their obligations under the 2023 modified agreement and deliver on those commitments.

The Twenty-first Expert Reviewer Report was issued on August 13, 2026.

Download the modified CMHA

The State of NH’s own Mission Zero data shows that on any given day over the past 12 months, there have been over 100 people on average at New Hampshire Hospital who do not need to be there but cannot be discharged because there aren’t enough mental health resources in the community to support them. These individuals have been found to be clinically stable enough for discharge for at least 15 days but remain stuck at the hospital without access to critical community-based supports. That figure represents more than half of the facility’s maximum patient population of 185.

Screen shot of data from Mission Zero. — Screenshot taken June 10, 2026

Past Expert Reviewer Reports

Expert Reviewer Report Number One (Dec. 26, 2014)

Expert Reviewer Report Number Two (June 30, 2015)

Expert Reviewer Report Number Three (Jan. 5, 2016)

Expert Reviewer Report Number Four (June 29, 2016)

Expert Reviewer Report Number Five (Jan. 6, 2017)

Expert Reviewer Report Number Six (June 30, 2017)

Expert Reviewer Report Number Seven (Jan. 10, 2018)

Expert Reviewer Report Number Eight (July 23, 2018)

Expert Reviewer Report Number Nine (Jan 21, 2019)

Expert Reviewer Report Number Ten (Sept 10, 2019)

Expert Reviewer Report Number Eleven (Jan 28, 2020).

Expert Reviewer Report Number Twelve (Aug 18, 2020)

Expert Reviewer Report Number Thirteen (Jan 27, 2021)

Expert Reviewer Report Number Fourteen (Sept. 30, 2021)

Expert Reviewer Report Number Fifteen (Jan, 25, 2022)

Expert Reviewer Report Number Sixteen (Dec, 15, 2022)

Expert Reviewer Report Number Seventeen (Oct 3, 2023)

Expert Reviewer Report Number Eighteen (Aug 12, 2024)

Expert Reviewer Report Twentieth (March 18, 2026).

Expert Reviewer Report Number 20 (Mar 18, 2026).

    Array
(
    [0] => Array
        (
            [resource] => Class Action Settlement Agreement

        )

    [1] => Array
        (
            [resource] => Complaint

        )

    [2] => Array
        (
            [resource] => Fact Sheet

        )

    [3] => Array
        (
            [resource] => Summary of Reasons for Reforms of NH’s Mental Health System and Olmstead Suit

        )

    [4] => Array
        (
            [resource] => Notice of Proposed Class Action Settlement

        )

    [5] => Array
        (
            [resource] => Joint Motion for Preliminary Approval of Proposed Class Action Settlement

        )

    [6] => Array
        (
            [resource] => United States Complaint-in-InterventionUnited States Complaint-in-Intervention

        )

    [7] => Array
        (
            [resource] => Commissioner Toumpas’s letter to US DHHS Secretary Sibelius in response to the 2-29-2012 letter from the NHCBHA (March 20, 2012)

        )

    [8] => Array
        (
            [resource] => Letter from US Assistant Attorney General Perez to NH Attorney General Delaney (Dec. 9, 2011)

        )

    [9] => Array
        (
            [resource] => NH Attorney General and DHHS Commissioner respond to the US Department of Justice report, disagreeing with the DOJ findings. (Dec. 6, 2011)

        )

    [10] => Array
        (
            [resource] => DRC-NH Demand Letter

        )

    [11] => Array
        (
            [resource] => Court Order of CMHA Modification Agreement (Mar 29, 2023)

        )

    [12] => Array
        (
            [resource] => Modified CMHA (Feb 7, 2023)

        )

)

Case Documents (Amanda D. v. Hassan)

Class Action Settlement Agreement

Complaint

Fact Sheet

Summary of Reasons for Reforms of NH’s Mental Health System and Olmstead Suit

Notice of Proposed Class Action Settlement

Joint Motion for Preliminary Approval of Proposed Class Action Settlement

United States Complaint-in-Intervention United States Complaint-in-Intervention

Commissioner Toumpas’s letter to US DHHS Secretary Sibelius in response to the 2-29-2012 letter from the NHCBHA (March 20, 2012)

Letter from US Assistant Attorney General Perez to NH Attorney General Delaney (Dec. 9, 2011)

NH Attorney General and DHHS Commissioner respond to the US Department of Justice report, disagreeing with the DOJ findings. (Dec. 6, 2011)

DRC-NH Demand Letter

Court Order of CMHA Modification Agreement (Mar 29, 2023)

Modified CMHA (Feb 7, 2023)

    Array
(
    [0] => Array
        (
            [resource] => US Department of Justice letter dated April, 2011 finds that NH “fails to provide services to qualified individuals with mental illness in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs in violation of the ADA.”

        )

    [1] => Array
        (
            [resource] => August 2008 Ten Year Plan: “Addressing the Critical Mental Health Needs of NH’s Citizens A Strategy for Restoration: the Mental Health Ten Year Plan by NH Department of Health & Human Services, New Hampshire Hospital Bureau of Behavioral Health and The Community Behavioral Health Association”

        )

    [2] => Array
        (
            [resource] => Mission Zero: State portal tracking barriers to discharge showing that on any given day over the past 12 months, there have been over 100 people on average at New Hampshire Hospital who do not need to be there but cannot be discharged because there aren’t enough mental health resources in the community to support them.

        )

)

Related Reports, Documents, and Links

US Department of Justice letter dated April, 2011 finds that NH “fails to provide services to qualified individuals with mental illness in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs in violation of the ADA.”

August 2008 Ten Year Plan: “Addressing the Critical Mental Health Needs of NH’s Citizens A Strategy for Restoration: the Mental Health Ten Year Plan by NH Department of Health & Human Services, New Hampshire Hospital Bureau of Behavioral Health and The Community Behavioral Health Association”

Mission Zero: State portal tracking barriers to discharge showing that on any given day over the past 12 months, there have been over 100 people on average at New Hampshire Hospital who do not need to be there but cannot be discharged because there aren’t enough mental health resources in the community to support them.

Contact Us

If You Need Help

Contact us if your think your rights have been violated or if you wish to speak with an attorney about a disability-related legal issue.

Contact Us