Advocacy Group Demands Local State School Be Closed

An advocacy group called Community Now is demanding the closure of the Corpus Christi State School.

CORPUS CHRISTI - An advocacy group called Community Now is demanding the closure of the Corpus Christi State School.

The protesters believe that Civil Rights violations are being committed on an ongoing basis there and since the campus has had problems for several years, they think it cannot be reformed and want it closed immediately.

About a dozen protesters, many wheel-chair bound, gathered at the Capitol.

They're demanding Governor Rick Perry take a closer look at the issues with the state schools and close down the Corpus Christi campus, especially because of the fight-club allegations and fears of abuse against the patients.

Moreover, they want Addie Horn fired from her job with the Department of Aging and Disabilities; she oversees the Corpus Christi State School.

The leader of Community Now said they have filed Civil Rights complaints in Washington against the state school. They're asking Perry to take protective measures now.

"We are appalled at what happened in Corpus Christi with the fight clubs and the patients. We are calling for an immediate closure of that facility. We do not think that place can be fixed," Community Now's Jeff Garrison-Tate said. "Even if we're not heard, someone needs to stand up for the people that don't have a voice here I mean there were 53 preventable deaths last year. Who cried for them? Who was at their graveside?"

Just last month, Perry declared the state school problems an emergency after the Department of Justice found numerous problems at the schools across the state.

Online Reporter: Lauren Williamson

Demand Letter Issued to Governor Perry by Community Now!

 March 18, 2009 

 

The Honorable Rick Perry   

Governor’s Office

P.O. Box 12428

Austin, Texas  78711

 

Dear Governor Perry, 

 

On behalf of Community Now! please accept this letter and formal requests for your immediate action.  Community Now! is a statewide non-profit organization with a mission to ensure all people with disabilities are included in their communities.  The requests for immediate action by your office include the following: 

 

1. Immediately terminate the Commissioner of the Department of Aging and Disability Services (DADS) along with other leadership at DADS.
2. Appoint a Conservator with authority to do what is necessary to ensure the safety and civil rights of Texans in state operated institutions for people with intellectual disabilities.  With the recent reports of the horrific atrocities at Corpus Christi State Institution and the recent Department of Justice Report outlining numerous civil rights violations, it is clear the current leadership at DADS is incompetent 
3. Immediately halt admissions to all state operated institutions and direct the Conservator to shut down Corpus Christi State Institution and transfer residents to a setting of their choosing.
4. Immediately ensure that the state institution employees who perpetrated these crimes against individuals at Corpus Christi State Institution be charged with Hate Crimes.
5. Immediately begin a search for new leadership at DADS from another state with proven abilities in reforming long term services and supports for people with disabilities.
6. Schedule a meeting with the leadership of Community Now! to discuss how you will facilitate and implement the above mentioned requests within 45 days of the date of this letter.

 

      Thank you for your time and consideration regarding these requests. 

 

      Sincerely, 

 

      Jeff Garrison-Tate, Senior Legislative Director

 

Community Now! Calls for Swift Action with Regard to the Atrocities at Corpus Christi State School

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Community Now! is a statewide non-profit organization working to reform long term care services in Texas by downsizing state institutions and shifting resources to fully fund the 88,000 person waiting list. Community Now! offers the following statement in response to the horrific atrocities at Corpus Christi State Institution as reported today by the Dallas Morning News:

The organized, pre-meditated atrocities by state school employees against residents  at Corpus Christi State Institution are Hate Crimes. The perpetrators must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Community Now! Demands the immediate arrests of those alleged with committing these sadistic acts by actively organizing a “Fight Club”. The forced participation of residents with intellectual disabilities for the “entertainment” of these state employees is unconscionable, unacceptable, and reflects an environment of abuse, neglect and exploitation that cannot be “fixed”.

Those individuals forced to participate in these acts should be immediately removed from the institution and placed in a safe environment in a community setting and offered immediate counseling and other mental health treatment as necessary.

Governor Perry must immediately place the Corpus Christi State Institution under the management of an Independent Conservator with the authority to remove residents from harm to a safe community setting of their choice or other setting as appropriate. Immediate planning to close this institution must be initiated.

A full investigation must begin immediately to determine what other state school staff who may have been aware of this so-called “Fight Club”. These staff should be immediately terminated, arrested and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Governor Perry must direct Albert Hawkins, Executive Commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission, to immediately terminate the Department of Aging and Disability Services Commissioner, Addie Horn, and other appropriate executive staff.

A Conservator should be appointed by the Governor to administer the Agency until an outside, qualified individual, experienced in long term care reform can be employed.

Jeff Garrison-Tate, the spokesman for Community Now! offers this statement:

“These acts of unspeakable abuse are disgusting beyond any comprehension. Any environment that breeds such atrocities is not fixable and must be closed as quickly and safely as possible. These acts were pre-mediated, carefully planned and facilitated in the dead of night for the debauched entertainment of people with no moral compass, no ethics, and no sense of human worth. This so-called “Fight Club” bears witness to a new low for Texas. This represents a fundamental break down at every level and happened over a long period of time. An atrocity like this does not happen overnight. A long history of permission has been given to these sadists through a system with no accountability, exceptionally poor oversight, and incompetent management. Throwing more money into these institutions will not fix these problems.  We must, as a state, develop real reform by downsizing the facilities we no longer need and getting rid of the failed,  disgraceful management at the Department of Aging and Disability Services.”

Contact Jeff Garrison-Tate at 830-556-2827 for more information.