Maine’s adult mental health system ready to emerge from court oversight after 3 decades

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Maine’s adult mental care facilities are ready to emerge from court oversight after an appointed specialist concluded the state is now in “substantial compliance” with the latest standards set by a court legal decree. An agreement called the “AMHI Consent Decree” was drafted in 1990 when conditions were so bad at the state’s Augusta Mental Health Institute that the courts stepped in and appointed a “special master” to work out the issues. The lawsuit was brought after a series of deaths in 1988 revealed significant shortcomings at AMHI, which closed in 2004. In his latest report, the appointee Daniel Wathen recommended that the state petition to end the court injunction.