Legislative leaders say no one should tolerate instance after instance of abuse of people with behavioral disabilities.
“As leaders of the state, we just are not going to stand by and watch this occur,” said Delegate Matthew Rohrbach, R-Cabell, vice chairman of the House Health Committee.
Lawmakers listened to a report on Monday describing the abuse of disabled state residents who live in behavioral health centers. Horror stories from all over West Virginia during a little less than three years were laid out bullet point by bullet point.
“My first take, it’s just disgusting,” Rohrbach said today on MetroNews’ “Talkline.”
“This is the most disturbing thing I’ve heard in seven years. I can assure you the leadership of this house is not going to tolerate this. This is going to come to an end.”
A Greenbrier County resident spent about two hours in a facility vehicle, causing heat exhaustion with a body temperature of 104 while receiving no medical attention.
A Cabell County resident was not provided a shower for months except for periodic “sink baths.” Staff gave her a military-style haircut because of matted hair and odor.
A nonverbal Cabell County resident was swaddled tightly in blankets — with pillows and a heavy bean bank up against her — as she “tried desperately to free herself.”
These were examples in nine pages of findings presented to lawmakers on the Legislative Oversight Commission on Health and Human Resources Accountability.
The report reflected the concerns of the state’s Office of Health Facility Licensure & Certification.
“It certainly highlights a terrible problem about which I was unaware,” said Delegate Jeffrey Pack, R-Raleigh, chairman of the House Health Committee.
He said legislative committees “will be doing a deeper dive into this problem and I would certainly expect significant changes to be made through legislation next session.”
The findings applied to people who are not able to care for themselves, so they live in homes with workers providing 24-hour supervision. The vulnerable state residents may have mental, behavioral or addictive disorders requiring a high level of care.
“As legislators and as neighbors, we have a duty to speak out for our most vulnerable citizens,” said Senate Minority Leader Stephen Baldwin, D-Greenbrier. “Those at fault for the injustices in the report must be held accountable, and we hold a responsibility to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”
They may live in different kinds of homes including homes of their own, with a family member, with a host family or in a provider-owned or -operated setting.
Group homes with four or more residents who need such help are licensed by the state.
The smallest of the group homes, with three or fewer people under round-the-clock supervision, are called intensively-supported settings and include homes owned or rented by the resident or their family. Some of these are owned by provider subsidiary companies and then rented out.
The intensively-supported settings are not licensed or regularly surveyed. They’re only entered by inspectors if a complaint is received or if a home is selected for a site visit to examine the work of a licensed provider.
Rohrbach noted that all of the homes where the awful incidents occurred were contracted facilities.
“There’s absolutely no way any of this could be justified,” he said. “This doesn’t meet the minimum standards for any type of care whatsoever. These are atrocious acts committed against our most vulnerable people.”
Rohrbach asked Monday if the state continues to maintain business relationships with the operators of homes where the abuse occurred.
The answer was yes because the state is concerned about losing the available beds.
“I just can’t tolerate that. So we’re going to have to look at getting rid of some of the operators,” Rohrbach said. “We’re going to have to find better operators.”
Rohrbach had several initial proposals meant to address the problem:
The first is clearer pursuit of criminal charges against abusers. “If you’re going to treat an intellectually-disabled individual this way, you’re going to face criminal charges.”
Another is setting up a registry so abusive workers aren’t hired again. “If you would treat a disabled individual this way, there needs to be some sort of registry that you’ll never work in this industry again. Period. No questions asked.”
And better training should be a prerequisite for workers, he said. Most workers were described as high school graduates with little training aside from CPR.
“There’s more to come on this,” Rohrbach said.
Democratic senators issued a set of statements today expressing deep concerns about the descriptions in the report.
“The incidents made public yesterday by OHFLAC regarding our homes that service our disabled and disadvantaged were horrifying and appalling,” said Senator Richard Lindsay, D-Kanawha.
He said the state agency “clearly does not have the resources to satisfy its mandate — not surprising, given the budget cuts DHHR has endured over the last six years.”
Senator Ron Stollings, D-Boone, said fixing the problems would require funding, education and staff development.
“The system is broken and needs a litany of immediate attention,” Stollings said.