State schools bills get Senate hearing

link to article

By JIM VERTUNO Associated Press Writer © 2009 The Associated Press

April 16, 2009, 5:23PM

AUSTIN, Texas — The population of Texas' institutions for the mentally disabled could be slashed to 3,000 over the next few years and some of them could be closed under a series of bills heard by a Senate committee on Thursday.

The debate over whether to close some of the institutions known as state schools has been fueled by reports of abuse and neglect and criminal allegations that some residents were forced to fight.

Advocates for the mentally disabled have called on Texas to close facilities or at least stop admissions. They are running into fierce opposition from some families of residents who say the schools offer the best treatment and care for their loved ones.

"This feels like an attack on state school families today," said Susan Payne, vice president of the Parent Association for the Retarded of Texas and a defender of the state schools. Her 47-year-old sister has profound retardation and lives in the Denton State School.

None of the bills before the Senate Health and Human Services Committee targeted specific schools for closure. Instead, they offered different scenarios of how the state would determine if any should be shuttered.

Texas has about 5,000 residents living in 13 state schools. Many of the residents are severely disabled.

Critics of the system say the state is stuck in an era when the mentally disabled were hidden away in large, impersonal facilities far from relatives and communities.

"We are out of whack. We are out of balance," said Dennis Borel, executive director of the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities.

There have been numerous problems in the current system.

A 2008 Justice Department federal report cited negligent and abusive care that violated residents' civil rights and cited 53 deaths linked to preventable conditions. More than 800 workers have been fired or suspended for mistreating patients since 2004.

Last month, several staff members at the Corpus Christi campus were charged with staging "fight club"-type bouts and forcing mentally disabled residents to fight.

Gov. Rick Perry has declared fixing problems at the state schools a legislative emergency. The Senate last month approved safeguards designed to improve care and oversight and the House is considering similar bills.

Putting up security cameras and improving staff training is almost universally welcomed. The idea of closing some state schools fuels a much more emotional debate.

Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, is the author of a bill that would reduce state school populations by 500 by Sept. 1, 2011, and to a total of 3,000 by 2013.

Ellis' bill would also require the Department of Aging and Disability Services to identify 1,500 residents who could be moved into community-based care by 2013. If the state agency can meet those goals, Ellis' plan is to spend nearly $500 million in federal and state money on community care.

Ellis has called the findings in the Justice Department report "horrific atrocities" and warned Texas could be facing a federal lawsuit if lawmakers don't act.

But Payne said many state schools families have gone through community settings and ultimately chose the state school setting.

"I don't think the advocacy groups care anything about the people at the state schools," Payne said. "How can they care more than we do?"

The committee was expected to leave the bills pending without a vote Thursday night.

___

The Senate state school closure bills are SB336, SB1060, SB1407 and SB2360.