ARC Baldwin County, a nonprofit that provides services for people living with disabilities, is challenging its decertification by the Alabama Department of Mental Health (ADMH) in court.

ADMH informed ARC Baldwin County through a letter, dated July 1, that the group has been decertified, ordering that residents be relocated to other certified care providers and to shut down its day programs. In the letter, ADMH Commissioner Kimberly Boswell said the state held an investigative review of the group between January and March that found they failed to follow incident reporting requirements and cited other violations, including inadequate supervision, staff training failures, nursing oversight issues and medical care compliance failures that resulted in “critical incidents and death.”

ARC Baldwin County provided day programming, housing and other services for people living with intellectual and developmental disabilities, with three centers in Robertsdale, Loxley and Foley. The group has appealed the decision, but unless an appeal is successful, all of their services have ended as of July 15.

ARC Baldwin County filed a notice of appeal and request for judicial review on July 6 in Baldwin County Circuit Court, asking the court to block the state’s decertification, prevent the state from relocating ARC’s clients to other certified organizations and require a hearing where the organization can challenge the department’s findings.

The filing alleges that ARC Baldwin County’s executive director, board members, staff and the families of clients were given no warning or notice that ADMH intended to decertify the group prior to receiving the July 1 letter. The filing also states ADMH failed to follow its own procedures by not providing a certified copy of the recommendation for decertification to ARC’s executive director and its board members.

T. Deven Moore, an attorney representing ARC Baldwin County, said in a July 2 response to ADMH that the group has never received any substantial findings of abuse or neglect, denying that any deaths or critical incidents have been attributed to the care of ARC Baldwin County. He said it was not until the July 1 letter informing them of the decertification that the group received an investigative report from the state.

ADMH filed a motion to dismiss on July 17, saying the state provided all proper notices and that all procedures were properly followed. They also argued that ARC Baldwin County’s court challenge was filed prematurely, saying a court hearing can only be held if the decertification is upheld and if the group decides to further appeal the decision.

The motion is currently pending under Judge Byron Brackin. No hearing regarding the case has been scheduled as of July 22.

ARC of Baldwin County will have a separate hearing with ADMH over their appeal to the state organization. An attorney for ADMH initially said during a public meeting on July 15 that the appeal hearing will be open to the public. However, a representative for ADMH later told GCM that legal counsel said the hearing will in fact be closed to the public. A date for the hearing has not been announced.