For immediate release
Contact: Ron Benfield
ronbenfield@daybreakyouthservices.org
240.672.1365
Daybreak Youth Services (“Daybreak”) filed a civil lawsuit complaint against the Washington State Department of Health, the Washington Health Care Authority, and Washington Department of Commerce on Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington in Spokane. The complaint also charges Trent Kelly, the Executive Director of Behavioral Health Inspections and Investigations for DOH, and other state officials and employees of manufacturing grounds for Daybreak’s forced closure in June 2023.
“This is an important step in Daybreak’s mission to vindicate the rights of the adolescents who depended on Daybreak to help them with substance abuse and other mental health problems” said Thomas Russell, Daybreak’s CEO. “The defendants in this case made false allegations against Daybreak and several of its employees because we tried to protect the federally protected privacy rights of our adolescent patients”
The 76-page complaint details numerous incidents where state employees conspired to deprive Daybreak of its due process rights including filing for and receiving two emergency orders during an ex-parte proceeding where Daybreak was not present to defend itself. The Washington Court of Appeals panel ruled in 2025 the requirements contained in these ex parte orders were impossible to comply with.
The lawsuit names both federal and state causes of action including malicious prosecution and violations of Daybreak’s rights to due process and freedom of speech.
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About Daybreak Youth Services
Daybreak Youth Services was one of Washington State’s largest residential treatment providers for adolescents facing substance use and behavioral health crises. For more than 45 years, Daybreak served youth across the state with trauma-informed care, including inpatient treatment, mental health evaluation, suicide prevention, and specialized support for victims of sex trafficking. Daybreak’s services helped thousands of youths reclaim their futures. For more information, visit www.daybreakyouthservices.org.
Attachment: Washington State Court of Appeals Unpublished Opinion
Attachment: Complaint for Damages, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington