The Los Angeles Superior Court yesterday issued a preliminary injunction in the class action lawsuit filed on behalf of children with autism against the Eastern Los Angeles Regional Center (ELARC) for unlawfully terminating the most effective treatment for their condition.
The order in the Benito R., et al. v. ELARC case requires ELARC to reinstate funding for Developmental, Individual Difference, Relationship-based ("DIR") treatment services for a class of children with autism served by the center, including children who have recently been diagnosed with autism and need the treatment program but have not yet received it. ELARC, a nonprofit agency through which the state provides statutorily required services to people with disabilities, suddenly and illegally eliminated funding for the treatment after more than 10 years of providing it to hundreds, if not thousands, of mostly low-income children with autism.