Inclusion Daily Express -- Texas Houses Largest Number Of Americans Behind Institution Walls

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Texas Houses Largest Number Of Americans Behind Institution Walls

Other stories about institutions around the world

2009
March 12: Advocate: Staff-Led Fights Are Signs Of Culture At Texas Facilities
March 10: Institution Workers Video-Recorded Fights After Goading Residents To Brawl
2008
Dec. 8: Responding To DOJ Report, Advocacy, Inc. Calls For Halting Texas Institution Admissions
July 14: Texas State Schools Ignored Requests To Move To Community, But Hired Workers With Abusive Pasts
May 8: Newspaper Exposes Abuses At Texas Psych Hospitals
April 2: Report Shows Texas Institutions Are Housing More Kids
March 27: Feds To Investigate State's Largest Institution
Feb. 15: Reports Of Abuse In State Schools On The Rise
Feb. 13: Legislative Committee Avoids 'Institutions Versus Community' Debate
Jan. 18: Committee Formed To Monitor Conditions At State Schools
2007
April 4: Texas Banned Restraint Boards Following Death At Mexia State School
April 2: Texas Lawmakers Hear Death Rates At State Institutions Are Not Unusual
Feb. 21: Local 'Coverage' Of Rally Mostly Ignores Rally
Jan. 2: Justice Department Details Dangerous Conditions, Rights Violations At Texas Institution
2005
Nov. 21: Investigative Report: Institution Resident Was Beaten By Drug Addicted Staff
August 1: Texas Families Continue To Wait For Community Services
May 31: Program Mixes Sexual Offenders And Victims In Texas Institutions
April 7: Texas Commission: No Closures Any Time Soon
2004
Nov. 2: Republicans Charge Institution Employees With Influencing Residents' Votes
April 21: Anonymous Letter Leads To Assault Charges Against Institution Employee
Jan. 16: Texas Lawmakers Want Study On Closing Institutions
2003
Dec. 18: Former Advocate Now On Other Side Of Legal Fence
July 14: Movement To Identify Institution Graves Gains Momentum
March 27: Eeney, Meeney, Miney, Moe -- Which Institutions Should We Close?
March 11: Texas Looks At Closing Institution To Balance Budget
2001
Dec. 26: Resident Suffers Groin Injury From Restraint Device
Oct. 22: State Schools Appeal Directly To Voters For Funding
March 19: State Review Says Residents Were Labeled Correctly
Feb. 22: Psychologist Says Residents Do Not Have Mental Retardation
Feb. 12: Mexia State School Is Close To Decertification, Again
2000
Nov. 30: MHMR's Self-Rule Plan In Fast Lane
Nov. 8: State Proposal Has Few Supporters
Sept. 8: Rights Issue "Just A Matter Of Paperwork"
Sept. 5: State School Waits For Details Of Sanctions
August 3: Young Residents Gang Up On Guards
July 26: Locked-Down Units Violated Federal Guidelines

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MHMR's Self-Rule Plan In Fast Lane
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
November 30, 2000
AUSTIN, TEXAS--Texas is losing a lot of money. Over the last year it has lost millions of dollars in Medicaid money because of sanctions imposed upon institutions for violating resident rights.

Now the Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation appears to be on a "fast track" to putting itself in charge of inspections of its own institutions. In fact, three people already have been hired for a team that would decide whether further sanctions should be imposed. And at least two have been on the job, laying the groundwork, since earlier this month, according to the Austin American Statesman.

All this without the usual debate, opportunities for review and public comment. That has disability rights and community advocates in an uproar.

Under the current system, the Texas Department of Human Services investigates conditions and incidents of abuse and neglect in state-operated institutions for people with developmental disabilities, here called "state schools". If the institutions are cited for problems, and do not correct them in an specified period of time, federal Medicaid funds are withheld. Medicaid money makes up nearly 80 percent of the institutions' funding. When those dollars are frozen, the state has to come up with the rest from other state funds.

In 1996, Medicaid money for state schools was frozen three times. That number climbed to 34 in the recent 2000 fiscal year. Texas gave up about $3 million in Medicaid money because facilities in Richmond, Lubbock, San Angelo and El Paso didn't correct problems in time.

So, the Health and Human Services Commission directed the Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation to come up with a solution. MHMR's solution is to put itself in charge of those inspections.

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State Proposal Has Few Supporters
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
November 8, 2000
AUSTIN, TEXAS--A proposal by the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation (MHMR) to change the agency responsible for overseeing 13 institutions in the state received virtually no support during a public meeting yesterday.

In 1996, Medicaid money for state schools was frozen three times. That number climbed to 34 in the recent 2000 fiscal year. According to the Austin American Statesman, Texas gave up about $3 million in Medicaid money because facilities in Richmond, Lubbock, San Angelo and El Paso didn't correct problems in time. In the two months since this fiscal year began, $1.3 million in federal money has already been lost.

So, the Health and Human Services Commission directed the Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation to come up with a solution.

MHMR's solution? Turn oversight of state schools over to MHMR.

Yesterday, groups of community advocates and private providers cried "Foul!" when they heard of the proposal. Some felt the idea of having MHMR in charge of overseeing state schools would be like the proverbial "fox guarding the henhouse", and that there would be even less incentive for state schools to improve conditions for the people residing in institutions.

"We are not comfortable eliminating the pressure for improvements," said Susan Murphree, a public policy analyst with Advocacy Inc. "We think the pressure is appropriate."

Some at yesterday's meeting also said the proposal would create an unnecessary layer of government and would widen the gap between how MHMR treats private programs and state-run facilities.

The Medical Care Advisory Committee is scheduled to consider the proposal on Thursday.

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Rights Issue "Just A Matter Of Paperwork"
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
September 8, 2000
MEXIA, TEXAS--The Texas Department of Human Services has again pulled federal funding from Mexia State School after an inspection found it violated residents' rights and failed to provide adequate supervision. The institution housing 575 people diagnosed with mental retardation -- 72 of whom are children -- will lose three months of federal money, which makes up 85% of its funds.

Surveyors inspected the facility last week and found it out of compliance in the area of safety because of an incident in which two residents engaged in sexual relations. It was also found to have violated residents' rights because it has a 9 p.m. curfew for all residents.

If the institution does not correct these problems within the next 90 days it could lose certification. Applying for recertification could mean expensive upgrades to the facility which acted as a Nazi prisoner-of-war camp during World War Two.

A spokesman for the institution said they are confident the corrections will be made before inspectors return for a follow-up visit in 30 days. "The safety deficiency is something we can easily take care of by improving client supervision," Wayne Kittley told the Waco Tribune-Herald. "The curfew one is just a matter of paperwork. Instead of saying that everyone has a 9 p.m. curfew, we will have to set the curfew at 9 for each client, on a case by case basis."

The school was placed on "vendor hold" status, where it was not able to receive federal funds, from May until early August, because unnecessary restrictions had been placed on the people living there and because their programs were not individualized.

Even if Mexia State School does lose certification and more federal money, it is doubtful the institution will be closed anytime soon. Officials have expressed a commitment to keep the facility going, even if it has to rely solely on state funds, primarily because the institution is the area's largest employer.

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State School Waits For Details Of Sanctions
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
September 5, 2000
MEXIA, TEXAS--Officials at Mexia State School, an institution housing 575 people, including 72 children, is awaiting details about citations received during an inspection last week.

School spokesman Wayne Kittley said the school was cited for problems regarding protection and rights of residents. He said the rights issue may have to do with the school's 9 p.m. curfew for its 38 dormitories. Kittley said he is unclear about the protection issues.

Funding for the facility had been put on hold after surveyors visited in May of this year, primarily because of unnecessary restrictions and because programs were not individualized. During a follow-up survey in early August those two areas were considered acceptable enough for the Texas Department of Human Services to give the institution a 30 day certification.

The deficiencies found last week could put the facility's certification in danger again. If it is decertified, the institution would lose all of its federal funding, which currently makes up 85% of its budget. Becoming recertified would mean the aging buildings would have to comply with building codes, accessibility guidelines and other standards that did not exist when the facility was built more than five decades ago.

According to the Waco Tribune-Herald, Mexia State School was established in 1946, in the buildings of a prisoner-of-war camp that had held captives from Nazi Erwin Rommel's North African Army. At one time, the school housed as many as 2,800 residents.

In 1992, a state task force targeted the school for closure. After more than 5,000 people protested at the state Capitol, Gov. Ann Richards said she would not "agree to anything that would completely devastate a Texas community." Mexia State School, with about 1,400 staff members, is Limestone County's largest employer.

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Young Residents Gang Up On Guards
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
August 3, 2000
MEXIA, TEXAS--Officials say it is unlikely that charges will be filed against eight teenage residents who sent three staff members to the hospital during a brawl Tuesday night.

"It's theoretically possible but it's a dead end street because they've already been ruled incompetent, that's why they're here in the first place," Wayne Kittley, public information director of Mexia State School, told the Waco Tribune Herald on Wednesday.

Officers from Limestone County Sheriff's Department and Mexia Police Department were called to assist staff members at the Developmentally Disabled Delinquent Unit, a locked dormitory which houses sixteen youths, ages 13 to 17, at the institution. The dormitory unit is considered more restrictive than others on the campus, and has four employees assigned to it -- including a campus security officer.

The incident started at about 11 pm, Tuesday, when one of the employees told a young resident that it was time to go to bed. The teen resisted, staff members say, and became assaultive. When the employees tried to restrain the boy, about half of the other teens came to his assistance.

Three employees were treated at Parkview Regional Hospital and released on Wednesday. One employee required stitches for a cut on the forehead. The other two suffered minor cuts.

Furniture was broken and a fire extinguisher was discharged during the incident. None of the residents were reportedly injured.

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Locked-Down Units Violated Federal Guidelines
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
July 26, 2000
MEXIA, TEXAS--Department of Human Services officials have determined that Mexia State School, an institution northeast of Waco, inappropriately restricted the freedom of several residents by placing them in high security locked-down units.

The institution's four locked-down units were receiving federal funds as an Intermediate Care Facility for the Mentally Retarded (ICF-MR). But ICF-MR regulations require a facility to give residents more freedom than the state was willing to allow many of these residents.

"We had some concerns about some individuals if they were allowed to go home on furlough," explained Laurie Lentz, public information director for the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation. "We felt that based on current behavior, they would have to be restricted."

The institution has eliminated two locked-down units which now will house 32 people considered to have "more severe behavior problems". Instead of starting out with basic privileges, as in the ICF-MR program, these residents will have to earn each privilege. Because these rules go against ICF-MR guidelines the state will receive no federal money -- a decision that will cost the state about $2 million a year.

DHS also found that some people in Mexia's ICF-MR program were ineligible for those services. Typically, ICF-MR services involve intensive training and support to help people with their basic physical care. Officials found that many Mexia residents required very little support in these areas.

The facility tried to avoid the changes by unlocking all four units and bringing in extra staff earlier this month. The plan was quickly discarded after one resident, who had been charged with murder, escaped from his unit.

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Resident Suffers Groin Injury From Restraint Device
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
December 26, 2001

MEXIA, TEXAS--While tied into a restraint device last month, a resident of Mexia State School was injured to the point that he had to have surgery.

The institution, which houses 575 people who have developmental disabilities, was placed on 90-day termination notice with the Department of Human Services regarding the incident. If the facility does not correct the problems that led up to the injury, it could lose its federal Medicaid money, which makes up about 80 percent of its budget.

According to a story in Monday's Waco Tribune, the man was on a behavior program that called for him to be put in a four-point restraint -- in which he would be placed on his back with his ankles and wrists tied to a bed -- if he became suicidal.

On November 26, the man "exhibited suicidal behavior". Instead of using the four-point restraint, staff members put him in a tiecoat restraint, which is similar to a straight jacket. The restraint device apparently tightened up every time the man struggled. Even though he complained that the restraint was getting too tight, the "restraint monitor" chose to leave it on him for 40 minutes.

After the resident was released from the tiecoat, he had a hard time walking and complained of pain when he urinated. When he was examined two days later, medical tests showed that his scrotum was swollen from a blood clot. To correct the problem, surgeons had to remove his right testicle.

Wayne Kittley, the facility's spokesperson, acknowledged that the tiecoat restraint should not have been used. He said, however, that the incident could not be considered abuse, because investigators were not able to determine the exact cause of the man's injury. Kittley said the injury could have occurred because the restraint was put on incorrectly or because the resident struggled.

Mexia State School has had a history of resident abuse and neglect, some leading to deaths.

For background and other stories on the facility check out this Inclusion Daily Express webpage:
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/institutions/tx/mexia.htm

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State Schools Appeal Directly To Voters For Funding
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
October 22, 2001

DENTON, TEXAS--Approximately 669 people with developmental disabilities are housed at Denton State School, making it the largest of the 22 institutions in Texas, and the 7th largest in the United States.

The state legislature this year did not allocate money for maintenance and repairs of the buildings that make up this and the state's other institutions.

So, the state Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation (MHMR) is joining the Department of Criminal Justice and other state agencies in asking voters to allow the state to issue $850 million in bonds.

If Proposition 8 is passed, institution campuses will receive $180 million over the next six years to pay for such things as new smoke detectors, fire prevention improvements, roof repairs, and for replacing emergency generators in the residential buildings.

Over the next year, Denton State School would receive approximately $1.95 million for repairs and maintenance of the campus.

This would not include any funds for moving people out of the institutions nor for keeping up with the medical needs of the people housed at Denton, whose average age is 45.

It also would do nothing toward dealing with the institution's extremely high staff turnover rate.

Earlier this year Andrew Hardin, the chair of the Texas Board of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, announced that while the division last year had an overall turnover rate of 34 percent Denton State School had a 78 percent turnover rate.

The direct care staff turnover rate reached 82 percent at Austin State School another institution.

One of the arguments that pro-institution groups use to justify keeping such facilities open is that the staffs are stable and consistent.

It appears they have lost this argument in Texas.

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State Review Says Residents Were Labeled Correctly
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
March 19, 2001
MEXIA, TEXAS--In a report released last Thursday, the state Department of Human Services cleared Mexia State School of mistreatment allegations made by a former staff psychologist.

The counselor calls the report "ludicrous".

A month ago, the psychologist, who has asked that his name not be used, claimed that he found that several of the institution's juvenile residents did not have mental retardation. After testing 15 juvenile residents, he determined that 11 -- most of them minorities -- scored higher than would indicate mental retardation. The counselor added that he believed the school was keeping the youths at the facility for financial reasons.

To compile the report, state officials reviewed the records for those residents and found that earlier tests showed the residents do have mental retardation. Officials said the test given by the counselor, the Street Survival Skills Questionnaire, are not considered standard.

In response, the counselor told the Waco Tribune Herald that his tests are generally accepted in the field and that they are more accurate than those given by the state, especially considering that some of the official tests were administered as long as five years ago.

Recently, three of those the psychologist tested have been officially re-tested. All three have been determined to not have mental retardation.

The counselor also had claimed that the juveniles were not receiving any treatment at the facility and that many were incarcerated without due process. State officials said they were only following instructions, mostly from judges that had sent the youths to the institution after considering them incompetent to stand trial. Some had been at the facility for several years for offenses as minor as shop-lifting.

Mexia State School, which houses 550 people, was cited for abuses and rights violations five times last year and once so far this year. The facility was originally constructed in the 1940s to house Nazi prisoners of war.

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Psychologist Says Residents Do Not Have Mental Retardation
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
February 22, 2001
MEXIA, TEXAS--An employee of Mexia State School is on administrative leave after he told authorities he believes a number of residents are being kept there merely to keep the institution's funding levels up.

Wednesday's Waco Tribune Herald reported that an associate psychologist employed by the institution told the Texas Department of Human Services and the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation that he believes many residents at the institution have been inappropriately labeled as having mental retardation.

The psychologist said that after he observed some of the residents at the facility he began to doubt if some of them had mental retardation. So, he decided to administer IQ tests on 15 male juveniles. Eleven of them scored higher than 70 -- the legal cut-off for mental retardation.

The psychologist told officials that he believes the institution is keeping many of the residents there so it can continue receiving money from the state and the federal governments.

He added that several juvenile residents were sent to the institution after judges found them incompetent to stand trial for minor crimes such as shoplifting. Some of them have been kept at the facility for as long as six years with no trial and no IQ tests.

"(School officials) are violating the law," said the psychologist, who has asked that his name not be used so that he might be able to get a job in the future. "These guys are not mentally retarded. They are not even close to being mentally retarded."

Ironically, the Department of Human Services will not be investigating many of the psychologist's complaints because Mexia has been found to have violated resident's rights in the past.

Last year, the federal government withheld money from Mexia when the institution was found to have been violating the rights of several residents considered to have "behavior problems". But instead of working to comply with federal guidelines concerning those resident rights, the institution responded by "decertifying" 32 of those residents. This means that the facility no longer gets federal money for those residents, but it also does not have to follow the more stringent guidelines which would be monitored by DHS.

Mexia State School, which houses 550 people, was cited for abuses and rights violations five times last year and once so far this year. It currently is under a 90-day termination notice following an incident in which a man was severely burned, and incidents during which three male juveniles were reported to have engaged in sexual activity.

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Mexia State School Is Close To Decertification, Again
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
February 12, 2001
MEXIA, TEXAS--With only a few days left to keep from losing certification altogether, Mexia State School officials on Tuesday are expected to announce a detailed plan of action to correct problems which have led to the facility losing federal funding -- at the rate of $77,000 a day.

The institution which houses 575 people -- including about 70 children -- was given a 23-day termination notice on January 26 because of dangerous conditions. On December 27, a resident was hospitalized for second-degree burns after he reportedly turned on a hot water faucet while a staff member was cleaning his fingernails. A spokesman of the institution said there had been a rumor circulating that the man was being punished for misbehavior, but the official investigation did not find any evidence to support it.

In another case, three male teenage residents allegedly engaged in sexual activities with each other on several occasions. During at least one of those incidents, a report says, one of those teens apparently paid the other in exchange for sex.

Mexia State School came close to losing its certification several times over the last year. In September, surveyors found it out of compliance in the area of safety because of an incident in which two residents engaged in sexual relations. It was also found to have violated residents' rights because it had a 9 p.m. curfew for all residents.

"The safety deficiency is something we can easily take care of by improving client supervision," Mexia spokesman Wayne Kittley told the Waco Tribune-Herald last September.

"The curfew one is just a matter of paperwork. Instead of saying that everyone has a 9 p.m. curfew, we will have to set the curfew at 9 for each client, on a case by case basis."

Institution officials hope the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation will be satisfied with the new plan and will lift the sanctions this week so the program will again be able to receive federal money, which accounts for about 85% of the facility's budget. If the plan is not accepted, and the facility is decertified, it could cost millions of dollars to bring the aging facility up to a point where it could be certified again. That could mean the buildings would have to comply with building codes, accessibility guidelines and other standards that did not exist when the facility was built more than five decades ago.

Mexia State School was established in 1946, in the buildings of a prisoner-of-war camp that had held captives from Nazi Erwin Rommel's North African Army. At one time, the school housed as many as 2,800 residents.

Mexia State School, with about 1,400 staff members, is Limestone County's largest employer.

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Former Advocate Now On Other Side Of Legal Fence
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
December 18, 2003

AUSTIN, TEXAS--Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott is battling disability rights advocates, arguing that the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act is unconstitutional.

Advocates say that Abbott's position is strange when one considers that the former Texas Supreme Court justice has used a wheelchair for the last 19 years and that he applauded the Texas Civil Rights Project when it settled a lawsuit to make the Supreme Court building accessible to wheelchairs.

"It's ironic and sad, but I stopped trying to understand people's motivations a long time ago," said Jennifer McPhail, an organizer with the grassroots advocacy group ADAPT of Texas. "It just gives you a headache."

Abbott is representing the state in a class-action lawsuit, filed against it by Arc of Texas and Advocacy Inc., over the waiting list for community-based services for people with developmental disabilities. The suit could affect the more than 25,000 people who have waited several years for respite care, group homes and other supports.

The action is one of several that have been filed across the country since July 1999, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in its Olmstead decision that "unnecessarily" forcing people with disabilities into institutions violates the ADA.

"We're talking about basic needs," said Mike Bright, executive director of the Arc of Texas.

Abbott's office is arguing that Congress did not have the authority to apply the ADA to states when it passed the anti-discrimination law. A ruling for Texas could also affect other provisions of the civil rights law when applied to states.

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Movement To Identify Institution Graves Gains Momentum
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
July 14, 2003

AUSTIN, TEXAS--The bodies of an estimated 2,700 former patients of Austin State Hospital and residents of the Austin State School have been buried in the Austin State Hospital Cemetery since 1884. Only about 60 or 70 of the graves appear to have been marked.

The California Memorial Project estimates that more than 25,000 patients were buried on the grounds of that state's mental hospitals.

In the cemetery at Georgia's Milledgeville Central State Hospital as many as 25,000 people were buried in segregated, black and white sections, with rows upon rows of small rusty markers bearing only numbers, no names.

Across North America, there are movements to identify, mark and honor the final resting places of people who had, for the most part, been forgotten by their families and by society. New laws are making it easier for facilities to give information about deceased residents to family members. Tens of thousands of dollars are being donated or allocated to research and match names to grave numbers. A group in Minnesota is pushing for a formal government apology for those who were housed in the state's institutions.

One reason for the increased attention is that there now is less of a stigma attached with having a mental illness or developmental disability. At the time most of these people entered these institutions families were not eager to admit that a relative had such a disability.

Another reason is the growing interest in genealogy. Many family historians are following the branches of their family trees to institution graveyards.

"People had been stigmatized their whole lives, and now this was even worse. They had become outcasts for eternity," said Jerry McLain, spokesperson for Wichita Falls State Hospital, where 1,060 patients are buried.

Related articles:
"New help for nameless graves of mentally ill" (Austin American-Statesman via Houston Chronicle)
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/printstory.hts/metropolitan/1991189
"Mental hospitals trying to ID graves of long-dead patients" (Associated Press via Arizona Daily Sun)
http://www.azdailysun.com/non_sec/nav_includes/story.cfm?storyID=68378

Related resources:
California Memorial Project
http://www.cnmhc.org/main/current%20news/ca_memprojdescription.htm
Massachusetts Campaign to Restore State Hospital Cemeteries (Consumer/Survivor History Project)
http://www.power2u.org/slides.html
Minnesota Remembering With Dignity Project (Advocating Change Together)
http://www.selfadvocacy.com/Remembering%20With%20Dignity.htm

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Eeney, Meeney, Miney, Moe -- Which Institutions Should We Close?
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
March 27, 2003

AUSTIN, TEXAS--Many state lawmakers here agree that it makes financial sense to close at least one state-run psychiatric hospital and one institution housing people with mental retardation.

The Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation has been ordered to come up with a budget proposal that is 12.5 percent smaller than the current one. Closing two such facilities could save the state about $14 million. Selling the properties could generate millions more.

The tough question now -- the one that lawmakers and bureaucrats do not want to answer -- is: "Which of the state's two dozen institutions should close?"

Austin State Hospital and the Austin State School have been suggested by some. After all, the land they sit on could bring in an easy $85 million. But people who support keeping them open are already rallying to keep their own "oxen from being gored".

Related article:
"Budget may force MHMR closures" (American-Statesman)
http://www.InclusionDaily.com/news/03/red/0327a.htm

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Texas Looks At Closing Institution To Balance Budget
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
March 11, 2003

CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS--The Texas Legislature has ordered the state's Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation to explain how the department would cut $287.5 million from its budget.

One plan under discussion would close one of 12 institutions housing people with developmental disabilities and one of nine state hospitals housing people with mental illnesses.

MHMR had proposed a $2 billion budget for both 2004 and 2005, but was asked to trim 12.5 percent from that initial proposal.

Lawmakers and MHMR officials have not named which institution or hospital might be targeted for closure. Corpus Christi state school, which currently houses 400 adults with developmental disabilities in 15 dormitories, may be considered. The institution was opened in 1970 and operates on an annual budget of $25.5 million.

Corpus Christi State School employs about 900 people with annual salaries totaling $19.6 million.

MHMR spokesperson Don Rogers said that if a state school is closed, its residents would be transferred to one of the other facilities.

Related article:
"Texas may shut one state school" (Corpus Christi Caller-Times)
http://www.InclusionDaily.com/news/03/red/0311b.htm

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Anonymous Letter Leads To Assault Charges Against Institution Employee
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
April 21, 2004

LUBBOCK, TEXAS--A letter from an anonymous witness has led a grand jury to indict a former institution worker on charges of assault.

According to a brief item in the Avalanche-Journal, Thelma Robinson, 30, was charged Tuesday with injuring a resident of Lubbock State School.

Police reports indicated that the 49-year-old victim had been kicked in the vagina so hard she required stitches to repair the injury.

Another employee had previously been charged with the same crime. But state school officials turned their focus on Robinson after the letter revealed a witness to the attack.

Robinson has been fired from the institution.

The grand jury cleared the other state school employee of the charges.

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Texas Lawmakers Want Study On Closing Institutions
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
January 16, 2004

AUSTIN, TEXAS--State officials want to know which, if any, of its institutions should be closed to help save money and serve more people in the community.

The state is hiring a consultant to look into potential closures and report back by June 30. The Legislature wants the consultant to consider how close the targeted institutions are to facilities that would remain after the closures, the facilities' capacities and conditions, along with local employment opportunities for displaced state employees.

"I think overall you can say the Legislature is very interested in finding ways we can provide health and human services in a more efficient and effective manner," said Kristie Zamrazil, spokesperson for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.

Texas currently has 10 state hospitals housing just under 5,000 people with mental illness, and 13 state schools housing about 2,200 people with developmental disabilities.

According to the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, two months ago there were 7,598 Texans on a waiting list for mental health services, and 24,726 Texans on a waiting list for mental retardation services.

The state is also accepting proposals from companies willing to privatize a state school or hospital provided the contractor can give the same level of service -- for 25 percent less than the state currently spends.

Efforts to close institutions failed during the last legislative session. Some lawmakers hope the report will give them the support needed to consolidate services and get more people off the waiting lists.

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Texas Families Continue To Wait For Community Services
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
August 1, 2005

HOUSTON, TEXAS--In a study published three years ago, Texas ranked 48th among all 50 states in per capita spending for home and community-based services for people with intellectual disabilities.

That low level of funding has left somewhere between 28,000 and 40,000 Texans on waiting lists for those services -- some of them for over 10 years.

And it doesn't look like the waiting list is going away any time soon: The state Legislature has allocated enough money during the next two years to get community services for only about 10 percent of those on the waiting lists.

At the same time, the state still houses thousands of people in institutions, here called "State Schools", for many times the cost of homes in the community.

"The mentality blows my mind," Jamie Travis, who cares for her 25-year-old daughter at home, told the Houston Chronicle. "If I keep my child at home, you will not give me a cent. But you will spend $110,000 if I give her up and put her in a state school."

Three years ago, the Arc of Texas and Advocacy Inc. filed a lawsuit on behalf of 20 plaintiffs, including Travis' daughter, accusing Texas of discriminating against 40,000 people with developmental disabilities who continue to wait for Medicaid-funded services.

As of March of this year, lawsuits had been filed against 24 other states by people with developmental disabilities and their families seeking community-based services.

"Just like any other parents, we want our kids to be where they are happy and to be where they are fulfilled," Travis said.

Related:
"Families sue to keep mentally disabled close by" (Houston Chronicle)
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/printstory.mpl/metropolitan/3289446
State of the States in Developmental Disabilities (Coleman Institute)
http://www.cu.edu/ColemanInstitute/stateofthestates/

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Program Mixes Sexual Offenders And Victims In Texas Institutions
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
May 31, 2005

MEXIA, TEXAS--Three state-run institutions housing people with mental disabilities are involved in a Texas program that allows those accused of sexual and other criminal offenses to live with potential victims, according to a story published in Sunday's Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

The offenders are seldom prosecuted because of their disabilities. So the state developed the program in 1995 to provide a secure place for them outside the traditional prison system.

While those placed in the program can be supervised 24-hours a day, with good behavior they can gain more freedom -- and more access to other vulnerable adults.

In 2002, a group of parents documented beatings, attempted rapes and other crimes allegedly committed by offenders in the program. But a separate report to the Texas Legislature warned that the state could lose federal Medicaid money for the offender program if they were sent to a different facility.

To illustrate the problem, the Star-Telegram detailed the case of a resident at Mexia State School who accused another of raping him. The alleged perpetrator originally confessed to the crime.

But the crime was not reported to local police -- nor was the confessed offender removed -- until after the victim's mother investigated.

The victim later recanted, but afterward said the staff at the institution wanted him to recant so the alleged offender could return.

Part of the problem is that the criminal justice system does not consider the testimony of victims and witnesses with mental disabilities to be reliable, the paper noted.

Related:
"Rape case raises fear about housing crime suspects at school for retarded" (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/05/red/0531c.htm

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Texas Commission: No Closures Any Time Soon
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
April 7, 2005

AUSTIN, TEXAS--Texas should not consolidate or close institutions housing people with mental disabilities any time in the near future because it would not save the state money in the short-run, a state panel has concluded.

The "Rider 55" study released by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission last week found it would cost the state more up front than it would initially save to close one of 12 state schools or one of 11 psychiatric facilities.

The state would not see a cost savings by closing one or more state schools until between five and seven years in the future, the report projected, while the savings from closing a psychiatric hospital would not materialize for up to 20 years.

"It is certainly 'feasible' for the state to close a state school or state hospital since several facilities have low barriers to closure and sufficient beds could be found for clients in other state facilities," the study's authors concluded. "The study did not reveal any short-term cost savings to be achieved through closure; many negative impacts on client services were documented. It is not advisable to close any state facility until long-term policy is established, and clinical and cost goals are articulated."

Advocates for community living expressed disappointment in the study, particularly because -- in spite of 18 months of public testimony and input -- the panel chose to focus on money.

"What about the people who have to live there?" Susan Eason, executive director of the Arc of the Capital Area told the Austin American-Statesman. "What do they think and feel? This is all a numbers game."

Related:
"State schools and psychiatric hospitals to stay open" (Austin American-Statesman)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/05/red/0407b.htm
"Rider 55 Study of State Schools, Hospitals" (Texas Health and Human Services Commission)
http://www.hhsc.state.tx.us/news/announce/060404_Rider55_HB1.html

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Texas State Schools Ignored Requests To Move To Community, But Hired Workers With Abusive Pasts
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
July 14, 2008

AUSTIN, TEXAS--The Texas State Auditor released a report Monday detailing system-wide problems with the state-run institutions that house 4,884 people with intellectual disabilities -- more than any other state.

State Auditor John Keel wrote that the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services failed by the end of the last fiscal year to move 449 of 644 residents that had specifically asked to get out of the institutions and live in homes in the community.

Nobody knows the exact number of Texans who wanted to move out of institutions, however, because the department has done a poor job recording discussions with residents about the choices that are available to them. In fact, 52 percent of those housed in these facilities, here called "state schools", had nothing documented of where or how they wanted to live.

The audit also found that while the state investigated most high priority abuse and neglect incidents within 24 hours, it was too slow when it came to the second highest priority level complaints and incidents in these facilities. In fact, during the last two years, the state only investigated 41 percent of those in the required 14-day time period.

Perhaps most disturbing was the news that the state had hired 10 people to work in its institutions who were listed with records of abuse, neglect, or exploitation on the state's own Nurses Aide and Employment Misconduct Registries. Once auditors brought this to the attention of department officials, those people were fired.

The state paid an average of $335 a day to house a person in a state-run facility, compared to $165 a day for a person in a community-based intermediate care facility.

Related:
Audit Report on State Mental Retardation Facilities, Department of Aging and Disability Services, and Department of Family and Protective Services (Texas State Auditor)
http://www.sao.state.tx.us/reports/main/08-039.pdf

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Report Shows Texas Institutions Are Housing More Kids
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
April 2, 2008

AUSTIN, TEXAS--Children with disabilities are being institutionalized at a growing rate within the Texas residential state school system.

In fact, while the number of adults with developmental and other disabilities in state-run institutions has declined in recent years, the number of children housed in Texas institutions has grown by 80 percent in the last five years, the Dallas Morning News reported Wednesday.

State officials say children are only housed at institutions for short periods of time as they wait for permanent family homes.

Community advocates point to what they say are alarming signs that the state is starting to use the facilities for more permanent housing, including building new playgrounds, along with "little boys and little girls units," some of which have bars on the windows.

"We need to be able to stop it at the front door," said Colleen Horton, public policy director for the Center of Disability Studies at the University of Texas.

Advocates are calling for the state to increase funding for in-home and community-based supports to help families keep their children at home.

Related:
"Enrollment of children in Texas state schools surging" (Dallas Morning News)

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Feds To Investigate State's Largest Institution
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
March 27, 2008

AUSTIN, TEXAS--The U.S. Justice Department is investigating conditions at Texas' largest state-run institution housing people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

According to the Dallas Morning News, the federal investigators are following up on reports that some of the 600 residents at Denton State School have experienced abuse and neglect at the hands of staff members and other residents. They are also looking into several unexplained recent deaths at the facility.

Advocates for community living say it's about time.

They have been pushing for the state to close its 13 institutions and move the resident into homes in the community.

"This is the biggest institution in Texas, the flagship. And it has an ongoing history of horrific acts of violence," explained Jeff Garrison-Tate, who is with Advocacy, Inc, the state's protection and advocacy system. "I want to believe a lot of the advocacy, the screaming and yelling that's been going on, has led to this."

"The planets have finally aligned."

Richard Garnett, executive director of The Arc of Greater Tarrant County, said: "For the Department of Justice to now take on another state school tells me they recognize the problem the advocacy community has been talking about for years."

"They could probably go into any state school in Texas and find the same kind of issues," Garnett added.

Denton State School made headlines in 2002, when 29-year-old resident Hasib Chishty was severely punched, kicked and beaten by staff member Kevin Miller. Chishty survived, but has been paralyzed since the attack.

Chisty's mother, Farhat, said her son has been returned to the institution. She has been trying to get him out.

"I don't know if I'll ever be able to move my son out in my lifetime," she said.

Mrs. Chishty said she has been meeting with federal investigators over her son's case, and has been telling them what she has seen when she visits him.

Related:
"Scrutiny of Denton State School opens debate about care for state's disabled" (Dallas Morning News)

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Reports Of Abuse In State Schools On The Rise
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
February 15, 2008

AUSTIN, TEXAS--Reports of abuse and neglect of Texans with intellectual disabilities in state-run institutions have jumped nearly 20 percent in the last several months.

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services received an average of 373 calls of abuse allegations each month during the first five-and-a-half months of the fiscal year that began September 1, 2007. That compares to a monthly average of 308 calls during the previous 12 months.

Thursday's Houston Chronicle reported that the department substantiated 482 allegations of abuse at state-run institutions, here called "state schools", during the entire 2007 fiscal year.

Earlier in the week, a state House committee heard testimony from Texans who want the facilities to stay open and those who want them shuttered.

People who support keeping institutions open say that the numbers show that the state's new emphasis on reporting every bruise or mark is working. State officials say they have trained staff to report any and all suspicions of abuse.

Advocates for shutting down the facilities say the numbers show that the institutions are outdated, that they cannot be made safer, and that they are keeping people from enjoying the freedoms outside the facilities. Keeping these institutions open also takes money away from the tens of thousands of people who are on a waiting list for community-based services.

"There is no service that can't be duplicated in the community," explained Colleen Horton, public policy director with the Texas Center of Disability Studies at the University of Texas.

Related:
"State's mental retardation system studied" (Houston Chronicle)
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/5543772.html

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Legislative Committee Avoids 'Institutions Versus Community' Debate
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
February 13, 2008

AUSTIN, TEXAS--The Texas House Select Committee on Intermediate Care Facilities heard eight hours of testimony Tuesday from supporters of both community living and institutions for people with developmental disabilities.

According to the Dallas Morning News, the committee avoided the issue of whether state-run institutions should be closed and money transferred to serve the 100,000 Texans on the waiting list for community-based supports.

"We're not asking you to close the state schools today, next week, even next year," said Pascual Piedfort, from The Arc of Texas. "But the state schools are outdated. The waiting list number tells us all we need to know."

For several years, Texas has faced the threat of having federal money withheld after investigations found ongoing problems of abuse and neglect at state-operated institutions.

The Dallas Morning News now reports that many of those problems are being seen in community-based settings, as well.

Related:
"Texas House panel takes up disabled care's future" (Dallas Morning News)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/2008/red/0213c.htm
"Quality of group homes in Dallas County is uneven" (Dallas Morning News)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/2008/red/0213d.htm

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