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Promises ring hollow on Beatrice center

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Monday, Dec 01, 2008 - 12:47:26 am CST

Just when it seemed that the list of transgressions at the Beatrice State Developmental Center could get no worse, more wretchedness has come into view.

A male resident of the troubled center has been accused of pulling a female patient into a restroom, locking the door and sexually assaulting her.

Advocates said the man allegedly had tried to sexually assault the woman previously.

They were appalled to learn that the male patient was escorted to adult bookstores to buy pornography.

As Bruce Mason of Nebraska Advocacy Services put it, “they actually fed his lust. Do you pour kerosene on a fire?”

Surely state officials could have found a more appropriate balance between the safety of residents and an individual resident’s purported right to look at porn.

Belatedly, Gov. Dave Heineman said he will work with Attorney General Jon Bruning on a plan to restrict field trips to porn shops in the future.

Such policies possibly could have been in place years ago. Courts have upheld a law that prohibits federal funding for correctional facilities from being used to distribute material that is sexually explicit or features nudity. The same rationale presumably would apply to the Beatrice Center.

As a single isolated incident the alleged sexual assault might have been easier to explain away.

But it must be viewed in the context of multiple investigative reports that have reported a persistent pattern of abuse and neglect at the center.

A U.S. Justice Department investigation revealed about 200 cases during a period from late 2006 to 2007. A safety consultant quoted in the report said the findings suggested a “cultural undercurrent that betrays human decency at the most fundamental levels … basic human dignities are violated with considerable regularity.”

The incident once again shows the management vacuum at the center for vulnerable developmentally disabled Nebraskans.

Each new problem that surfaces provokes expressions of concern and outrage.

In response to the latest outrage, Heineman pronounced himself “disgusted.”

After so much repetition, words ring hollow.

The weeks, months and years roll by and nothing seems to change.

What’s it going to take to establish the effective oversight that is needed at the center to protect the safety of some of Nebraska’s most vulnerable residents?

Maybe the governor should move his office to the developmental center so he can get a handle on this ongoing calamity. After all, the buck stops at his desk.


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wrote on December 1, 2008 8:21 am:
" Governor, you're going to have to swallow hard and accept that the Beatrice center needs money. It can't hire enough good, trained staff without money. You always get what you pay for. As long as you force the Beatrice center to operate on a rock-bottom budget, you'd better get used to making up the cost savings by paying out judgments to residents who are assaulted there. "

 BSDC employee wrote on December 1, 2008 10:08 am:
" Unless you have worked at BSDC, you need to keep nasty opinions of this place to yourself. It makes me very angry when people judge BSDC and its employess and its individuals (not patients) I have been employed there for several years and personally am disgusted by all of the bad publicity that we seem to get continuously. People have no idea what it is like to work there. There has been a lot of changes happening at BSDC, good things, but of course, no one ever hears about that. "

 When words arent enough wrote on December 1, 2008 10:22 am:
" Yes, I agree warnings and discipline sent out to BSDS cant always produce the changes desired. Effectivity of the personell is hampered on all levels when the team approach is so concerned about violations of a persons rights that noone is brave enough to step forward and make a common sense judgement on behalf of an individual that is hampered in his ability to make decisions on his own. I have seen this in the community sectors also. No discipline allowed, make a mistake such as assault a staff and all is forgiven by the next day. Staff can't even restrict outings on the basis that everyone has "right to community involvement" without some special meeting being called. "Turn your day around" is the strongest reprimand allowed at some homes right here in your community. Money isn't the answer here either, it is a recognition that some individuals need decisions made for them and the staff need to be trusted to make that decision in their best interest. If a greater dollar ensures better decision makers then so be it. If the family members don't like the decisions made let them care for their own family members! "

 Matter not a whipping post wrote on December 1, 2008 10:33 am:
" How we treat those of need in our society reflects on who we are as a society. Like it or not, the clients at BSDC are human, have rights, and need to have those rights enforced. If this male client can't buy and read pornography, then no one in society should be able to. If this causes him to acts out in an aggressive, sexual manner, then steps should be taken to disipline him accordingly, either chemically (medications) or physically (castration). Using this matter as a whipping post pursuant of more funding or closer of BSDC is ludicrous. "

 The facts are in... wrote on December 1, 2008 10:54 am:
" Sorry, BSDC employee, I'm sure there are very good people working with the individuals at the Center. I know the people who are there are as valuable as I am. But money won't solve this problem. The ABUSE continues. The Governor needs to do his job. As the article points out..."the buck stops at his desk". "

 eddie wrote on December 1, 2008 11:36 am:
" The situation at the BSDC has been festering since at least 1999. Current management is completely responsible for the situation there. Our elected officials are ignoring the fact that there are middle managers working there who are the main contributors to the problems. Everyone knows who they are but no one has the courage to get rid of them. Vulnerable people pay for the cowardice of supposedly responsible and intelligent leaders.

There is nothing new going on at the BSDC. The only solution is to replace management at least down to the supervisory level. All of management knows who the problems are and those who are not the problem are complicit in it by going along to get along.

Get some guts elected officials. "

 MA wrote on December 1, 2008 11:43 am:
" Yeah, it is difficult for people outside of BSDC to understand the issues here. What is a person's right and what is not. This place is really good overall. I've worked here for years, but none of the good stuff gets much publicity. That's the media and people who enjoy the drama more I suppose. "

 Taxpayer wrote on December 1, 2008 11:44 am:
" As a taxpayer, I am thoroughly disgusted and outraged to find out that my money was used to pay for gasoline and employee wages to drive this client up to Lincoln to get pornography! I am all for "resident rights", but enough is enough!! How far do people get to push that envelope?? Maybe the counselors that are paid thousands of dollars to work with the clients at BSDC could work on conseling this person to redirect focus onto more productive activities?? What else do my taxpayer dollars pay for that haven't been exposed yet?? "

 Not surprized wrote on December 1, 2008 6:41 pm:
" I believe that many state development centers such as BSDC allow clients to obtain material that some may find objectionable. Because these are not prisoners, they are patients. Granted, each individual case needs to be evaluated to see if a problem could be created, but as a general rule, patients are allowed free speech, free expression and to look at material that others may find offensive. Finding solutions for BSDC may take a while. The state may have to look at other similar facilities to get ideas and facilitate a dialogue with experts in this area. "

 HHS employee wrote on December 1, 2008 8:11 pm:
" This editorial is pretty close to the mark but I don't think it will help to move the Governor's office to BSDC. DHHS leaders such as John Wyvill and Chris Peterson should make that move first. Despite crisis after crisis down there, neither of these two 'leaders' has spent any substantial time down there. They stay holed up in their offices on the 3rd floor of NSOB trying to cover their own rear ends so they can keep their jobs.
I would really like the Journal Star to ask these two how much time they have spent at BSDC over the past the year. I think the public would be very interested to hear the answer. "

 Nina wrote on December 2, 2008 9:04 am:
" Poor management, at the BSDC, and at the post of Governor, allows such a situation to happen, I believe. The welfare of the patients/residents is too often not the first priority. But this type of laxity happens at many care places. A friend told of visiting a care center where only one woman was trying to handle the whole Alzheimer's unit, running herself ragged. All the other staff were at the nurses' station, watching the 4th quarter of the Husker game. Even though the woman requested help twice (even on the paging system, which could not be missed) no one helped. Two Alzheimer's residents escaped their unit; a visitor brought one back, and the harried nurse aide brought the other back. It looked like some of them did not get any supper, because one person could not handle so many, especially when some had to be hand fed. Pitiful, and poor management is the cause. (Apparently all management personnel had taken a four-day holiday weekend and were making no appearances for that time.) Someone needs to manage the managers, I say, to prevent abuse and neglect of helpless people, many who are paying thousands of dollars a month for care they're not always getting. "

 Observer wrote on December 2, 2008 9:33 am:
" It is a fact that BSDC has need for greater numbers of higher quality employees to add to the many dedicated staff that already work there. It is also true that there are many (taxpayers) sitting on the sideline who think they know all they need to know about operating BSDC. I would suggest that they take their knowledge to BSDC, apply for one of the many open positions and if they are minimally qualified, take their shot at helping the State of Nebraska solve this. Just work one day a week, volunteer, get involved in the actual work. The people at BSDC are your sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, neighbors. "

 eddie wrote on December 2, 2008 11:17 am:
" It is far past time for the Governor to get involved and fix this issue. The buck stops with him. Until he hires competent managment, the problem will continue to fester and innocent people will continue to suffer.

Does the BSDC have a CEO? I think not. It has not had a CEO for over two years!

Why has the Governor punted on this problem? "

 Taxpayer wrote on December 2, 2008 4:21 pm:
" To Not a Whipping Post: It's not okay to prevent taxpayer dollars from being spent on employee wages and gasoline to take this resident to Lincoln to buy pornography, but it IS okay to chemically (with medications) or physically (by castration) restrain him from acting out afterwards?? Are you serious?? Chemical restraints were outlawed in the 80's and gender neutralization long before that! You think either of those options is better than preventing the purchase in the first place? You are part of the problem! Common sense should prevail, not people standing on the sidelines shouting human rights when they have no idea what is actually at stake. "

 josephgores wrote on December 2, 2008 5:05 pm:
" AS someone whose life's work is the care of developmentally disabled persons, I take offense at the editorial boards mention here of case law prohibiting correctional facilities from participating in the distribution of sexually explicit material. The BSDC is many things--but it is not a correctional facility. Being developmentally disabled is not a crime, and does not warrant punishment. Shame on the editorial board for equating the two. As to the rights of the disabled to buy things and have property--they have the same rights as anyone else, unless there is a case by case decision to the contrary. That means that they have the right to buy things they want---even if you don't like what they buy with their own money. Whether the ownership and use of pornography increases or decreases the odds of a person committing a sexual assault is not a settled question. It could be argued that use of pornography prevents a person from seeking out people to sexually assault. Sorry if that is too
complex for everyone--but it is real. We don't know if the pornography motivated this person to commit an assault, or if it prevented other assaults. Please treat this like the complex issue that it is. Please refrain from jumping to sudden conclusions, just because you find the idea of developmentally disabled persons having the same sexual urges as anyone else distasteful. "

 Rights wrote on December 3, 2008 9:43 am:
" The people that live at BSDC have the same basic rights as anyone else in this country. This is NOT a correctional facility - it is their HOME! Do they take people out to buy Bibles? You have to be careful when you start restricting rights - you never know where it will go. "

 Yes from a BSDC employee wrote on December 4, 2008 9:12 am:
" The people that live at BSDC are NOT Prisioners, they are NOT Patients, they are PEOPLE! They have the same rights as everyone else. I am perfectly free (being over 18) to go out and buy pornography if I want to. People may find that offensive, but that is my choice. Granted, some of these PEOPLE are not capable of making thier own decisions, that is why they have Guardians to do it for them. Obviously, the guardian had a say in whether or not this man was allowed to purchase pornography. What it sounds like to me is a lack of supervision when he was around that particular female. Unfortunately that happens alot because BSDC is often understaffed. "

 John Q Public wrote on December 4, 2008 4:24 pm:
" I completely agree that the residents of BSDC have rights. But, should taxpayers have to provide the means or should that guardian that said it was okay for the person to buy pornography? Why do tax dollars have to be used for travel and transport? Couldn't the guardian provide the materials if he or she thought it was appropriate? I think that is part of the public's upset with this issue. "

 one of many wrote on December 4, 2008 8:31 pm:
" Thanks to HHS employee for the insight...move them all down there...better yet, get all three of them rooms (don't let them choose which rooms, roommates, bed times...), then let them see what happens when you have staff that are overwhelmed and exhausted, unsupported, poorly trained and see how they like it. Let them trade places. "

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