Wet Blanket

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

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

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.

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

By Corrie MacLaggan

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

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

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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

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'

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

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

Hate Crimes Request

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

---

Sick and Twisted

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."

Authorities searching for man indicted in death

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.

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

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

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.