More abuse at state institution in Texas

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Teen boy physically abused at state

home

State report blames staffer.

http://www.statesman.com/news/texas-politics/teen-boy-physically-abused-at-state-home-858855.html?page=2 & viewAsSinglePage=true

On June 12, Corey Baker shows the

bruises he received while a resident at the Austin State

Supported Living

Center. Investigators

suspect he received the injuries on his back, chest, arms and jaw early on June

8.

By Corrie MacLaggan

AMERICAN-STATESMAN

STAFF

Updated:

10:13 p.m. Friday, Aug. 13, 2010

Published:

8:07 p.m. Friday, Aug. 13, 2010

had a

bad feeling about the Austin

State Supported

Living Center

from the moment she put her teenage son there in March . When she visited a

home on the campus, she smelled urine and saw residents sitting around idle.

Still,

she didn't imagine that just three months later, she'd get a call

from

the center saying that her son, Corey Baker , 17, had been found covered in

bruises — on his back, chest, upper arms and jaw.

A

state investigation would later find that in the pre-dawn hours of June 8, he

had been physically abused by a recently hired direct-care staff member at the

institution for Texans with mental disabilities.

When

rushed to Corey's side from her home in Forney , east of Dallas, he kissed and

caressed her hand and wouldn't let it go — unusual behavior, she said.

" His

eyes were just pleading, 'Help me, Momma,' " she said.

The

incident comes as the 13 state-supported living centers are under scrutiny from

the U.S. Department of Justice, which is monitoring the institutions as part of

a 2009 settlement with Texas.

The

department notified Gov. Rick in 2008 that the facilities failed to

provide adequate health care or protect residents from harm.

In

June, independent monitors examining the Austin

living center — formerly the Austin

State School

— as part of the settlement reported a critical staffing shortage, a high

staff turnover rate and " dehumanizing practices. "

For

, placing Corey at the living center was a last resort.

Corey

had lived with 's mother in Colorado

until her death last year. Corey, who has autism, developmental delays and

behavioral problems, doesn't react well to change, said , a 37-year-old

office manager for a construction company.

" His

whole life changed; it was turned upside down, " she said. " He was

completely out of control. "

When

he came to live with her, she said, he hit her with the back of his hand on

three occasions. He knocked glass picture frames to the floor, shattering them,

and ripped a shower head out of a bathroom wall. , who is married and has

two daughters at home, ages 1 and 2, was scared.

" I

love him with my whole heart and soul, " she said. But she didn't know how

to control him.

She

tried placing him at the living center in Denton

because it was close to her home, but she said officials there told her he

wasn't eligible to live there because of his young age.

She

reluctantly sent Corey to Austin.

She hoped it would be temporary, just until his behavior was under control.

" I

hated it, " she said. " I cried and cried. "

It's

unclear exactly what happened in the early morning of June 8.

The

night before, a staffer was assigned to supervise Corey, according to an

investigative report by the Department of Family and Protective Services.

Neither

the Department of Aging and Disability Services, which runs the living centers,

nor the Department of Family and Protective Services, which investigates allegations

of abuse and neglect at the centers, releases such investigative reports to the

public.

However,

received a copy of the report and provided it to the American-Statesman.

The report says that Corey " is on enhanced supervision at all times for

aggression, instigating peers and feces smearing. " That night, when Corey

slept, he was in a room by himself with the staffer positioned at the doorway,

the report said. The next evening, just before 6 p.m., another staff member

discovered the bruises when Corey changed his shirt, the report said. When

state investigators asked Corey whether he remembered how he got the bruises,

he said: " No, I don't remember. I don't want to talk about it. "

And

when a sergeant with the Health and Human Services Commission's Office of

Inspector General showed Corey pictures of himself with the bruises, the

teenager said more than once, " sleeping, " the report said.

The

direct care staffer told investigators in a written statement that on that

night, at " no time did any behavior or incident occur. "

However,

the investigative report concluded, " While the circumstances and/or motive

cannot be clearly established, the preponderance of evidence indicates an

incident of physical abuse occurred involving (the staffer) and Mr.

Baker...when (the staffer) was isolated with the client for an extended period

of time, resulting in bruising sustained by the client. "

The

staffer — who had been working at the facility only since May — was

fired, said Geoff Wool , a spokesman for the state's health and human services

agencies.

Wool

declined to discuss details of Corey's abuse, but he did say that the center

has recently hired additional night-shift supervisors and started requiring

managers to make unannounced visits during both day and night.

" The

safety of residents is our top priority, " Wool said in an e-mail.

Austin police Cpl. said that the case is under investigation

and that no charges have been filed.

took Corey to North Texas and placed him temporarily at Terrell State

Hospital. She said she

hopes to move him into a community-based setting soon.

Since the

incident, said, when Corey stays with her, he insists on sleeping with

his door open and the hallway light on — which he never did before.

She said

she feels terrible that she wasn't there to protect him at the living center.

" They

terrorized him, " said. " It breaks my heart. He may be a big

boy, but he's my baby. "

..