Last modified: Friday, May 18, 2007 1:04 AM EDT Brain-injured take on state BY RICK FOSTER SUN CHRONICLE STAFF BOSTON - Attleboro resident Cathy Hutchinson suffered a devastating stroke 11 years ago while working in her garden. She survived, but her life hasn't been the same since. Now 54 and a grandmother, Hutchinson is a quadriplegic and unable to speak. However her mind remains agile and she is able to use a computer, go shopping and express herself using a letter board. But while Hutchinson is eager to return to her old home off Pleasant Street, she continues to live in a Middleboro nursing home - the victim, she and her family say, of a state government that refuses to provide community services to which they say she and others are entitled by law. "Sometimes I feel like I am in prison for a crime I didn't commit," Hutchinson wrote in a prepared statement. "I need to start living my life, instead of just existing in a wheelchair." Hutchinson's words were read by her friend and guardian, Sandy Julien, during a Thursday news conference announcing a class action lawsuit against the state. The legal action was filed by the Brain Injury Association of Massachusetts, the Center for Public Representation and the law firm of Wilmer Hale on behalf of Hutchinson and other Massachusetts residents who have suffered brain injuries. The suit, which names Gov. Deval Patrick and several members of his administration, alleges the state has failed in violation of federal law to provide services to patients who have suffered brain injuries and strokes. The complaint was filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Springfield. State Health and Human Services Secretary Judyann Bigby said the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission operates the Brain Injury and Statewide Specialized Community Services Program, which serves more than 900 people, and that the state is pursuing additional initiatives, including requesting additional federal funds to expand community services to disabled people. "We will review the specific allegations of the complaint, and respond as appropriate in the court proceeding," Bigby said. "We are, first and foremost, committed to providing the highest quality of care for all residents of Massachusetts, especially those with special needs." Holly Danca of Pawtucket, Hutchinson's daughter and one of her two children, said her mother is in "good spirits," surfs the Internet and looks forward to shopping trips and visits from her 4-year-old grandson. However, Hutchinson currently must be in a nursing home to receive the support she needs. "Ideally, she'd like to be at home," Danca said. Hutchinson, a former postal worker, is one of four plaintiffs named in the lawsuit, which asks that the state agree to provide services in the community for brain-injured patients so they can return to their homes or group residences. The state already provides community-based service to other groups, including the retarded and mentally ill. Richard Johnston, one of the lawyers representing the injured patients, said the state is standing in the way of a better way of life for Hutchinson and others like her who do not need to be in institutions. "Their brain injuries are life-changing and profound, but they don't deserve or need to be relegated to a lifetime of institutional care," said Johnston of WilmerHale. Advocates, including Steven Schwartz of the Center for Public Representation, said the state discriminates against Hutchinson and is violating the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Medicaid Act. Brain injuries fall into two main categories: "traumatic" because of accidents and "acquired," stemming from strokes or other internal medical conditions. The state provides community-based care for up to 100 patients with traumatic brain injuries under a Medicaid waiver, Schwartz said, but there is no similar program for those whose injuries are medical in nature. Advocates estimate there are about 8,000 brain injured patients in nursing homes in Massachusetts, up to a quarter of whom might benefit from community-based care. Schwartz said both the Romney and Patrick administrations have rebuffed requests to remedy the situation. He added that Massachusetts failed to apply for up to $547 million in federal funding to help pay to transition people with disabilities from nursing homes to the community. New Jersey, for example, received a grant for $30 million. Currently, Hutchinson is able to operate her electric wheelchair by manipulating her head and communicates through her eyes, her letter board and by e-mail. But she said she is unable to access the kinds of services that would allow her to return to her home and garden. "We must find a way to allow people like me to live as independently as possible," she wrote. "I should not have to fight the system when each day I must already fight to communicate, to be understood, make choices and express my feelings."