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Mexia State School Violated Residents Rights

2007
April 4: Texas Banned Restraint Boards Following Death At Mexia State School
2001
May 21: Paper Gives Interesting Contrast Between Life in Institution and Community
March 19: State Review Says Residents Were Labeled Correctly
February 22: Psychologist Says Residents Do Not Have Mental Retardation
February 12: Mexia State School Is Close To Decertification, Again
2000
September 8: Rights Issue "Just A Matter Of Paperwork"
September 5: State School Waits For Details Of Sanctions
August 3: Young Residents Gang Up On Guards
July 26: Locked-Down Units Violated Federal Guidelines

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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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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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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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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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.

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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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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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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Paper Gives Interesting Contrast Between Life in Institution and Community
May 21, 2001
WACO, TEXAS--People told Jeanie and Delores that, because they have mental retardation, they would never be able to survive outside the institution.

Those people were wrong.

Very wrong.

More than 20 years after leaving Lufkin State School the two friends are living in a house that Jeanie owns. Delores is a supervisor at a local hotel. Jeanie operates her own ironing business out of her home.

"We were a little afraid at first," Jeanie said. "We've had a little trouble, but we've overcome it."

Last Friday, the Waco Tribune-Herald ran an article about the trend away from institutions and toward community services for people considered to have mental retardation. The article uses the case of Jeanie and Delores to illustrate the point that people can do just fine in the community, even if experts don't believe they will.

That article can be accessed by clicking on this hyperlink:
"Community Services Replacing Institutions for Mentally Retarded"
http://www.InclusionDaily.com/news/red/0521a.htm

As if to directly contrast the above article, the same writer did an article on Mexia State School, the nearby institution which houses 575 people, and how it has managed to stay open despite incredible human rights abuses there over the past few years.

Deaths at the facility include:
Two people died from medical neglect;
One person, who was on a pureed diet, choked to death on a chicken nugget;
One resident died from a head injury after falling while unattended in a bathroom.

Other abuses listed in the story include, "a resident being kicked in the abdomen to make him or her urinate, residents who had soap put in their mouths and residents who were beaten with objects ranging from shoes to hairbrushes. Residents have also suffered instances of sexual abuse and exploitation".

Oddly, here is the response from the father of a man who lives at Mexia State School:
"There's nothing wrong with institutions because (the residents) get good loving care."

Supporters of Mexia State School say most of its residents will never be able to survive outside the institution.

Good thing Jeanie and Delores didn't believe that.

Here is that story:
"Mexia State School Survives Changes, Problems"
http://www.InclusionDaily.com/news/red/0521b.htm

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