February 3, 2025
DES MOINES — Iowa’s health agency pledged to ensure the delivery of home and community-based services to the state’s most vulnerable children with mental and behavioral health care needs under the terms of a settlement agreement approved recently by a federal judge.
The settlement resolves a lawsuit filed two years ago by three Iowa children, who were represented by three advocacy groups, including Disability Rights Iowa.
The lawsuit claimed the State of Iowa for decades had “disregarded the lack of mental and behavioral health services” and had failed to provide “intensive home and community-based services” to Medicaid-eligible children as required by federal law.