Disability Rights Mississippi is taking Palmer Home for Children to court, after Palmer Home denied the other nonprofit, acting as the state’s protection and advocacy system, access to its children and campus.
In a federal complaint filed May 28 in the U.S. District Court of Northern Mississippi in Aberdeen, Disability Rights Mississippi claims Palmer Home violated federal law by denying “reasonable unaccompanied access” to conduct monitoring and investigations.
A civil complaint represents only one side of a legal argument.
The complaint alleges that in late 2023, DRMS received reports indicating potential abuse and neglect at Palmer Home. Greta Martin, DRMS litigation director, told The Dispatch Thursday these reports came from an anonymous source.
“We received a complaint regarding Palmer Home from an anonymous source concerned about the treatment of children in their care, and … we told them we would be coming to monitor their facility, and they denied us access, stating that they do not provide care and treatment to children in their care, and that they do not have children with disabilities,” Martin said.
The legal complaint said the first contact was made in January 2024. In an email exchange between DRMS and Palmer Home representatives attached to the complaint, DRMS initially tried to set up a monitoring visit on the Palmer Home property.
Palmer Home is physically located in DeSoto County. Its principal place of business is listed as 152 Brickerton in Columbus.
Amanda Tollison of the Butler Snow law firm, representing Palmer Home, corresponded with DRMS, initially suggesting dates for DRMS to set up a visit.
But when Tollison asked for information to “facilitate a productive meeting,” Martin responded with a summary of DRMS’ authority as a protection and advocacy system, including a list of federal regulations giving DRMS “reasonable unaccompanied access” to service providers’ facilities, saying visits do not require advance notice.
On March 22, Tollison responded, saying Palmer Home does not fit the definition of a “facility or service provider” as stated in the federal law Martin cited, since Palmer Home does not “provide care or treatment services to prevent, identify, reduce or stabilize mental illness or emotional impairment” for its residents. Tollison denied DRMS access to Palmer Home’s facilities.
On April 9, Martin emailed Tollison a notification that DRMS would be launching an investigation into concerns of potential abuse or neglect.
“It is widely acknowledged that up to 80% of children in foster care grapple with significant mental health issues, such as post-traumatic stress disorder and major depressive episodes, among others. Furthermore, approximately 60% of children in group settings exhibit clinical or behavioral problems,” the initiation of investigation reads. “Therefore, beyond the initial complaints concerning Palmer Home, we are now troubled by the absence of services being offered to the children in your care, whether on an as-needed basis or through third party contractual arrangements.”
In that email, Martin said DRMS had been in contact with the Mississippi Department of Health, which confirmed that their investigator observed children with disabilities on campus during their last visit to Palmer Home.
On April 10, Tollison responded with a letter arguing that Palmer Home does not hold itself to be a mental health service provider, and refers children with significant mental illnesses or developmental disabilities to other facilities for care, meaning the organization does not fall under DRMS authority.
“Contrary to DRMS’s unsupported assumption, the fact that a child residing at Palmer Home has previously experienced trauma does not mean that the child is suffering from a significant mental illness, emotional impairment, developmental or other disability,” Tollison wrote.
Tollison also wrote that Palmer Home complies with the Department of Child Protection Services, which has the authority to investigate in the case of allegations of child abuse or neglect. Palmer Home once again denied DRMS access to its campus, residents and records.
DRMS’ lawsuit calls for a permanent injunction requiring Palmer Home to provide them with timely and reasonable access to their facilities and an award of attorney’s fees.
“Palmer Home doesn’t get to decide who oversees their work,” Martin told The Dispatch. “We have just as much authority as any state agency to come in and ensure the children in their care are being provided the necessary services and treatment. Unfortunately, their wishes do not supersede Congressional authority, and that’s certainly what we intend to argue in federal court.”
Palmer Home CEO Drake Bassett told The Dispatch Wednesday that Palmer Home cannot allow another agency access to its records and campus without evidence of its authority to protect the confidentiality of the children it serves.
“It’s our responsibility to protect the children that we serve, and it’s our responsibility to demand legal proof or legal evidence that they have this right,” Bassett said.
Tollison told The Dispatch Friday that the claims from DRMS are “unsubstantiated,” “completely frivolous,” and “frankly, confusing.”
“Palmer Home does not treat or serve individuals that are diagnosed with significant mental illness, or with developmental or other substantially limiting disabilities,” Tollison said. “As such, we will look forward to quickly putting this attempted overreach behind us.”
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 38 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 38 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
