The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating whether Montana is violating the Americans with Disabilities Act by failing to provide services to children with behavioral health needs.

Attorneys and analysts with the federal justice department’s Civil Rights Division held multiple listening sessions with parents and providers in communities throughout Montana last week. Those gatherings — held in Missoula, Billings, Helena, Glendive and Glasgow — were coordinated in part by Disability Rights Montana.

James Fletcher, a trial attorney with the disability rights section of the federal government’s Civil Rights Division, explained that his team is looking into allegations that Montana has failed to provide sufficient community-based services, meaning children end up in psychiatric residenti

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