Thousands of starfish had washed ashore.
A little girl began throwing them in the water so they wouldn't die.
"Don't bother, dear" her mother said,
it won't really make any difference."
The girl stopped for a moment and looked at the starfish in her hand.
"Health care advocates have asked the Federal Trade Commission to
investigate Deloitte software errors they say disenrolled qualified Medicaid
participants."
"Texas has the highest rate of Medicaid disenrollments and uninsured
residents in the country."
"Advocates are calling for a halt to removals until the state can
account for why more than 80% of the people who lost Medicaid coverage were
eliminated for “procedural” reasons, like not responding to messages from the
state."
Here's how this works (personal
experience): Get envelope from Texas HHSC on January 20, 2024, postmarked
January 19, 2024, containing a letter dated January 9, 2024, requesting
information within ten days: that would be January 19th, one day before I
even received the letter. - Dave Thompson
Significant updates to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act rule
50 years after the law was enacted to advance equity and bolster protections for
people with disabilities
The rule ... updates critical provisions that help persons with
disabilities access health and human services under Section 504 of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
How are Texans with disabilities building lives of
independence and dignity, and participating in the culture of our state? How
does public policy offer support – or create barriers?
Now, a federal judge has ruled that
Florida has been unlawfully segregating children with complex medical
needs and putting other disabled children at risk of unnecessary
institutionalization. The judge, who issued the ruling Friday, said that
by failing to provide Medicaid services that would pay for private
nursing care and allow children to live in home settings, the state was
in violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A West Virginia journalist lost her job last
month after she reported about alleged abuse of people with disabilities
within the state agency that runs West Virginia’s foster care and
psychiatric facilities.
CHARLESTON – West Virginia Public Broadcasting has parted ways
with one of its reporters after alleged retaliation from WVPB operational
management and pressure from the Department of Health and Human Services.
Several of Knisely’s stories over the last two years have focused
on child welfare issues managed by DHHR, as well as a previous year-long
investigation into the state’s foster care system and accusations of abuse in
state facilities.
By The Associated Press, October 14, 2021, 1:18 PM
LA PORTE, Ind. -- An Indiana couple who accused staffers at an
elementary school four years ago of strapping their autistic then-7-year-old
daughter into a homemade restraining chair in the classroom have settled their
lawsuit against the district, the couple announced.
Note: What has changed in the last 20-25
years? Apparently little. I am happy that these parents found legal
representation to pursue this. In my school district, I was unable to find
attorneys willing to go up against the (enormously) well-funded school district
when my son came home from school ("self-contained classroom") with bruises and
was locked in a "stand up box". I withdrew him from school to protect his
personal health, safety, and well being. This more than 20 years ago. - Dave
Thompson
More than 40 states have sent their most vulnerable kids to facilities
run by a for-profit company named Sequel. Many of those kids were abused there.
A yearlong investigation led by APM Reports finds the company took in
some of the most difficult-to-treat children while keeping costs low in
pursuit of profit and expansion. The result was dozens of cases of physical
violence, sexual assault and improper restraints. Despite repeated scandals,
many states and counties continue to send kids to Sequel for one central reason:
They have little choice.
What investigators detailed in their final report echoed previous studies
by outside consultants and the district’s own determination that “the state of
special education in HISD is grave.”
"Across Texas, families with loved ones in state supported living centers
are desperate for in-person visits after months have ticked by with coronavirus
restrictions in place."
Some New Jersey schools have been forcing
students with disabilities to sign waivers promising not to sue the district
before giving them access to special education services, HuffPost has learned.
Rebecca Schore,the legal advocacy director at Disability
Rights New Jersey ... “If the parent refuses to sign it, they will absolutely
withhold services,” Schore said.
"Before the coronavirus pandemic, Texas schools
were already failing many students with disabilities. School closings have made
the job tougher and forced many parents to become amateur special ed teachers."
"Parents of children with disabilities are worried that federal
officials will give districts claiming coronavirus hardships significant leeway
to sidestep laws that ensure their children have access to education that’s
appropriate for their needs."
"A vast majority of the nation’s schools ― over 120,000 in all ― have
closed in an effort to combat the spread of coronavirus. For students with
disabilities, the stakes of these school closures are especially high."
"Local leaders at the city, county and state
levels have “implored” Gov. Greg Abbott to create a temporary hospital to combat
the virus at the home for more than 400 people with intellectual and
developmental disabilities."
"Buttigieg promises to fully fund the Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act. He also aims to tackle segregation in schools
between disabled and nondisabled students — specifically, making sure that
intellectually and multiply disabled students spend the vast majority of their
school days in the same learning environment as nondisabled students, rather
than being alienated from the rest of the student population."
"Over a hundred people with disabilities have been
killed by the police in the US in 2018."
"Hundreds
of people are killed by the police in the US each year. Much of the media
attention has been on the race of victims, but there is another disturbing
pattern to the deaths. A large number of those killed in interactions with
police have a disability, with some research suggesting the figure is as much as
half of the total number...."
A 26 minute 30 second audio file. In past comments I have warned of the
danger of police encounters created when someone calls 911 for an issue with a
disabled person ("Death by 911"). Thanks to the BBC for doing the work and
presenting this issue. - Dave Thompson
"At a House hearing, Toll described in detail numerous
cases she reviewed as leader of a team of nurses who found private companies
were collecting billions of dollars to care for disabled adults, foster children
and chronically sick children — and then skimping on that care to protect
profits."
<>
June 26, 2018
NOTE: The same issue as the The Inquirer
investigative reporting (see below). The Dallas Morning News has a paywall,
so you may - or may not - be able to read this investigative reporting before
the web site kicks you out. It's a sad situation that important work done by
local newspapers that applies to national issues (such as Medicaid services)
gets hidden behind paywalls.
Newspapers have adapted to today's world of
internet access with some very high-tech websites.
And to generate original content is expensive.
Fair enough that newpapers charge those who use their website often
("subscribers"). However, it not realistic to assume that national communities
(for example parents or caregivers of disabled persons) can afford to pay to
subscribe to every newspaper that does good investigative reporting.
The newpaper industry should make this content
avaiable either on their own websites for free, or make the content available
(republish) on national advocacy sites where users can read and study the
content.
There are advocacy websites that offer their
content at no charge. While - understandability - they do make appeals for
support, they make their content accessable without paywalls. For exmaple seeThe Texas Tribune or
ProPublica.
Dallas Morning News Editorial "The Dallas Morning News'
"Pain and Profit" series. That series revealed that the state's managed-care
system was suffering from inadequate oversight, not enough doctors and a
shortage of accountability. Currently, companies can reap large profits even
while cutting costs on care to the state's most fragile and vulnerable."
"Our data analysis shows that the Trump administration is
less likely than its predecessor to find wrongdoing by school districts on
issues ranging from racial and sexual harassment to meeting educational needs of
disabled students."
April 12, 2018
NOTE: The Inquirer website has a
subscribe (pay) wall. You can read a couple of stories, then they block you
("for the month") unless you subscribe.
I was unable to test - before they blocked me -
whether you can read all four Parts below in one session without getting
blocked.
If you get blocked, try clearing BOTH the browsing
history and cached web content using your browser options. If you have more than
one browser (such as FireFox and Internet Explorer), try switching browsers to
finish reading the series.
Nonetheless, it looks like a good series and
worth the effort to at least take a look. I'll leave the links up for a while
then remove them.
Sad. Another issue for those of us who care for
disabled persons. When we find good research, we are blocked. Who can afford to
pay for a digital subscription to every newpaper that actually does some good
work about important issues that concern parents and caregivers? - Dave Thompson
April 12, 2018
Falling Off the Cliff
As children with disabilities age into adulthood and well beyond, their
families face a crisis that will impact us all.
By Ronnie Polaneczky / Staff Writer December 2, 2017
PART 1, A Crisis for the Disabled It has been decades
since the state closed notorious institutions that warehoused people with
disabilities. We have yet to adjust to the fallout.
PART 2, Finding Good Help For adults with
disabilities and their families, getting a Medicaid waiver to pay for daily
care is like winning the lottery.
PART 3, Finding Work “You can’t talk about community
integration without talking about employment,” says an advocate for adults
with disabilities.
PART 4, Life After Death For disabled adults who
require constant care, the death of a parent can throw their lives into
chaos.
It had been a good day at the park...Our
5-year-old son, who is moderately autistic...when the police approached us.
We need less worry and more support. We need
less judgment and more acceptance. We need less of ...“the destructive
police-calling culture” and more true help and awareness.
Kids were denied special ed services because of state's
"dereliction of duty," not schools,' Texas administrators say.
Texas educators are pushing back
against Gov. Greg Abbott's assertion that children were denied special education
services because of schools' "dereliction of duty."
Last week, federal authorities found that schools across
the state broke the law by intentionally delaying or denying students such
programs in order to stay under perceived enrollment caps and avoid state
scrutiny.
"Up to 90 percent of students with disabilities are capable of graduating high
school fully prepared to tackle college or a career if they receive proper
support along the way. Only 65 percent graduate on time. Those that do cross the
finish line often aren’t ready for the next step."
Diane Craglow was caring for a 14-year-old autistic boy
named Connor Leibel in Buckeye, Ariz., one day in July. They took a walk to one
of his favorite places, a park in an upscale community called Verrado.
...
more officers arrived, spilling out of eight patrol cars
in response to Officer Grossman’s frantic call for backup. Soon it became clear
to Ms. Craglow that the policeman was unaware that Connor has autism
"The Education Department has rescinded 72 policy documents
that outline the rights of students with disabilities as part of the Trump
administration’s effort to eliminate regulations it deems superfluous."
Note: Most of the links below to
The Dallas Morning News stories are no longer
active (don't work). I am removing the underlying links that do not work, but
leaving the story headlines (July 27, 2014)
August 29, 2014
InTarrantCounty,afederallawsuitfiledoverMansfieldISDelementary’s‘calm rooms' for
developmentallydisabled
Autism rates have increased twentyfold in a generation, stirring parents'
deepest fears and prompting a search for answers. But what if the upsurge is not
what it appears to be?
Public spending on children with autism in
California varies greatly by race and class. A major reason: Not all families
have the means to battle for coveted assistance.
An autism treatment called applied behavior
analysis, or ABA, has wide support and has grown into a profitable business. It
has its limits, though, and there are gaps in the science.
As more children are diagnosed with autism, researchers
are trying to find unrecognized cases of the disorder in adults. The search for
the missing millions is just beginning.
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....
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....
LONDON -- The first study to link a childhood vaccine to autism was based
on doctored information about the children involved, according to a new report
on the widely discredited research...
Emily Ramshaw,
The Texas Tribune and Terri Langford,
Houston Chronicle
An emotionally troubled 16-year-old living in a Manvel
residential treatment center died after a restraint was applied in a closet by a
staffer — just four days after the home was placed on probation by the state,
The Texas Tribune and the Houston Chronicle have learned...
Emily Ramshaw,
The Texas Tribune and Terri Langford,
Houston Chronicle
Workers at a center for distressed children provoked
seven developmentally disabled girls into a fight of biting and bruising, while
they laughed, cheered and promised the winners a precious prize: after-school
snacks ....
April 24, 2010
Boy found near Wylie pond identified; grandmother arrested
12:46 AM CDT on Saturday,
April 24, 2010
By VALERIE WIGGLESWORTH / The Dallas Morning News
After eight days, he has a name: Gerren Joseph Isgrigg.
Late Friday, Wylieinvestigators confirmed
the identity of the 6-year-old whose body was found by a mowing crew April 15
near a Collin County pond.
April 17, 2010
Wylie police
released this illustration on Friday in hopes of identifying a boy whose body
was found Thursday at East Fork Park near Lavon Lake.
Wylie police, volunteers seek anyone who might be able to identify boy
03:35 PM CDT on Saturday,
April 17, 2010
By JON NIELSEN / The
Dallas Morning News
August 29, 2009
Tarrant County
medical examiner rules young man's Taser death a homicide
Friday, Aug. 28, 2009 Fort Worth
Star-Telegram By ELIZABETH ZAVALA and MITCH MITCHELL
FORT WORTH — The Tarrant County medical examiner ruled Thursday that the
death of a mentally ill man in April who was shocked twice by a Taser stun gun
wielded by a Fort Worth police officer was a homicide...
August 25, 2009
Lubbock State School staff body-slammed, choked man on day he died, mother says
LUBBOCK – The mother of a
45-year-old mentally disabled man whose death at a state-run home was ruled a
homicide said Monday that her son was body-slammed against a bed and choked with
a towel until he was blue...
August 15, 2009
Jury convicts defendant in Corpus Christi State School 'fight club' case
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas– A former state employee
responsible for some of Texas' most vulnerable residents was convicted Thursday
of injuring them, during orchestrated fights at a state facility for the
developmentally disabled. ...
The ACLU and Human Rights Watch released a disturbing
report today which claims that "students with disabilities face corporal
punishment in public schools at disproportionately high rates ...
...Among the cases cited in the report was that of a
6-year-old, first-grade boy with autism, who was paddled at his Mississippi
elementary school. An assistant principal who the report described as weighing
300 pounds “picked up an inch-thick paddle and paddled him” on the buttocks, the
report said....
Corporal Punishment of Students with Disabilities in US
Public Schools
August 10, 2009
In this 70-page report, the ACLU and Human Rights Watch found that
students with disabilities made up 18.8 percent of students who suffered
corporal punishment at school during the 2006-2007 school year, although
they constituted just 13.7 percent of the total nationwide student
population. At least 41,972 students with disabilities were subjected to
corporal punishment in US schools during that year. These numbers
probably undercount the actual rate of physical discipline, since not
all instances are reported or recorded.
AUSTIN – A legal settlement with the U.S. Justice Department to prevent
abuse and neglect inside Texas' state schools for the mentally disabled includes
a clear directive: Hire nearly 1,100 new employees.
But that won't be easy...
July 16, 2009
Advocates for the disabled say settlement agreement to improve state schools
doesn't do enough
AUSTIN – A settlement agreement Texas officials
signed with the U.S. Justice Department to improve conditions at the state
schools for the disabled doesn’t do enough to move people out of institutions
and into the community, advocates for the disabled said Thursday...
June 30, 2009
Former Allen teacher accused of burning disabled boy with cooking pan
AUSTIN – Faced with dangerous
conditions inside Texas' institutions for the mentally disabled and a massive
waiting list for community-based care, lawmakers didn't pick sides – they
improved both....
Texas agency agrees to $112 million settlement to improve schools for disabled
AUSTIN – The agency that
oversees the state schools for the disabled must hire more than 1,000 new direct
care workers and drastically improve living conditions at the facilities, under
a $112-million, 5-year settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice....
May 20, 2009
Cellphone video shows Corpus Christi State School 'fight club'
Attorneys for the family of a
Corpus Christi State School resident have released some of the cellphone camera
footage that led to the arrest and indictment of six employees on charges that
they forced mentally disabled residents to fight each other....
by Christina Jewett , ProPublica -
May 19, 2009 1:29 pm EDT
The Government Accountability Office presented
[members of Congress] with horror stories of another kind: One
teacher duct-taped children to a chair. Another put kids as young as 6 years old
in strangleholds. Another killed a student by sitting on him, and then continued
teaching in another state.
...a Dallas Morning News
review of state termination records shows at least 40 Corpus Christi State
School employees were fired or forced to resign for abusing or neglecting
residents in the last four years...
May 18, 2009
Texas House approves measures to prevent abuse at state schools for disabled
AUSTIN – Texas services for
people with disabilities, beset by allegations of abuse and neglect, would face
far greater scrutiny and security under a measure the House gave early approval
to on Monday....
Looks like the usual political window-dressing response to
me. Rather than fixing the problem, Texas changes
the name of the state schools to “state supported living centers.” Oh, that's going to help- Dave Thompson
April 28, 2009
Efforts to consolidate, close Texas state schools for
disabled fail
AUSTIN – Efforts to start
consolidating state schools for the mentally disabled in favor of
community-based services crumbled Tuesday as lawmakers in both chambers agreed
they would be unable to pass such sweeping legislation....
April 12, 2009
Texas state school workers were paid millions in overtime last year
12:00 AM CDT on Sunday,
April 12, 2009
By RYAN McNEILL and EMILY RAMSHAW / The Dallas
Morning News
State employees who care for
Texans with profound disabilities were paid millions of dollars in overtime last
year, in some cases working the equivalent of a month's worth of 13-hour days,
according to a review of payroll data by The Dallas Morning News.
March 13, 2009
3 jailed, 3 more wanted in Corpus Christi State School
'fight club' case
11:21 AM CDT on Friday,
March 13, 2009
By EMILY RAMSHAW /
The Dallas Morning News
AUSTIN – Corpus Christi police said today they have arrested three of six
state workers accused of forcing mentally disabled state school residents into
"fight club"-style brawls, the day after advocates came to the Capitol to
protest the state's handling of the scandal...
<>
The Texas State School system
should be dismantled and replaced with community group homes. There should be
complete funding for community-based group homes to include adequate staffing
and access to community services such as health care. Professional oversight and
inspections obviously should be integral to this process. - Dave Thompson
<>
February 23, 2009
Legislature face-off at hand over Texas' schools for disabled
By EMILY RAMSHAW / The Dallas Morning News
Monday February 23, 2009
AUSTIN – The battle over how
to care for profoundly disabled Texans begins in the Legislature today as
lawmakers file a measure to drastically downsize the state school system and
expand community living options. ...
If you live in Texas, contact your state representatives,
both in the Texas House and Texas Senate. Please let them know that disabled
persons are human beings no less than you or I, and that we are
our brother's (and sister's) keeper. Support the closing of the abominable,
inhuman Texas State Schools and complete funding for community-based group homes
to include adequate staffing and access to community services such as health
care. Support professional oversight and inspections.
The Texas legislature meets only every two years. It is
important to let them them hear from parents and family members. It is important
to let the members of the Texas legislature hear from friends of disabled
persons, from friends of their families, and every one - every one - of us who
cares about humanity of us all and the obligation, the duty, we hold to protect
and ensure the rights of disabled persons to have a life of respect, dignity,
and care. - Dave Thompson - Feb 23, 2009
A Sunday Times investigation has found that altered data was
behind the decade-long scare over vaccination
Note: I've been seeing some good, investigative reporting from The News
lately. Let me know if you have any problems with the story links. - Thanks -
Dave Thompson
February 3, 2009
Governor declares overhaul of state schools a priority
EMILY RAMSHAW / The
Dallas Morning News
AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry will declare protection of
residents in state schools for the disabled a legislative emergency today, a
move that follows reports of widespread abuse and neglect and a broad federal
investigation into conditions at the facilities.....This measure will not
address advocates' growing calls to close or consolidate the state schools.
<>
Sounds like the usual political response:
nothing about the humanity of the residents. - DLT 2/3/2009
<>
New bill won't end debate over closing Texas state schools
Disabled children in Sumner County, Tenn., were locked in
four-by-three foot plywood cells that had been put together by maintenance staff
at 12 district schools. An Oklahoma student with autism was led around his
school wearing a harness and rope. Since 2002, three children -- including a
7-year-old girl -- have died as a result of being restrained in public and
private schools, the report says. Another boy locked in a seclusion cell hanged
himself with his makeshift belt.
Advocates debate ways to close some Texas schools for the disabled
By EMILY RAMSHAW /
The Dallas Morning News 07:01 CST on Monday, December 8 , 2008
The politicians are back at it:
Despite the Justice Department and budget board reports, said Rep. Susan King,
R-Abilene, "I don't think we have definitive information" to justify closing any
state schools yet.
Key findings In a recent 12-month period, at least 114
facility residents died
In the first nine months of this year, school staff applied restraints 10,143
times, affecting 751 residents.
At least 200 staff members were fired for abuse or neglect of residents in each
of two recent years ...
Facilities failed to monitor psychotropic drug prescriptions, leading one
resident to take 10 different drugs at a time, and another who needed them not
to take any – before hanging herself with a shoestring.
Of the more than 4,500 state school residents, only 164 were moved into
community-based care in a recent 12-month period ...
NOTE: I will have more content up after I read the DOJ OCR report - Dave
Thompson, December 2, 2008
Justice department to investigate all schools for disabled in Texas AUSTIN The U.S. Department of
Justice has announced it will investigate conditions
inside all of Texas state schools for people with disabilities, a
spokeswoman for the
state agency that oversees the facilities confirmed on Friday ... By EMILY RAMSHAW /
The Dallas Morning News
Rick Attig and Doug Bates of The Oregonian,
Portland
"For their persuasive, richly reported editorials on abuses
inside a forgotten Oregon mental hospital."
Note: Check back for updates. My
rebuilding effort for the site continues .... Dave Thompson
US Supreme Court: The
Shaffer Decision- Nov 14, 2005 (Special Ed) See
especially the Ginsburg dissent: [Dissent 1]
Added November 3, 2005 : Research
Page(last update February 23, 2009)
I will be adding content to the research
page as we go.
Meanwhile, please send me
information regarding news stories available on the web (see bottom of
this page for contact information). We have had some excellent work done by
investigative journalists in the past: Katherine Boo, the Washington Post;
Eric Weiss, the Hartford Courant, etc. I will be reviewing these series
and putting up links for them. Timeliness is important since many newspaper web
sites either delete stories after a time, or move them to a paid archive
location. Dave Thompson - November 3, 2005