Atalissa scandal grows

From the Des Moines Register:

Iowa Gov. Chet Culver said this week that “every level of government bureaucracy failed” to protect the dozens of workers with intellectual disabilities who were recently evacuated from a padlocked bunkhouse in the town of Atalissa.

The governor’s statement followed disclosures this week that the Iowa Department of Human Services had declined a request from Texas officials to investigate the men in 1997. Iowa also denied two subsequent requests for investigations, including one by a caretaker who alleged that the men were being abused and neglected.

The men had been employed by a Texas company and were working at an Iowa turkey processing plant for most of the past 35 years, where they were paid as little as 44 cents an hour. They were provided with room, board and care in a century-old building in Atalissa that was recently closed by the state fire marshal. Conditions in the bunkhouse were described by an Iowa health official as “deplorable.”

State and federal criminal investigations are ongoing. The Texas employer, Henry’s Turkey Service, has denied any wrongdoing.

See also:

Task force urges action to help mentally disabled — Houston Chronicle

Register all boarding houses, says task force — Des Moines Register

Abuse, sex for pay alleged at bunkhouse in Atalissa — Des Moines Register

Earlier posts here.

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 28th, 2009 at 7:28 am and is filed under abuse, employment/jobs, intellectual/developmental disabilities, law enforcement. 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.