PORTLAND – Officials say the $600,000 settlement of a lawsuit brought by a former resident of the Maine Youth Center likely will bring more changes to Maine’s juvenile corrections system.

The case already has led to the removal of two high-ranking employees of the South Portland facility, now known as the Long Creek Youth Development Center.

Superintendent Lars Olsen and senior psychologist Barbara Heath have been reassigned to other jobs in the Department of Corrections.

The plaintiff in the lawsuit, identified only as Michael T., alleged that during the 1990s he was tied down for up to 47 hours at a time and placed in solitary confinement for periods of more than a month.

State Sen. Michael Brennan, D-Portland, said the suit and resulting investigations will lead to other changes.

“It was very significant,” he said.

One question the settlement did not address is whether juvenile facility residents have a legal right to rehabilitation and treatment. Michael T.’s lawyers claimed that they do, but the state disagreed.

Lawyers for both sides argued that question before Superior Court Justice Thomas Humphrey, but the suit was settled before he issued a ruling. That issue could be decided in another case, though lawyers say more suits are unlikely.

Other states also are examining the question, said Mark Soler, a lawyer with the Youth Law Center in Washington, D.C.

“The right to education is pretty clear, but the right to treatment is a little more ambiguous,” he said.

Soler said Maine’s position is similar to that of other states.

“It’s not unusual,” he said. “It doesn’t mean it’s correct, but it’s not unusual.”

Along with rehabilitation, the settlement of Michael T.’s case did not address Long Creek’s leadership. Most of the people named in the suit are still state employees, and court documents indicated that top youth center officials signed off on the treatment.

No new superintendent has been named, and the corrections department is conducting a nationwide search for Olsen’s replacement.