Seven staff fired from Corpus Christi State Supported Living Center after abuse and neglect accusations

[Guest guest]

Seven staff fired from

Corpus Christi State Supported

Living Center

after abuse and neglect accusations

By

Villarreal š│ Corpus Christi Caller Times

http://www.caller.com/news/2011/oct/14/seven-staff-fired-from-corpus-christi-state-and/

CORPUS CHRISTI — Seven employees were fired after investigations into abuse and

neglect allegations at the Corpus

Christi State Supported Living

Center.

The

center, formerly known as the Corpus

Christi State School, underwent two investigations

between April and June in connection with four allegations of abuse and neglect

that involved at total of 17 residents.

The

allegations were called in to the Department of Family and Protective Services,

which began the investigations.

The

department's investigators found three of the allegations to be unsubstantiated.

The fourth allegation was partially substantiated.

The

Department of Aging and Disability Services also conducted an investigation.

" Our

staff at the facility went in and did their own investigation, which is

standard practice, and they felt need to take aggressive action, " said

Cecilia Fedorov, spokeswoman for the Department of Aging and Disability

Services. " Because of that the state school staff fired all the employees

that were involved of the allegations. "

Fedorov

said she didn't have details about the allegations or what had been

substantiated. She said the reports have not been finalized.

Mark

Cazalas, interim director of the Corpus

Christi center, could not be reached for comment.

The

Caller-Times in September requested information on allegations of abuse and

neglect accusations of the center for the past year. Only confirmed cases were

provided.

" We

feel like it's more accurate to focus on the confirmations rather than the

allegations, " Lowery, spokeswoman for the Department of Aging and

Disability Service, said in response to the request. The U.S. Department of

Justice monitored the center in July and noted that employees who were accused

of abuse or neglect were given temporary reassignments to remove them from

direct contact with residents, pending an investigation, according to the

report.

The

report includes areas in need of improvement, specifically for abuse and

neglect, and says staff need to be more thorough in their record keeping of

injuries.The center also was the site of staged fights between people with

mental disabilities from January 2008 to February 2009.

The

fights led to the firing of 42 employees and the conviction of five, including

the accused ringleader who pleaded guilty in April and received five years in

prison. Another received an immunity deal for testifying against the others.

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