Fwd:Right to Privacy (Texas)

[Guest guest]

Fwding. as is -

RE:

Advocates:

No one in the disability advocacy community wants to see abuse go on in an

institution

or in a community setting. However the violation of people's right to

privacy in the name of

" safety " should be a concern to us all. Whether one agrees or disagrees on

whether institutions should

exist, it is where over 4,000 people with disabilities live. The right to

their privacy should be respected

as long as they reside in the facility.

The fact that it is necessary to have 247 cameras installed in a place where

a person with a disability lives to

keep them safe is a statement about the inappropriateness of the institution

and a blantant violation of the

person's right to privacy. One would hope that the Department of Justice

doesn't endorse this approach

to guaranteeing safety. Having a disability and participating in a

state/federal program should not require

you to give up your basic civil rights. Do unto others as you would want

others to do unto you.

I don't know many people who want 247 cameras in the place they reside.

Free Our People.

Bob Kafka

ADAPT of Texas

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*Sent:* Tuesday, September 14, 2010 11:02 AM

Safer conditions at Corpus Christi institution where residents with mental

disabilities were once forced into fight clubs

* 05:04 PM CDT on Monday, September 13, 2010*

*By ROBERT T. GARRETT / The Dallas Morning News

rtgarrett@...*

AUSTIN — Conditions are much safer at a Corpus Christi institution where

late-night “fight clubs” were forced on residents with mental disabilities,

officials said Monday.

Supervisors work night shifts, employees are trained to report abuse and

there is continuous monitoring of 247 newly installed video surveillance

cameras, said director Iva Benson<http://topics.dallasnews.com/topic/Benson>.

“We report even if there’s a bruise that we find and no one knows what

happened,” said Benson, who heads the former Corpus Christi state school,

now called a state supported living center.

“We want every incident investigated by outside entities because we do not

tolerate that abuse and neglect,” she said.

Benson spoke after Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services

officials conducted a media event to mark release of an independent

monitor’s report about how well the facility is complying with a five year,

$112 million state settlement with the U.S. Department of

Justice<http://topics.dallasnews.com/topic/U.S._Department_of_Justice>.

It was the first follow-up check to be completed at one of the 13 facilities

for the developmentally disabled.

“This facility has many challenges to resolve,” said Traylor,

commissioner of the state department. “But we are off to a great start.”

In March 2009, a federal investigation of dangerous conditions inside the

facilities was in its fourth year when the fight clubs in Corpus Christi

were disclosed. Night-shift employees at one dorm instigated the bouts with

direct commands and pranks aimed at spurring the residents to turn on each

other, police said.

The police inquiry was launched after a local retailer turned over a lost

cellphone <http://topics.dallasnews.com/topic/Cellular_Phones>, which

contained almost 20 videos of fights. The images eventually landed in the

national news, and at least 11 employees quit or were fired. Of six who

faced criminal charges, at least two are serving prison sentences.

“That was a very, very regrettable and serious incident,” said Benson, who

has headed the facility for three years clubs. “And it certainly does not

reflect what’s happening at the facility today, as the report shows.”

Today, two or three staff members monitor the video cameras around the

clock, she noted.

<http://topics.dallasnews.com/topic/Chris_>, assistant

state commissioner over the 13 residential institutions, said that as a

result of watching the monitors, facility employees have reported nine

possible incidents of abuse and neglect to the Department of Family and

Protective Services since Nov. 1. Of them, one was confirmed, he said,

without providing details.

The outside monitoring team said it conducted an interview with 10 staff

members. Of them, five said they’d reported abuse. The monitors said that

when they asked employees where they must report suspicions, workers often

flipped over their ID badges and pointed to instructions and the

protective-services hotline phone number.

The monitors said employee comments and other things, including the posting

of zero-tolerance posters around the campus, “suggested vigilance” in

reporting abuse.

However, they urged Benson and her staff to work harder to discourage

retaliation against employees who report co-workers’ misdeeds. Monitors

reviewed 70 protective-services investigations involving the Corpus Christi

facility, and said they found in two of them troubling comments by employees

that hint at a lingering fear of reprisals.

“The culture amongst staff of protecting one another as opposed to

individuals served can be very strong, and apparently was at Corpus Christi

in recent years,” the monitors said. “Facility management will need to

continue to be creative about shifting this culture to one in which the

individuals’ safety and well-being is paramount.”

They urged administrators to “strongly train and remind staff” that

retaliation is forbidden. In some instances, managers may need to reassign

staff members or increase supervision, the monitors said.

No staff members have been reassigned to protect against retaliation, said

department spokeswoman Lowery.

“We just got this report on Friday so [administrators] haven’t had an

opportunity to take specific steps,” she said.

However, Lowery noted the report says Benson told monitors she won’t condone

retaliation and twice has asked the inspector general of health and human

services to investigate alleged retaliation.

“The facility will continue driving home the message that it’s not

acceptable,” Lowery said.

The monitors’ report said the Corpus Christi campus is complying with many,

though not all, of scores of requirements imposed by last summer’s

settlement agreement between the state and federal governments.

The center has hired more dental care professionals and, while it still

doesn’t have a staff psychiatrist, has improved nursing care, the report

said.

When the fights were disclosed, state lawmakers were well on their way to

passing passing an emergency safety bill that required more background

checks of employees and ratified Gov. Rick ’s decision to install the

cameras.

Lawmakers found money to hire 1,160 more employees and, in a nod to

advocates who wanted to close facilities, an additional $250 million to

provide community-based care for nearly 8,000 people stuck on long waiting

lists.