From ABC News, Dallas Morning News, Austin American-Statesman, the Austin American-Statesman Postcards blog, and the [Fort Worth] Star-Telegram:

Texas and the U.S. Justice Department have reached an agreement to pump $112 million dollars into improving conditions at the troubled state institutions for people with intellectual disabilities over the next five years. The facilities have faced increasing scrutiny for widespread civil rights violations cited in the Department of Justice investigation and the recent “fight club” scandal.

The plan requires the state to begin by spending about $45 million on the 13 state institutions over the next two years to invest in more staff with clearer guidelines; independent monitors for more regular state school inspections; new standards for the level of medical and psychological care required for residents; and enhanced oversight to detect and deter exploitation, according to legislators.

The Senate committee and the House Committee on Human Services are scheduled to meet in a joint session Friday to discuss details of the plan to get legislative approval for the settlement.

Beth Mitchell, Senior Managing Attorney of Advocacy Inc., an advocacy group for Texans with disabilities, said she hopes the plan also includes community living alternatives to the large institutional settings. Mitchell said, “They’ve already dumped lots of money into the system and nothing has really improved … it’s sad that we may end up spending a significant amount of money and not see a significant improvement to the system.”

This entry was posted on Friday, May 22nd, 2009 at 7:10 am and is filed under NOT2BEMISSED, Texas institutions, abuse, civil rights, institutionalization, intellectual/developmental disabilities. 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.