The San Antonio State School, home to nearly 300 vulnerable residents with mental disabilities, had the highest rate of confirmed abuse and neglect cases in Texas last year, with investigators confirming 27 cases for every 100 residents.
That’s more than twice as high as the statewide rate of 12 cases for every 100 residents who live in the state’s troubled facilities for people with mental retardation.
A review of public records shows:
*State investigators verified 77 cases of abuse and neglect at the San Antonio school in 2008, which propelled the facility to the highest per-capita rate of all 13 state schools in the past three years, according to numbers released by the Department of Family and Protective Services, which investigates abuse and neglect at the schools.
*Confirmed cases of neglect were the most frequent type of incident at San Antonio State School last year. Such cases can be as dangerous as physical abuse. Among the victims was a 44-year-old man with mental disabilities who was strictly prohibited from eating solid foods. Unsupervised for an hour, he choked to death while trying to eat a sandwich, records show.
*Cases of neglect more than doubled in San Antonio in the past two years as the facility struggled to adequately staff the school, much like other Texas state schools.
*In the entire state school system, investigators confirmed more than 570 allegations of abuse and neglect in 2008. That’s the highest total in the past five years. Beth Mitchell, managing attorney for Advocacy Inc., a federally funded agency that protects the legal rights of the disabled, called the San Antonio numbers “atrocious.”
Jeff Garrison-Tate, president of Community Now!, a statewide group that wants to move people with disabilities into community-based care: "That tells you how messed up our system of accountability is."
Full Article and Source:
Neglect, abuse at S.A. State School
That’s more than twice as high as the statewide rate of 12 cases for every 100 residents who live in the state’s troubled facilities for people with mental retardation.
A review of public records shows:
*State investigators verified 77 cases of abuse and neglect at the San Antonio school in 2008, which propelled the facility to the highest per-capita rate of all 13 state schools in the past three years, according to numbers released by the Department of Family and Protective Services, which investigates abuse and neglect at the schools.
*Confirmed cases of neglect were the most frequent type of incident at San Antonio State School last year. Such cases can be as dangerous as physical abuse. Among the victims was a 44-year-old man with mental disabilities who was strictly prohibited from eating solid foods. Unsupervised for an hour, he choked to death while trying to eat a sandwich, records show.
*Cases of neglect more than doubled in San Antonio in the past two years as the facility struggled to adequately staff the school, much like other Texas state schools.
*In the entire state school system, investigators confirmed more than 570 allegations of abuse and neglect in 2008. That’s the highest total in the past five years. Beth Mitchell, managing attorney for Advocacy Inc., a federally funded agency that protects the legal rights of the disabled, called the San Antonio numbers “atrocious.”
Jeff Garrison-Tate, president of Community Now!, a statewide group that wants to move people with disabilities into community-based care: "That tells you how messed up our system of accountability is."
Full Article and Source:
Neglect, abuse at S.A. State School
2 comments:
As economic circumstances roughen, things will only become worse. You have to wonder what kind of personality the workers have, however low-paid to witness these abuses.
However, society's apathy allows this.
Texas just can't get it right.
Whenever I hear of a big scandal involving abuse going on for years and years, I think TX first.
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