Time for accountability on Beatrice center is now

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The charge by Nebraska Advocacy Services that “problems and failures at the Beatrice State Developmental Center are systemic, chronic, and have persisted for years” might be dismissed as hyperbole in support of a good cause.

Regrettably, there is much data to back up the claim.

State officials should have fixed this problem years ago. It’s shameful that reports of serious injury and neglect continue.

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The advocacy organization, which receives government funding to advocate for Nebraskans with physical and mental disabilities, found 86 incidents of abuse and neglect, including 22 broken bones, during a nine-month period that began in January.

Separate checkups by federal officials over the years have resulted in stern warnings that the center could lose $28.5 million in funding if improvements weren’t made.

The most recent warning came earlier this month. That followed a previous warning in April, which followed a previous warning in November of last year. On all those visits, the inspection team found that conditions at the center “constituted immediate jeopardy to resident health and safety.”

Currently, the state faces a deadline of Feb. 7 to make necessary corrections or federal funding will be terminated on March 7.

The fundamental problem at the center, which serves more than 300 Nebraskans with serious developmental disabilities, is that it cannot attract sufficient staff.

Currently, the center has about 100 unfilled positions. That’s a continuing problem. Six months ago, the center had about 70 vacancies, mostly for entry-level, direct care positions that ranged in pay from almost $10 an hour to more than $14.

Now, state officials are approaching the problem from a different direction. Instead of trying to keep the positions filled with caring and competent workers, officials will try to reduce the number of residents at the center.

“Right sizing” the center might bring the resident population down to a level more in line with the center’s historical pattern for recruiting and retaining staff.

To accomplish that goal, officials must assess residents and identify those who could be moved to community-based services elsewhere in Nebraska. To help in developing that plan, state officials have hired the Pennsylvania-based consulting firm Liberty Health Care Corp. at a cost of $39,500. The firm also may offer advice on training and dealing with the staff shortage.

The administrative structure of Health and Human Services, which oversees the Beatrice Center, recently was streamlined with a promise from Gov. Dave Heineman that it would improve accountability.

The problem-plagued Beatrice State Developmental Center would be the ideal place to make good on that promise.