Arline

I found this video on Dave Hingsburger's blog, Rolling Around In My Head, and knew after the first few stanzas of the song that I also had to post it. Legislators in my state are very slow to address institutionlization even as the Justice Department threatens a lawsuit. Perhaps I should email this video to all the esteemed ladies and gentleman who purport to speak for all Virginians.

Listen very carefully to the words, and then say a prayer that one day there will be no more institutions...

A VOPA Victory

If you were the family of James Roots IV you would surely want to know why he was allowed to die in the institution that promised to help him. You would want to understand why he was held in restraints for over 30 hours, even after he complained of being unable to breathe.

If you were the family of a patient at a so-called training center (read institution), you would surely want to know why he was allowed to swallow two latex exam gloves and subsequently die.

If you were the family of another person at that same training center, you would surely want to know why your family member’s ear was chewed off and where the staff were that were supposed to ensure such incidents never happened.

But the families of these three people were not told anything. They wanted details and the details were withheld. Then, with the assistance of the Virginia Office for Protection and Advocacy, legal proceedings were initiated demanding that the records be shared. The state agency in charge refused, and the circuit court in Virginia stood with the state agency.

But the wonderful staff at VOPA refused to let that deny the family members their information. The case went to the Supreme Court of the US and yesterday, that court ruled in favor of VOPA. Read the story of this historic decision here.

VOPA has been a Godsend to my family, and especially to my Ashley. I’ve written about them many times over the years, but here is one such post.

I applaud these champions of Virginians with disabilities. You continue to make a positive difference, and I am so very proud to count myself as one of your ardent supporters.

YES, YES, YES!!

From the Richmond Times Dispatch this past weekend:

"In a 20-page assessment of Virginia's care for the disabled released Friday, federal investigators detail hundreds of mentally and physically challenged people languishing in state facilities, subject to harm and neglect.

"Virtually no one who has been institutionalized long-term … ever leaves," one section of the report states, referring to residents at the sprawling Central Virginia Training Center in Lynchburg."

From CNBC, also this past weekend:

"Virginia violates federal law by needlessly institutionalizing people with intellectual disabilities and failing to provide adequate community-based treatment, the Department of Justice said in a report made public by Gov. Bob McDonnell on Friday."

Virginia has an extremely long waiting list for community services. Currently, 6,400 people are waiting, including nearly 3,000 identified as having urgent needs that could result in them being institutionalized.

Virginia's governor has 49 days to respond to the Justice Department or face a federal lawsuit.

This is huge - and about damn time.

Made My Day!

YES, YES, YES, YES!! There is hope....

State-run institutions will soon be a relic of the past in Georgia under a landmark settlement reached Tuesday that could serve as a model for similar efforts in other states, Justice Department officials said.



(Built in 1842, Central State Hospital was Georgia's first psychiatric hospital, chartered by the legislature in 1837.)

Truth and Horror

Today I am going to give you a link to an investigative report about a woman who was injured in the institution in which she lives. It's difficult to read, and you will want to stop after just a few pages. But, it is worth your time.

It's so easy for all of us to forget, or maybe not even know in the first place, that the things described in the report are real. And to know that it happens just around the corner from our daily go-to-work, love our families, pretty good by comparison lives makes it all the worse.

I could particularly visualize the woman in the report that was injured. She could have been my Ashley when she was younger. The way they described her was similar to the way Ashley was before she received the supports to become the intelligent, vibrant child she is today.

The contents of the report sickened me - they made me cry - and they made me want to bring home the woman that was wronged. But, I'm glad I read it, and I am very glad that there are organizations like my state's protection and advocacy agency to stand up for people like the woman in the report.

SEVTC Investigative Report