This incidence has renewed the debate on closing state schools for people
with disabilities.
===============
Dawna Lee Rumball, Doctoral Student
President-Elect, Canadian Disability Studies Association /
Association Canadienne des Études sur l'Incapacité
Department of Educational Studies
Faculty of Education, University of British Columbia
2125 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4
Email: [log in to unmask]
Web-site: http://www.cdsa-acei.ca/
===========================================================
http://www.caller.com/news/2009/mar/19/disability-groups-close-state-schools/
Disability groups: Close state schools Rallies push for the shuttering of
sites in Texas
By Elaine Marsilio <http://www.caller.com/staff/elaine-marsilio/>
(Contact<http://www.caller.com/staff/elaine-marsilio/contact/>
)
Originally published 09:02 p.m., March 19, 2009
Updated 12:29 a.m., March 20, 2009
CORPUS CHRISTI — Advocates for people with disabilities say some area
lawmakers’ proposed measures to address recent accusations of abuse at the
Corpus Christi State School amount to a bandage over the problem.
They want to see the facility, and 12 others around the state, shut down.
Measures proposed by area lawmakers to increase security and oversight of
the facilities wouldn’t be as effective as moving residents into community
settings, said Andrew Imparato, president and chief executive officer of the
American Association of People with Disabilities.
“If all they do is try to make the institutions work better, they’re missing
the point,” he said, noting residents’ dignity will be sidestepped and the
facilities still will be difficult to control.
Rallies have been planned to push for the facilities’ closures. One group
was at the Capitol in Austin this week, while local organizations have
planned a rally outside the Corpus Christi State School at 11 a.m. today.
The advocates say a culture of “warehousing” residents in the Corpus Christi
State School contributed to the recent fight club-style brawls among
residents.
“It sends a message that it is OK to do almost anything to us, and that is
the message that the Legislature and the policymakers need to reverse,” said
Bob Kafka, an organizer with the Texas chapter of American Disabled for
Attendant Programs Today.
Corpus Christi police have arrested four local state school workers in the
staging of the fights. Six arrest warrants have been issued for current or
former employees.
Police said Thursday they continue to investigate the fighting and more
arrests are possible.
The FBI announced an investigation last week into whether civil rights
violations have occurred there.
Curtis Decker, executive director for the National Disability Rights
Network, suggested lawmakers look at other states, such as Indiana or
Illinois, for answers. Both are among at least 40 states that plan to close
their state institutions and provide more funds for community care,
according to a June University of Colorado — Denver School of Medicine
report on services and funding for Illinois disability services.
Ten states, according to the report, don’t have state-operated facilities.
The report recommends Illinois officials reduce reliance on remaining
state-operated institutional facilities and reallocate Medicaid funds for
disability services to a community-based program.
More than 5,900 people with disabilities are on the Illinois waiting list
for community services, the report states. In Texas, 40,000 people with
disabilities were on a similar list as of November, said Diane Lowrance,
executive director of Mental Health Mental Retardation Center of Nueces
County.
And at least one lawmaker, State Rep. Patrick Rose, D-Dripping Springs, has
taken steps in a direction of closing facilities. He filed legislation Feb.
23 that calls for a plan to consolidate and eventually close the facilities.
Many advocates said legislators seem hesitant about closing them because
they don’t want to upset residents’ parents or take away jobs from
communities.
That’s the case with the Corpus Christi State School, Kafka said.
“They won’t make the tough political choice that they need to move all the
people out and stop talking about the building,” he said.
But area lawmakers who toured the facility Sunday said state schools provide
care to individuals who might not find the same services elsewhere. State
Rep. Solomon Ortiz Jr., D-Corpus Christi, said he has concerns with the
consolidation legislation because it would require analyzing community care
services’ adequacy and infrastructure.
“We can’t rush into any judgment without doing the proper research,” he
said.
Ortiz added abuse also can occur in community settings. He and Rep. Abel
Herrero, D-Robstown, are among legislators sponsoring a bill calling for
added measures at state schools, which went before the Human Services
Committee on March 12.
Herrero said state aging and disability officials should have known about
the recent abuse accusations before they surfaced.
The addition of personnel and routine nightly checks at the Corpus Christi
State School following the incident show that legislative leaders need to be
proactive in protecting people with disabilities, he said.
“These are all measures that could have been implemented before now,” he
said.
*CORPUS CHRISTI STATE SCHOOL FACTS*
Opened: 1970
Residents: 345 (as of Jan. 31)
Staff: More than 800
Male residents: 204
Female residents: 141
Residents 18 to 64 years old: 332
Residents 65 years and older: 13
Residents with mild disability: 81
Residents with moderate disability: 43
Residents with severe/profound disability: 221
*Source: Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services*
*THE ALTERNATIVE*
Mental health authorities track state facility discharges, explain community
care options to guardians and families of people with disabilities and keep
a list of local people on the state interest list for community-based care,
which can include foster, independent living or group programs.
489 — Approximate number of people in Nueces County on waiting list
332 — Approximate number of people in Aransas, Bee, Brooks, Duval, Jim
Wells, Kenedy, Kleberg, Live Oak and San Patricio counties on the waiting
list
40,000+ — Number of Texans on the waiting list
*Source: MHMR of Nueces County and Coastal Plains Community MHMR Center*
________________End of message________________
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