Inclusion Daily Express -- State Panel Looks At Addressing BSDC Abuses

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State Panel Looks At Addressing BSDC Abuses
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
September 19, 2008

LINCOLN, NEBRASKA--A state legislative panel convened Friday to address abuse and neglect at Beatrice State Developmental Center and to make sure those problems are do not develop at other facilities across the state that house people with intellectual disabilities.

The state Senate's Developmental Disabilities Special Investigative Committee was formed earlier this year, after officials with the U.S. Department of Justice reported that they had reason to believe that BSDC residents "were being subjected to conditions that deprived them of their legal rights and of their rights, privileges, and immunities secured by the Constitution of the United States."

They included numerous examples of abuse, neglect, overuse of restraints, documentation problems, poor medical care, and lack of follow-through when problems were found.

Justice officials also revealed that, even though 90 percent of the residents had interdisciplinary team recommendations that they be allowed to move into the community, the state had only moved two people out between January and October 2007.

In June, the state agreed to a five-point plan to make sure the residents are provided with "the protections, supports, and services they need to ensure that their constitutional and statutory rights are protected."

A major part of that plan involved moving dozens of people out of BSDC and into homes in the community.

Last December, Nebraska Advocacy Services reported that the facility investigated 220 allegations of abuse, 86 of which were later substantiated, in the first nine months of the year. Those included twenty-two cases in which residents were found to have suffered broken bones.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services withheld more than $28 million in federal funds after inspectors found four violations related to the health and safety of residents, and three situations that presented immediate risk to residents.

This week, committee member Senator Ben Nelson sent a letter to Kerry Weems, CMS Administrator, and Michael Leavitt, Secretary of Health and Human Services, expressing his frustration that the federal agencies have refused to cooperate with his panel.

The committee is scheduled to present its findings to the Legislature in December.

Related:
"Nelson: Federal Agency Refuses to Testify on BSDC"
http://bennelson.senate.gov/news/details.cfm?id=303038&&
Beatrice State Developmental Center (Inclusion Daily Express Archives)
http://www.InclusionDaily.com/news/institutions/neb/bsdc.htm

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