Corey, Who?

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!

Be there. Really.

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

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

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.

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."

Disabled People Are Frequent Victims Of Crime

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.

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.

facts about Lubbock SS

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

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."
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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.
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