A federal class action has been allowed to proceed against the state Department of Human Services, brought by a group of mentally disabled Pennsylvania youths claiming they were left too long in treatment facilities and not given access to proper treatment.

U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III of the Middle District of Pennsylvania denied DHS’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit, in which the agency claimed the named plaintiffs, between the ages of 10 and 19—representing a class of individuals under age 21 considered dependent—had no valid claims.