DOJ Says Va. Fails To Provide Community Treatment

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - The Justice Department says Virginia is violating federal law by needlessly institutionalizing the intellectually disabled and not providing enough community-based treatment.

In a stern warning to the state, the Justice Department gave Virginia officials less than two months to reach an agreement to fix the problems or else the agency said it may sue.

The department began investigating Virginia's largest state-run institution, the Central Virginia Training Center, in 2008. But the probe ballooned into an examination of Virginia's entire system of delivering mental health treatment.

Virginia is one of five states that operates multiple state-run institutions for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.