Lessons Learned from a Lawsuit Creating Service for People with Mental Illness and Mental Retardation

What happens when a federal court orders a state government to correct major problems in its service delivery provisions to people with disabilities, especially people with the dual diagnosis of mental retardation and psychiatric disorders? This book highlights numerous and varied findings of an eight-year (1993-2001) longitudinal study that attempted to measure the impact of this lawsuit on both the people who were known as Thomas S. class members and the state and local services that were available to them in North Carolina.

James R. Dudley, PhD, is a former director of the Thomas S. Longitudinal Research Project and is a professor at the University of North Carolina–Charlotte. He lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. Mary Lynne Calhoun, PhD, is a former associate director of the Thomas S. Longitudinal Research Project and is the dean of the College of Education the the University of North Carolina–Charlotte. She lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. Lynn Ahlgrim-Delzell, MS, is a former research coordnator for the Thomas S. Longitudinal Research Project and she has worked in the field of developmental disabilities for 17 years. She lives in Charlotte, North Carolina.