AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine’s adult mental health facilities are poised to come out of court oversight after an expert panel concluded the state is now in “substantial compliance” with the latest standards set by a court order.

An agreement called the “AMHI Consent Decree” was drafted in 1990, when conditions were so bad at the Augusta Mental Health Institute that the courts stepped in and appointed a “special master” to fix the problems. The lawsuit was brought after a series of deaths in 1988 revealed significant deficiencies at AMHI, which closed in 2004. It was replaced by the Riverview Psychiatric Center.

Over the years, the appointee, former state Chief Justice Daniel Wathen, and his predecessors found that the state often failed to meet the standards in the consent decree as the state transitioned more patients from institutions to community care.

In its latest report last week, Wathen found that policies, practices and systems “reflect sustainable improvements in the adult community mental health system and supported by robust advocacy as it currently stands, satisfy the systems-based approach to substantial compliance.” . He recommended that the state application end the court order.

The Maine Department of Health and Human Services plans to follow Wathen’s recommendation in hopes of providing a “long overdue resolution to the consent decree,” said Commissioner Sara Gagné-Holmes.

“The department has worked hard to strengthen Maine’s adult community mental health care system to ensure timely access to high-quality services over the past six years, and we are pleased that our systemic improvements are making a difference,” she said in – a statement. .