JUSTICE DEPARTMENT REACHES SETTLEMENT REGARDING UNCONSTITUTIONAL CONDITIONS AT TWO LOUISIANA DEVELOPMENTAL CENTERS

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Justice Department today announced that it has reached an agreement with the state of Louisiana regarding conditions at the two largest state-owned and operated residential facilities in Louisiana serving persons with developmental disabilities - Pinecrest Developmental Center and Hammond Developmental Center. The Department found numerous civil rights violations at both facilities.

Through the course of its investigation, the Department discovered credible evidence that vulnerable residents with developmental disabilities were repeatedly physically and verbally abused. For example, the investigation revealed that various staff dragged a resident across the carpet, causing abrasions; kicked a resident; placed a blanket over a resident’s head and hit him; slapped a 50-year-old resident on the head and put a rag over her nose and mouth; and pulled a resident’s hair with such force that her head literally jerked from one side of the pillow to the other.

The investigation also found that staff at Hammond left two residents without appropriate supervision for over an hour, and later found these two persons soiled with urine as well as drool or vomit. In recent months local police arrested some Pinecrest staff workers and brought criminal charges stemming from these individuals’ confirmed physical or verbal abuse of facility residents. Other civil rights violations the Department discovered included inadequate medical care, inadequate psychology and training services, and a failure to provide services in the most integrated setting appropriate for individual residents.

The agreement, filed with the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana in Baton Rouge, will ensure that the residents of the facilities are safe and receive adequate care and services. The agreement, which is subject to approval by the court, represents a negotiated resolution of the Justice Department’s investigation that would not have been possible without the extraordinary cooperation and commitment of the Governor of Louisiana, Mike Foster, and the State Secretary of the Department of Health and Hospitals, David Hood.

“The protection and support of people with developmental disabilities is of paramount importance,” said R. Alexander Acosta, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “Today’s settlement will improve the protection, service, and support provided to the Pinecrest and Hammond residents, and should send a message that we will work tirelessly to hold facilities accountable for safeguarding the health, safety and welfare of this often vulnerable population.”

David Dugas, United States Attorney for the Middle District of Louisiana, added, “This settlement will enable the state to focus its resources where they belong, on the needs of the residents of the Pinecrest and Hammond Developmental Centers. I am pleased that the Department of Justice and the state of Louisiana are working together to ensure that the rights of institutionalized persons in Louisiana are protected. This settlement will enable the state to focus its resources where they belong, on the needs of the residents of the Pinecrest and Hammond Developmental Centers."

Under the terms of the detailed agreement, the state will: improve practices to meet the basic care needs of the residents; provide a safe and humane environment for residents with zero tolerance for abuse or neglect of residents; provide adequate medical and dental care, nursing services, nutritional and physical support including therapy and communication supports, psychological and behavioral services, and psychiatric care; and ensure that residents are free from undue bodily restraint.

The state will also ensure that each resident is served in the most integrated setting pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) , and will provide community-based treatment for residents consistent with the law. The text of the settlement agreement may be found at: <http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/split/>.

Under the terms of the agreement, an independent expert will monitor the state’s compliance with the agreement and issue public reports over the next three years.

The Civil Rights Division conducted its investigation pursuant to the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act of 1980 (“CRIPA”). This statute authorizes the Attorney General to investigate and root out systemic abuses such as those identified here. The Civil Rights Division has successfully resolved similar investigations of other health care facilities in Tennessee, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The Department recently filed suit against the state of Mississippi to end abuses of confined juveniles.

Since 2001, the Department of Justice has opened 35 similar investigations into the terms and conditions of confinement at nursing homes, mental health facilities and residences for persons with developmental disabilities, juvenile justice facilities, and prisons. These figures represent a 75 percent increase over the 20 such investigations initiated over the preceding three years.

More information about the Special Litigation Section of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division can be found at <http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/index.html>.

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