MEXIA — At the Mexia State Supported Living Center, on the sun-bleached site of a former World War II prisoner-of-war camp an hour east of Waco, residents with profound disabilities and behavioral problems spend their days doing repetitive chores: sticking paper into shredders, folding towels, sorting nuts from bolts. And, in some cases, being physically abused, despite a sweeping federal settlement signed in 2009 to prevent it.
In the last two years, a Mexia worker was caught on video pushing a disabled resident down and stepping on his throat while other employees looked on. A staffer goaded one resident into hitting another with a belt, causing bloody wounds and a trip to the emergency room. A direct care worker showed residents pornographic pictures and tried to get them to perform oral sex on him; another sexually abused two residents.
This pattern of abuse appears pronounced in Mexia, where roughly half of the disabled residents are alleged criminal offenders and nearly a third are under age 21. But two-and-a-half years after Texas officials signed an agreement with the U.S. Attorney General’s office aimed at improving conditions in the state’s 13 institutions — following a U.S. Justice Department investigation that found avoidable deaths, civil rights violations and systemic abuse — a Texas Tribune review of facility monitoring reports and employee disciplinary records shows mistreatment is still relatively commonplace. And though there’s been some evidence of improvement, the state’s federally designated disability watchdog group Disability Rights says that halfway into the five-year settlement agreement, not even a quarter of its requirements have been met.
“It’s all just as bad,” said Beth Mitchell, Disability Rights’ supervising attorney. “The numbers suggest less physical abuse, but we still see a lot of really significant cases. I can’t tell you that there’s one shining example of a wonderful facility, because there’s not.”
Officials with the Department of Aging and Disability Services, which oversees the state supported living centers, point to evidence of compliance, from advances in security to improvements in staffing. Nearly 3,500 security cameras have been installed across Texas’ institutions for the disabled. Each facility has an independent investigator to monitor abuse. New employees are now fingerprinted and run through background checks before they’re hired, and existing employees are subject to random drug tests.
Today, 94 percent of facility jobs are filled, a marked improvement over past years, even with the influx of more than a thousand new positions established under the settlement agreement. Staff turnover has dropped. And there are now more than three employees for every resident, in part because the census at the state supported living centers has dropped by nearly 800 residents since late 2008.
But despite this falling population, more consistent staffing and annual spending that has grown by nearly 50 percent since 2006, abuse allegations have continued to rise steadily, with the percent of confirmed allegations hovering at 9 percent. The agency attributes this to better investigations: In the last fiscal year, 375 workers were fired or forced to resign because they abused or neglected disabled residents, more than in any of the previous three years.
Justice Department officials declined to comment on Texas’ efforts thus far. But Aging and Disability Services spokeswoman Cecilia Fedorov said meeting the terms of the agreement is intended to be a “long-term” process and that “milestone dates” laid out in the agreement are guidelines, not deadlines.
“While progress toward and achievement of substantial compliance has been slower than anticipated by the state,” she said in a statement, “efforts continue to be sustained in every facility.”
Federal investigators have a lengthy history with Texas’ state-supported living centers, formerly known as state schools. The Justice Department sent a team into a Lubbock facility in 2005, releasing a highly critical report in 2006 that cited more than 17 deaths at the institution in the previous 18 months.
Clearly not swayed by the improvements state leaders had made, in 2008, the Justice Department announced it would investigate conditions in all 13 Texas institutions. Four months later, investigators published a scathing rebuke, saying residents’ constitutional rights had been violated, and threatened legal action if Texas didn’t resolve the problems.
In May 2009, four years after the initial investigation in Lubbock, state leaders signed a five-year, $112 million settlement agreement with the U.S. Attorney General’s office, pledging to improve standards of care, increase oversight and monitoring, and enhance staffing.
On a recent visit to the 500-acre Mexia State Supported Living Center, many of these efforts were visible, from paper signs listing the phone number of an abuse and neglect hotline to strategically placed surveillance cameras to the nondescript dormitory office that’s home to a state abuse investigator. A sign at the entrance to the property advertised: “Now hiring!”
The workers on duty that morning — many of them veterans with decades of experience — helped residents with their daily tasks, from planting carrots in a garden to removing staples from paper for shredding. They showed off squeaky clean cement and linoleum-floored dormitories, an on-site hair salon, a café with a juke box and old movie posters. They shuttled residents between bedrooms and bathrooms and therapy sessions, interacting with a familial warmth that made the facility’s confirmed abuse allegations seem hard to fathom.
Yet firing records show awful abuse continues, and not just at Mexia. In the years since the settlement agreement was signed, a staffer at the Lubbock State Supported Living Center beat a resident he was trying to shave and slammed his head into a cabinet. An employee at the Richmond State Supported Living Center was captured on video kicking a resident in the legs, punching him in the neck and chest and striking him on the head. And a staffer at the Abilene facility kicked a resident in the head eight times. At Mexia, an employee started a romantic liaison with a resident, sending the resident nude photos and calling the resident’s cell phone 452 times. Another worker there failed to supervise a resident, who was able to construct a Molotov Cocktail.
In late spring, seven staffers at the Corpus Christi State Supported Living Center were fired for abuse allegations that still haven’t been disclosed. That’s the same facility where dozens of employees were fired in 2009 for forcing disabled residents into staged fights. Five were convicted of crimes.
Fedorov, the Aging and Disability Services spokeswoman, said the agency has zero tolerance for any abuse or neglect whatsoever. She said for the most part, the workers at these facilities are amazing — but that with any public entity, from a school district to a hospital system, there will at times be bad apples.
“You have good days and bad days anywhere,” she said. “No matter what you do, from fingerprints to employment history, bad things sometimes happen.”
But watchdogs say that’s not an acceptable explanation. Whether the Justice Department will acknowledge it, they say, Texas is not living up to its end of the bargain — as evidenced by the results of frequent status reports released on each facility by independent monitors.
Mitchell said the federal settlement requires facilities to come into compliance with 171 provisions by the end of the agreement — and that they should have made “substantial” progress on at least 150 of them so far. On average, she said, the state supported living centers have only met 20 percent of those 150 provisions, according to Disability Rights’ analysis of facility monitoring reports. The Richmond and Corpus Christi state supported living centers haven’t even broken 13 percent, Mitchell said.
Mitchell said despite reductions in staff turnover, keeping qualified people in their direct care or nursing jobs is still a major problem. She said breakdowns in communication still prevent residents from getting the proper therapy and treatment they need. And while security cameras have reduced abuse, it still happens outside their view. In some cases, Mitchell said, facilities will come into compliance with certain standards — and then fall back out of it again.
“As much as the department wants to continue to say they have fixed their problems, we don’t see that, and I don’t think the monitors see that,” Mitchell said. “The fact that we’re still seeing a lot of abuse cases that are pretty significant — the only lucky thing is that now they’re being caught on camera.”
Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s presidential campaign hinges on one overarching message: that states perform best when left to their own devices and federal regulators should butt out. Yet during his decade-long tenure in the governor’s office, Perry and his staff repeatedly downplayed the severity of abuse and neglect allegations at Texas’ state-run institutions for the disabled — until conditions became so dire that the U.S. attorney general was forced to intervene.
“They haven’t taken it seriously,” said Joe Tate, a policy specialist with Community Now!, an organization that supports the closure of Texas’ institutions for the disabled. “We hear all the time from lawmakers that there’s not the political will to make changes. That political will — the knowledge that we have deadly, dangerous institutions — could come from the governor’s office.”
Perry spokeswoman Lucy Nashed said the governor’s office has taken reports of abuse and neglect in Texas' state-supported living centers seriously from the very beginning. Early in his first term, he signed legislation and issued an executive order designed to improve conditions and give disabled residents more options to move out of the institutions.
In 2005, when he learned problems in the state-supported living centers had not abated, his office said he made sure the Department of Aging and Disability Services, which oversees Texas’ 13 institutions, had the resources to fund reform.
“Gov. Perry is committed to ensuring the safety of the residents in these facilities, and we take each of these claims very seriously,” Nashed said. “We continue to monitor the progress they are making toward meeting the terms of the agreement.”
But a look back at the timeline of abuse reports — and the response of the governor’s office to them — paints a far more nuanced picture.
After the U.S. Department of Justice released a report critical of conditions at the Lubbock State School in 2006 — saying there had been more than 17 deaths there in 18 months — the governor’s office suggested the problems had already been solved.
“Some would like to ramp up another emotional issue,” Perry spokesman Robert Black said at the time, referring to a recent abuse and neglect scandal in Texas’ juvenile justice system, the Texas Youth Commission (TYC).
When a 2007 Dallas Morning News investigation found hundreds of mentally and physically disabled residents of the state-supported living centers had suffered serious abuse at the hands of those paid to watch over them, Perry’s office cautioned against any assumptions that the system was flawed and said despite reports of physical and sexual assault, the centers shouldn’t be compared to the abuse-ridden TYC.
“It’s important not to sensationalize these incidents,” then-spokeswoman Krista Moody said. “They should not be portrayed as though they happened yesterday and no action has been taken.”
And in August 2008, when the Justice Department announced it was going to investigate conditions inside all of Texas’ institutions for the disabled — not just in Lubbock — Perry’s office was nonplussed.
“We expected that [the Department of Justice] would expand their investigation to all state schools as they have done in other states,” spokeswoman Allison Castle said. She added that the governor is “always interested in ways to improve state government.”
Four months later — and two years after the original Justice Department report — the U.S. attorney general’s office sent Perry a 60-page letter threatening legal action if Texas didn’t resolve the problems, including residents dying of preventable conditions and hundreds of employees being fired for abuse and neglect.
Only when faced with legal action and monetary damages did Perry’s tone shift: In February 2009 he declared protecting the residents of Texas’ institutions for the disabled a legislative emergency. In May 2009, the state reached an agreement with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to spend $112 million over five years to improve care and enhance staffing at the institutions.
Asked at the time why it had taken so long to pass needed legislation, Perry said that health and human services agencies have “always been difficult to address” and that Texas was a big state with lots of needs. “My focus has always been, when an issue bubbles up to the top, to bring in the best people you can find,” he said.
Halfway through the five-year settlement agreement, Texas’ federally appointed watchdog group says the state has met just 20 percent of the standards required to comply. To this, too, the governor’s office is taking a glass-half-full approach.
“The governor expects DADS to continue to work toward full compliance of the settlement agreement,” Nashed said. “While there is still work to be done, each facility and their staff continue to make significant progress toward substantial compliance, including better reporting, investigation, prosecution and firing of individuals who commit these crimes.
Reports of Abuse and Neglect at State Supported Living Centers
Employee First Name | Last Name | Date | Facility | Event | Description | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rory | White | 1/13/08 | Mexia | Abuse - Physical | Forced a resident to take cold showers as punishment. | Fired |
Patrick | Franklin | 1/29/08 | Mexia | Abuse - Physical | Hit a resident in the chest with a belt. | Fired |
Myra | Baker | 2/1/08 | Mexia | Abuse - Physical | Slapped a resident on the face, back, ribs. | Fired |
Rosa | Curiel | 2/11/08 | Abilene | Neglect - Fell Asleep | Fell asleep while driving and flipped the vehicle. | Fired |
Patrice | Baldwin | 2/29/08 | San Antonio | Abuse - Physical | Hit client with knee in buttocks and tried to kick him. | Fired |
Ramona | Martinez | 2/29/08 | Abilene | Abuse - Physical | Hit a resident with a walking cane on the stomach, legs and head. | Fired |
Sarah | Trevino | 3/18/08 | Mexia | Abuse - Physical | Bit a resident, slammed him into a window sill, and hit him. | Fired |
Lashanda | Powell | 3/21/08 | Brenham | Abuse - Physical | Used a stick nicknamed "soldier boy" to discipline residents. Hit a resident in the face with the stick, five residents had bruising. | Fired |
Shanequa | Green | 3/27/08 | Abilene | Abuse - Emotional | Yelled “I hate you” and “sit the fuck down.” | Fired |
Jeremy | Willingham | 3/31/08 | Denton | Abuse - Physical | Blocked patient in the closet, possibly sustaining minor injuries on patient's back. | Fired |
Toby | Falcon | 4/8/08 | Lufkin | Abuse - Physical | Hit client in the eye, causing bruising. | Fired |
Ray | Burns | 4/14/08 | Mexia | Abuse - Physical | Hit a resident in the face, and dragged the resident from a chair. | Fired |
Mildred | Ryan | 4/20/08 | Lubbock | Abuse - Physical | Repeatedly hit patient across the back with a fist. | Fired |
Hatchett | 5/19/08 | Lubbock | Abuse - Physical | Grabbed patient's wrists so tight she was forced to the ground. Also slapped her forehead. | Fired | |
Lottie | Holcomb | 6/10/08 | Lufkin | Abuse - Physical | Hit client with trashcan lid for masturbating in the bathroom. | Fired |
Marlon | Gardner | 6/11/08 | Denton | Abuse - Physical | Threw a helmet at a resident's eye, hitting him and causing a cut. | Fired |
Latasa | Luellen | 6/12/08 | Lubbock | Abuse - Physical | Rubbed patient's face in soiled sheets. | Fired |
Anna | Ybarra | 6/16/08 | San Angelo | Abuse - Physical | Hit client several times in the head with fist. | Fired |
Greg | Dunn | 6/17/08 | Mexia | Abuse - Physical | Kicked a resident in the side. | Fired |
Stephanie | Hamner | 6/24/08 | Denton | Abuse - Physical | Yanked a resident into the apartment by the belt. | Fired |
Rosa | Sanchez | 6/24/08 | Abilene | Abuse - Physical | Called resident a bitch and closed the office door, hurting the resident. | Fired |
Darren | Jacobs | 8/7/08 | Denton | Neglect - Lack of Supervision | Lack of supervision allowed patients to engage in inappropriate sexual behavior. | Demoted |
William | Lyons | 9/16/08 | Abilene | Abuse - Physical | Punched a resident in the face. | Fired |
Maria | Velasquez | 10/1/08 | Denton | Neglect - Lack of Supervision | Didn't watch a resident who was later found wandering outside. | Suspended |
Rebecca | Boles | 10/6/08 | Lufkin | Abuse - Physical | Hit client with a belt. | Fired |
Jamaica | Davis | 10/21/08 | Denton | Neglect - Failure to Intervene | Didn't intervene when another worker whipped a resident with a towel. | Fired |
Tara | Quicksall | 10/30/08 | San Angelo | Abuse - Physical | Pried client's eyes open with fingers while holding her down. | Fired |
Shquonna | Collins | 12/1/08 | Mexia | Abuse - Physical | Slapped resident in the face over a shoplifting incident. | Fired |
Stefon | Brown | 12/14/08 | Mexia | Abuse - Physical | Shoved and slapped a resident. Told him to "go fuck your mother." | Fired |
Trimika | Owens | 12/27/08 | Mexia | Abuse - Physical | Hit a resident in the face and stomach. | Fired |
Shari | Rusnak | 12/31/08 | Mexia | Abuse - Physical | Shoved a resident, choked him, kneed him in the groin, and banged his head against the wall. | Fired |
Demarcus | Tiller | 12/31/08 | Mexia | Abuse - Physical | Punched and beat a resident. | Unknown Outcome |
Ashley | David | 1/9/09 | Denton | Abuse - Physical | Pushed a resident too fast in a wheelchair, injuring two of her fingers. | Fired |
Barbara | Walker | 1/16/09 | Mexia | Abuse - Emotional | Trapped resident in a closet. | Unknown Outcome |
Jerry | Quigley | 1/22/09 | Lubbock | Abuse - Physical | Hit a resident on the head, pulled his hears, choked him. | Unknown Outcome |
Kimberly | McClelland | 1/23/09 | Lufkin | Abuse - Physical | Struck client with radio cord multiple times. | Fired |
Thomas | Hildreth | 2/25/09 | Denton | Abuse - Emotional | Dripped watter on a patient's head knowing the patient does not like it. Continued after he was told to stop. | Fired |
Tim | Peterson | 3/12/09 | Austin | Abuse - Physical | Kicked client in the stomach. | Fired |
Jarrell | Whitley | 5/1/09 | Brenham | Abuse - Physical | Pushed client into wall, choked him, and dragged him into his room. | Fired |
Nathaha | Newsome | 5/11/09 | Brenham | Abuse - Physical | Popped client on the side of the head with and open hand. | Unknown Outcome |
Elona | Scarborough | 5/12/09 | Abilene | Abuse - Sexual | Wrote a note and drew pictures relating to patient's sexual likes and dislikes. | Fired |
James | Slaine | 5/18/09 | Mexia | Abuse - Physical | Choked, kicked and hit a resident. | Fired |
Berwin | West | 5/19/09 | Lufkin | Neglect - Lack of Supervision | Lack of supervision allowed two clients to engage in sexual acts. | Fired |
Joyce | Williams | 5/22/09 | Richmond | Abuse - Physical | Hit a resident's buttocks while changing him, and called him a "lazy bastard." | Fired |
Joyce | Williams | 5/22/09 | Richmond | Abuse - Emotional | Called a patient “lazy bastard” and hit patient's buttocks when changing him. | Fired |
Rachel | Phillips | 6/3/09 | Denton | Abuse - Physical | Sprayed a patient with a fire extinguisher, claiming it was self defense. | Fired |
Donnell | Smith | 6/6/09 | Lubbock | Abuse - Physical | Choked patient while trying to restrain him. | Fired |
Montinique | Wahsington | 7/5/09 | Austin | Abuse - Physical | Kicked resident in her side, grabbed hips and held her down for five to 10 minutes. | Fired |
Rachel | Schroth | 8/20/09 | San Angelo | Abuse - Physical | Hit client in the buttocks/hip while restraining her. | Fired |
Joseph | Perez | 8/21/09 | Abilene | Abuse - Physical | Kicked a resident in the head eight times. | Fired |
LaTasha | Tucker | 8/23/09 | Denton | Abuse - Physical | Dragged a patient by the arms and legs when patient refused to put shirt and bra back on. Sustained minor injuries. | Fired |
Tyesha | Floyd | 8/24/09 | Corpus Christi | Abuse - Physical | Directed a resident to beat up another and did not intervene. | Fired |
Enrique | Santos | 9/17/09 | Austin | Abuse - Physical | Grabbed and yanked at resident's gait belt. Hit client in the jaw. | Fired |
Chasa | West | 9/17/09 | Abilene | Neglect - Fell Asleep | Fell asleep, which allowed a patient to leave the house. | Fired |
Wayne | Bibby | 9/20/09 | Mexia | Abuse - Physical | Hit a resident in the face. | Fired |
Samuel | Lynch | 9/30/09 | Mexia | Abuse - Emotional | Offered a resident money to suck another resident's toe. Told another resident that he should "be shot, and his body taken out to a pasture to be torn apart by wild hogs." | Fired |
Alexandrea | Roberson | 10/16/09 | Lubbock | Abuse - Physical | Pushed resident into chair, then pushed her out and yelled “get out of this chair.” | Fired |
Wilmer | Davis | 11/20/09 | Mexia | Abuse - Physical | Punched resident in the face four times. | Fired |
David | Thorton | 11/22/09 | Lubbock | Abuse - Physical | Forcefully held down resident's head in effort to shave him. Seen beating client and slamming his his head into cabinet. | Fired |
Angie | Reeves | 11/27/09 | Mexia | Abuse - Sexual | Employee sent sexual nude pictures to resident. Called resident's phone 452 times, sent 29 text messages. | Fired |
Kirstin | Hicks | 12/1/09 | Abilene | Abuse - Physical | Slapped a resident, pulled her hair, and spit in her face. | Fired |
Cameshia | Lewis | 12/8/09 | Brenham | Abuse - Physical | Slapped client with an open hand. | Fired |
Amber | Barrera | 12/9/09 | Denton | Neglect - Lack of Supervision | Locked herself in the bathroom, leaving patients unsupervised. One patient stabbed the other several times with scissors. | Fired |
Jahaziel | Candanoza | 12/12/09 | Mexia | Abuse - Physical | Tried to choke a resident. | Fired |
Kimberly | Mixon | 12/21/09 | Lufkin | Abuse - Physical | Slapped a patient causing redness and scratches. | Fired |
Ricardo | Calderon | 12/30/09 | Lubbock | Abuse - Physical | Hit, kicked and stomped on client while on the ground. | Fired |
Marquie | Collins | 1/1/10 | Abilene | Neglect - Lack of Supervision | Did not supervise patients playing and one of them slammed their hand in a door. | Fired |
Chassie | Hall | 1/27/10 | Mexia | Neglect - Lack of Supervision | Didn't watch a resident who created a Molotov Cocktail. | Unknown Outcome |
Marin | Reyes | 2/3/10 | Abilene | Neglect - Fell Asleep | Fell asleep twice while watching a “one-to-one” patient. | Fired |
William | Reimann | 2/17/10 | Abilene | Neglect - Fell Asleep | Fell asleep while supervising a high risk patient. | Fired |
Antwon | Green | 2/20/10 | Lubbock | Abuse - Physical | Punched client causing redness and bruising around the eye. | Fired |
Rotrina | Davis | 2/22/10 | Brenham | Abuse - Physical | Hit client on the head with a wooden broom handle | Fired |
Lupe | Valdez | 2/25/10 | Richmond | Abuse - Physical | Punched and pushed a resident in the stomach. | Fired |
Angelica | Pesina | 3/11/10 | Abilene | Abuse - Sexual | Engaged in an inappropriate sexual relationship with a resident. | Fired |
Katelynn | Meller | 3/15/10 | San Antonio | Abuse - Physical | Grabbed and slapped a client. | Fired |
Katherine | Sargent | 3/15/10 | Abilene | Abuse - Physical | Pulled and twisted residents ears to get her to move. | Fired |
Daniel | Davison | 3/25/10 | Mexia | Abuse - Sexual | Sexually exploited a resident. Touched a second male resident in the groin. | Fired |
Kathy | Lewis-Baker | 3/29/10 | Denton | Abuse - Physical | Pulled a resident's arm. Forced other staff to remove the resident's clothes and keep him in his room. | Unknown Outcome |
Quida | Bledsoe | 5/3/10 | Mexia | Abuse - Emotional | Employee paid a resident $10 to steal a medical professional's cell phone. | Fired |
Janet | Fashae | 5/29/10 | Denton | Abuse - Physical | Hit a resident on the buttocks with a fly swatter, leaving marks. | Fired |
Patience | Aihie | 6/14/10 | Richmond | Abuse - Physical | Repeatedly hit a resident on the top of his head with her hand. | Fired |
Jenifer | Gerbert | 6/19/10 | Lubbock | Abuse - Physical | Kicked client on her left temple. | Fired |
Mark | Noriega | 6/21/10 | Richmond | Abuse - Physical | Dragged a resident from the shower to the hallway. | Unknown Outcome |
Shetara | Swearengin | 7/2/10 | Lubbock | Abuse - Physical | Slapped client twice causing swollen and bruised eye. | Fired |
Lucy | Utley | 7/13/10 | Denton | Abuse - Physical | Swatted patient's arms. | Fired |
Juan | Moralez | 7/14/10 | Richmond | Neglect - Lack of Supervision | Left a resident soiled with feces for nearly an hour without cleaning him. | Unknown Outcome |
Samuel | Williams | 7/25/10 | Mexia | Abuse - Sexual | Showed individuals pornographic pictures and asked them to perform oral sex on him. Evidence found in his cell phone. | Fired |
Joe | Williams | 7/27/10 | Mexia | Abuse - Physical | Punched a resident in the jaw. | Fired |
Abraham | Gracia | 7/28/10 | Austin | Abuse - Physical | Intentionally hit a resident in the face. | Fired |
Jacob | Schneider | 8/3/10 | Mexia | Abuse - Physical | Put a resident in a choke hold. | Fired |
Christopher | Ryar | 8/23/10 | San Angelo | Neglect - Lack of Supervision | Lack of supervision allowed two clients to engage in sexual acts. | Fired |
Genetter | Love | 8/25/10 | Richmond | Abuse - Physical | Hit a resident in the face. | Fired |
Tomekia | Wade | 8/28/10 | Lufkin | Abuse - Physical | Slapped client causing redness. | Fired |
Laveta | McGaha | 9/5/10 | Lubbock | Abuse - Physical | Hit a resident in the jaw with a closed fist. | Unknown Outcome |
Erica | Riley | 9/13/10 | Denton | Abuse - Physical | Hit patient in the back of the knees, causing the patient to buckle and fall on the floor. | Fired |
Roberta | Menefield | 9/15/10 | San Angelo | Abuse - Physical | Cursed at client. Pushed and hit a client's fingers with a telephone. | Fired |
Merilu | Pratt | 9/15/10 | Abilene | Abuse - Physical | Placed knee on patient's back and sat on him. | Fired |
Lorenzo | Barrios | 9/17/10 | Lubbock | Abuse - Physical | Hit client on left side of face. | Fired |
Rosalind | Gonzalez | 9/30/10 | Denton | Abuse - Physical | Dragged a resident out of her bedroom by her belt. | Fired |
Olukemi | Grace Shotayo | 10/4/10 | Denton | Abuse - Physical | Pulled patient out of wheelchair and threw her on sofa. No injuries sustained. | Fired |
Crystal | Rosas | 10/13/10 | Lubbock | Abuse - Physical | Grabbed patient's hair and slammed her head against the dresser. | Fired |
Stacie | Collins | 10/18/10 | Denton | Abuse - Physical | Grabbed back of patient's shirt, causing her to fall. When the patient got up, she hit the patient in the back of the knee causing her to fall down again. | Fired |
Scott | Langley | 10/21/10 | Denton | Abuse - Sexual | Kissed patient on lips twice. | Fired |
Water | Overstreet | 10/21/10 | Denton | Abuse - Physical | Shoved a resident's face on the floor. | Fired |
Johnny | Moore | 10/25/10 | Mexia | Abuse - Physical | Hit resident twice in the face. | Fired |
Felix | Ekezie | 10/27/10 | Denton | Abuse - Physical | Sprayed a patient with Oasis 297 cleaner on back of head and back. | Fired |
Reginald | Norman | 11/1/10 | Mexia | Abuse - Physical | Kicked a resident in the face, claimed it was a response to someone trying to stab him. | Fired |
Shandolyn | Lewis | 11/26/10 | Brenham | Abuse - Physical | Hit client with bathroom door three times while he lay on floor, then manipulated other patients to take the blame. | Fired |
Nikki | Ascol | 12/6/10 | San Angelo | Abuse - Physical | Choked patient during restraint. | Fired |
William | Higdon | 12/22/10 | San Antonio | Abuse - Physical | Hit client in the head with a metal bell causing three stables to close the wound. | Fired |
Uduak | Akpabio | 12/28/10 | Richmond | Neglect - Lack of Supervision | Lost a resident who was later found outside in 30 degree temperatures eating cigarette butts. | Suspended |
Geneva | Smith | 12/28/10 | Denton | Abuse - Physical | Put hands in resident's face, became aggressive and attempted to hit the resident. | Fired |
Ronald | Crow | 1/1/11 | Brenham | Abuse - Physical | Hit client with fist. | Fired |
Megan | Reyes | 1/8/11 | Richmond | Abuse - Physical | Pulled mittens out of patient's mouth, then beat the patient with her fist in the back of her head. | Fired |
Maria | Zamora | 1/8/11 | Richmond | Abuse - Physical | Hit client three times on the head with her fist. | Fired |
Skyler | McConnell | 1/20/11 | Mexia | Abuse - Physical | Incited one resident to hit another with a belt, causing serious injury and a trip to the emergency room. Four staples needed to close the wound. | Fired |
Geneva | Smith | 1/26/11 | Denton | Abuse - Physical | Became aggressive and attempted to hit patient. | Unknown Outcome |
Derrick | Pollard | 1/28/11 | Denton | Abuse - Physical | Punched patient twice. | Fired |
Oladipo | Jegede | 1/30/11 | Richmond | Abuse - Physical | Kicked a resident in the legs, punched him in the neck and chest and struck him on the head. Captured on video. | Resigned |
Tessarina | Walker | 2/16/11 | San Angelo | Neglect - Failure to Intervene | Did not intervene as one inmate attacked another on multiple occasions. | Fired |
Christina | Garcia | 2/19/11 | Abilene | Abuse - Physical | Kicked the back of resident's wheelchair causing her to fall out of it. | Fired |
James | Mitchell | 3/6/11 | Abilene | Abuse - Emotional | Made fun of patient for having one arm, threw a comforter on patient and told him he could not do anything with one arm. | Fired |
Charles | Nunley | 3/8/11 | Lubbock | Abuse - Physical | Pushed resident hard enough to make the resident fall. | Fired |
Ashley | Peacock | 3/21/11 | Richmond | Abuse - Physical | Punched resident in face, then continued to beat him. Captured on video. | Fired |
Julieta | Neira | 3/28/11 | San Angelo | Abuse - Physical | Attacked client after being spit on by client. Slammed her into a wall and wiped the spit from her face to the client's. | Suspended |
Jessica | Andrews | 4/19/11 | Mexia | Abuse - Physical | Punched and hit resident multiple times. | Fired |
Rawshana | Randle | 4/24/11 | Richmond | Neglect - Failure to Intervene | Did not report two staff members and residents who were having sex with each other. | Fired |
Donny | Lovelady | 4/27/11 | Lufkin | Abuse - Physical | Grabbed clients arm excessively, pushed him into restroom, slapped his back right side. | Fired |
Scarlett | Sharp | 6/3/11 | San Angelo | Abuse - Physical | Used excessive force to intervene when another employee was attacked. | Fired |
Antonio | Cheeves | 7/16/11 | Mexia | Abuse - Physical | Physically abused resident by pushing him onto bed, putting foot onto his throat. Caught on video. Other employees ignore it. | Fired |
Use our slideshow to take a virtual visit to the Mexia State Supported Living Center an hour east of Waco, home to hundreds of residents with disabilities, some of whom are alleged criminal offenders.
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Comments (19)
Bambi Clark via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Still waiting to see if Perry cares about the "needy" of society.
Amy Atchison-Fisher via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Bambi - you'll be waiting til Hell freezes over.
Cate Sitton via Texas Tribune on Facebook
I love that Perry's record is finally be scrutinized. I hope this is what the sheep who have been voting for him need to open their eyes to who and what this guy really is.
Fernando Perez via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Book'em ! Dano !
Jim Hsu via Texas Tribune on Facebook
It's hard to focus on the negatives when Perry has a "Texas Miracle" thing going for him.
Leesa Monroe via Texas Tribune on Facebook
this is terrible but as a society we don't value this type of work. I have friends with disabled children and their biggest fear is what will happen to their children once they are gone and can no longer care for them.
Leesa Monroe via Texas Tribune on Facebook
abuse by employees with little power continues..
A. Bryant
STOP THE ABUSE! All allegiations should be reported to the public and Texas Attorney Generals Office. The law is the law; why can't we get it enforced?
TrueTexan
Would the half who are criminals be better suited for jail?
Billie Veach via Texas Tribune on Facebook
I am sure he put all the money in the General Fund like he did the
education from the feds, all the tax at the oil/gas wells drilled in Tx.
and the Lotto profit were to go to the school children...there are
a few other things that went into the General Fund.
Jim Parsons via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Not to mention the continuing "abuse" of The Great Texas Public Schools, Texas Colleges and Universities, Texas Uninsured, Texas Women wanting a "choice," Texans injured or killed by texting Texas drivers, Texas immigrants, Unemployed Texans, the growing number of Texans -- adults and children -- living in poverty, and countless other abuses of Texas citizens and institutions. Aren't all of these "reforms" and "abuses" part of the same pattern of behavior, actions, and inaction?
Laura Wright
I'm confused- TrueTexan, do you mean that half of the people in the Mexica center are actually criminals?
TrueTexan
Alleged criminal offenders, committed crimes but not competent for trial. Yes. Media is a forensic facility.
TrueTexan
For people with mental retardation.
PBMom
"In the last fiscal year, 375 workers were fired or forced to resign because they abused or neglected disabled residents, more than in any of the previous three years." I want to know why these 375 workers are not facing criminal charges. If we abused or neglected our children as parents, we would be in prison.
Clay Boatright
No parent aspires to have their child live in a state institution. Enrollment at the SSLCs continues to decline, a sign that they are not a preferred option. However, 85% of the support people with disabilities need comes from the government, as non-govt entities choose not to engage. Leadership out of this problem will involve offering alternatives to the expensive and unpreferred SSLCs, which will be a more efficient use of our tax dollars and allow people with disabilities to choose where they want to live and have independent control of their lives. Focus on empowering people and Texas will no longer be at the bottom among states in caring for its most vulnerable citizens.
C Baker
They are putting criminals into these institutions with the population who is least able to defend themselves;
people who are mentally ill, brain damaged, retarded or developemently delayed. These poor people become
the victims of the violent and "insane" predator criminals they have to live with. They are raped, beaten, have
their food stolen and their clothes and shoes taken by these predator types.
TrueTexan
Texas should open a new SSLC for the alleged offenders.
Shelley Campbell
Please do not make the error of opening ANOTHER institution to address the issues cited in the rest of the institutions. We should be able to devise a way to segregate the forensic population to safeguard the general population of people with developmental disabilities. And why are we throwing more and more money into institutional services that continue to produce results that concern us? Community based services were the victims of our state's budget crisis as our most recent Texas Legislature had to figure out how we could live within our means. Providing services at a higher cost per person in institutions, rather than in communities, didn't make sense to me at the time, and it doesn't make sense to me now. Especially with reports such as these reflective of scary outcomes at a substantially higher cost. Why pay moe for less?