An Unfinished Journey:

Welsch v. Likins: National Reform in the District of Minnesota

National reform took center stage in Minnesota in Welsch.

In 1972, Richard Welsch (on behalf of his daughter, Patricia) and involuntarily committed residents of Minnesota's institutions filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, alleging that conditions violated their constitutional rights. Attorneys from The Legal Aid Society of Minneapolis represented the residents.

The twelve-day trial in 1973 exposed the lack of adequate staff, excessive use of medication and restraint, and a deplorable living environment.  
Judge Earl R. Larson issued an opinion in 1974, finding that anyone committed to an institution must receive minimally adequate treatment designed to give them a realistic opportunity to be cured or to improve their mental condition.

Judge Larson wrote, "Everyone, no matter the degree or severity of mental retardation, is capable of growth and development if given adequate and suitable treatment."

Judge Larson's ruling guided the service system for the next several years, resulting in:

• improved staffing
• reduction in the number of people in institutions
• physical plant improvements
• reduction in restraints and seclusion
• individual habilitation plans for all
• establishment of the Office of Ombudsman for Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities

The Welsch lawsuit lasted 17 years.

Another trial in 1980 involved more institutions, leading to a settlement agreement covering a total of eight institutions.

The case was not ultimately dismissed until 1989 after Judge David S. Doty approved the final Welsch settlement agreement.

Photo: Richard Welsch, a male with short gray hair and glasses wearing a white shirt and sitting on a park bench leaning toward his daughter, Patty, a young woman with short brown hair wearing summer clothes. Photo courtesy of the Star Tribune, Regene Radniecki, photographer.

Photo: Black and white photo on an individual with dark hair wearing a hockey helmet and a white shirt, a clothespin necklace. He is holding a raisin in his left hand and dropping down the eye hold of the mask. Photo courtesy of Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid/Minnesota Disability Law Center.

Photo: An individual wearing a straitjacket that is white and has four knots with their back to camera. Photo courtesy of Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid/Minnesota Disability Law Center.

Photo: A worn wooden restraint chair that is secured to a large piece of plywood and is sitting in an empty room. Photo courtesy of Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid/Minnesota Disability Law Center.

Photo: Black and white photo of three old metal cribs enclosed on top in a room. In one of the cribs a child is partially dressed lying in a fetal position. Photo courtesy of Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid/Minnesota Disability Law Center.

Photo: Black and white photo of Judge Earl Larson.

Photo: Photo of Judge David Doty.

Link: https://mn.gov/mnddc/extra/welsch-45th.html