The Thomos S. case: report on progress with court compliance issues

The present paper is a brief summary of the progress which has been made in the Thomas S. case, a U.S. Federal Court lawsuit. The suit focused on adul ts with intellectual disability who had been inappropriately placed in stat e psychiatric hospitals in conditions which violated their constitutional r ights. These constitutional rights include safety, protection from harm, tr eatment under safe conditions, freedom from undue restraint, and minimally adequate habilitation or treatment. The present report summarizes the progr ess made by the 239 class members after they had received a Thomas S. servi ce plan for 6-24 months. Overall, the results suggest that the class member s have made significant progress in several areas. Two areas needing contin ued attention are the challenging behaviours of some class members and thei r lack of employment opportunities.