January 20, 2026
Before the settlement, thousands of disabled youth were unnecessarily isolated and segregated in highly rigid placements, often facing unsafe conditions.
Last month, a preliminary settlement was reached in A.A. v. Buckner, a lawsuit brought against the Alabama Department of Human Resources, ADHR, over the state’s practice of unnecessarily institutionalizing children with mental health disabilities in psychiatric residential treatment facilities, PRTFs. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit—the Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program, Children’s Rights and the Southern Poverty Law Center—accused ADHR of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act by “isolating children in highly rigid and often dangerous settings instead of meeting their mental health needs in a loving home or community-based setting.”