Dispatches from Community Now!

Texas 82nd Legislative Session

2010-08-30T00:07:00.000-05:00

Legislative Recommendations for Long Term Care Reform

1. Direct the Health and Human Services Commission to develop a long range plan to re-balance long term care services for Texans with Disabilities. This plan should include the following components:
1. Develop a diversely represented Task Force to guide plan development.
2. Close and consolidate State Supportive Living Centers (SSLC) as the population decreases. The closure process must include the choices of those choosing to remain in these facilities and ensure those who wish to leave have every opportunity to do so.
3. Ensure supports and services for people living in the community are available, exceptional and accountable.
4. People transitioning from SSLC’s to community settings should develop a Person Directed Plan to ensure the successful transition in order to meet individual needs.
5. Money Follow the Person protocols utilized for people with disabilities exiting nursing homes and private ICF-MR facilities should be incorporated to support people exiting SSLCs.
6. Designate all funding saved through consolidation and closure of SSLCs to fund people with disabilities on Waiting Lists for community services and supports.
2. Consolidate Medicaid Waivers into a system that determines services based on needs generated through Person Centered Planning.
3. Expand Consumer Directed Services (CDS) options to all waiver services and ensure information on how to access these services is readily available and accessible.
4. Personal Care Attendants and other Direct Support Professionals must be paid a living wage of plus appropriate benefits.

Contact David Wittie at 512-512-577-8982 or Cindi Paschall at 817-281-6730 for more information

OR

Email: communitynowfreedom@gmail.com

Texas 82nd Legislative Session A Case for Long Term Care Reform

2010-08-30T00:04:00.000-05:00

* Texas faces a major budget crisis during this Session. People with disabilities are facing the very real possibility that their services will decrease or be cut altogether. Those on Medicaid Waiver waiting lists have little hope of additional funds for more slots. Community services and supports are at risk as funding for State Supportive Living Centers (SSLCs) continues to grow.

* The system of long term care services is fragmented and inequitable. With 100,000 people on waiting lists and about 4400 people in SSLCs. The cost of 16,000 people who receive services in the community through Home and Community Based Services (HCS) is about as much as the 4400 people living in SSLCs.

* In a recent report updating SSLCs prepared by the Department of Aging and Disability Services, (DADS) projected taxpayer costs just to maintain SSLC facilities will reach almost 475 billion dollars over the next five years while the population at these facilities is projected to decrease to about 3500 people by 2013.

* It is critical to maintain quality, safe care for people who choose to live in SSLCs. The Department of Justice continues to find ongoing, chronic health and safety issues at all 13 facilities as a part of routine monitoring efforts. The SSLCs with the largest populations continue to show patterns that lead to abuse, neglect and poor health care.

* During the 81st Legislative Session, an unprecedented number of bills were filed calling for the development of a long term strategic plan to re-balance long term care to create equity in choice and balance to a grossly unbalanced system.

* Long term care reform is not about taking the choice and opportunity for people to live in a SSLC, it is about honoring the choice of all people with disabilities, including those who languish on waiting lists.

* Community Services for people with disabilities consistently cost less money than state institutions or SSLCs. This is evidenced by the Texas State Auditors’ Report in 2007 and the Legislative Budget Board’s report on state schools in 2007. As Texas makes difficult decisions during this fiscal crisis, it is not only important to value the choices people make about where they want to live, but to balance our limited resources.

For More Information contact: David Wittie at 512-557-8982 or Cindi Paschall: 817-281-6730

Corey, Who?

2010-08-30T00:01:00.000-05:00

A boy named Corey. Probably in his late teens. Beaten by a state Supportive Living Center employee in Austin. Beaten at night by the a man who is underpaid. Corey had Autism and behavior problems. Note the pictures of his bruises. Cameras will be installed at the Austin State Supportive Living Center in the fall.

Whew. I am glad the cameras are going to be installed. That is a relief to me. I am comforted to know that my tax dollars are going to pay for cameras to be placed in the common areas of these state operated institutions for those people. I mean State Supportive Living Centers. I feel better when I say State Supportive Living Centers. When I call these institutions State Supportive Living Centers, I feel better about them and myself because it is really hard to think of anyone living in Institutions in 2010. When I say State Supportive Living Centers it is also hard for me to think about Corey being beaten by someone paid to support him because it seems that beatings may not really happen in a place called a State Supportive Living Center. I do not even want to use an acronym, ASSLC because I do not like what that acronym may mean to others.

I am very glad about these cameras. I understand that these cameras are very expensive which probably means the state employees paid to watch the tapes will be able to see the tapes on HD. This is good, because I am sure these employees paid to view these tapes deserve HD as they are underpaid. Oh, I found out that the cameras are going to be installed in the “Common Areas” in the State Supportive Living Center. This means our underpaid state employees who view the tapes will get a really good view of what happens in living rooms, dining rooms and hallways. This is good. But…and I don’t want to be critical in anyway, but this kid, uh, what is his name…Corey, yeah. I think he got his ass kicked in his own bedroom or the room he sleeps in. I have heard that folks who get to live in State Supportive Living Centers have rooms kind of like; you know…a college dorm. Yeah. Like living in a college dorm your whole live. Anyway. This unfortunate situation of this kid being beaten is still a little sketchy. I mean the guys charged with doing it, say they didn’t do it. Now, Corky was on special supervision for his violent behavior. This staff guy was outside of his room all night and then suddenly the next morning, the boy had bruises everywhere. I am thinking that the boy may have fallen out of bed causing multiple bruises that look like fist marks. Or this may have just been an isolated incident.

Back to this camera situation. I really do feel better knowing that these state employees who monitor the video on these cameras placed in “Common Areas” will be able to catch the bad guys beating people up. This may not work for this boy’s situation as he was stomped in his own bedroom, a place where cameras aren’t allowed and I respect this boy’s right to privacy. I really do. AND…this brings up another point. If the staff really beat this kid, don’t you think they would have dragged him out of his room, down a hallway and into a common area so the staff watching the HD could see it happen? I bet they would have woken up immediately and run out the secret video room and stopped what happened to this kid.
Now. Please believe me when I say I really hate vulnerable people being beaten on my tax dollars. BUT. Please remember those poor staff that continue to beat people in their charge. These are tough jobs and you get what you pay for. I mean, really. Can you imagine a job that you have to go to every day where you have to work with people that piss you off so much that you simply have to beat the crap out of them? How can I judge these staff people? I have no idea the conditions they have to work in. They only have GEDs and are starting at around $10.00 an hour. Gratefully they get great health benefits, retirement, vacation and holidays. AND a state employees union that will stand by their union buddies not matter what! I am an old Union guy. Those guys in the coal mines deserve Union support. Their product is coal. Keeping people under your thumb in horrible conditions is no different and State Supportive Living Centers have a product to keep and that is to keep em going so more money can be spent to support these hard working staff. I mean look at the history of the State Supportive Living Centers.

The Department of Justice is watching over them. Like God’s Angels they are. These G-Men are doing a great job so far. They have shown reports about State Supportive Living Centers that show the same old so called problems. Rampant abuse, horrible medical care, people being kept there against their will. It has been over a year now that the DOJ has been in these State Supportive Living Centers and they have been busy making reports and I’m sure they will get to the bottom of these problems. They are G-Men for God’s sake. Too bad for Calvin though. He just got caught behind the ole eight ball. A day late and a dollar short! I know he must appreciate all of these efforts to keep him safe and knows things will be better soon. He may not have realized this blanket of safety; this Federal Shield was there for him when he was being pounded. I hope he has been informed and is appreciative. I know I am.

My gosh. I have spent so much time writing all of this down. I usually just let all of this stuff go when I read something bad about a State Supportive Living Center. But for a few moments, Charlie’s story really got to me. Oh it is such a mess. I apologize for this rambling bunch of statements. Should have spent more time on the pre season Football scores. It is all so overwhelming. Best to leave all of this in the hands of those who have done such a great job for so long. Just wanted to say. Good Luck, Corey!

A Concerned Texan!

Wet Blanket

2010-08-18T22:34:00.006-05:00

Corey Baker, a young man, a 17 year old teenager with Autism was beaten at Austin State Institution.

He has the bruises to prove it. Bruise pics and link to story You can read the articles in the paper. The articles may have been posted on your disability rights list serve. I know the story was posted on the Community Now! List serve…with little to no response. It like this huge wet blanket. A nasty wet blanket thrown over me. Smothering me. Dragging me down, holding me down. Having hard time breathing. I am being driven to drink a glass of wine, watch mindless TV and just let it go. Just another beating. Yet another one. And I know. I know, there is one happening right now as I write. It is eight pm now, which means the night shift, is in full swing at our ridiculously titled 13 State Supportive Living Centers. The night shift. A time of terror for people we will never know. The night shift. Poorly trained people under supervised, poorly educated, given the power to let people live or die. The whiff of this kind of power is stagnant and rank. An unholy place where evil can happen and does.

I am sickened by this most recent beating. My heart breaks for this Mom who had no choice but to put her son in an institution, four hours away from his home. How many of you parents out there have been very close to making the horrible decision to place your child in an institution? I have. It is a dark place.

I know people that have had to make decisions to put their family at risk to keep their kid out of an institution. They hold on, hold on, hold for that damn slot to come open. Some cannot hold out and have only one choice: An Institution. I cannot and won’t sit in judgment of families who have to place their child in an institution because their child does not have the support he needs to live at home. This decision is personal and horrible.

And what about Corey? Mom having to make a tough decision is one thing. But, what about Corey? According to the newspaper, he was recently moved from his home in Colorado where he lived with his Grandmother to Texas to live with his Mom. His whole world was completely changed. For any young person, this is difficult. If you have Autism, it can be totally overwhelming. Corey was asked to change his life and when he got to Texas, other than the hellish heat, he most likely got nothing. No supports, nothing. Oh, yeah. Wait for 8-12 years to get a waiver slot, or go into an institution.

Where is the outrage? I hear nothing.

I am not going to sit quietly. I am not. Silence is complicit with the evil. If I am quiet, then I am complicit. You too, for that manner.

And to clarify, we must get everyone out of state institutions that want out and develop a long range plan to close the institutions no longer needed( I mean for God’s sake, even DADS says it will cost almost a half a billion dollars just to keep the buildings maintained over the next five years). This plan must take steps to return any money garnished from closures to fund the waiting list, so people like Corey aren’t put in harm’s way because they have no other choice. That is it. Simple and to the point. Get em out, close the ones we don’t need, shift money to those waiting.

Corey could have very easily ended up like Michael Nicholson in Lubbock. justice4michael.com Dead. Strangled and beaten. Tortured. It appears that Michael had Autism as well. Seems like in Texas institutions, behavior programs for people with Autism include systematic torture.

The Wave is coming. The Autism wave is coming. It is a tsunami. If we don’t fix things now, and this mean creating a system of supports for people with autism to live in their communities, then our institutions will be full. We will have to build another 13, maybe 30.

The message is about balance and real choice.

I started out with this whatever it is I am writing talking about the “Wet Blanket”. It is evil this blanket that will give us permission to be complacent. Every Corey, is my own child, is Michael Nicholson, is Haseeb Chishty, is, is, is. We have to fight the complacency of our daily lives. The lives where we are just trying to get through the day with a child that is tough. Trying to keep a job, trying to have a life, keep a marriage together or struggle to pick up the pieces when it fails. Getting through days where our old friends don’t come by anymore or family is distant and no one really understands. When we don’t have time for our other kids or our child with a disability has his heart broken because of her difference or, or, or…

As hard as we struggle today, we must find a moment to invest in the future of our children. I know many of you may have young children and that every night when you drop without a huge crisis is a good day. I have met so many wonderful people who struggle and give up so much for their children, who have a vision that their baby has a gift to give. And we all need make sure she is present in her community to share that gift.

I know it is asking a great deal of you to step up and do something. It may seem so far away that anything you do now can make a difference. The future of our children is smack in the middle of what we do today. There are 10s of thousands of people waiting on waiting lists. Quality community services and supports can be spotty. Finding exceptional behavioral support is really hard to find in Texas. You can make a difference by being a part of organized action. Action as simple as a phone call delivered at the right moment to the right legislator, an email, a visit to your State Rep or Senator with a group of other families. Bring your kids!

find your Texas legislator link

And for every call or email or whatever you do, it will keep you from the horrors of complacency, the temptation to ignore Corey because all of this is so overwhelming and nothing seems to change and what can I do anyway?

You can act. You. can. act. And when you rest or have a moment of calm you will know that that moment, on that day, you acted. On that day, you started a savings account paid out in action for your kid’s future.

Several advocate groups are planning a news conference and Rally on September 1st, the beginning of Texas’ new fiscal year to stand for community services..

Texas has a 100,000 people waiting for community services. But they keep dumping more and more money into these institutional hellholes. 1/3 of all funds already go to these institutions, which only serve 9% of folks with disabilities in the state.

Plan to meet September 1st.

Write/fax/visit your legislators. Make sure they know your story.

Get ready to educate these legislators more. Because they must know our kids are valuable members of our communities. And we are not supposed to live in a world where we are forced to lock them away.

Contact Community Now! (communitynowfreedom@gmail.com) Join our list serve or one of our Coalitions. This upcoming Legislative Session will be bloody. Our state faces a huge budget deficit and our children are often the first to get something taken away from them. We are 100,000 strong. Those of us on waiting lists, our families and friends await their shot at the American Dream. This Sleeping Giant has to wake up and be heard with a loud voice calling for equity, choice and the immediate end to a system build on blood, graft, and the backs of innocents.

Choose Freedom,

Ginny

Be there. Really.

2010-08-18T14:14:00.007-05:00

Justice for cats, but what about Texas' most vunerable people?

2010-07-22T23:07:00.007-05:00

Have you heard this story about the animal shelter in Dallas? A cat escaped and got stuck in the wall. Employees knew about this but did nothing. They could hear the cat trying to escape, but the cat died within the walls of the shelter.

Heinous, isn't it? The district attorney's office is looking into the death, and has subpoenaed employees to testify before a grand jury this week.

Contrast the cat story to the happenings to humans in Texas.

Michael Nicholson was murdered on June 6, 2009. Killed by a state employee who sat on him, mocked Michael, and choked him with a towel repeatedly. And it was witnessed by a total of 6 employees that were all fired. But only one was charged. Donnell Smith tortured Michael for hours, and suffocated a person. This heinous act of murder was never tried. Donnell still walks the streets a free man.
http://justice4michael.com
State school death a homicide

In December 2008, an employee at the San Antonio State School was fired after he forced a male resident with intellectual disabilities to perform a sex act on a male resident who also had mental disabilities. No charges were ever filed. San Antonio State School worker fired for sexual abuse

Further, these crimes are rarely reported. Only 6% of the claims of abuse and neglect in these state institutions are confirmed. I personally know of several witnessed that were not confirmed. Even when the evidence exists on such an overwhelming level that unionized state employees are fired, the perpetrators are almost never punished criminally. Emily Ramshaw's story for the Texas Tribune revealed that in the last 10 years, only 75 employees were fired for the most heinous, documented abuse and neglect. Of those 75, only 13 were charged with crimes. Just 2 actually served jail time. Convinced? Please note that "Among the abusive employees who were never charged? An employee who punched and kicked a mentally disabled man, fracturing his ribs and lacerating his liver. An employee who sexually assaulted an immobile resident while he was giving him a bath. And a worker who used his belt to repeatedly whip a disabled resident across the face and mouth."
Disability Workers Rarely Prosecuted for Violence

Every day, people are locked away in institutions, when the federal civil rights laws guarantee that people with disabilities must be served in "the most integrated setting." Texas continues to be under investigation by the Department of Justice, and independent monitors are still finding the same violations, even after more than $40 million in additional money was allocated to "fix" these places during the last legislative session as part of the settlement with the Department of Justice .
Problems persist at state center for mentally disabled, monitors find

It really is time to invoke that "Justice for all" clause.

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Albert Einstein

2010-06-01T23:06:00.002-05:00

Problems persist at state center for mentally disabled in Lubbock, monitors find
12:00 AM CDT on Friday, May 28, 2010

By ROBERT T. GARRETT / The Dallas Morning News
rtgarrett@dallasnews.com

AUSTIN – The state-run facility in Lubbock for the mentally disabled, where outcries of shoddy care and exploitation sparked a federal investigation five years ago, still has big problems, independent monitors reported Thursday.

At least 13 employees have been dismissed since July as a result of investigations finding abuse or neglect, and staffing shortages contributed to three incidents in recent months in which residents with mental disabilities wandered off, the report said.

Nearly half of the institution's 105 nurse jobs haven't been filled, and the 470 low-wage direct-care workers turn over at an annual rate of 60 percent. The facility houses 230 residents.

The independent monitors, jointly named after the state and the U.S. Department of Justice reached a settlement last year, expressed particular alarm that about 20 young men with both mental illness and mental retardation were living in a dorm that had only six inexperienced attendants.

Many of the residents "have some challenging behaviors," a top state official said Thursday, adding that the group has been reassigned to other units that have at least some veteran workers.

Department of Aging and Disability Services Commissioner Chris Traylor also said he's hired a new facility director and launched an effort to hire more staff – two actions his predecessor also took after a more scathing federal report was issued 3 ½ years ago.

"We agree there are complex problems and issues in Lubbock, but we're focusing on moving forward and putting ... in place the staffing necessary to improve the quality of life for the persons in the Lubbock State Supported Living Center," Traylor said.

One disability rights advocate, though, said it's "very disheartening" to see another critical report.

"They just have never gotten off the dime out there in Lubbock," said Dennis Borel, executive director for the Coalition of Texans With Disabilities. He noted that a federal report in December 2006 cited horrific living conditions and medical mistreatment of patients at the facility, and an internal state review two years ago was "equally dismal."

The June settlement capped a four-year federal investigation that found widespread civil rights violations across Texas' 13 state institutions for the mentally disabled. The Dallas Morning News and other media outlets reported on abuse and neglect in the facilities, including the disclosure of an employee-directed "fight club" involving residents at the institution in Corpus Christi.

Federal scrutiny was most intense at facilities in Lubbock and Denton.

Three separate monitoring teams have completed "baseline" reviews at seven of the 13 former "state schools," now called state-supported living centers. Once monitors finish their initial reviews at Denton and the five remaining sites, they'll make return visits every six months through 2013.

"We're focused on long-term improvement," said Traylor, who announced he's named a new director of the Lubbock facility, Libby Allen, a 36-year veteran who spent most of her career at the Lufkin center.

Chris Adams, assistant state commissioner over the facilities, said the 13 dismissals of Lubbock staff for allegedly abusing residents showed that managers and staff there take mistreatment seriously.

Adams said he's sprinting to hire more direct-care attendants, who in Lubbock are paid about $22,500 a year. Turnover will decline as the workers get reinforcements, he said. Although only 86 percent of Lubbock's nearly 500 direct-care jobs were filled in December, 95 percent are now, he said.

Although a 45-year-old resident died of suffocation last June while being restrained, prompting the dismissals of six employees, the report said "restraint use has declined" from 52 per quarter two years ago to "29 episodes per quarter" now.

The report also praised dental and mental health care being provided to the residents, Traylor noted.

"There is a lot going right," he said.

Report faults Texas treatment of mentally disabled

2010-05-27T21:50:00.001-05:00

link here

By JEFF CARLTON Associated Press Writer © 2010 The Associated Press

May 27, 2010, 4:17PM

AUSTIN, Texas — A mentally disabled man with feces on his hands and legs was found shoeless and pantless wandering through a field in 14-degree weather. Officials say overwhelmed staffers at the state institution where he lived were occupied with other assignments.

A report released Thursday examining conditions at the Lubbock State Supported Living Center found more problems with a state-run facility a year after Texas lawmakers agreed to spend $112 million to improve conditions under threat of a Justice Department lawsuit. The federal government had documented widespread mistreatment of the mentally disabled in Texas.

Among the problems cited by independent monitors at the Lubbock facility was a critical shortage of nurses, resulting in significant medication errors. The facility has 50 vacancies in its nursing department, which is budgeted for 105 employees.

The report also says the Lubbock center has a 60 percent annual turnover rate among employees who directly care for the mentally disabled. Low wages make it difficult to find loyal employees, officials acknowledged. Staffers who work directly with mentally disabled residents make about $22,400 a year in Lubbock.

"This is not easy work, and the pay is not extraordinarily high," said Chris Traylor, commissioner of the state agency that oversees Texas' 13 institutions. "In order for staff to be retained in this work, you have to have a heart for what you are doing."

At least 13 workers have been fired since July for the abuse, neglect or exploitation of residents, according to the report. A member of the monitoring team called the abuse hot line to report neglect of a female resident who appeared to need help. When taken to the hospital, she was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection, an infection in her mouth and pneumonia.

The monitoring team criticized the school for having six workers caring for 20 residents, "all of whom were totally dependent on staff for every activity of daily living."

Medical record keeping was another problem. In one case, a Feb. 24 abdominal x-ray of a resident showed a coin in the lower intestine, but it was not in the resident's medical record and went unreported to the medical team until March 17.

Other problems include grouping too many residents with behavioral issues together, creating tired workers by forcing them to work mandatory overtime, high levels of aggressive incidents among residents and significant underreporting of medication errors.

The report was not entirely negative. It praised the Lubbock facility for its staff's knowledge on reporting abuse and neglect and efforts to serve residents in an integrated setting. It also said communication between medical departments was impressive.

The report was based on monitoring done during a one-week period in mid-March.

The monitors were permitted in the facility as part of an agreement with the Justice Department. It resulted from a series of federal investigations that found that at least 53 deaths from September 2007 to September 2008 were from conditions considered preventable, such as pneumonia, bowel obstructions or sepsis, indicating lapses in proper care.

The Lubbock report and others across the state are considered baseline reports. The institutions will be inspected every six months beginning in July to make sure they are in compliance with the Justice Department settlement. Texas has until the end of 2013 to bring their facilities into compliance.

"It does instill us with a sense of urgency," Traylor said. "We are focused on long-term improvements that will last long after the settlement agreement is concluded."

The 13 institutions are home to about 4,300 residents with significant intellectual and developmental disabilities. The facilities employ nearly 13,000 people.

___

Associated Press writer Jim Vertuno contributed to this report.

N.J. disabled, workers debate closing of five developmental facility

2010-05-08T00:23:00.002-05:00

http://tinyurl.com/2ar3dbe

By Susan K. Livio/Statehouse Bureau

May 07, 2010, 6:49PM

TRENTON — Anticipating action soon on a controversial bill that calls for closing five of the seven institutions for people with developmental disabilities, hundreds of families, disabled people and state and private workers today appeared before a special legislative panel to debate the future without these facilities.

Some who used to live in these institutions, also known as developmental centers, pleaded with legislators to allow more people to leave and lead more independent lives.

"I am happy living in the community, I have my own apartment, I have a cat, I have a boyfriend,'' said Adelaide Daskam of Plainfield, who left the North Jersey Training School 31 years ago. Like her, she said, "A lot of my brothers and sisters are glad they have their freedom.''

But there was equally emotional testimony from parents who argue their disabled children are safer and better cared for at the developmental centers, where employees are better compensated and trained and have established relationships with their clients.

Carol Mastropolo, president of the New Lisbon Developmental Center Family and Friends organization, said her son "loves'' where he has lived for the last 29 years.

"Some people are under the impression they languish in the developmental centers, but he is so busy, He goes to a workshop every day to make some money, he participates in the Special Olympics, he goes to basketball games, baseball games ... he is happy here,'' Mastropolo said of the facility, located in Burlington County.

Don Klein, executive vice president of Local 1040 Communications Workers of America, the union that represents many developmental center workers, warned lawmakers of "unscrupulous companies out there that if they do not turn a profit they leave and abandon clients.''

Experts say people with developmental disabilities - who often have serious medical and behavioral problems - need a continuum of care - group homes, supervised apartments and developmental centers.'

It is not clear when either the Assembly and Senate human services committees will hold formal hearings on the bill, (A1673/S811), calling for the closure of any developmental centers. But the chairs of both committees who held the four-hour meeting said they wanted input from the people who would be affected by the vote.

“This hearing is a tremendous starting point for everyone to work together to ensure every developmentally disabled person in New Jersey gets the services they need,'' Assembly Human Services Committee Chairman Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D-Bergen) "This is a difficult issue and one that won’t be easily solved, but it’s also one we must confront.''

Lowell Arye, executive director of the Alliance for the Betterment of Citizens with Disabilities, a lobbying and advocacy group for community home providers, said housing options outside of institutions are slim because the state has for too long pocketed the federal Medicaid reimbursement that comes from providing community housing. In fiscal year 2007, for instance, the state received $194 million in federal funds. Yet Treasury officials allowed only $50 million over three years to be used to support and expand community housing. "The other $144 million were used by the state for other purposes,'' he said.

Deborah Spitalnik, executive director of the Elizabeth Boggs Center on Developmental Disabilities, urged lawmakers to "consolidate and rebalance the system" by using the money saved by closing developmental centers to fund smaller community housing and providing more services to people living with their families. Some 70 percent of the people with disabilities like autism and mental retardation live in their family home, and get little in the way of services from the state.

"No one is disputing the needs of people in developmental centers, But there are people who have the same needs who are living with their families.'' Spitalnik added, noting that parents and siblings are getting up in the middle of the night to change diapers, or are using feeding tubes and ventilators to take care of their loved ones.

Sen. Joseph Vitale (D-Middlesex) vice-chairman of the Senate Health Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee, called the hearing "a great first step in creating an overdue dialogue on how to improve services for people with developmental disabilities.'' They "deserve our respect, and they deserve a level of care and support which is appropriate and meets their personal care needs,'' he said.

State Abuse

2010-04-29T19:56:00.003-05:00

Despite reforms, abuse in state institutions remains high.

Link to Texas Observer story

by DAVE MANN

Published on: Monday, April 19, 2010

Despite reforms by state lawmakers, abuse and neglect of Texans with mental retardation in state-run institutions has increased the past three years, according to an Observer analysis of state data. Reforms enacted in response to a high-profile abuse scandal have left the facilities with fewer residents and more staff, yet confirmed allegations of abuse rose 57 percent between 2007 and 2009. However, the number of abuse cases has dropped slightly so far in 2010, indicating that perhaps the latest reforms are having some effect.

For the past four years, Texas’ 13 sprawling, state-run institutions for the mentally retarded—formerly known as State Schools and which the Legislature recently renamed State Supported Living Centers—have been the source of horrific tales of abuse. Since 2005, investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice and numerous media outlets, including theObserver (see “Systemic Neglect,” May 1, 2008), have documented hundreds of instances in which Texans with mental retardation were beaten, neglected and, in some instances, killed by the staff charged with caring for them. In the most famous incident, workers at the Corpus Christi State School recorded a “fight club” video in which mentally disabled residents were forced to beat each other.

The abuse scandal was rooted in years of under-funding by the Legislature. Low pay and astronomical staff turnover, which ran as high as 70 percent in some facilities, led the institutions to hire low-grade employees—and in a few instances convicted felons—who never should have been caring for vulnerable, and often volatile, residents.

Despite reforms passed in the past two legislative sessions—including a 12-percent funding increase and nearly 3,000 additional caregivers—the number of abuse and neglect cases remains high.

Confirmed cases of abuse in State Supported Living Centers rose 57 percent between 2007 and 2009, according to an Observer analysis of state data, from 458 incidents in 2007 to 719 last year.

In the first six months of fiscal year 2010, which began in September, confirmed cases of abuse and neglect have dipped by 19 percent. State Supported Living Centers are on pace to report 580 cases of abuse in 2010, which while lower than 2007’s peak, is still historically high.

The facilities are now closely monitored by Justice Department inspectors, and some reforms have already had an effect. In the past six months, State Supported Living Centers have added more than 1,000 full-time employees, according to state records. And the facilities have fewer residents, as state officials transfer more disabled Texans into small, community group homes. State Supported Living Centers now employ nearly 13,000 workers to care for about 4,000 residents.

While the slight decrease in abuse cases so far in 2010 is encouraging, the Legislature’s refusal to give State Living Center employees a pay increase may hamper reform.

State Supported Living Center workers are on average the lowest-paid state employees, according to the Texas State Employees Union. Direct care workers earn a starting salary of roughly $8 an hour. Parents and families of residents have often blamed abuse and neglect partly on low pay.

It’s worth noting that confirmed cases of severe physical and sexual abuse have remained fairly constant the past three years, according to state data. But there’s been a sharp increase in confirmed incidents of “neglect,” which don’t involve physical violence by the staff, but usually consist of incompetent oversight of residents: allowing residents to fall from bed or leave the facility or harm themselves and others. In other words, the kinds of incidents you would expect from a staff that’s largely earning fast-food wages.

When asked if low salaries contributed to the increase in neglect, Cecilia Fedorov—a spokesperson with the Department of Aging and Disability Services, the state that oversees State Living Centers—said, “I don’t believe there’s ever an excuse for abuse, neglect or exploitation.” She added that salaries at state institutions are a “legislative question,” and not up to the agency.

The agency did ask the Legislature for a salary increase last session for State Living Center workers, and lawmakers denied the request.

Without a pay increase for direct care workers, it’s questionable whether the recent decline in abuse numbers will continue and whether Texas’ institutions for the mentally disabled can be adequately reformed.

Download abuse statistics for State Supported Living Centers in 2008 at www.txlo.com/ssabuse08

Download abuse statistics for State Supported Living Centers in 2009 at www.txlo.com/ssabuse09

Download abuse statistics for State Supported Living Centers in 2010 at www.txlo.com/ssabuse10

Slipping Through the Cracks

2010-04-28T23:46:00.000-05:00

by Emily Ramshaw

April 21, 2010 | LINK HERE

Cameron Maedgen knows he’s dangerous. The autistic, brain-damaged and often suicidal 19-year-old — turned over to the foster care system as a drug-addicted infant — has violent outbursts and a fascination with guns. He's been jailed three times and admitted to a San Angelo-area psychiatric hospital six times since January.

But his adoptive mother’s tireless effort to find her son structure — a group home or residential setting where he’ll be safe and well-treated — has been foiled by a single factor: his IQ score. The state calls Maedgen too high-functioning for a residential facility or for the in-home program it funds for people with disabilities. Karen Bartholomeo says her son is too low-functioning, and certainly too unstable, to go without them.

Maedgen isn’t the only one in this conundrum. Advocates say a rising number of autistic and mentally ill children are reaching adulthood without the prospect of services because their IQs are simply too high. The state limits admission to its state-supported living centers to disabled people with IQs under 70 — and generally caps community-based care at an IQ of 75. Just because an autistic person’s IQ averages out higher, these advocates say, doesn’t mean he or she can manage without care.

“There’s nothing for us,” Bartholomeo says, her voice tinged with desperation. “Right now, my only hope is that he doesn’t kill himself, that he doesn’t hurt anyone else and that he stays out of the prison system.”

In the inverse situation, advocates say, are people with disabilities whose IQs are just low enough to keep them in state institutions but who might be better served in the community. But if their IQs test above 75, they not only don't qualify for the state-supported living centers — they don't qualify for most community-based programs either.

IQ tests are designed to measure the mental ability of children and to identify people who have cognitive or developmental disabilities. They're one of several criteria state officials use to determine whether someone qualifies for services, either at home or in a residential setting. Though the tests and what they seek to measure are complex, "as degrees on a thermometer show a person's temperature, IQ tests measure intelligence calculated from questions or tasks found ... to reflect intellectual functioning," said Cecilia Fedorov, a spokeswoman with the Department of Aging and Disability Services.

Though some experts question the veracity of IQ tests, of which there are a half dozen different varieties, they're recognized by national organizations like the American Psychiatric Association and the American Association of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities — and so are used by state agencies that need some barometer for offering care.

Currently, 15 percent of the 4,300 residents in Texas’ state-supported living centers have “mild” mental retardation classifications, meaning they have IQs between 50 and 70. Fedorov said local mental retardation authorities perform the initial IQ test when a person applies for services. “Once an IQ determination is made, individuals are not required to be re-tested,” she said.

The cut-off gives institutionalized people and their guardians little incentive to get updated IQ assessments, for fear they’ll be left without any services, said Beth Mitchell, an attorney with the nonprofit disability rights group Advocacy Inc. “The real issue is why we have to tie services to a number — and it’s because of a lack of funding,” Mitchell said. “But if this kid ends up bringing a gun to a public place, ends up getting shot by a cop because we couldn’t spend a couple of extra dollars for care, what’s the cost to society?”

Vicki Hill Riedel’s 22-year-old son, Ryan, faces the same barrier. He has Asperger’s, schizoaffective disorder and seizures — but his IQ is normal. Ryan didn’t last long at a psychiatric group home, which had no experience with autistic patients. He’s been taken to a Plano-area psychiatric hospital so many times that the local police called Texas’ Adult Protective Services division. Ryan faced the exact same hurdle at the local mental health/mental retardation authority — his IQ surpassed 80, so he didn’t qualify for care.

At home, Riedel says, Ryan sleeps half the day then plays video games, occasionally agreeing to do minor chores in return for a trip to a restaurant. Rather than enjoying their retirement, Riedel says, she and her husband are essentially forced to run an assisted-living facility in their home. They have no alternative. And when they grow too old to care for Ryan, he won’t either. “My son,” she said, “is on the leading edge of a tremendous number of children with various levels of autism who will be reaching adulthood very soon.”

Bartholomeo, a social worker at San Angelo’s Goodfellow Air Force Base, became Maedgen’s foster parent when he was 3 weeks old and weighed just 5 pounds. Born addicted to cocaine, he required years of extensive rehabilitation to catch up developmentally. Maedgen’s behavioral problems presented early and only worsened. He was diagnosed with depression, ADHD, bipolar disorder and then finally Asperger’s, a form of autism in which language develops normally. He was on six different medications at once.

Maedgen thrived with structure, but Bartholomeo could only find it for him intermittently. She got him admitted to a youth residential treatment center and then a youth home, but both times he was too tough for workers to handle. Back at home, he was bullied in school and started stealing — jewelry from Bartholomeo, then BB guns from the local Academy store.

Bartholomeo turned Maedgen back over to state custody before he turned 18, hoping he’d have better access to services than she could provide. But when there were no foster homes to take him, and she learned he would be sleeping on the floor of state offices, she brought him back home. She visited private facilities she couldn’t afford. She begged and pleaded with disability officials to put him in a state-supported living center or to find him a group home. But averaged together, his performance IQ of 60 and his verbal IQ of 130 put him at a score of 95 — at the low end of “normal,” and well above the state’s cut-off.

In the last year, Maedgen stole a handgun “because it was pretty,” fired it in a local park, then called the police on himself, Bartholomeo says. He sometimes stops taking his medicine, repeatedly cuts himself, then calls authorities to tell them he’s suicidal. And he’s become violent with his mother.

Bartholomeo recently found a state Medicaid program that gives Maedgen 16 hours a week of cleaning, grocery shopping and laundry help — but not the psychiatric or developmental services he needs. “If I could find a way to get his IQ down to borderline, then he would qualify for a group home, for a little bit of structure,” Bartholomeo says. “He’s got a disability.”

'Fight club' lawsuit against top officials to proceed Judge says 4 top officials won't be dropped; trial set for July.

2010-04-28T13:21:00.001-05:00

By Corrie MacLaggan

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Published: 9:56 p.m. Tuesday, April 27, 2010

A judge has denied a request from four state officials who asked to be dropped from a lawsuit over a so-called fight club at a Corpus Christi facility for people with mental disabilities.

The officials — including now-retired Department of Aging and Disability Services Commissioner Addie Horn — had argued that they should be exempt from the suit because of qualified immunity, which protects government employees from being sued unless they knowingly violate the law or are clearly incompetent.

But in the ruling on the pretrial motion, U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack wrote that a jury could reasonably find that the officials "failed to exercise professional judgment by providing inadequate security."

The judge also denied the officials' request to dismiss the lawsuit.

State officials are appealing to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The case is scheduled for trial July 2.

Jack granted a request by a fifth administrator to be dropped from the suit.

Robert Hilliard , a lawyer for three of the five residents suing administrators and on-site staffers, commended the ruling.

"This is the most important part of the case in making sure there is responsibility all the way up the food chain," Hilliard said. Holding top officials accountable, he said, "will prevent in the future the slow erosion of safety measures for the residents."

Lawyers for the residents argue that the officials should have known before the 2008 and 2009 fight club incidents that more security was necessary, in part because of a Department of Justice investigation that began in 2005 that concluded that the 13 Texas facilities fail to protect residents from harm. The Justice Department is still monitoring the facilities, now called state supported living centers, which are home to 4,300 Texans.

But Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, who is representing the administrators, wrote in court documents that Horn and the others took action to address the issues raised by the Justice Department. For example, he wrote, Horn lobbied the Legislature to increase staffing for the centers and mandated retraining for staff on abuse and neglect.

"It is simply false, conclusory and self-serving for the plaintiffs to even suggest that the defendants 'did nothing' in the face of DOJ's allegations," Abbott wrote. "The evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates that the Defendants responded immediately to the DOJ's concerns."

In addition to Horn, the officials being sued are: Barry Waller , former assistant commissioner (he retired in December); Denise Geredine , former director of state schools (she now works elsewhere in the department); and Iva Benson , superintendent of the Corpus Christi State School (she has the same job, but the title has been renamed "director," and the facility is now known as Corpus Christi State Supported Living Center).

Deputy Commissioner Jon Weizenbaum was dropped from the suit because he did not directly oversee the institutions, Jacks ruled.

The suit was filed last year by the family of one resident; it was later expanded to include five residents. In court documents, residents say they were forced to fight other residents for staffers' amusement. The lawsuit says the residents were "punched, kicked, chased, smothered with pillows, wrestled, humiliated, threatened and terrorized." And it says staff members yelled at residents to "fight him, fight him ... beat him up."

Lawyers said in court documents that the officials failed to provide adequate supervision, security, staffing and monitoring of staff, and that they should have known more security was needed.

In 2007, there were 1,013 allegations of abuse, neglect or exploitation — and 51 confirmed cases — at the 430-bed facility, according to court documents. That year, administrators had seen enough of an increase in horseplay that a facility official sent a warning to staffers that such incidents would not be tolerated.

And state Rep. Abel Herrero, D-Robstown , had been demanding increased security at the facility since 2007, lawyers for the residents say. Herrero, whose district includes the Corpus Christi facility, said Tuesday that the judge's ruling demonstrates that "there is some evidence to show that the fight club incidents at the state school may have been prevented if those with supervisory authority had acted expeditiously, decisively and thoroughly in addressing the systematic deficiencies they knew — or should have known — existed at the time."

U.S. official critical of state's living center agreement

2010-03-28T23:13:00.005-05:00

Link here to Corrie Maclaggan's Austin American Statesman article

The U.S. Department of Justice's civil rights chief said Friday that an agreement with Texas on fixing state institutions for people with mental disabilities "falls short" on moving people out of the facilities.

"There are just so many people who are being warehoused in these institutions, and I think that's a tragedy," Thomas Perez , assistant attorney general for civil rights , said in an interview in Austin. He was in town to speak at a National Conference of State Legislatures redistricting law seminar.

Last June, the Justice Department and Texas entered into an agreement to improve health care and speed up investigations of abuse and neglect at the 13 facilities now known as state supported living centers. It was the culmination of a federal investigation that began in 2005 at the Lubbock facility after reports of abuse and neglect and later expanded to the other institutions.

Perez, an appointee of President Barack Obama, took office in October — months after the Texas deal was signed. It's not clear whether his objections — which signal a departure from what the Obama administration said at the time the deal was announced — could affect Texas. He said he inherited the agreement and needs "to respect that on a certain level." But now, he said, he'd like to implement far more aggressive agreements with states.

"The paradigm prior to our arrival was: 'Let's just make sure that the facilities are safe,'" he said. "The new paradigm is: 'Question No. 1 — What is your plan for moving eligible people into communities? Step two ... What is your plan for ensuring that the facilities are safe?"

Texas' philosophy, one state official said, "may be a little different."

"In Texas, we support choice," said Stephanie Goodman, a spokeswoman for the Health and Human Services Commission , referring to the options of living in institutions or smaller group homes or enrolling in state programs that help people with disabilities live at home.

Still, the state is committed to ensuring that the population of the institutions continues to decline, said Cecilia Fedorov , a spokeswoman of the Department of Aging and Disability Services. About 4,300 now live in the institutions, down from 5,428 in 2000.

Texas allows people who want to leave state supported living centers to skip over a waiting list for home-based programs, and last year the Legislature expanded the number of spots in home-based programs available to living center residents.

"We need to be doing everything we can to make successful transitions for people who wish to move," Fedorov said.

Perez said that an ideal agreement would have specific numbers of people that the state should move out and timelines of when that should happen.

The Texas agreement requires the state to identify people who want to move out of the institutions, help them make that transition, and make sure their needs are met in their new setting, Fedorov said. But there are no specific numbers on how many people should move out.

Without those specifics, said state Rep. Elliott Naishtat , D-Austin, a member of the House Committee on Human Services, "what we're dealing with is wishful thinking at best."

At the time the agreement was signed, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder praised it.

"The Justice Department is committed to protecting the fundamental rights of all our citizens," Holder said in a June 2009 press release. "This agreement reflects that principle by protecting the civil rights of some of Texas's most vulnerable residents."

In the 1990s, Texas closed two state institutions as part of a lawsuit settlement. Later, the state considered closing more, but after heated hearings, decided not to.

Susan Payne of College Station, whose sister, Diane Ward , lives at Denton State Supported Living Center, said she finds it "very offensive" that Perez would say people are being "warehoused."

"Family members of people who live at the state supported living centers are very, very aware of the options in the community, and the families have chosen this as the best setting," Payne said.

But Perez said that moving people out of institutions is long overdue.

"It's a heck of a lot easier to have everybody in one setting," he said. "But ease should never trump what is right, and what is constitutional."

cmaclaggan@statesman.com; 445-3548

Disturbing findings in wake of 'fight club'

2010-03-23T09:09:00.001-05:00

By TERRI LANGFORD

Copyright 2010 Houston Chronicle (Link)

March 22, 2010, 10:24PM

Criminal fingerprint checks show at least 36 employees continued to work on the state payroll while caring for the mentally disabled — despite being arrested for felonies ranging from indecent exposure, to aggravated assault, child rape and murder.

Of those 36 with arrests, 17 had felony convictions and the remaining 19 still face trial, according to Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services records released to the Houston Chronicle Monday.

The release of the records, first requested six weeks ago, came on the eve of a House committee meeting Tuesday in which lawmakers will discuss for the first time what improvements have been made regarding care at the facilities in the wake of last year's shocking “fight club” incident in Corpus Christi.

While that's less than one percent of the 11,785 DADS employees who were fingerprinted and work at 13 State-Supported Living Centers, formerly known as state schools, the newest reform shows how pre-employment criminal background screens failed to alert the state to employees with criminal records.

Current pre-employment screening only checks for convictions in Texas. The fingerprint checks linked employees to convictions and arrests outside of Texas. Of the 17 with convictions, 13 have been terminated or resigned. The other four are still in “process” according to the agency, which released the numbers without comment.

“Of course it still matters. That amount of people has control over a handful of residents who are unable to communicate abuse or neglect or ward off that type of aggression,” said Beth Mitchell, senior managing attorney for Advocacy Inc., a group that has fought for better care of the mentally disabled in Texas. “You don't want someone like that corrupting other staff. That's what we saw in Corpus Christi. It only took one staff to corrupt a group of staff in the fight club.”

Cell phone fight videos

The incident, at what has now been renamed Corpus Christi State-Supported Living Center, was discovered by police a year ago when a lost cell phone had videos of mentally disabled residents fighting. Voices of the residents' state caretakers could be heard encouraging the residents to fight one another. Since then, four former DADS workers have been convicted as a result.

The fingerprint checks and another new reform, random drug testing — which snared 23 DADS employees who tested positive for drug use — are the only significant progress seen in the year since the cell phone video surfaced and since DADS entered into a settlement late last year with the U.S. Department of Justice.

A “baseline” report on the Corpus Christi facility, the first of 13 to be conducted on each center as part of that DOJ agreement, shows little has been done since the fight club scandal put Texas' care of the mentally disabled in the spotlight.

While the March 10 monitoring report of Corpus Christi State-Supported Living Center revealed “a number of good practices in place,” it also noted “a number of the areas in which there is a need for improvement.”

For example, in the past year, the state has yet to establish a “zero tolerance” of abuse at Corpus Christi, there are no full-time psychiatrists on staff in the Corpus facility and no standard diagnostic procedure in place for residents with psychiatric problems.

“It's pretty clear from the report that they're really far behind in meeting the criteria of the DOJ settlement,” Mitchell said.

Also, the DADS staff in Corpus has not come up with better ways to monitor the physical and nutritional needs of their residents and are not able to pinpoint those residents who are at-risk of abuse.

“The Facility is at the very beginning stages of implementing the process of screening individuals to determine if they fall into an at-risk category,” the report stated.

Documentation problems

In many areas, the monitors noted the Corpus Christi facility failed to keep proper documentation on residents. Dental care records were missing, as was proof that staff reviewed some residents' medication and allergies. The current forms being used at the Corpus Christi center failed to document residents' vocational strengths, needs or preferences.

A spokeswoman for state Rep. Patrick Rose, D-Dripping Springs, the chair of the House Committee on Human Services, said Rose would not be making any comments about the report until Tuesday's meeting. Calls to other members, including state Rep. Abel Herrero, the committee's vice chair, were not returned.

terri.langford@chron.com

Report: State facility for people with disabilities lacks psychiatrists, trained therapists

2010-03-20T12:56:00.002-05:00

Report: State facility for people with disabilities lacks psychiatrists, trained therapists

Posted using ShareThis

By Corrie MacLaggan

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Published: 8:54 p.m. Friday, March 19, 2010

Nine months after Texas and the U.S. Department of Justice entered into a settlement to improve health care and more quickly investigate reports of abuse and neglect at state institutions for people with mental disabilities, the facility in Corpus Christi doesn't have staff psychiatrists, has therapists who are ill-equipped to work with people with complex needs and doesn't have a clear zero-tolerance policy for abuse and neglect.

That's according to a new report on the Corpus Christi State Supported Living Center, the first issued by monitors reviewing the 13 institutions as part of the settlement. On Tuesday, the state House Committee on Human Services is set to examine progress at the facilities.

"The state-supported living centers, specifically Corpus Christi, are overwhelmed in meeting their responsibilities for caring for people with intellectual disabilities," said state Rep. Abel Herrero , D-Robstown , who is vice chairman of the committee and whose district includes the Corpus Christi facility.

The report says that the culture appears to be changing for the better at Corpus Christi, where last year staff members were found to have been organizing fights among residents. Staff members seemed to know to report suspected abuse and neglect immediately, and when asked how, they consistently flipped over their badges to show a sticker with instructions. And residents "appeared happily engaged" in activities, the report said.

But it also said that people who might benefit from alternative communication devices don't have access to them, and that residents are over-prescribed psychotropic drugs.

"We agree that there are many areas of concern, many areas in which we need to make changes and improvements," said Cecilia Fedorov , a spokeswoman for the Department of Aging and Disability Services .

The preliminary report about Corpus Christi — reports on the other institutions are expected by summer — isn't evaluating whether the facility is adhering to the settlement terms. That comes later, and the monitors will review each facility every six months until it has been in compliance for a year — a process Fedorov said could take five years or more.

The settlement is the culmination of a Justice Department investigation that began in 2005 at the Lubbock State School after reports of abuse and neglect and later expanded to the other facilities.

In addition to the changes required by the settlement, the Legislature last year mandated video cameras in common areas (they're in place in Corpus Christi but not yet elsewhere); random drug testing of the 12,500 employees (16 have been fired for testing positive, and seven resigned instead of getting tested); and fingerprint background checks for employees and volunteers (these are taking place, officials said).

"Although there are encouraging signs of progress, we still have a long way to go in making the system the best it can be for this vulnerable population," said state Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, chairwoman of the Health and Human Services Committee and author of reform legislation.

In the report on Corpus Christi, the monitors noted that the limited availability of psychiatry services — there are two part-time consulting psychiatrists but no full-time staffers — "appears to have a negative impact on the delivery of services."

Fedorov said that the department is "aggressively recruiting" to find two staff psychiatrists. "We, like everybody who does deal with behavioral health, are competing for very few licensed and qualified psychiatrists," she said.

On the drug issue, the report gave an example of a resident whose behavior deteriorated after his mother's death. He threw temper tantrums, destroyed property and manipulated staff members.

Instead of a behavior management program, "the psychiatrist is prescribing potentially hazardous and dubiously effective drugs to stop the behaviors," the report said.

Beth Mitchell, managing attorney of Advocacy Inc., which advocates for Texans with disabilities, said the communication aid issue raised in the report shows how far behind the centers are in providing adequate care.

"Communication is often the reason people have behavior problems," she said. "If you can't communicate, you act out."

Mitchell also said she's worried about the lack of a clear zero-tolerance policy. "This is a place where people were being beat up, and you don't have zero tolerance?" she said.

Fedorov said that the department does not tolerate abuse and neglect, but that "we need to take steps to make sure that the policy is even more clear to everybody who comes on campus."

As part of a new legislative requirement, Gov. Rick Perry in February appointed an ombudsman for state supported living centers. George Bithos , a dentist and ordained Greek Orthodox deacon, has been visiting campuses since starting the job.

"I have found very dedicated people and people that are open to being looked at," Bithos said. "I've been impressed with the quality of the people, yet I'm aware that there are problems \u2026 that we'll need to take very seriously."

cmaclaggan@statesman.com; 445-3548

Supreme Court lets nursing home ruling stand: Facilities fair game for civil rights suits - McKnight's Long Term Care News

2010-02-28T16:37:00.000-06:00

Supreme Court lets nursing home ruling stand: Facilities fair game for civil rights suits - McKnight's Long Term Care News

A federal appeals court decision in a case involving a skilled nursing facility—a decision once described as “shocking” by the American Health Care Association—has been allowed to stand by the U.S. Supreme Court.

In the case of John J. Kane Regional Centers-Glen Hazel v. Grammer (see McKnight's, 7/7/09), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled that the Federal Nursing Home Reform Amendments (FNHRA) guarantee a nursing home resident's civil rights. As such, a private civil rights lawsuit can be brought against a facility on behalf of a resident in the event of inadequate care and wrongful death. At the time of the decision, an AHCA legal representative decried the ruling, noting that the FNHRA had never been used to allow such a private right of action since their passage in 1987, reports the Bureau of National Affairs.

On Monday, despite a petition from AHCA, the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging and at least 14 individual states, the nation's highest court denied a review of the Third Circuit ruling. The decision likely will cause both private and state run nursing homes to rethink patient and consumer rights.

The FNHRA were passed in order to provide more oversight of the quality of care and residents rights standards for nursing homes that participate in Medicare and Medicaid

2010-02-25T12:09:00.001-06:00

The Buck Stops Where?

by Emily Ramshaw
February 24, 2010

The attack ad could write itself: On Gov. Rick Perry’s watch, Texas weathered a sexual abuse scandal at the Texas Youth Commission, fight clubs at state institutions for the disabled and deaths of kids monitored by Child Protective Services.

But three of the biggest messes of Perry’s 10-year tenure — two of which spurred U.S. Justice Department investigations — have been noticeably absent on the campaign trail. While U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, Perry’s chief Republican primary opponent, has hit the airwaves on toll roads, immigration and education, she has largely steered clear of these high-profile social services debacles.

Perry spokesman Mark Miner says the agency crises haven’t been campaign issues because the governor did such an effective job managing them. “With CPS, the state schools, the TYC, those are issues the governor has provided leadership on,” Miner says. “When there were problems, he took immediate action.”

Critics say that’s untrue: Concerns about abuse, neglect and poor living conditions had been raised for years before the scandals erupted. Political consultants say Hutchison’s decision not to target those issues has more to do with what she thinks resonates with typical primary voters — and what doesn’t. “The fight clubs, the problems at the TYC — those are horrific things,” says Hutchison campaign manager Terry Sullivan. “But what we’re really trying to focus on are the issues that affect everyday Texans: eminent domain, land grabs, cronyism.”

The blame game

Years of poor staffing and overwhelming caseloads at Texas Child Protective Services finally came to a head in 2004, when children the state was supposed to be monitoring were killed by abusive parents.

Three years later, reports surfaced that administrators at a West Texas juvenile justice lock-up were sexually abusing boys in their care, and a sweeping inquiry turned up widespread sexual and physical abuse throughout the state's youth prisons.

And in 2009, investigators learned that employees at a Corpus Christi state institution were forcing disabled residents into a fighting ring, revelations that uncovered more abusive conditions at other facilities.

In each of these cases, watchdogs had been making noise for years — well before Perry was in office. They sent letters to the governor's staff, to lawmakers and to agency commissioners, and showed up to testify at public hearings. When the headline-making scandals broke, Perry took action: making urgent legislative priorities of the crises, allocating emergency dollars or dispatching his top troubleshooter to the agency.

So is it fair to pin the scandals on the chief executive? Some say yes: The buck always stops with the governor. Others say no: Nothing he could have done would have prevented these tragedies. Still others say he shares the blame with agency heads, state lawmakers and the rest of Texas' elected officials. Texas Tribune pollster and University of Texas government professorDaron Shaw says the reality is that these issues only work, politically speaking, when the incumbent can be definitively blamed for them. Shaw says voters tend to hold mayors, city council members, even state representatives accountable — but that at higher levels of government, the blame gets spread around. “Texas is so disaggregated that most people don’t hold Perry responsible for something like CPS,” he says.

Some political consultants say quietly that the truth is that primary voters simply aren’t interested in another agency sob story. They don't relate; only a tiny fraction of voters have kids in TYC lock-ups or relatives in state institutions. Other political operatives say that in order to hit Perry on these agency issues, Hutchison would have to have her own solutions. Solutions cost money, and increased spending doesn’t sit well with tight-belted Republican primary voters.

But Democratic consultant Harold Cook says that across the board, voters care about anything involving children — and anything involving government dysfunction. “In any poll, in any demographic, everybody’s going to care deeply about children,” he says. “I know [these issues] would work with general election voters and would undoubtedly work with some subset of primary voters.”

The one big social issue Hutchison has homed in on is Perry’s support for mandatory HPV vaccines for adolescent girls, but that issue is far more politically charged than the TYC or the state schools. Hutchison was silent on the Cameron Todd Willingham death penalty case, which looked to some like a high-profile fumble for Perry but would have jeopardized Hutchison’s already fragile relationship with Texas voters, who overwhelming favor the death penalty.

The social services failings might have worked for Hutchison's camp if they’d been woven into a compelling narrative, Shaw says, one that painted Perry as incompetent. Instead, he says, Hutchison has settled on the “Perry as corrupt” approach, though he says the campaign is struggling with that message, too. “They’ve found their voice some, with this idea of Perry putting insiders in office, making special deals,” Shaw says. “But it’s a bit of a reach. And there’s a sense of, ‘He’s been governor for nine years, and this is the best stuff you can come up with?’”

Death at Lubbock State School center of Texas statewide controversy

2010-02-01T22:02:00.001-06:00

January 27, 3:41 PMDallas Disability ExaminerSteve Carter

Michael Nicholson was killed June 6th, 2009 by his caretakers at the Lubbock State School.
To date, only one arrest has been made. No trial or conviction has been set.

In a heinous act, of abuse of power caretakers at Lubbock State School killed MIchael Nicholson by strangulation. According to a Youtube video (see below) the violent strangulation of Michael occurred because of a dispute over clothes. It seems that Michael did not want to wear the type of clothes issued by the state school, preferring to select his own.

A common theme occurs all to often in homes for the aged and in institutions serving the disabled persons. The theme is about the loss of liberty afforded people simply because they have a disability or are of a certain age. Institutions decide a person cannot make decisons most of us take for granted such as what clothes to wear, when to entertain guests, and whether or not to have a plant in our room.

Certainly most of these do not erupt into the violent abuse that cost Michael Nicholson his life. Yet, the rules are abusive and are made without logic and enforced variably.

Prosecutors and law enforcement personnel do not take crimes against people with disabilities seriously because they "do not make good witnesses". Community Now! is an advocacy organization pushing for better enforcement of acts of abuse against those in institutions.

James "J.T." Templeton

2010-01-31T22:21:00.002-06:00

KAYE BENEKE
James 'J.T.' Templeton

Longtime advocate for those with disabilities died Monday.

By Christina Rosales

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Updated: 12:31 a.m. Friday, Jan. 29, 2010

Published: 9:56 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 28, 2010

James "J.T." Templeton, born with cerebral palsy and housed for 30 years in a Texas mental institution, wished for an ordinary life. But his advocacy for those with disabilities made his life extraordinary, his friends said.

Templeton died Monday . He was 59.

"Working with him helped develop and open my eyes to the civil rights struggle that people with disabilities are fighting," said Spencer Duran , a project specialist with the Accessible Housing Austin advocacy group.

Templeton moved out of the Austin State School in 1986, following a landmark federal lawsuit filed in 1974 against what was then the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation. In the 1990s, he was part of a group that sued the City of Austin to make parks and facilities more accessible. He joined protesters who took over former Gov. Ann Richards' office in September 1991 to urge lawmakers to spend money for state schools on community-based initiatives for the disabled instead.

His close friend Stephanie Thomas said Templeton spoke to numerous lawmakers, including a U.S. Senate committee, and became a "voice for those with disabilities."

Templeton had numerous health problems, including respiratory infections. His partner of 14 years and fellow activist, Karen Greebon , died in 2005.

"He taught me a lot about how people with speech disabilities are not paid attention to," Thomas said. "Anyone can have opinions about how they want to live. They might not write a doctoral thesis about it, but they can make decisions for themselves."

Thomas said Templeton had a fierce activist spirit but a gentle soul. Duran said Templeton was the voice of reason and experience in pushing for affordable housing on Accessible Housing Austin's board of directors.

"People with disabilities are thought of as a barrier to affordability," Duran said. "They have been excluded in the development process."

Thomas said Templeton shared his story of being dependent on and discouraged by workers at the Austin State School who told him he could not make it in the "real world" so lawmakers could see how their decisions affect real people.

"His advocacy for himself and other people and getting out of the state school was an uphill battle," Thomas said. "He looked toward what he wanted to do and kept working for it."

crosales@statesman.com; 445-3766

Find this article at:

http://www.statesman.com/news/local/james-j-t-templeton-201020.html

Hate Crimes Request

2010-01-25T23:45:00.002-06:00

January 23, 2010

Tom Perez

United States Department of Justice

Criminal Investigation Division

P.O. Box 66018

Washington D.C. 20035-6018

Dear Mr. Perez,

On behalf of Community Now! a Texas statewide advocacy group with a mission to support people with disabilities to live in their communities please accept this sincere and critical request to investigate numerous former Texas state employees who committed horrific acts of violence against residents of several state institutions for people with intellectual disabilities. Upon investigation and if warranted, we sincerely request that those individuals found guilty of criminal acts be charged by the DOJ with Hate Crimes against people with disabilities. It was recently reported in the Texas Tribune (note enclosed article) that since 2000, 75 former employees were fired because of confirmed Class 1 Abuse. This level of abuse is the most heinous and includes sexual and physical assault, murder and gross neglect. Of those 75 individuals, only two were incarcerated for their crimes.

It appears that in Texas there is no justice for sadists who commit violent crimes against our most vulnerable and at risk citizens. The Department of Aging and Disability Services (DADS), the agency who operates these facilities points to Adult Protective Services, (APS) the agency that investigates abuse and neglect at these facilities. APS points to local law enforcement and local law enforcement points to the County Prosecutors, and the Prosecutors do little to nothing with these cases. And with everyone pointing fingers at everyone else, people in these facilities are abused without accountability thus sending a clear message to other facility staff that you can get away with murder.

Even with state institution reform legislation passed in the previous Texas Legislative Session (SB 643), it appears that the Ombudsman position with increased oversight authority of these facilities has not been appointed by Governor Perry and even with a network of Ombudsman, there is limited authority by the Texas Attorney General to investigate and prosecute state employees with confirmed Class 1 Abuse if the County Prosecutor is not willing to do so.

As you most likely know, Texas entered into a settlement for numerous civil rights violations investigated by the DOJ CRIPPA division. Currently, the conditions of these facilities are being monitored by the DOJ. Hopefully something will come of this monitoring to ensure the safety of those who live in these facilities. Further, the hope is that the DOJ will ensure Olmstead is honored by closely monitoring the right of residents to leave the facility to live in the community upon their request.

Let me be clear, I am not asking for any further investigation from the DOJ regarding CRIPPA. On behalf of Community Now! we strongly request the immediate investigation and charges of Hate Crimes against those perpetrators of these despicable crimes. I was provided your name by the leadership at the Regional Office of Civil Rights. If you are not the right person to make the decision to investigate these crimes, I implore you to forward this letter to the individual charged with leading Hate Crime investigations at the DOJ with all haste. And if this is not within the authority of the DOJ, please provide me with the contact information of the appropriate person and agency to contact.

I look forward to your prompt response and immediate action to our requests. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

David Wittie, President

CC;

Governor Rick Perry

Lt. Governor David Dewhurst

United States Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison

United States Senator John Cornyn

United States Representative Lloyd Doggett

State Senator Steve Ogden

State Senator Jane Nelson

State Representative Patrick Rose

State Representative Abel Herrera

Hideously Ironic...

2010-01-21T23:07:00.003-06:00

So does anyone have any insight as to how the prosecutors do nothing to people who rape and kill those with disabilities, but this man got 100 years?

Teen with 47 IQ gets 100 years in sex abuse case

Case stems from charges involving the fondling of a 6-year-old neighbor (Link)

updated 6:06 p.m. CT, Wed., June 10, 2009

PARIS, Texas - A teenager who has profound mental disabilities was sentenced to 100 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges in a sex abuse case involving his 6-year-old neighbor.

Aaron Hart, 18, of Paris, was arrested and charged after a neighbor found him fondling her stepson in September. The teen pleaded guilty to five counts, including aggravated sexual assault and indecency by contact, and a jury decided his punishment.

Lamar County Judge Eric Clifford decided to stack the sentences against Hart after jurors settled on two five-year terms and three 30-year terms, The Dallas Morning News reported Wednesday. The judge said neither he nor jurors liked the idea of prison for Hart but they felt there was no other option

"In the state of Texas, there isn't a whole lot you can do with somebody like him," Clifford said.

Diagnosed as mentally disabled
Hart has an IQ of 47 and was diagnosed as mentally disabled as a child. He never learned to read or write and speaks unsteadily.

Despite being a target of bullies, he was courteous, well-behaved and earned money by doing chores for neighbors, supporters said. His parents say he'd never acted out sexually.

"He couldn't understand the seriousness of what he did," said his father, Robert Hart. "I never dreamed they would think about sending him to prison. When they said 100 years — it was terror, pure terror, to me."

Jurors said they sent the judge notes during deliberations in February, asking about alternatives to prison, but didn't get a clear answer. They believed the judge would order concurrent sentences, jurors said.

District Attorney Gary Young said he sympathized with Hart's situation but stands by his decision to prosecute on five counts. Prosecutors commonly pursue several charges for a single incident to see which the jury will support.

Diversion program not an option
Young said a diversion program was not an option since the law doesn't allow that for serious felonies.

"I hope people will remember he committed a violent sexual crime against a little boy," he said.

Hart's appellate attorney, David Pearson, said the court-appointed doctor did the bare minimum to assess competency and ran tests geared for mental illness, not mental retardation.

He said an appeal will be filed.

Abuse of Power: One Family's Fight | The Texas Tribune

2010-01-21T22:06:00.001-06:00

Donnell Smith (left) is charged with manslaughter in the suffocation

death of Lubbock State School resident Michael Nicholson (right).

Abuse of Power: One Family's Fight | The Texas Tribune: "Since Michael Nicholson was suffocated and killed by a Lubbock State School worker last June, his brother has played investigator, medical examiner, detective and attorney. He has pleaded for police and prosecutors to take up the case, which they did this fall. But with each day that passes, David Nicholson fears that the man who killed his profoundly disabled brother — and the other employees who stood by and watched it —�will join the ranks of state workers who are never convicted for their acts. “The physically and mentally handicapped are not equally represented under the laws of Texas,” David says. “And nobody seems to want to do anything about it.”

David has reason to worry. Of the 75 employees fired from Texas’ institutions for the disabled for “Class 1” sexual or physical abuse in the last decade, just 13 have been prosecuted, according to a Texas Tribune investigation. And only two ever served jail time."

Paula Mixson, a consultant who spent two decades working for the Texas agency that conducts abuse investigations, says getting local authorities to pursue these cases is a constant battle. “We really struggled to get our cases to their attention, but they were rarely ‘sexy’ enough,” says Mixson, who retired from the Department of Family and Protective Services in 2003. “In the scale of everything else going on, these aren’t seen as major crimes.”

In Lubbock County, District Attorney Matt Powell insists that’s not the case. The Lubbock County District Attorney's Office, which has prosecuted more serious state school abuse cases in the last decade than any other Texas D.A.'s office, is pursuing a manslaughter charge against 38-year-old Donnell Smith, the Lubbock employee who pinned down and asphyxiated Michael on June 6. Powell won't talk specifically about Michael’s case; he's got a policy against discussing cases he's investigating. But he maintains his office is always “aggressive and proactive” about abuse cases — no matter how difficult they are to prosecute. “You see the same challenge in a lot of these cases: a victim who can’t communicate, no witnesses to it,” he says. “You want to focus on the guy who was really the main abuser.”

At the time of his death, Michael, 45, had lived at the Lubbock State School for three decades. He was non-verbal, fragile, and had the mental capacity of an infant, and he was not supposed to be physically restrained under any circumstances. Yet according to the state abuse report, when Michael refused to get dressed on that June day, Smith repeatedly sat and lay atop him to hold him down, mocking him and then choking him with a towel until his face turned blue. When Michael became unresponsive, Smith didn’t immediately call for help; it took 10 minutes for him to start his failed attempt at CPR. When investigators asked Smith how Michael had died, he lied repeatedly, telling them Michael hit his head while jumping on the bed.

Though Smith, 38, was fired for his acts, and a detailed state investigation released shortly after determined he’d committed “Class 1” physical abuse, David said Lubbock police expressed little interest in the case for two months — until he took matters into his own hands. Outraged at what he calls a complete lack of communication between Lubbock police and prosecutors, David delivered the 66-page state investigative report to the medical examiner himself. In August, the medical examiner declared Michael’s death a homicide. But police didn't issue an arrest warrant until October 28, four and a half months after Michael’s death. Smith, who was charged with manslaughter, made bail several days later. Weeks later, when David called the Lubbock District Attorney's Office, he said he learned police had not yet turned over evidence or reports to local prosecutors.

Two phone messages left with the Lubbock police chief were not returned.

David, who has since drawn disability advocates into the fray, says he’s pleased Smith has been charged — but he's still waiting anxiously for a trial date. And he's livid that the five other employees who witnessed Michael’s death, all of whom have been fired for their inaction, haven’t been charged with failing to intervene. In the highly publicized Corpus Christi State School “fight club” ring last year, workers who watched but didn’t participate were still prosecuted for their involvement. None of those disabled residents died or were seriously injured.

Powell, says in some cases, prosecutors have no choice but to let the lesser criminals off the hook so they have someone to testify against the worst offender. Witnesses to a crime could be charged with failing to intervene, for example, or with making false statements. But if they’re charged, they’re more likely to lawyer up and far less likely to speak freely about the perpetrator’s conduct. “If you have a victim who dies or is unable to relay what happened, you have to rely on guys who may be culpable in some way, but can give witness statements against the main actor,” Powell says. “Sometimes you’ve got to make a pact with the devil to get the main actor.”

But Lilly Nicholson, Michael and David’s mother, says that “pact” is unacceptable for her family. “It just makes me so angry and sick in my stomach,” she says. “We want these people to be prosecuted. If this happened to anyone else, it would be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

2010-01-20T11:14:00.003-06:00

Abuse of Power

Link to Texas Tribune

by Emily Ramshaw
January 20, 2010

State employees fired for abusing Texas’ most profoundly disabled citizens are rarely prosecuted for their acts — even when they’re heinous.

A Texas Tribune review of a decade’s worth of abuse and neglect firings at state institutions for people with disabilities found that just 16 percent of the most violent or negligent employees were ever charged with crimes. Of those, the overwhelming majority had their charges reduced or dismissed; just three percent served jail time. Among the abusive employees who were never charged? An employee who punched and kicked a mentally disabled man, fracturing his ribs and lacerating his liver. An employee who sexually assaulted an immobile resident while he was giving him a bath. And a worker who used his belt to repeatedly whip a disabled resident across the face and mouth.

Elected officials, who have been under pressure from the U.S. Justice Department to improve conditions at Texas’ 13 state-supported living centers, say the lack of prosecutions is troubling — but that they can't force local district attorneys to do it.

Meanwhile, local authorities say institutional abuse cases are particularly tough to prove. The victims often can’t verbalize what happened to them. The eyewitnesses are unreliable. And just because an act of abuse is a fireable offense doesn’t mean it rises to the level of criminal conduct or even gets reported to prosecutors.

Advocacy groups say the investigation suggests a breakdown between state abuse investigators and local authorities. It also confirms their worst fear: that there’s no equal justice for people with disabilities. Unless an abuse case receives widespread media attention, like last year’s “fight club” at the Corpus Christi State School, it rarely warrants criminal charges. “If you’re the most vulnerable citizen in Texas and you’re beaten mercilessly, your perpetrator is not held accountable,” said Jeff Garrison-Tate, whose non-profit Community Now! advocates for the nearly 4,600 disabled Texans living in state institutions. “This is what perpetuates a culture of abuse in this state.”

Roughly 300 state school employees are fired or suspended every year for abusing or neglecting residents in Texas’ state-supported living centers. Since 2000, about 75 employees have been fired for “Class 1 Abuse” — the most serious physical or sexual abuse. An extensive Texas Tribune search of county and state arrest records, indictments and other court filings revealed just 13 of these fired employees were ever charged with crimes for their acts. Of those, two served jail time. Three had their cases dismissed. And seven received lesser charges or deferred adjudication in a plea deal. One case is still pending.

One employee who was fired for inserting a hairbrush in a resident's anus and fondling another resident's breasts was never charged with a crime. Neither was a worker who beat a resident in the face because she wouldn't be quiet. The woman had to be rushed to the emergency room for stitches. In another un-prosecuted case, a staffer slammed a resident face first into a door; the man sustained a head wound that required staples to close.

The Blame Game

Ask state agencies, local police and district attorneys why there are so few prosecutions and the finger pointing begins.

The Department of Aging and Disability Services oversees the state institutions and is responsible for firing abusive employees. But it doesn’t conduct abuse and neglect investigations — the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) does it for them. Officials with DFPS say whenever they get an allegation of serious physical injury, sexual abuse or death, they contact local law enforcement within the hour. If their investigation concludes a crime may have been committed, they’re required to forward their investigative report to local authorities. But DFPS doesn’t track what happens next. And police departments say they don’t always get the reports from the state. In some cases they have opened their own investigations ahead of DFPS.

District attorneys who responded to the Texas Tribune’s interview request say they don’t always get the message — either from the state investigators or from police detectives. There’s a precedent here: During the Texas Youth Commission’s sweeping abuse scandal three years ago, thousands of un-prosecuted abuse complaints were found sitting in file folders in local police departments.

"We really like to prosecute the bad guys, the employees who pick on people in state institutions. There's no problem there," said Rob Kepple, executive director of the Texas District and County Attorneys Association. If the prosecutors aren't pursuing cases, "I would surmise we're either not getting them, or they don't rise to the level of a criminal offense."

Even when prosecutors do get the case files, they’re not always able to proceed. In some cases, they say, the act the employee was fired for doesn’t qualify as criminal conduct. In other cases, authorities don’t have the evidence or witnesses to prosecute. And occasionally, when a guilty verdict isn’t a sure bet, they don’t have the resources to make the effort. “Trying to determine who’s the guilty party, and being able to prove they were the ones who inflicted the injuries — that’s especially difficult when you have a victim who is incapacitated,” said Lubbock County District Attorney Matt Powell, whose office has prosecuted more of these Class 1 offenders than any other Texas D.A.'s office. Added Taylor County District Attorney James Eidson:"By their nature, these are pretty much circumstantial cases, which is what makes them so difficult."

And despite the fact that these abusive acts are committed by state employees, inside state-operated institutions, and against people who are sometimes wards of the state, Texas' own attorney general doesn't have the authority to step in. Following the 2007 TYC sexual abuse scandal, and revelations that a West Texas district attorney had failed to prosecute an abusive youth prison administrator, the attorney general's office asked lawmakers for more authority to step in. Lawmakers responded by allowing state prosecutors to offer assistance to local prosecutors. But the attorney general's office still can't intervene to force a prosecution.

"The Legislature has not given the Office of the Attorney General authority to prosecute these cases," said Jerry Strickland, a spokesman for Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott. "Only district attorneys have that authority."

But advocates for the disabled say all of these explanations shroud the real reason abusive employees aren’t prosecuted: because their victims can’t demand it. Many are non-verbal or intellectually impaired. Most either don’t have families to advocate for them, or have out-of-town relatives poorly positioned to keep the pressure on local authorities. In short, advocates say, prosecutors know if they don’t make the effort, no one will hold them accountable.

“If someone saw me on the street kicking my dog, I would be in jail,” Garrison-Tate said. “But when a person with a significant disability in our state-operated, taxpayer-funded institutions is beaten, nothing happens to them.”

TOMORROW: Relatives of a disabled man choked and killed in a state school share their struggle for justice.

Keywords:

Secret film uncovers 'disabled hate crime' in Wales

2010-01-04T23:27:00.002-06:00

(link)

Footage of attacks on disabled people and their property was recorded for the programme

Some disabled people in Wales are suffering abuse and threats for no other reason than their disability, an investigation by BBC Wales has found.

Secretly recorded footage for the documentary Why Do You Hate Me? shows a wheelchair user being mocked and threatened in a bar.

In another incident a mother and daughter film an attacker smashing every window on their mobility car.

In Wales in 2009, police recorded 116 such incidents, with 18 convictions.

The programme, to be shown on BBC One Wales on Monday evening, reveals how many such incidents go unrecorded.

I think we haven't collectively picked them up and investigated and prosecuted them in the way we should

Kier Starmer QC, director of public prosecutions

The Director of Public Prosecutions, Kier Starmer QC, admitted that the justice system did not always get it right when dealing with so-called disability hate crime.

He said: "I think there are lots and lots of incidents of disability hate crime.

"I think we haven't collectively picked them up and investigated and prosecuted them in the way we should."

A CCTV camera catches a vandal attacking Irene Miles' vehicle

The programme is presented by Simon Green, a wheelchair user from Bridgend, who secretly filmed a couple of his nights out to expose the hostility and abuse he sometimes experiences.

During one evening he was confronted by a group of men who verbally abuse him, swearing at him and calling him a "cripple", and suggesting he could really walk.

Mr Green, who has been a wheelchair user for six years, says during that time he has been physically, as well as verbally, assaulted because he is disabled.

'Nuisance to them'

And though the law has got tough on people who abuse others on the grounds of their race or religion, the attitude towards often low-level but continued abuse of disabled people seems far behind, the programme found.

Mr Green also met Irene Miles, 77, who was born disabled. She and her daughter Lorraine, who is her full-time carer, say they have suffered years of abuse at their Newport home.

Simon Green went under cover to film for the programme

The most recent attack was captured by a CCTV camera and shows a hooded man running around their vehicle, smashing every window before disappearing down the road. The vehicle is a lifeline for the family.

They said they have contacted police 60 times in the last five years, but only this latest incident, which happened last November, has been categorised as a hate crime.

Lorraine said: "I feel as though the police think we're a nuisance to them. I think now they're sitting up and taking note but the help for me and my mum has come far too late."

The family believe their case has similarities with the horrific story of Fiona Pilkington.

She killed herself and her disabled daughter, 18, in Leicestershire in 2007 after years of persistent abuse.

Gwent Police are now reviewing the handling of Lorraine and Irene's case.

Chief Supt Paul Symes says, "I will do my upmost to ensure that this is not a Pilkington case for Gwent Police. I'm aware of what the learning was within Pilkington, part of that involved some criticism around some perception that agencies weren't working together."

Campaigners say disability hate crimes are too often unreported by victims and under recorded by police but that this needs to change.

Why Do You Hate Me? is shown on Monday, 4 January on BBC One Wales at 2030 GMT.

Sick and Twisted

2009-12-30T23:47:00.003-06:00

Audience online poll will determine winners in four categories of behaving badly. Voting is now closed. Results will be broadcast Dec. 30 on Nightline.

ERNIE NOMINEES: The Sick & Twisted
The "Texas Fight Club" Guards
Mentally disabled students were forced to be part of brutal "fight club."

Forgotten Lives wins Red Wasp Film Festival's Audience Favorite Award and Social Awareness Award!

2009-11-09T10:45:00.000-06:00

http://redwasp.org/

Brazos Progressives Announces the Winners of the 7th Annual Red Wasp Film Festival at StageCenter

by RED WASP on NOVEMBER 9, 2009

BRYAN, TX—On Friday and Saturday, November 6 and 7, 2009, Brazos Progressives presented the 7^th Annual Film Festival at StageCenter Theater in downtown Bryan. The following awards were presented on Saturday night.

Red Wasp Best Screenplay Award: Hotel School by Robert Kirschten.
Red Wasp Best Film Award: The Christmas Conspiracy by Jennifer Clary and Kevin Haberer.
Red Wasp Audience Favorite Award: Forgotten Lives by Jeff Garrison-Tate and Josh Tate.
Red Wasp One to Watch Award: Bad Timing by Keller Davis.
Red Wasp Most Entertaining Award: Do You by Gordon S. Williams.
Red Wasp Social Awareness Award: Forgotten Lives by Jeff Garrison-Tate and Josh Tate.

Authorities searching for man indicted in death

2009-11-04T09:44:00.001-06:00

Police briefs
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Authorities searching for man indicted in death

Authorities were still looking on Tuesday for Doneil Smith, 38, who was indicted last week in connection with the death of a Lubbock State School resident.

Lubbock County sheriff's deputies attempted to serve a manslaughter warrant on Smith on Friday, but could not find him, Chief Deputy Danny Downes said on Tuesday.

Smith, a former state school employee, is accused of recklessly causing the death of Michael Nicholson, 45, on June 6.

Reports indicate Smith restrained Nicholson by repeatedly sitting on him. Nicholson died of suffocation during a struggle, according to the medical examiner's report.

Officials ask anyone with information about Smith's whereabouts to call the Sheriff's Office at 775-1480 or Crime Line at 741-1000. Callers may remain anonymous.

A $50,000 bond is attached to the warrant, court records indicate.

Disabled People Are Frequent Victims Of Crime

2009-10-02T21:25:00.000-05:00

By Joe Shapiro
People with disabilities are one-and-a-half times more likely to be the victims of violent crime than are people without disabilities, says the first national study to compare crime rates.
The results, just released by the Justice Department, are disturbing. But they come as no surprise to those who work with people with disabilities. For a long time, they've known about this particular crime problem, at least anecdotally.
Sometimes cases get national attention, like the abuse revealed earlier this year at a state institution in Texas where workers trained and hired to care for the vulnerable adults there goaded them into fighting each other for the entertainment of the staff. Two of the staffers in the "human cock fight" case were recently found guilty and given prison sentences.
But what people in the field had long known, and what the Justice Department report confirms, is that crime is a daily fact of life for many people with disabilities and most of it never gets public attention.
The study, by Michael Rand and Erika Harrell of the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics, found that, in 2007, people with disabilities were victims of 716,000 violent crimes and 2.3 million property crimes.
Disabled women were the most at risk: They were victims at rates almost twice that for other females. And unlike other women, those with disabilities were far more likely to be victimized by people they weren't close to. The report found that 16 percent of violent crimes against females with a disability were committed by a current or former spouse, boyfriend or girlfriend. Among women without disabilities, it was 27 percent.
The International Coalition on Abuse and Disability, run by University of Alberta professor Dick Sobsey, tracks individual reports of crimes against people with disabilities in the U.S., Canada and other places around the world. And the group's Web site gives an eye-opening, and distressing snapshot of just how often this crime happens and how it's often cruel and deliberate.
Among the posts over just the last couple weeks:
--A Canadian woman who was the caregiver for a 21-year-old woman with an intellectual disability accepted payment from a 73-year-old man for allowing him to have sex with the disabled woman. The abuse became known when the disabled woman became pregnant and had the child. The caregiver was convicted.
--In Louisiana, parents of a 14-year-old boy with autism and mental retardation objected to the light sentence--probation but no jail time--given a worker at a state institution who threw bleach in their son's face.
--A caregiver in Tampa was charged with second-degree murder and abuse of an elderly disabled woman in her care.
Update: We just heard from Dick Sobsey by email. He told us:
I think this is a very good report. My only concern is that if people don't look carefully enough at the numbers, they will underestimate the magnitude of this finding. In other words, a 50% increase in victimization is bad, but it doesn't sound too alarming. The fact that rape and sexual assault were 2.7 times as high sounds more alarming. Also, some of the effect is obscured by including many different disabilities. Clearly the greatest risk was to people with cognitive disabilities and multiple disabilities.

North Texas couple gets new lawyer, new hope in guardianship case

2009-09-15T23:16:00.003-05:00

link
September 15, 6:00 PM Bell County Legal News Examiner Lou Ann Anderson

Michael and Jean Kidd have a new lawyer and hopefully a new chance for review of the guardianship imposed upon them by a Collin County Probate Court. The issues to address start with why this elderly Richardson, TX, couple has been forced to spend almost a year in a Pilot Point nursing home when far less restrictive measures seem applicable. Dallas probate attorney Melinda Hartnett is now representing the Kidds and like anyone else hearing this story, she'll likely want answers to many questions.
KDFW/FOX 4 Becky Oliver's most recent report discusses how accountant Michael Taylor, the Kidds' financial guardian, is actually ineligible for that position due to a lack of credentials from the state of Texas Guardianship Certification Board. Regarding his approval of Taylor's appointment, Collin County Probate Judge Weldon Copeland is quoted:
“We sometimes believe someone is certified when they are not,” Copeland said. “Perhaps we should have double checked. It is an opportunity to learn from our mistake here,” he continued.
Thankfully, this "mistake" was stopped from selling the Kidds' home at a Sept. 1 foreclosure sale.
An earlier KDFW/FOX 4 broadcast reported this about the Kidds' financial situation:
“You have no idea how much money you have?” Oliver asked Michael Kidd. “None at all,” Kidd responded. “I know what my income was and I know it was more than enough to take care of my bills. Now, I am deteriorating instead of getting better,” Kidd continued.The monthly tab for a couple at Countryside is about seven thousand dollars. Court records show, for five months’ care, the guardian paid eleven thousand dollars out of the Kidds’ accounts. The state’s Medicaid program kicks in the rest. “I could be at the Hilton for this kind of money,” Kidd told Oliver.The state appointed a financial guardian in Greenville to manage the Kidds money and pay their bills. When they asked for an accounting, the state refused. Representatives for the state stated the Kidds did not have the mental capacity to even ask for their own financial or medical records.
Collin County taxpayers are reported to have paid a $4,000 legal bill for work done by Bert Starr, the Kidds' original, court-appointed attorney ad litem.
That Medicaid - i.e., taxpayers - is paying a portion of the Kidds' nursing home expense is of interest. For taxpayers who believe programs like Medicaid should be a "safety net" only for those truly in need (not the contrived cases of people defrauding their fellow taxpayers by utilizing "Medicaid planning" techniques), the Kidds' Medicaid eligibility is probably worthy of investigation. And if their house was to be sold to fund additional nursing home expenses, what type of responsible guardians turn off the power leaving food spoiling in the kitchen? Why are windows left broken? The house unlocked? The yard overgrown? Perhaps these were more "mistakes"? And to then be listing a house below its appraised value due to neglect? That doesn't sound like a mistake - that sounds like incompetence, irresponsibility and general disrespect for other people's property. Don Ford, a probate lawyer who serves on the Texas Guardianship Certification Board, said:
The guardian’s job is to protect the assets. The judge’s job is to ensure the best course of action is always taken.
It's hard to see how this has been the case with regard to Jean and Michael Kidd. In Is Texas ready to address guardianships and other probate abuse? responses from a politician and an activist were addressed:
Both Senator Nelson and Brenda Durant are correct that now is the time for lawmakers to investigate activities relating to guardianships. However, as probate abuse can also involve wills, trusts and powers of attorney, a review inclusive of all estate administrative functions performed by probate (or other) courts is the true need. North Texas is home to numerous cases of questionable probate activities so while Senator Nelson is well positioned to investigate how DADS could so easily hijack the lives of Texas residents, efforts hopefully will not end there. Only going after a state agency - even one so deserving as DADS appears to be the case with the Kidds - is "low-hanging fruit." Therefore, as Brenda Durant suggests, additional investigation into the activities of county probate courts or other courts addressing probate issues is imperative as these entities have oversight responsibility. Conducting a serious review of all parties involved will be the real test of legislators' willingness to address the confiscation of Texans' liberty and property via corrupt probate venues. The exposure of cases like Michael and Jean Kidd helps educate the public regarding looming threats which probate venues can pose to individuals' liberty and property. A probate court oversees great sums of money and exerts significant influence over the freedom and property of those before it. Being viewed as a "not a lot of action here" venue has allowed the evolution of a problematic culture seen too often today.
People are starting to recognize the power wielded within probate venues. While the elderly are easy targets, disabled or incapacitated people of any age (along with their families!) can be harmed by probate abuse (or "mistakes"). Regarding the Kidds, Houston Single Parenting Examiner Melanie Saxton astutely wrote:
It is a precautionary tale, especially for Texans. If this can happen to Jean and Michael Kidd, who have always been good citizens, then it can happen to you. As a single parent, I feel especially vulnerable to the prospects of questionable guardianships and elder abuse in my future.
Our country's aging demographic along with Texas' current population boom will naturally lead to a potential of more cases like the Kidds. With that, the probate system and supporting agencies cannot go unchecked.
For more info:
Broadcast tells of probate court appointing questionable guardianships (Aug. 26, 2009)
Guardianships can bring unintended, unwelcomed consequences (Aug. 30, 2009)
Estate looting 101: guarding against guardian abuse (Aug. 31, 2009)
North Texas couple avoids home sale while questionable guardianship is reviewed (Sept. 1, 2009)Austin Liberty Beat (Sept. 2, 2009)
Segment 1 Segment 2
Is Texas ready to address guardianships and other probate abuse? (Sept. 9, 2009)

Recommendations to Executive Commissioner Suehs about qualities needed in the next commissioner of DADS

2009-09-14T23:31:00.002-05:00

September 3, 2009

Thomas Suehs, Executive Commissioner
Health and Human Services Commission
4900 North Lamar BoulevardAustin, TX 78751-2316

Dear Executive Commissioner Suehs,

On behalf of Community Now! please accept our sincere congratulations on your recent promotion to Executive Commissioner for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. (HHSC) We look forward to working with you in your new position to develop a long range strategic plan to create a system that supports Texans with disabilities to live in their communities.

Community Now! is a statewide, volunteer, non-profit organization with a mission to support people with disabilities to live in community with the services and supports necessary to be successful. As you know, Texas continues to be the institution capitol of the United States with more people with intellectual disabilities residing in institutions than any other state. With almost 100,000 people with disabilities on waiting lists for community services, Texas continues to operate an unbalanced service system wasting hundreds of millions of tax dollars on archaic, dangerous institutions.

During the 80th Legislative Session, legislators allocated additional funds to comply with the Department of Justice Settlement with the Department of Aging and Disability Services. r However, history shows that institutions are not a safe environment no matter how much money is allocated. We are deeply distressed that the more horrific the reports of abuse and death at state institutions, the more that money is allocated to fix a system that is broken.

Clearly there is a vocal and active group of parents who insist that their choice to keep their adult loved ones in state institutions is honored. Clearly the voices of those parents and people with disabilities who choose to live in the community and languish on waiting lists are not being heard. Community Now! is represented by families who have seen their families destroyed because of their belief that their family member with a disability should live with their family. There are also people with disabilities who are active with Community Now! who are either waiting for their name to come up on an endless list or who are struggling to maintain their services because of an underfunded, poorly monitored community provider system.

Our hope and sincere recommendation is that you will be able to lead a fundamental shift away from the institutional bias and take the leadership role with the Legislature and HHSC professionals to actively create and implement a plan of action that will judiciously get everyone out of institutions who want out and close the facilities no longer needed. Texas continues to band-aid a gushing artery which has brought our vulnerable citizens to a life that is full of violence, a life of frantic waiting, or a life of inadequate community services. None of these options are acceptable. None of them.

We need you to step up and let our legislators know that our current systems are failing, that Texas is grossly mismanaging money by attempting to fund a dual service delivery system. We need you with your sense of budget expertise and program cost analysis to communicate a vision that will utilize tax payer dollars wisely AND provide exceptional services for Texans with disabilities based on the real choices people are making. And people are not begging to go into institutions. They are willing to wait up to 10 years for a shot at their American Dream. 100,000 people are making this choice.

Soon, you will be making a decision about a new Commissioner for the Department of Aging and Disability Services (DADS). This leader is the pivotal person to lead these reform efforts. Those who represent Community Now! are weary, disappointed and frankly disgusted with the previous DADS administration. We as the consumers of DADS services have been admonished diminished, unwelcomed, ignored, retaliated against and patronized by the very leaders put in place to serve us. Our sincere hope is that all individuals who played a part of the past administration are terminated with all haste.

We make the following recommendations to you and your search team as they consider the appointment of the next Commissioner at DADS:

We recommend that the next Commissioner is recruited from another state with a proven record of reforming long term care services. This is necessary as previous Commissioners and leadership have “grown up” in the failed Texas system and have little vision past these failures.
We recommend that the next Commissioner is a leader with the conviction to make recommendations to our legislators that serve the choices of the vast majority of Texans, which is community services, not institutional care.
We recommend that the next Commissioner actively seek out, recognize and welcome ALL consumers and family members of DADS services.
We recommend that the Commissioner seek creative ways to communicate with consumers and family members not only through traditional channels, but also through open, creative methods that build relationships based in trust rather than fear and admonishment.
We recommend that the Commissioner actively communicate the status of DADS progress in meeting the conditions of the DOJ settlement through public hearings and other methods that allow for feedback from consumers and families.
We recommend that DADS serve as a facilitator for the Promoting Independence Advisory Committee rather than control and manipulate the proceedings and outcomes of this critical committee born from the precepts of the Olmstead Act.
We recommend that the new DADS Commissioner immediately take action to hold key leadership accountable by terminating administrators at state institutions for people with intellectual disabilities as appropriate.

Our sincere hope is that your final decision for the new DADS Commissioner will bring to Texas a person with integrity, vision, who is proactive and will work hard every day to serve the people they are charged with to live a quality life in their community.

We look forward to further communication with you regarding our recommendations.

Improving care environment proves difficult for Lubbock State School

2009-08-30T23:12:00.006-05:00

By Sarah Nightingale AVALANCHE-JOURNAL

Sunday, August 30, 2009Story last updated at 8/30/2009 - 2:05 am

The last people to see Michael Ray Nicholson alive recounted a brutal scene.
Nicholson, who family say had the mental capacity of a 2-year-old, was slammed on the bed, laid on and choked with a towel.

His face turned blue. Others watched, but did nothing.

Then, the man, just a teenager when he first came to the Lubbock State School, died.

Reports obtained by The Avalanche-Journal show school staff told state investigators about the June 6 altercation between employee Donnell Smith and 45-year-old Nicholson.

The death, recently ruled a homicide, occurred more than four years after a U.S. Department of Justice investigation uncovered the school's failure to prevent abuse and neglect of the severely mentally disabled residents in its care. Particularly troubling, the report noted, was the death of 17 residents in an 18-month period, several of which were identified as potentially preventable.

Better and worse
The Texas Legislature, concerned about safety through the entire state school system, has allowed the schools to hire more staff, and Lubbock's school is trying to fill more than 100 new positions.
Even before that, state and school officials say they improved how they care for their mentally disabled residents.
In 2006, the year after the Justice Department investigation, the number of abuse and neglect cases dropped.
But public records obtained by The Avalanche-Journal through the Texas Public Information Act show the number of cases in 2007 and 2008 dramatically increased.
The school has fired 73 employees in four years, but as of yet, none have faced criminal charges.
Criminal action is needed to stop the abuse and neglect, said Lilly Nicholson, Michael's mother.
"The state schools can only turn over the information of abuse and neglect to law enforcement and fire the people responsible, they can not do more than that," she said.
"If the people working there are aware that there will be consequences, they will not be as likely to assault, injure or neglect the ones they are hired to care for. It's a disgrace that this is allowed to continue with no accounting."

A rocky road
The Lubbock State School - now officially named the Lubbock State Supported Living Center - is north of the city, on University Avenue. The facility opened its doors almost 40 years ago to care for people with mental retardation from a 54-county area.
The 243 residents at the school range from teenagers to the elderly and suffer from a spectrum of disorders. While some have jobs and live semi-independently in campus cottages, others are confined to bed; their physical and mental disabilities so severe that around-the-clock care is needed.
On March 12, 2005, the Department of Justice told the state it would investigate conditions at the school through a visit and a review of records relating to the care and treatment of residents. That took place the week of June 13.
More than a year later, the Justice Department published its findings: The school was failing.
Recognizing briefly "LSS is predominantly staffed by dedicated individuals," the 40-page report details how the facility "substantially departs from accepted professional standards of care for the residents."
The state entered into negotiations with the federal government, hoping to appease the Justice Department while avoiding a lawsuit, Laura Albrecht, spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services, told The Avalanche-Journal in July. DADS is the state agency that owns and operates the 13 state schools.
Those talks, Albrecht said, continued into 2008, as the Justice Department expanded its investigation to Texas' other supported-living centers. Similar problems, reports show, were uncovered at all of the schools.
This May, the state and the federal government reached an agreement on how the state should fix the problems. The 50-page settlement mandates the state implement training, improve medical procedures and keep better records. A state-paid "expert monitor" at each school will oversee the progress, according to the report.
Albrecht said in a July interview that changes in Lubbock began long before the May agreement.
"We started making changes in 2005," she said. "I think we are making great strides at the state schools."

Making changes
The Lubbock school's 226-acre site is a maze of administrative, care, activity and cottage buildings that's neat and well kept.
The problems highlighted by the Justice Department were not evident in a recent Avalanche-Journal tour of the facility.
Not featured in the 2006 report, for example, is a workshop where residents who are able to can work to earn money. There are also opportunities for arts and crafts, some of which are sold in the school's Hearts and Hands store, and a foster-grandparent program in which seniors dedicate hours of their time to residents, about half of whom have no family that visit.
And there are dedicated staff, from the caregivers who have worked here for decades, to the therapists working Aug. 7 to help Ronnie Beck - who is severely physically and mentally disabled - learn to use a computer, which employees hope will help him communicate.
Members of the school's administration said in August they wish people would see the positives.
"We have a lot of great staff, we can't overlook the work they do here," said Superintendent Kristin Weems. "It takes a certain person to interact with (the residents) every day. It can be a big buff man, or a tiny woman. It's all about their belief system and values.
"We've never said this is a job for everyone," continued Weems, who said the residents, many of whom have a dual diagnosis of mental retardation and psychiatric problems, can pose serious challenges for caregivers.
Challenges that can have deadly consequences.

Continued problems
News reports have shown abuse and neglect at most of the state's 13 institutions in the last few years. In Lubbock, there were 27 confirmed cases of abuse and neglect in 2005, according to data obtained by The A-J from the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services through the Texas Public Information Act.
The state took immediate action, Albrecht said.
And, in 2006, the number of abuse and neglect cases fell, with 11 cases confirmed by the DFPS.
In 2007 and 2008, however, the numbers rose.
There were 30 confirmed cases of abuse and neglect in fiscal year 2007 - the state fiscal year runs September to August - and 35 cases in 2008, according to state data.
Capt. Greg Stevens of the Lubbock Police Department said Wednesday his department investigated two of the 2008 cases on the grounds of suspected criminal activity.
Police reports obtained by an A-J open records request say in April 2008, a 44-year-old male resident was assaulted by staff member Marie Ryan, then 27, who hit him "with a closed fist 'hard' numerous times on the back" after he made a mess with some chips. A staff member testified the man was "in pain and had a painful expression on his face."

Ryan was fired from the school and received a probationary sentence of five years "deferred adjudication," after which the charges will be dropped.

Also in 2008, police investigated the April death of 23-year-old resident Maria Magdalena Urdiales, who choked on candy while on a school outing. Although the cause of death was determined "accidental," the report suggests Urdiales suffered from Pica, a disorder in which people routinely place foreign objects in their mouth and are at a high risk for choking.
DFPS data shows 26 confirmed cases of abuse and neglect in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year.

In March, police investigated one of those cases.

Stevens said an anonymous caller claimed a 60-year-old male resident was injured by a staff member. A summary of the police report reads the resident "was assaulted by an unknown person ... (who) is an employee of the school."

This month, police investigated a report of a 28-year-old male resident being "assaulted in the genital/groin area causing severe trauma to the area," according to a summary of the police report. The same resident, a January report claims, was injured previously by a staff member.
Stevens said only one of the closed cases from 2005 to 2008 will likely end in prosecution: A June 2007 reported assault of a male resident by a staff member who was attempting to restrain him, Stevens said, is pending prosecution by the Lubbock County Criminal District Attorney's Office.

The Nicholson case
The restraint of Lilly Nicholson's son may have resulted in his June death, reports show.
"(The staff) got carried away. If they hadn't done what they did, Michael would be alive today," the mother told The A-J on Aug. 21.
Lubbock County Medical Examiner Sridhar Natarajan ruled Nicholson's death a homicide, noting cause of death as physical altercation with asphyxia.
Nicholson had lived at the school since he was 15 years old.
Six employees - Smith, Jessica Santos, Abrisha Henderson, Amiya Harper, Craig Stevenson and Omar Jordan - were fired in relation to the incident. Multiple attempts by The A-J to contact the employees have failed.

Staff testimony in state reports obtained by The A-J say Smith physically abused Nicholson and neglected to implement CPR when he became unresponsive.
In a statement made to school administrators, Smith said an interviewer "twisted his words." He also told staff he cared deeply about the residents he worked with.
More testimony in the reports states Santos, Henderson, Harper and Jordan also neglected Nicholson by not stopping the incident, a conclusion that Henderson, Harper and Jordan disputed. Stevenson, a probationary employee who was reported to have witnessed all or some of the incident, has not been notified by the state of any disciplinary action.
Police officials presented a manslaughter case to the district attorney's office last week. A decision on whether charges will be filed has not yet been released.

Breaking the culture
Albrecht said her department began working to fix problems noted in the 2006 Justice Department investigation as soon as they came to light.
"We did not wait for the final results," she said.
Albrecht said the schools "increased training for all employees, which includes training on abuse and neglect and recognizing the signs of abuse and neglect."
The DADS, she added, has "a zero-tolerance policy regarding abuse and neglect of residents in our care."
Published reports show that 268 employees statewide - including 27 in Lubbock - were fired or suspended for abusing or neglecting residents at state schools in fiscal year 2008. This year, 24 employees have been fired from the Lubbock school for abusing or neglecting residents, according to DADS data.

Despite those actions, the abuse continues.

"The number of incidents that we are investigating remains relatively steady," said DFPS public information officer Greg Cunningham.

Cunningham declined to comment further on the trend.

"We just do the investigations," he said, "DADS follows up on our findings."

Albrecht said Wednesday she "disagrees" things are not getting better.

"We are making improvements and we are making changes," she said. "We wish we had a crystal ball into the actions people take, but we take every possible step we can to train people and set an expectation that we do not tolerate abuse or neglect."

A tough job
New employees, Albrecht said, undergo two weeks of classroom training, are on a six-month probationary period and receive "ongoing" training at the schools.
Smith's employee file shows he completed more than 200 hours of training between accepting the job as an entry-level mental retardation assistant in 2006 and being fired in June. He was also employed at the school in 1997 and from 2003 to 2004, records show. Albrecht said he left voluntarily on both occasions.
The former employee was aware Nicholson was "not to be restrained for any reason," according to a letter sent to Smith and obtained by The A-J.
Smith's failure to act on his training is not the only evidence the school's standards are not always upheld.
Data on the DADS Web site showed eight instances in the current year in which the Lubbock school failed to properly educate staff, follow procedures that prohibit mistreatment of residents, or use proper restraint techniques. The school also failed recently - 21 out of 21 times - to administer drugs in compliance with physician's orders and failed to securely store drugs, according to state records.
Personnel problems, said a former employee who worked at the school for more than a decade, crop up because some employees "are just interested in the paycheck."
"Most of the people who work at the school are great people," said the source, who requested anonymity. "But some people either don't know they are abusing people or they don't think they will get caught."
The former employee, who left the school in 2008, said Thursday she had seen "a lot of people bring their problems to work and take them out on someone."
Stressful situations, the source said, are worsened by sometimes violent residents and by severe understaffing.
"You have people working 16 hours at a time and then when they ask for a vacation (supervisors) say they don't have enough people to cover," the source said. "I've seen people just walk out, say, 'I can't do this anymore'."
There are 785 positions at the Lubbock State School, Albrecht said. As of Aug. 10, 192 of those were vacant, a situation Albrecht said reflects more than 140 new positions approved by the Legislature, as well as attrition.
Weems said in an August interview the new positions - once filled - would help the school run more smoothly.
"We could always use more staff for care," she said. "We're very appreciative of recent legislative actions."

A different approach?
Lubbock resident Johnia Hudnall, who worked at the state school in the 1970s and cared for her Down syndrome son at home until he died in December, said it's not money, firings, or even the threat of a criminal record that will improve things.
"All the money in the U.S. Mint will not help until somebody cares," she said.
Hudnall, like some Texas advocacy groups, believes mentally disabled people would fare better in smaller settings.
"Smaller facilities lead to better care ... it could be more like a family," she said.
Other groups, however, say such care cannot be transferred to community settings.
"Folks who live here are folks who cannot get their basic needs met in the community because of medical issues or challenging behavior," said Weems, who added the school has about 100 fewer residents over the past four years because of efforts to relocate some who can move into the community.
Nicholson said last week an effort to place her son in a community home failed.
"He was placed in a community home for a short period of time, but (it) was not suited for his needs and he was placed back in the state school," she said.
To comment on this story:
sarah.nightingale@lubbockonline.com l 766-8796 shelly.gonzales@lubbockonline.com l 766-8747
LUBBOCK/As the Lubbock State School looks to fill new positions and improve its care, the June homicide of Michael Ray Nicholson reveals there's still much work to be done.

facts about Lubbock SS

2009-08-30T23:03:00.003-05:00

101 cases of confirmed abuse/neglect, and 2 investigations by the Lubbock Police Department. Only one case MAY result in prosecution. WHO else sees a problem here?

"We wish we had a crystal ball into the actions people take, but we take every possible step we can to train people and set an expectation that we do not tolerate abuse or neglect."
Laura Albrecht

Spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services

Lubbock State School timeline
• August 1969: The Lubbock State School opened.
• June 2005: U.S. Department of Justice investigated conditions at the Lubbock State School.
• December 2006: Justice Department reported multiple deficiencies at the school.
• May 2009: Justice Department and the state reach a $112 million settlement on what changes should be made and how.
• June 2009: Resident Michael Nicholson died at the school.
• July 2009: Six employees fired in relation to Nicholson's death.
• August 2009: Nicholson's death ruled a homicide.
Funding for the Lubbock State School
• 2005: $28.9 million
• 2006: $31.4 million
• 2007: $32.3 million
• 2008: $37.0 million
• 2009: $39.5 million
Employees at the Lubbock State School
• 2005: 825
• 2006: 792
• 2007: 776
• 2008: 781
• 2009: 785
Residents at the Lubbock State School
• 2005: 341
• 2006: 304
• 2007: 289
• 2008: 266
• 2009: 243
Numbers of abuse and neglect cases and firings
• 2005: 27 confirmed reports of abuse and neglect and 14 related firings.
• 2006: 11 confirmed cases of abuse and neglect and four related firings.
• 2007: 30 confirmed cases of abuse and neglect and 18 related firings.
• 2008: 35 confirmed cases of abuse and neglect and 27 related firings.
• 2009 to date: 26 confirmed cases of abuse and neglect and 24 related firings.

Another story about the atrocities at Lubbock SS

2009-08-23T15:57:00.002-05:00

Local News
082209 LOCAL NEWS 1 AVALANCHE-JOURNAL
The mother of a man who died at the Lubbock State School this summer said reports show her son, whose death was ruled a homicide Friday, was "body slammed" against a wall and "choked until he turned blue."
State school death a homicide
By Sarah Nightingale and Robin Pyle AVALANCHE-JOURNAL
Saturday, August 22, 2009Story last updated at 8/22/2009 - 1:52 am
The mother of a man who died at the Lubbock State School this summer said reports show her son, whose death was ruled a homicide Friday, was "body slammed" against a wall and "choked until he turned blue."
Lilly Nicholson also said the report indicated an employee restrained her son by "sitting on him."
OAS_AD('Position3');

Lubbock County Medical Examiner Sridhar Natarajan ruled Michael Ray Nicholson's death a homicide Friday morning, noting his cause of death as physical altercation with asphyxia.
Nicholson, 45, died at the state school on June 6 while in the care of six employees, who have since been fired.
"Since the death occurred during a physical altercation between individuals the manner of death is classified as a homicide," the autopsy report reads.
Charges have not yet been filed in the homicide. Capt. Greg Stevens said police officials presented on Friday morning a manslaughter case to the Lubbock County Criminal District Attorney's Office. Employees of the office will decide if any charges will be filed.
No suspects have been named.
The mother said she hoped authorities would prosecute those involved.
"This was a senseless thing," Nicholson said. "There was nothing else wrong with Michael. He was murdered."
Just before death
Lilly Nicholson said state reports show her son died while staff struggled to undress him.
The family has received numerous reports they requested from the Lubbock State School - now officially named the Lubbock State Supported Living Center - and the state agencies that oversee the school.
An Avalanche-Journal request to view the documents was recently declined by the Lubbock Department of Disability and Aging Services (DADS) and is awaiting a final decision from the Attorney General's office.
Nicholson said her son - who suffered from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in relation to the clothes he wore - refused to dress on June 6 while "his one set of clothes" was being washed. Because of the condition, he was "allowed to be naked in his room," she said.
"They did dress him, but they killed him in the process," she said.
Michael Nicholson had a history of psychiatric and behavioral problems with episodes of combative behavior, according to the medical examiner's report.
Nicholson described her son Friday as someone who "did not know how to fight and never seriously injured anyone in his entire life."
"He could be obstinate, contrary, and frustrating when he could not communicate his needs and desires," she said.
Nicholson, who kept her son at home for 15 years, said he "had no physical problems (but) required constant care to keep him safe and healthy."
"He was in special ed classes from the time he was 5 years old, but never was able to advance. He was non-verbal," she said, adding, "he was a joy to us. He was truly innocent and loved the beautiful things in life. He loved to dance, sing and watch cowboy movies."
Nicholson said staff at the school "got carried away."
"If they hadn't done what they did, Michael would be alive today," she said.
According to the medical examiner report, Nicholson was partially on a bed and positioned for a period of time during which his head and neck were abnormally stretched. He was on a mattress with an individual lying over a portion of his upper torso.
He then became unresponsive, the report reads.
Natarajan said there were multiple areas of bruising, abrasions and lacerations on Nicholson's body, though none of those injuries were fatal. The medical examiner also found multiple areas of old bruising on the body.
Most concerning to Nicholson was evidence in the state reports that now dismissed school employee Donnell Smith restrained her son by "laying on him six or seven times."
A-J attempts to reach Smith were unsuccessful. His number is not listed in the phone book, and other numbers The A-J obtained for him were disconnected or went unanswered.
Nicholson said neurosurgeon Dr. Patrick Cindrich had told staff Nicholson was "not to be restrained, period," because of the potential it would cause detriment to a healed broken neck he suffered earlier. The man's neck was broken at the school, his mother said.
A 2006 Department of Justice report investigating practices at the school prohibited the use of manual restraints on school residents.
A report from a division of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services noted Smith didn't believe he had restrained him because he laid on him, rather than restraining his arms, Nicholson said.
The report, Nicholson said, documents Smith stating he "wasn't going to put up with any of Mike's nonsense."
She said Smith was "agitating" Nicholson by "mocking him and making fun of him" and that after realizing her son was not breathing it was "too long before CPR was performed."
Three other staff, she said, were present in the room while Smith restrained Nicholson, causing him to "turn blue and stop breathing."
"No-one came to his aid," she said.
Investigations
Six state school employees - Smith, Jessica Santos, Abrisha Henderson, Amiya Harper, Craig Stevenson and Omar Jordan - were fired from the school after the incident.
The firings were made when a Texas Department of Family and Protective Services investigation confirmed their involvement in the physical abuse and neglect of Nicholson.
"The department has a zero tolerance policy regarding abuse and neglect of the residents in our care," said Laura Albrecht, spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Aging and Disability.
"We believe we took swift actions when we received those confirmations (of abuse and neglect) from adult protective services."
The employees had been with the Lubbock State School from about six months to three years, Albrecht said.
None of them were listed in the Lubbock phone book, and The A-J wasn't able to reach Santos, Henderson or Stevenson through numbers obtained elsewhere.
The Lubbock State School houses approximately 300 people with the diagnosis of mental retardation. The 24-hour residential facility, located at 3401 N. University Ave., sits on a 226-acres site about three miles north of the city.
The school and others in the state have been under scrutiny by legislators and government officials for years.
In 2008, nearly 270 employees were fired or suspended for abusing or neglecting residents in the state schools, records published earlier this year show.
In June, just days before Nicholson's death, Gov. Rick Perry signed legislation aimed at improving security and oversight at the facilities.
To comment on this story:
sarah.nightingale@lubbockonline.com l 766-8796
robin.pyle@lubbockonline.com l 766-8742
shelly.gonzales@lubbockonline.com l 766-8747

State schools report shows an agency in breakdown

2009-08-13T22:53:00.001-05:00

Link here
By R.G. Ratcliffe - Express-News
AUSTIN — During a year of “fight clubs” at a state school for the mentally disabled, deaths from neglect and abuse at others and a federal crackdown on Texas, the agency charged with managing the problem apparently was in turmoil of its own.
According to an investigative report obtained by the San Antonio Express-News/Houston Chronicle, the headquarters staff of the state school system had a turnover of two-thirds in an eight-month period and the director was suspended for treating her employees in a “demeaning and abusive manner.”
Denice Geredine, director of the state school system, was suspended for five days last April after the Department of Aging and Disability Services found she had created a “hostile” work environment by berating staff and publicly reprimanding her employees.
Geredine's division had a 67 percent employee turnover from July 2008, when she became supervisor, through last February.
The agency also investigated Geredine's boss, Assistant Commissioner Barry Waller, for a “demeaning manner in the workplace” for allegedly yelling at employees. No formal action was taken involving Waller.
Geredine currently is on leave due to two deaths in her family. Her husband, Thomas, defended her actions as supervisor during a difficult period.
“She was just trying to make a difference,” Thomas Geredine said. “She was just trying to hold people accountable. When you hold people accountable, they turn on you.”
Agency spokeswoman Laura Albrecht said DADS commissioners continue to monitor and evaluate Geredine's conduct.
“Many times when you are correcting problems and implementing changes, there will be challenges,” Albrecht said.
Most of the focus on problems in the state school system has been on the 13 facilities around Texas and undertrained staffers who earn about $20,000 a year.
But the investigative document obtained by the newspapers under the Texas Public Information Act raises questions about how firmly the state headquarters has been overseeing the system.
The U.S. Justice Department of last December announced that 53 of 114 deaths of state school residents in a one-year period could have been prevented. The state signed an agreement with department officials in May, pledging to spend $112 million over the next five years to improve standards of care.
In March, videos surfaced allegedly showing Corpus Christi State School staff members forcing mentally disabled residents into fights for entertainment. Jury selection began Monday in a trial of the first of six employees charged in the case.
Under an emergency declaration this year from Gov. Rick Perry, the Legislature passed laws to reorganize the state school system and add more than 1,000 employees for direct services for the mentally disabled.
One of the chief sponsors of that legislation, Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, only learned this week from a reporter that Geredine had been suspended and that there had been high headquarters turnover.
Nelson's legislation will eliminate Geredine's job and replace it with an assistant commissioner over state schools with a facilities manager below that position.
Of the 22-member staff positions under Geredine's management in February, a majority described her as “unprofessional, bullying, abrasive” and a majority described their work environment as “stressful, hostile, a roller coaster ride of manic to calm, crisis driven.”
The report said Geredine required her staff to work on weekends or cancel sick leave without pay. Geredine said those staffers would “volunteer to rearrange their time off.”
The employees said that because of the high employee turnover rate, “the wealth of knowledge and experience ... is gone and not being replaced.”
Geredine said her bosses had an expectation that she would “turn over” the staff because there had been low performers in the unit. Geredine said she was proud of the turnover in her staff.

Jury convicts defendant in Texas `fight club' case

2009-08-13T22:49:00.002-05:00

(link)

Thursday, August 13, 2009
By CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN

A former state employee responsible for some of Texas' most vulnerable residents was convicted Thursday of injuring them during orchestrated fights at a state facility for the developmentally disabled.
Jesse Salazar, 25, was one of six former employees at the Corpus Christi State School charged in an abuse scandal that police described as a "fight club."
The jury found Salazar guilty of intentionally causing injury to a disabled person, a third-degree felony. The trial immediately moved into the penalty phase. Prosecutors asked for the maximum of 10 years in prison, while Salazar requested probation. The jury did not reach a decision on the sentence before the end of the day and was to resume deliberations Friday.
For more than a year, authorities said, staff on the night shift in one of the Corpus Christi facility's dorms staged fights among the residents. They instigated the bouts with direct commands and pranks aimed at spurring the residents to turn on each other, police said.
Almost 20 videos of the fights were discovered in March when a cell phone containing the images was found at a clothing store and turned in to police. The four videos shown to jurors in Salazar's case were filmed in early 2008.
One video showed a resident running around a room screaming while another resident tried to hit him. Salazar could be seen filming the melee with his cell phone. In another video, Salazar appeared to tell a resident to push a far bigger resident to instigate a fight.
Salazar, testifying for the first time during the penalty phase, said he had grown close to some of the residents seen in the videos and was sorry for what happened.
"It was dumb," Salazar said. "I'm sorry for what took place and it shouldn't have happened."
He blamed a lack of supervision at the facility that placed young, inexperienced staff in the positions and co-worker Timothy Dixon, who was older and physically intimidating. Salazar also alleged that some supervisors were aware of the fights but did not report them.
Investigators believe there were far more fights than those recorded on Dixon's cell phone.
"They planned this. They did this on a regular basis," Nueces County Assistant District Attorney Doug Mann said in his closing argument Thursday. "This was all about their entertainment."
Depending on the outcome of the penalty phase, Salazar could be the first of those charged to serve jail time. Vincent Johnson, another former employee, pleaded guilty last week and received a two-year suspended jail sentence.
More indictments could be in the works. Corpus Christi Police Detective Curtis Abbott testified Thursday that the number of suspects in the case had risen to 12 and of those, cases had been prepared against at least three more than the six already charged.
Salazar's attorney, Cecil Starcher repeatedly turned attention toward Dixon, whom police had signaled as the mastermind of the fights. He said Salazar had intervened to stop the fights.
Mann answered that Salazar only intervened when the fights got to the point that a resident might receive a visible injury that would later have to be explained.
"He didn't want to be discovered," Mann said. "He didn't want to get found out."
The trial of another former employee, Stephanie Garza, is scheduled to begin Monday. It is unclear how it will proceed because the district attorney granted her immunity in exchange for her testimony. She testified in Salazar's case, but the judge in her case has refused to approve the deal.
Former employees Johnson and D'Angelo Riley have pleaded guilty. Garza, Dixon and Guadalupe Delarosa Jr. await trial.

Another Former State School Employee Pleads Guilty

2009-08-07T14:08:00.001-05:00

Aug 7, 2009 10:31 AM CDT

CORPUS CHRISTI - Former Corpus Christi State School employee Vincent Johnson has been sentenced to 5 years probation and has been ordered to pay a $2,000 fine after pleading guilty to lesser charges of wrecklessly and negligently causing injury to a disabled person by omission.
He has agreed to testify against the other defendants in the case. Johnson was originally charged with of injury to a disabled person by commission and omission.
More details to come as they become available.

State School 'Fight Club' Video To Be Used In Court

2009-08-07T14:07:00.001-05:00

KRIS-TV
updated 3:46 p.m. CT, Sat., July 18, 2009

CORPUS CHRISTI - A judge ruled that cell phone video of fights at the state school will be allowed in the trial of defendant Guadalupe De La Rosa.
He is one of six former employees charged with injury to a disabled person.
His attorney had filed a motion, asking that the video not be allowed in his trial. However, Friday, Judge Sandra Watts denied the motion.

De La Rosa's lawyer has also filed a motion to quash the indictment.
"What the defense now wants is a more definite statement in the indictment, which we do not believe we have to do. We are waiting on the judge's ruling for that part," District Attorney Douglas Mann said.
Judge Watts is expected to make a decision on that motion by Monday.

2009-08-01T17:33:00.001-05:00

Eleanor is here!

2009-08-01T11:19:00.006-05:00

Hey everyone!
We just want to keep everyone posted on Eleanor Kate Garrison-Tate.
She was born at 8:11 the morning of Thursday July 30, 2009.
She weighed 10lbs 13oz.
She is adorable!

Link to more pictures

Abilene state-supported living center installs fence for security

2009-07-26T12:55:00.002-05:00

Link

Amanda Casanova casanovaa@reporternews.com / 325-676-6730Tuesday, July 21, 2009

A new fence now stretches along Maple Street in front of Abilene’s state-supported living center for people who have mental retardation or developmental disabilities.
The state-funded, $140,000 fence was completed last month, closing in the grounds of a 176-acree facility formerly known as a state school.
“We are making improvements specifically for the safety of our residents on an ongoing basis,” said Cecilia Fedorov, press officer for The Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services.
While the improvements weren’t related to newly passed legislation that calls for upgrading security at the facilities, the Abilene living center will soon be equipped with the increased security measures.
In June, Gov. Rick Perry approved $112 million in legislation to boost security at the facilities with required video surveillance cameras, improved staff training and background checks. Other protective efforts include establishing the Office of Independent Ombudsman, who will oversee all operations; enhancing abuse and neglect investigations; and random drug testing on employees.
The cameras, which will be placed in all common areas, haven’t been installed at the Abilene facility. Also, staff will be required to wear vests of various colors to identify themselves as employees. These vests have not yet been purchased, Fedorov said.
Almost 1,300 people work at the facility in Abilene, which houses roughly 520 people.
“The legislation just passed,” Fedorov said. “We’re still in a preparation phase.”
However, some security measures are already being practiced, such as a nighttime check, where management perform random inspections in the middle of the night “to make sure things are running as they should be.”
“This all means that these agencies are going to continue making these improvements and continuing to focus on the safety and quality of life for our residents,” Fedorov said.
The law also increases penalties for abusive or neglectful employees, or failure to report abuse or neglect. Additionally, the Department of Aging and Disability Services will contract with an independent patient safety organization to conduct mortality assessments to determine if deaths could have been prevented.
Fifty-three residents at the facilities statewide died from preventable conditions stemming from neglect, a state report said.
According to state records, last year nearly 270 employees at Texas’ 13 institutions were suspended or fired for mistreating or abusing residents.
Nearly 5,000 people live in the Texas residential facilities for the mentally and developmentally disabled.

Lubbock State School fires six employees after resident's death in June

2009-07-20T09:32:00.002-05:00

link to article

By Sarah Nightingale | AVALANCHE-JOURNAL

Saturday, July 18, 2009
Story last updated at 7/18/2009 - 1:58 am

Six Lubbock State School employees were fired last week for their involvement in the June 6 death of a school resident, a Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services Representative confirmed on Friday.

Donnell Smith, Jessica Santos, Abrisha Henderson, Amiya Harper, Craig Stevenson and Omar Jordan were fired when a Texas Department of Family and Protective Services investigation confirmed their involvement in the "physical abuse and neglect of the patient," said Laura Albrecht, a state press officer for the DADS.

Avalanche-Journal attempts to reach the former employees on Friday were unsuccessful. They were not listed in the city's phone book.

The employees, Albrecht said, worked as mental retardation assistants and were involved in direct patient care. Their positions, she added, ranged from entry level to supervisory, but all worked under the direction of higher grade "unit directors."

The Lubbock Police Department was called to the school, 3401 N. University Ave., to investigate the June 6 on-site death of a 46-year-old male resident. The resident, who cannot be named due to federal privacy laws, fell in his room after a struggle with staff, according to a June 11 Avalanche-Journal report.

Emergency responders were unable to revive him at the school, Albrecht previously told The A-J.

Darrell Azar, spokesman for the DFPS, said Friday his agency was unable to comment on the specific findings of the investigation, which began June 6. The confidential report, he said, was submitted to Department of Aging and Disability Services staff so they could "take the appropriate enforcement action."

Azar said findings of the report were also submitted to school superintendent Kristen Weems, and local law enforcement agents.

Lubbock Police Sgt. Jimmy Pachall said Friday his department closed its criminal investigation of the case when Lubbock County Medical Examiner Sridhar Natarajan concluded the victim did not receive a fatal injury during his June 6 struggle with staff.

Pachall said the investigation had been turned over to the Texas Attorney General's office.

Tom Kelley, press officer for the attorney general's office, said his agency "does not acknowledge investigations at any time."

Azar said it was possible the civil investigation they undertook may not lead to criminal action.

"We look at whether it is likely that abuse or neglect caused a death or a serious injury," he said. "A criminal investigation would have to have a stronger level of proof in order to prosecute."

The Lubbock State School, now officially named the Lubbock State Supported Living Center, houses approximately 300 people with the diagnosis of mental retardation. The 24-hour residential facility sits on a 226 acres site approximately three miles north of the city.

To comment on this story:

sarah.nightingale@lubbockonline.com l 766-8796

shelly.gonzales@lubbockonline.com l 766-8747

Nursing homes get old for many with disabilities

2009-07-16T18:55:00.004-05:00

(Link)

PROPUBLICA
06/22/2009
ST. LOUIS — Melody Ping never thought she would be trying to move out of a nursing home.She lived in a St. Louis apartment for 19 years and worked as an accountant until two years ago, when she lost her job. Ping, who has multiple sclerosis, couldn't find new work. When her unemployment ran out, she ended up on Medicaid in a nursing home.Ping, 51, is among tens of thousands of people nationwide who want to live on their own, but instead remain in nursing homes, rehab centers or state hospitals, often at a higher cost to taxpayers because of a historic bias toward institutional care.Ten years ago today, the U.S. Supreme Court said that bias amounted to discrimination. Now, as disability advocates celebrate the anniversary of that landmark ruling, they worry the Obama administration is backing away from a pledge to give more people with disabilities the option to live at home.

As a senator, Barack Obama co-sponsored the Community Choice Act, pending legislation that would give Medicaid recipients equal access to services in the community and not force them into institutions. But the administration recently said it would not address the issue as part of its proposed health care overhaul.Disability rights advocates were so angered that at least 90 were arrested during an April protest outside the White House. For some, the dispute was a blunt reminder of how hard it has been to put an end to discrimination even with affirmation from the Supreme Court."I don't think most policymakers see it as a civil rights issue," said Andrew Imparato, president of the American Association of People with Disabilities. "I don't think most people see the ability of getting out of bed and dressing in your own home as a civil right."A spokesman said President Obama continues to support efforts to help people with disabilities move out of nursing homes. About one in five nursing home residents responding to a survey by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services indicated they would prefer to live in their communities. That translates to 270,000 of the nation's 1.35 million nursing home residents.Demand for community services is likely to mushroom in coming decades. Improvements in medical technology help more people survive serious injuries, but often with a disability. Baby boomers entering their retirement years are demanding alternatives to nursing homes. "If you can't hear the thunderstorm coming, you're not listening," said disability advocate Mark Johnson of Atlanta. Living at home "is what people would want for themselves and their families."THOUSANDS WAITINGThat was the motive for the Olmstead case — named for defendant Tommy Olmstead, Georgia's human services commissioner when the case was brought by two mentally disabled women, Elaine Wilson and Lois Curtis. They said they were segregated unnecessarily in a state hospital, and that with proper support, they could live at home.The Supreme Court ruled that funding services for Medicaid recipients only in institutions violated the Americans with Disabilities Act.The decision touched off a wave of hope. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommended that state Medicaid directors draft plans for helping people who wanted to move out of institutions. Twenty-nine states produced plans, but few resulted in actual changes. Many are now out of date.Nationally in 2007, more than 331,000 people were on waiting lists for community services. About two-thirds have developmental disabilities, and the rest have other disabilities or are elderly.In Missouri, where about 48,000 people live in institutions, including nursing homes, about 45 percent of the state's Medicaid long-term spending goes to home services. About 4,000 people are on a waiting list for community services — most are developmentally disabled people, some who do not live in institutions.In Illinois, which has at least 97,000 people in nursing homes and other institutions, about 30 percent of Medicaid long-term spending goes to community services. Disability activists in that state worry that the current budget shortfall may force more people into institutions.Disability advocates blame the slow progress on opposition from the multibillion-dollar nursing home industry and from unions that represent state institution workers. Also, many states have been unwilling to alter budget structures that favor institutions.The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees has declined requests by disability groups to endorse the Community Choice Act, which it worries could cost the union's members jobs. The American Health Care Association has never taken an official position on the act, said Susan Feeney, a spokeswoman for the organization representing the nursing home industry. "We do support the ability for individuals with disabilities to receive the care they need in the most integrated setting." But industry groups have opposed measures to make community services mandatory, saying they could jeopardize funding for people who need nursing home services."It's difficult to bring about a cultural change," said Stephen Gold, a Philadelphia lawyer who has handled dozens of lawsuits for people seeking to move out of institutions. "It's like a big ship, and we're slowly turning it."More than 140 lawsuits have been brought across the country. While many led to individuals leaving institutions, they haven't always changed state Medicaid programs.Missouri was among the first states to allow Medicaid funding to follow a resident who leaves a nursing home. Federal grants and pilot efforts have encouraged similar policies.Two obstacles tend to stand in the way of people like Ping: They cannot get or find the services they would need at home, such as an attendant to help them get out of bed, dress or bathe. And they cannot find affordable, accessible housing, which is in short supply.In St. Louis, the waiting list for low-income housing vouchers is "closed indefinitely." And housing options in other Missouri cities can be hard to come by. Peter Lloyd of St. Charles knows how much harder it is to move out of a nursing home than into one. He landed there after being hospitalized by an infection and spent more than a year arranging for services so he could move to his own apartment. "I needed to be around younger people in the same situation," said the 44-year-old Lloyd, who has cerebral palsy. "None of the activities are geared for people my age. How many times a week can you play bingo?" After months of paperwork and phone calls, he got an apartment through the St. Charles County Housing Authority. He also got funding for an aide to help him wash, dress and cook.Seven years later, Lloyd is really on his own. He no longer needs a personal attendant. He drives a van, adapted for his power scooter, to St. Charles Community College, where he is pursuing a degree in English. On the weekends, Lloyd drives to Chesterfield, where he works for a computer help desk.But the chances of making a transition like Lloyd's vary widely from state to state.In Tennessee, only 1 percent of Medicaid long-term funds for disabled and elderly adults went to community services in 2007. By contrast, Arizona spends 64 percent of Medicaid long-term care money on community services. DEBATING COSTSDisability advocates argue that real progress won't come until more is done to keep people at home. They have pinned their hopes on the Community Choice Act.Similar bills have come before Congress for at least a decade. As a senator, Obama cosponsored the bill in 2007.But for now, long-term care is not part of his health care reforms. White House officials cited cost as the reason in a meeting with disability advocates in April.Obama's staff wouldn't say what his current position is on making community programs mandatory. The White House website had said Obama would support the Community Choice Act. Recently, the site was changed to say he would "build on existing efforts to encourage states to shift more of their services away from institutions."Disability advocates say that letting more people have services at home will save money, one of Obama's goals in health care reform. The average annual cost of a nursing home nationally is about $75,000, according to a recent study by AARP. Community services that allow people to remain at home are about $23,000 a year, according to an analysis of Medicaid data by the Center for Personal Assistance Services at the University of California, San Francisco. Critics warn that even if costs are lower in individual cases, overall costs will rise because more people with disabilities will request services if they are available.In Texas, where 18,000 people have moved from nursing homes since 2001, officials say they have seen the savings firsthand. "It certainly does not cost more," said Marc Gold, a state official who directs the Texas Promoting Independence Program.Chris Hilderbrant, of the Center for Disability Rights, said Obama and congressional leaders are missing an opportunity to fix a long-standing injustice. Once again, people with disabilities are left on the sidelines, he said. "We're going to get to you later," Hilderbrant said, "means we're going to get to you never." In St. Louis, Melody Ping is still waiting in a nursing home, longing for a return to apartment life, where she likely will need an attendant to help her."I'm used to making my own choices," Ping said. "Here, they tell you when to get up and when to eat."

ProPublica is an independent, nonprofit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest.

LaFleur's e-mail address is jennifer.lafleur@propublica.org.

Trials begin for 4 charged in fight club

2009-07-06T19:13:00.001-05:00

By CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN Associated Press Writer © 2009 The Associated Press

July 5, 2009, 8:26AM

link to article

McALLEN, Texas — This week jurors in Corpus Christi are expected to watch the graphic abuse of the developmentally disabled on grainy cellphone videos showing the state's most vulnerable wards forced to fight each other for the entertainment of those responsible for protecting them.

Four former employees of the Corpus Christi State School go on trial Monday for their roles in the orchestrated, late-night "fight club" uncovered in March after the disturbing images were found on a lost cellphone.

For the state, the case tears open a subject it has been at pains to close.

At the end of May, the Legislature gave final approval to a $112 million settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice for widespread mistreatment found at the state's 13 residential facilities for the developmentally disabled. As part of the settlement the state plans to hire 1,000 more staff for the facilities. The agency's civil rights investigation found at least 53 deaths from September 2007 to September 2008 stemming from what it considered preventable conditions.

Last month Gov. Rick Perry signed legislation aimed at improving oversight of the facilities that house nearly 5,000 Texans, including installation of video cameras in common areas. It also changed the facilities' name to State Supported Living Centers. And nearly two weeks later, Adelaide "Addie" Horn, head of the agency charged with overseeing the state schools announced she would retire in August.

Laura Albrecht, a spokeswoman for the Department of Aging and Disability Services, said the agency continues making unannounced visits to the Corpus Christi facility and cameras are being installed. She said the settlement with the Justice Department was "a big step that will certainly bring improvements and changes to the system."

But Monday, jurors will meet Timothy Dixon, 30, D'Angelo Riley, 23, and Jesse Salazar, 25, all charged with multiple counts of causing bodily injury to a disabled person. In a separate courtroom, Stephanie Garza, 21, will face a lesser charge of not intervening to stop the fights. Two other former employees are scheduled for trial later this year.

"These people did horrific things," said Jeff Garrison-Tate, of the advocacy group Community Now!, which has called for the closure of the state schools in favor of community-based services. "But they were given silent permission for these heinous acts."

"They need to send a message to all the other state employees in there that they're accountable," he said.

District Attorney Carlos Valdez did not return calls for comment. Defense attorneys for the accused declined to comment, citing Judge Sandra Watts' request that they not speak to the media.

In March, Corpus Christi Police announced that arrests were imminent in what they described as a "fight club" case at the Corpus Christi State School. Nearly 20 videos, dating back to 2007, found on a cellphone turned in to police showed school staff forcing residents into late-night bouts, even kicking to egg them on. Eleven staff members were identified in the videos and six, who were present in videos where investigators believe an injury occurred, were charged.

Dixon is believed to have shot the videos, though other staff members can been seen pointing cellphone cameras toward the brawls. None of those charged still works at the facility, which housed about 340 residents.

At the time, Horn called the fights "unconscionable" and the initial cause appeared to be a lack of supervision on the overnight shift. Guards to provide around-the-clock security were hired and trained. Perry sent his chief of staff Jay Kimbrough to investigate.

Since then, a lawyer representing residents who were involved in the fights has filed sued the state.

There were 229 confirmed allegations of abuse or neglect at the Corpus Christi State School between fiscal year 2004 and fiscal 2008, according to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. The agency investigated 5,443 allegations of abuse and neglect at the school during that five-year period.

The school's director remains in place to the consternation of some who say that even if director Iva Benson did not know about the fights, the incidents showed a disturbing lack of supervision.

"They (those charged) were probably the ones instigating the fight clubs, but my concern is how can you have it going on as long as it did without the administration knowing about it?" said Beth Mitchell, the managing lawyer for Advocacy Inc., a non-profit with federal authority to monitor abuse and neglect at the facilities. "Why aren't they being held accountable for not properly supervising their schools?"

Dispatches from Community Now!

Texas 82nd Legislative Session

Texas 82nd Legislative Session A Case for Long Term Care Reform

Corey, Who?

Wet Blanket

Be there. Really.

Justice for cats, but what about Texas' most vunerable people?

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Albert Einstein

Problems persist at state center for mentally disabled in Lubbock, monitors find

12:00 AM CDT on Friday, May 28, 2010

Report faults Texas treatment of mentally disabled

By JEFF CARLTON Associated Press Writer © 2010 The Associated Press

May 27, 2010, 4:17PM

N.J. disabled, workers debate closing of five developmental facility

http://tinyurl.com/2ar3dbe

By Susan K. Livio/Statehouse Bureau

May 07, 2010, 6:49PM

State Abuse

Despite reforms, abuse in state institutions remains high.

Slipping Through the Cracks

by Emily Ramshaw

'Fight club' lawsuit against top officials to proceed Judge says 4 top officials won't be dropped; trial set for July.

U.S. official critical of state's living center agreement

Disturbing findings in wake of 'fight club'

By TERRI LANGFORD

Copyright 2010 Houston Chronicle (Link)

March 22, 2010, 10:24PM

Cell phone fight videos

Documentation problems

Report: State facility for people with disabilities lacks psychiatrists, trained therapists

Supreme Court lets nursing home ruling stand: Facilities fair game for civil rights suits - McKnight's Long Term Care News

The Buck Stops Where?

Death at Lubbock State School center of Texas statewide controversy

January 27, 3:41 PMDallas Disability ExaminerSteve Carter

James "J.T." Templeton

KAYE BENEKEJames 'J.T.' Templeton

Longtime advocate for those with disabilities died Monday.

Hate Crimes Request

Hideously Ironic...

Teen with 47 IQ gets 100 years in sex abuse case

Case stems from charges involving the fondling of a 6-year-old neighbor (Link)

Abuse of Power: One Family's Fight | The Texas Tribune

Abuse of Power

Link to Texas Tribune

Secret film uncovers 'disabled hate crime' in Wales

Sick and Twisted

The "Texas Fight Club" Guards

Forgotten Lives wins Red Wasp Film Festival's Audience Favorite Award and Social Awareness Award!

Brazos Progressives Announces the Winners of the 7th Annual Red Wasp Film Festival at StageCenter

Authorities searching for man indicted in death

Police briefs

Disabled People Are Frequent Victims Of Crime

North Texas couple gets new lawyer, new hope in guardianship case

Recommendations to Executive Commissioner Suehs about qualities needed in the next commissioner of DADS

Improving care environment proves difficult for Lubbock State School

facts about Lubbock SS

Another story about the atrocities at Lubbock SS

State schools report shows an agency in breakdown

Jury convicts defendant in Texas `fight club' case

Another Former State School Employee Pleads Guilty

State School 'Fight Club' Video To Be Used In Court

Eleanor is here!

Abilene state-supported living center installs fence for security

Lubbock State School fires six employees after resident's death in June

Nursing homes get old for many with disabilities

Trials begin for 4 charged in fight club

By CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN Associated Press Writer © 2009 The Associated Press

July 5, 2009, 8:26AM

KAYE BENEKE
James 'J.T.' Templeton