LINCOLN, Neb.—Progress is being made to correct problems at a state center for the developmentally disabled that has faced hundreds of cases of alleged abuse and neglect in recent years, but more must be, an official charged with inspecting the facility said in a report issued Wednesday.
The state showed leadership and courage following the decision in January to move 47 medically fragile residents out of the Beatrice State Developmental Center, John McGee said in the report that will be used by lawmakers and state officials. The move followed the death of an 18-year-old woman who the state has admitted received inadequate care.
McGee is charged with periodically inspecting the center to make sure the state is meeting terms of an agreement it reached with the U.S. Department of Justice last year. About 180 people with a range of disabilities, including mental disabilities, are cared for at the center that stands to lose $29 million in annual, federal funding, because it has repeatedly run afoul of regulators.
The report said the facility had fewer cases of alleged abuse and neglect during the first three months of this year than during any quarter last year.
The state has taken steps to improve care at the center, including hiring a consultant to assess residents’ needs to help ensure they receive adequate care, McGee concluded. He also said the state is developing plans to safely move residents out of the center and into smaller, community-based programs.
He also praised the state for initiating a plan to create more capacity in the programs for residents.
“These residential options encompass a significant expression of leadership and intent on the state’s part toward meeting its promises,” in the settlement, McGee said in the report.
Reducing the number of residents at the center to lower the staff-to-resident ratio is part of the state’s plan to improve care and eventually get the facility re-certified by the federal government.
State Sen. Steve Lathrop of Omaha, who chairs a special legislative committee providing oversight of the center, said he could not comment on the report because he had not yet read it.
While McGee said progress is being made, he suggested that some plans to improve safety and care of residents, especially when they are being moved to community-based programs, are not being carried out properly.
He cited one messy transition where a resident of the center moved in with a family that, four days after accepting the man into his home, called the police when he began acting out. The family refused to take him back, breaching their contract with a private agency.
The man was taken to a hospital, then a group home, upsetting the man’s mother. She said she never would have allowed her son to be moved out of the center had she known the transition would be so problematic.
“Such a placement with its surprise behaviors and apparent lack of … supports, services and protections leaves much to be desired,” McGee said in the report.
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