Texas disability advocates say state schools must be improved immediately

From the Austin American-Statesman in Texas:

Advocates for Texans with disabilities on Friday called on the state to take immediate action to improve conditions at institutions for people with mental retardation after a federal report this week said the facilities repeatedly fail to protect residents.

Representatives of Advocacy Inc., said Texas should stop admissions to all 13 facilities, known as state schools. They also called for the facilities to prohibit use of restraints, such as straitjackets, and stop dispensing psychiatric medication, except in cases that have been thoroughly reviewed.

"If not, more people are going to die," said Beth Mitchell , managing attorney of Advocacy, a federally funded nonprofit that has the legal authority to investigate abuse and neglect cases at state schools. Mitchell has said the group will hire its own experts to investigate problems at the schools and will make recommendations to the state.

The federal report — a 62-page letter from the Department of Justice to Gov. Rick Perry — found that in the past year, 114 people have died at state schools, including 53 from preventable conditions. It found that "residents have suffered significant injuries from inadequate supervision, neglect and possible abuse, and improper use of restraints." The report said state records showed there were 450 confirmed incidences of abuse or neglect in the 2007 budget year.

Nearly 5,000 Texans live at the state schools, one of which is in Austin.

Cecilia Fedorov , a spokeswoman for the Department of Aging and Disability Services , which oversees the state schools, said the agency has been working closely with the Department of Justice on improvements for three years.

"The call for immediate action is really misleading," she said. "Our actions have been ongoing and they're going to continue."

For example, she said, the state has hired more workers, improved staff training and reduced the use of restraints. And the Health and Human Services Commission is asking state lawmakers for a 10 percent pay increase for direct-care workers, including those at state schools.

The Justice Department letter says that many of the problems stem from a high staff attrition rate and staff vacancies.

Federal officials launched an investigation into the Lubbock State School in 2005 and later expanded their inquiry to the other state schools. If federal and state officials can't come to an agreement, Justice Department officials may sue the state.

In a November report, the Legislative Budget Board recommended that Texas downsize state schools and transition more residents to programs that allow people to live at home or in group homes.

It costs $125,507 per person per year to care for someone at a state school, compared with $63,529 at a group home through a state program called Home and Community-based Services , according to the budget board's report. More than 37,000 people are on a waiting list for that program.