Inclusion Daily Express -- Responding To DOJ Report, Advocacy, Inc. Calls For Halting Texas Institution Admissions

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Responding To DOJ Report, Advocacy, Inc. Calls For Halting Texas Institution Admissions
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
December 8, 2008

AUSTIN, TEXAS--Immediately after the U.S. Department of Justice issued a scathing report about the mistreatment of people with developmental disabilities housed in 13 Texas institutions, the state's protection and advocacy system called for stopping all new admissions to the facilities.

Advocacy, Inc., also called for the state to ban the use of straightjackets and some other restraints, and to stop staff from dispensing medications to residents without doctors' orders.

In a 60-page letter to Governor Rick Perry, the Justice Department said it found "systemic deficiencies throughout the facilities", which amounted to violating the constitutional and federal rights of those residents.

Texas houses about 5,000 people in state-operated institutions, here called "State Schools". That's more than in any other state.

DOJ investigators concluded that last year, 53 people in state-run institutions died from preventable conditions -- especially infections -- that are "often the result of lapses in care."

Among other things, they documented incidents in which residents swallowed such things as Swiss Army knives, latex gloves, and plastic wrap, leading investigators to conclude that they were not adequately supervised.

Investigators found that, during the first nine months of 2008, staff applied restraints 10,143 times on a total of 751 residents. One teenage resident died while being restrained last year.

In each of the last two years, at least 200 staff members were fired for mistreating residents. Between July and September of this year, the state started investigating at least 500 allegations of abuse and neglect investigations.

Staff failed to properly monitor psychotropic medications, leading one resident to take ten different drugs at a time. Another resident that was supposed to receive medications was not given them. She was later found dead after hanging herself with shoelaces.

In one incident, staff waited 10 days to report to authorities that a 17-year-old female resident told them she had been raped by an employee.

Also "troublesome" was the fact residents were denied chances to learn about their right to live in the community. In one recent 12-month period only 164 people were transferred to homes in the community.

"We want the state to take action to make sure that people that are currently sitting in these institutions are not going to be injured, they're not going to die," said Beth Mitchell, managing attorney at Advocacy Inc.

Governor Perry's office responded that while the Department of Aging and Disability Services would review the DOJ report and "continue taking steps to ensure that residents receive the highest quality care," the governor was not considering halting new admissions.

Related:
"Texas state schools don't protect residents, investigation finds" (Austin American Statesman)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/2008/red/1208e.htm
"Advocacy group asks state schools to halt admissions" (Houston Chronicle)
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/health/6149825.html
"Texas time warp? State criticized for mental care" (Associated Press)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/2008/red/1208d.htm
Letter to Governor Perry (Advocacy, Inc.)
http://www.advocacyinc.org/StateSchool/GovPerryLtr.pdf
"Texas Houses Largest Number Of Americans Behind Institution Walls" (Inclusion Daily Express Archives)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/institutions/tx/lead.htm

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