In December of 2006, Disability Rights Washington (formerly Washington Protection & Advocacy System) entered into an agreement that settled a lawsuit called Boyle v Arnold-Williams.  The Boyle lawsuit was filed in November of 2001.

Before the Boyle lawsuit was filed, clients of the Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD) were incurring a number of problems in receiving their Medicaid Home and Community Based Services (HCBS).

For example, one problem was that Many DDD clients receiving waiver services also were not getting services in a timely fashion once they requested them and DDD had authorized them. Many DDD clients were also not getting adequate assessments of their needs and/or not having their needs addressed in their individual support plans.

In addition, DDD clients receiving Medicaid waiver services were not being provided the full range of services offered under the waiver on which they were placed. 

Several years ago, DDD went from having one Medicaid HCBS waiver to four different HCBS waivers.  The four new waivers were:

1. the Basic waiver;
2. the Basic Plus waiver;
3. the Core waiver; and
4. the Community Protection waiver. 

When DDD went from the one waiver to the 4 waivers, many people were placed on one of the four waivers without proper assessments of their needs to determine upon which waiver they should be placed.  They were also not given an opportunity to appeal their placement on one of the four waivers. 

These are just some of the many issues that led to the filing of the Boyle lawsuit.

The settlement addresses all of these and other issues raised in the case. Among other things, the Settlement Agreement helps to make sure that DDD clients who are currently on one of the waivers or receive waiver services, get proper assessment of their service need and get their services on time.  The settlement also makes sure that DDD notifies people properly of their appeal rights.

For a detailed description of how these issues are addressed by the settlement, please see the Boyle Information Sheet.  To read the final Settlement Agreement, click on the link below.

Final Settlement Agreement

How can I find out more about the Boyle lawsuit?

The foregoing is only a summary of the Settlement Agreement.  If you are a member of the class, you may learn about your rights under the Settlement Agreement by contacting DRW.

To request these documents in an alternative format, please contact Jessica McDaneld.