Failing the Disabled
In 2000, Oregon closed its notorious Fairview Training Center for the "feeble-minded" and replaced it with community-based programs. But in a troubling special report, "After Fairview," Michelle Roberts of The Oregonian shows that the community-based programs often are little better than Fairview. During the past seven years, one of every five clients in state-licensed foster or group homes have been victims of at least one serious instance of abuse or neglect. At least 14 have died after workers failed to provide necessary care.
Clients have choked on food, suffered violent injuries or become ill with treatable health problems that caregivers ignored or missed. In half the deaths investigated by the state, The Oregonian found that caregivers didn’t recognize clients’ serious health problems or act quickly enough to call 9-1-1.
One foster care worker buckled an electric dog collar around the neck of an autistic man, zapping him repeatedly to control him. Another caregiver punished a client with cold showers and attacks by her dog.
Yet another — while "employee of the month" at a Jackson County group home — sexually assaulted a mentally retarded woman who could not move or speak.
Be sure to check out the multimedia links on the homepage. http://blog.oregonlive.com/oregonianextra/2007/11/grouphomes.html