Beatrice State Developmental Center settlement provides due process

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By NANCY HICKS / Lincoln Journal Star

For several months, state senators have been hearing about serious problems with staffing and care at Beatrice State Developmental Center, an institution for people with developmental disabilities.

But apparently there are also problems with community based programs.

A recently settled lawsuit brought by adults with developmental disabilities who are having trouble getting community services shows some of the flaws in the community based portion of the state system of care for people with developmental disabilities.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in 2003 by parents and guardians of people with developmental disabilities, contends that there has been neither adequate nor appropriate funding for community services and it describes a lack of adequate care for people in community programs.

The March 31 settlement comes at the same time the Legislature has set up a special committee to investigate problems at BSDC plus look at the full system of care for adults with developmental disabilities.

“I think you are seeing the perfect storm,” with problems surfacing for both institutional care and community care at the same time, said Alan Zavodny, chief executive officer of Northstar, a nonprofit organization that provides community programs for more than 360 people with developmental disabilities in northeastern Nebraska.

The March 31 settlement does not provide more state funds for community programs. It provides due process for people who believe they are not getting the community services they need from the state, and it requires the creation of two committees to look at specific issues in community programs — the wait list of more than 2,600 people and the formula used to establish the number of hours of programming that clients can receive.

Several of the six plaintiffs in the lawsuit, brought in 2003 against the Department of Health and Human Services, are young adults whose parents could not control their behavior but who couldn’t place them in group homes because there is not enough state funding.

Others involved in the lawsuit live in group homes but contend they could not get enough hours of day programs in the community because the state formula doesn’t adequately measure their needs.

“The success of this settlement is up to the consumers of the services, their families and advocates, plus the will of Health and Human Services and ultimately the appropriate funding by the Legislature,” said Shirley Ann Mora James, an attorney with Nebraska Advocacy Services Inc.

The long-term goal is to work together on addressing the problems, then take a plan with the funding required to the Legislature, she said of the settlement.

The Legislative committee should look at the needs of both the community programs and the problems at Beatrice, said Tim Shaw, CEO of Nebraska Advocacy Services.

It is important for the Legislature to look at this as an entire system of support for people with developmental disabilities, he said.

“The institution is one part. To focus on one aspect without looking at the entire system as a whole system will cause us to come up short with an effective remedy or solution,” he said.

“The one thing that I believe can come out of this (legislative study) is that people will understand that there is one system,” said Dave Merrill, executive director for Region V Services.

“What happens in Beatrice is interrelated with the community programs,” he said.

Reach Nancy Hicks at 473-7250 or nhicks@journalstar.com.