From the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:

A Minnesota state facility for adults with intellectual disabilities routinely used handcuffs and other improper restraints on residents to punish them and control behavior over a two-year period, according to a report issued by state investigators.

State law permits the use of handcuffs and ankle restraints only for safety reasons, not to address minor behavioral infractions. One resident was restrained more than 225 times, usually for touching staff or bumping into someone.

State mental-health ombudsman Roberta Opheim said she took the unusual step of publicly chastising the facility to reduce the chances of such abuses occurring again.

“We cannot go back to the days of the past and the practices of the past,” Opheim said. “I think it’s important to speak out on behalf of some of the most vulnerable citizens of Minnesota.”

The report detailed cases in which residents were put in restraints for touching a pizza box, spitting and going outside without a coat. One resident’s arm was broken, and several remained terrified and anxious about the facility after their release, the report said.

… Officials from the Department of Human Services (DHS), which operates the facility, admitted that such practices were routine until they were stopped last spring. Officials said they ended the excessive use of restraints after the Minnesota Department of Health cited the facility for 15 rule violations in February.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 19th, 2008 at 10:27 am and is filed under abuse, behavior, institutionalization, intellectual/developmental disabilities, restraints and seclusion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.