From the Philadelphia Inquirer:

Pennsylvania officials have ordered a care center to close a program where an autistic man died July 24 in an overheated parked van, and said they would remove eight other residents and bar the program from accepting new clients pending an investigation.

Woods Services Inc., which serves about 1,400 people with disabilities, denied wrongdoing.

The state’s deputy welfare secretary called the death of 20-year-old Bryan Nevins  a “totally avoidable tragedy” and cited “gross incompetence, negligence and misconduct” as the reasons the unit’s license was being revoked. A counselor has been charged with felony neglect and other counts.

A 20-year-old with the mental ability of a toddler, Nevins was missing for nearly five hours when staffers found his body in the back of the parked van on one of the hottest afternoons of the summer.

See also:

Caregiver charged in death of autistic man — NBC Philadelphia

Felony charges filed in death of autistic man — Philadelphia Inquirer

State investigates more facilities related to man’s death in van– WHYY, public radio

From NJ.com:

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has signed legislation designed to identify caregivers who neglect or exploit people with disabilities under their care.

The measure will create a statewide registry, as well as an emergency hotline for reports of suspected abuse. It follows the 2008  death of Tara O’Leary, a 28-year-old woman with a developmental disability who starved to death while living in a state-licensed foster home. A caretaker and the foster home owner have been indicted in that case.

“Abuse at the hands of a caregiver is a reprehensible action,” Christie said in a statement. “The legislation that I am signing today is an important tool to help safeguard those with developmental disabilities from harmful caregivers taking advantage of their position. Equally important, this new law will prevent these custodians from gaining re-employment or continuing participation in human services funded programs.”

From the Associated Press/Austin American-Statesman:

Nearly 270 employees were fired or suspended in fiscal 2008 for abusing or neglecting residents with intellectual disabilities at Texas institutions, according to records obtained by the Associated Press.

Documents obtained by the AP showed that 11 of the firings or suspensions were considered serious because they involved physical or sexual abuse that caused or may have caused serious physical injury. It was not clear whether any of those fired were also prosecuted.

The 13 institutions hold 4,600 residents, and employ more than 12,000 full-time workers.

Henry’s Turkey Service once was praised, is now condemned

From the Des Moines Register:

Four decades ago, Henry’s Turkey Service of Goldthwaite, Texas, was hailed as a national leader because it hired people with intellectual disabilities. But society’s attitudes and practices toward hiring people with disabilities have changed since then, even as the company’s policies remained constant.

The company has been reviled by politicians and disability advocates for paying disabled workers the equivalent of less than 50 cents an hour, in a situation that some have called comparable to slavery. Henry’s Turkey Service ran the bunkhouse in Atalissa, Iowa, that was shut down earlier this year amid complaints about substandard living conditions and neglect.

Earlier posts here.

Sponsors say they couldn’t muster support

Federal report last year found widespread abuse, neglect, civil rights violations in ‘state schools’

From the Dallas Morning News, Austin American-Statesman:

Texas legislators Rep. Patrick Rose and Sen. Rodney Ellis have withdrawn a proposal to require consolidation or closure of the state’s troubled institutions for people with intellectual disabilities.

“This body is one that requires compromise,” said Rose, who is chairman of the House Committee on Human Services. “Getting a bill out of committee and to the floor with consolidation required is a very difficult thing, and, I think, impossible this session, here in the House.”

The future of Texas’ state schools has been hotly debated in the state legislature this session following a December report from the federal Department of Justice that said the institutions do not protect residents from harm. The families of residents of the institutions have lobbied hard to keep them open, with the support of editorial writers around the state.

Earlier posts here.

From the Des Moines Register:

Federal, state and county investigators are advancing their probe into Henry’s Turkey Service, the company that is suspected of exploiting and neglecting workers with intellectual disabilities in Atalissa, Iowa.

No criminal charges have been filed and company officials are denying doing anything wrong.  Among the agencies participating in the investigation are the FBI, Social Security Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, and county prosecutors.

Twenty-one men were evacuated from a company-run bunkhouse in Atalissa in February when a state fire marshall declared it unsafe. The men had been employed for decades for as little as 44 cents per hour.

State records obtained by the Register show that some of the workers had serious medical issues in the months before the bunkhouse was closed, including one who required urgent medical care after not having his toenails cut for two years. Another man had a broken kneecap that had been left untreated.

From AP/Houston Chronicle, Cedar Rapids [IA] Gazette:

The head of an Iowa task force says there could be more cases in the state in which people with intellectual disabilities are being exploited. John McCalley urged the legislature to authorize additional regulations to help authorities intervene if abuse is detected.

The task force was created to investigate after 21 men with intellectual disabilities were evacuated from a battered bunkhouse in Atalissa. They had been employed for decades by a meat processing company for as little as 44 cents per hour.

McCalley said the task force is not considering penalizing local elected officials who ignore or fail to detect situations like the one in Atalissa. The bunkhouse was owned by the city of Atalissa, but officials there said they were unaware of the conditions.

A criminal investigation is continuing.