Inclusion Daily Express -- More Deaths Prompt Advocacy Group To Call Again For State To Close Troubled Facility

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More Deaths Prompt Advocacy Group To Call Again For State To Close Troubled Facility
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
July 15, 2008

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS--In the midst of new investigations into two questionable deaths at Howe Developmental Center, Equip For Equality called again this week for Governor Rod Blagojevich and state lawmakers to close the troubled institution and move the remaining 324 residents into homes in the community.

In a press release issued Monday, the federally mandated protection and advocacy system for Illinois pointed out that the most recent deaths are in addition to 21 other deaths it has investigated at HDC since September 2005.

In March of 2007, poor health and safety conditions at the facility caused the federal government to decertify HDC and withhold about $30 million in Medicaid funding to operate the institution. Five months later, the U.S. Department of Justice started its own investigation into problems at HDC.

Instead of shutting down the facility, state lawmakers chose instead to pour $60 million in taxpayer money into it -- money that advocates say could go much further if it were invested in community-based supports.

In April, a resident died following a series of medical mistakes, the nonprofit's Abuse Investigation Unit found. Among other things, investigators also recently learned that a number of HDC staff members were under criminal investigation, that two staff engaged in a knife fight on the campus, and that one resident ran away from the facility despite having a "one on one" staff assigned to him. That staff member later complained of fatigue after reportedly working "five straight shifts".

"Howe is a toxic institution," said Zena Naiditch, President and CEO of Equip for Equality. "How many more people have to die before the Governor shuts this down?"

Tom Green, spokesman for the Department of Human Services, told the Chicago Tribune that the state has moved 60 people out of HDC this year and that more are expected to move out next year.

Related:
"Twenty-Three Dead: Does Anyone Care?" (Equip For Equality)
http://tinyurl.com/5cjldc

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