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Advocates say significant issues still persist in Maine's mental health system

Advocates say that despite this week's termination of a 34-year-old consent decree, Maine's mental health system is far from where it should be.

The court master who oversaw the AMHI consent decree said earlier this fall that the state had largely achieved its requirements, and the Superior Court agreed Tuesday. The decree was the result of a lawsuit that alleged the state violated Constitutional rights after 10 patients died at a state psychiatric hospital.

Mark Joyce, an attorney with Disability Rights Maine, said even though the mental health system has improved, there is still much more to do.

"Remember the Constitution's a floor. And so the state was below the floor in 1990. We should be on top of the roof, not at the floor," he said. "And so just because they're now above the floor in no way means they're even close to the roof."

Joyce said individuals who need services can still get lost in the system, and they should be given the ability to alert the state when they can't access services.