From the Boston Globe:

Massachusetts officials say reports of fraud, abuse and neglect by personal health care attendants in the state have tripled over the past few years, just as the state’s Medicaid program has significantly increased the amount of money it spends on the workers.

As a result, new concerns are being raised about a state system that requires no training, certification or criminal background checks for attendants, and operates with minimal oversight of low-paid home healthcare workers.

Some lawmakers are calling for changes. A bill has been introduced that would allow people to run a free criminal background check on attendants.

From the Dallas Morning News, AP/Houston Chronicle:

The family of Hasib Chishty is seeking permission to sue the state of Texas for a 2002 attack at the Denton State School that left the 34-year-old paralyzed.

Chishty, who has an intellectual impairment but was otherwise physically healthy until the attack, is now unable to walk or feed himself. Chishty’s attacker went to prison and his family has been seeking to sue the state for years, but has been blocked by the Texas sovereign immunity statute.

They are hoping that recent allegations about abuse and neglect in Texas institutions will prompt lawmakers to grant them their day in court.

Kevin Miller, the staffer who attacked Chishty and is now in prison, has described a culture of drug use by himself and staffers and violent abuse of residents in the Denton State School.

In a videotaped statement, Miller called it “the systematic torture of residents … to get them to change behavior, or for sport, or to sadistically try to change their behavior.”

Peter V. Berns, executive director of the The Arc of the United States, is calling on President Obama to use the controversy around his Special Olympics remark as an opportunity to advance public understanding and acceptance of people with intellectual disabilities. The comments come in a letter to the president posted on the organization’s website.

People with intellectual and developmental disabilities “understand that public attitudes, misinformation and negative stereotypes are the biggest obstacle to their inclusion in the community,” Berns said. “Join us in breaking down the attitudinal barriers that stand in the way of full inclusion.”

Berns called on Obama to convene a White House meeting to address the following:

• The 700,000 individuals and their families on waiting lists for home and community based services;
• Recent reports of abuse and neglect of people with intellectual disabilities in Iowa and Texas;
• The institutional bias of the Medicaid system and the lack of adequate funding for community care; and
• The need to address long term care and support.

(File photo from [UK] Guardian)

From the Associated Press/Houston Chronicle:

State Rep. Abel Herrero said nine more employees are under investigation for allegedly failing to intervene in new fights last Wednesday and Thursday between residents at the troubled Corpus Christi State School. Earlier this month, authorities had issued six arrest warrants for current and former state workers accused of staging “flight-club” style brawls among residents with intellectual disabilities.

“Appalling,” said Herrero, a Corpus Christi-area Democrat. “Completely unacceptable. It’s important that the state exhaust every resource to once and for all ensure the safety and well-being of our state’s most vulnerable population.”

See also:

Herrero blossoms in spotlight – Corpus Christi Caller-Times

State school debate has wide draw - Lubbock [TX] Avalanche-Journal

EDITORIAL: State schools must provide safe place - San Angelo Standard-Times

See earlier posts here.

From the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Denton [TX] Record-Chronicle:

The death of a resident of the Denton, Texas, State School has been ruled a homicide, according to an autopsy released by the Tarrant County medical examiner’s office.

The autopsy said Janice Campbell, 53, died Friday of head injuries she received in an assault about two weeks ago. An official at the medical examiner’s office said Campbell was taken from the institution to a hospital on March 3.

A state official said the incident was an accident, not an assault, but declined to release specific information to protect residents’ privacy.

Campbell’s death comes as Texas is considering statewide reforms of its 13 institutions for people with disabilities, after a federal investigation found widespread evidence of abuse, neglect, preventable deaths and denial of civil rights.

A federal investigation of the Denton facility last spring found evidence of staff failure to protect clients from abuse, neglect or mistreatment, failure to investigate allegations of abuse or neglect, and failure to provide healthcare services, prompt treatment and followup care.

See also:

• Officials: Woman died after colliding with another resident at Denton State School — Dallas Morning News
• State calls death at state school an accident — AP/Houston Chronicle

From the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, Houston Chronicle:

A half dozen Texas legislators who toured the Corpus Christi State School this weekend say they want to reform, not close, the state’s institutions.

Arrest warrants have been issued for six current or former employees of the Corpus Christi facility, who are accused of staging fights between residents with intellectual disabilities. Cellphone videos of the fights emerged last week.

“There has been a lot of debate about closing or consolidating state schools,” said state Rep. Solomon Ortiz Jr. (D-Corpus Christi). “There is a need for state schools. We don’t want people to think we are trying to close them.”

Rep. Drew Darby (D-San Angelo) said he was touring the facility in support of the 12,000 employees of the ‘state schools,’ who he said are loving, caring people who have residents’ best interests at heart. Darby’s district includes the San Angelo State School.

Also along on the tour were Rep. Solomon Ortiz Jr. (D-Corpus Christi), Sen. Juan “Chuy Hinojosa (D-McAllen), Rep. Abel Herrero (D-Robstown), Rep. Todd Hunter (R-Corpus Christi), and  Rep.Patrick Rose (D-Dripping Springs).

Some 4,950 Texans live in state-operated institutions, or about one in every 4,650 state residents. Texas has among the highest institutionalization rates in the country. (Source: “The State of the States in Developmental Disablities 2008,” by David Braddock, Richard Hemp, Mary C. Rizzolo, University of Colorado.)

(Photo from Corpus Christi Caller-Times)

From the Des Moines Register:

Parents and advocates urged a state task force on Friday to use the Atalissa scandal as a catalyst to overhaul Iowa’s system for protecting vulnerable people with intellectual disabilities.

“Please, do not squander this gift. Do not turn away from this opportunity to boldly and publicly declare our system of service as one that has been, and is, stuck in an outdated and broken model of thinking and serving,” said Geoffrey Lauer, executive director of the Brain Injury Association of Iowa.

The task force was formed last month by Gov. Chet Culver in response to the public outcry over disclosures that men with intellectual disabilities had been working for decades in Atalissa for as little as 44 cents per hour and living in substandard housing.

The group is charged with making recommendations for fixing loopholes in Iowa’s regulatory system and strengthening state laws for unlicensed care centers serving people with disabilities.

See also:

• Henry’s failed to get OK for low pay – Des Moines Register
• Iowa advocates complain about treatment of Texans — Houston Chronicle

Earlier posts here.