Advocates debate ways to close some Texas schools for the disabled

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Advocates debate ways to close some Texas schools for the disabled

07:01 AM CST on Monday, December 8, 2008

By EMILY RAMSHAW / The Dallas Morning News

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AUSTIN -- For the first time in 15 years, the stars seem aligned for

advocates of closing some of Texas' state schools for the disabled.

The only thing missing is a lawsuit.

A threatening Department of Justice letter details civil rights

violations across the state's dozen institutions, which care for the

mentally disabled and some with physical disabilities. A report from

Texas budget officials recommends downsizing the system. And a popular

moderate legislator vows to carry their politically sensitive bill.

But the last time Texas shuttered state schools -- two of them, in the

mid-1990s -- it took a class-action lawsuit over conditions inside the

institutions.

In the last three decades, Texas lawmakers have rarely overhauled any

broken systems without enduring costly legal action -- on abusive

prisons, underfunded school districts or inadequate children's health

care.

" People have asked me over the years what it's going to take to close

more state schools. I always told them, 'A lawsuit,' " said

Parrish, who, in 1991, served on the committee that finally settled

the 1974 state schools lawsuit by closing two of them. " But this time,

things are different. I think lawmakers are starting to see that

there's no other choice. "

Would community be safer?

Advocates for closing state schools say people with disabilities are

safer and better served in the community, where they can receive

personalized medical attention, be closer to their families and live

independently.

Many people with relatives inside the state schools flatly disagree,

saying the facilities provide the around-the-clock care and structure

that Texans with profound disorders and complicated diagnoses require.

And they've got strong allies in the Legislature, including

influential lawmakers who have state school campuses in their

districts, and others who can't imagine re-rocking this boat.

It's an emotionally charged battle that created screaming matches and

tears throughout the early 1990s -- and much the same could happen

when the Legislature reconvenes next month.

" You can't understand what this does to the parents. It was horrible

then and it will be horrible now, " 75-year-old Ward said through

sobs, describing how she had to move her profoundly disabled daughter

out of the Fort Worth State School when it was closed in 1995. Dianne,

who is 47 but has the developmental ability of an 18-month-old, is now

living at the Denton State School.

" This is our choice, the best thing I've done for my child and my

family, " Ms. Ward said. " At this age, I shouldn't be having to go

through this again. "

1970s lawsuit and overhaul

The battle to improve care for Texans with disabilities began in the

1970s, when the family of a man in a Houston-area institution filed

suit to improve his living conditions. The civil rights case, overseen

by legendary Dallas federal Judge Barefoot , snowballed with

abuse and neglect allegations for 18 years before lawmakers called on

Gov. Ann s to appoint a committee to settle the suit in the

early 1990s.

The subsequent overhaul included closing two facilities -- the Fort

Worth State School and the State School in Austin -- and moving

hundreds of residents into community-based care.

" Until that point, we all had thought the state schools were

sanctuaries, a refuge for people with disabilities, " said Dr. Parrish,

now the public policy coordinator for Texas A & M's Center on Disability

and Development. " That was not the case. The whole world knew these

institutions should be closed, but Texas didn't. "

It wasn't the first -- or last -- time Texas lawmakers were forced

into action by litigation.

Lawmakers instituted the " Robin Hood " school finance structure, which

requires higher-wealth districts to share tax revenues with

lower-wealth districts, after poor school systems filed and won a 1984

lawsuit.

It took decades and more than $1 billion for state officials to

resolve a 1970s class-action suit on abusive treatment and

overcrowding inside Texas' prison system.

And in the 2007 Legislature, lawmakers finally agreed on a $700

million federal settlement to increase state Medicaid payments to

dentists and doctors, resolving a 14-year-old lawsuit to ensure poor

children received regular medical and dental checkups.

The Texas Youth Commission's 2007 restructuring, which wasn't

predicated by a particular lawsuit, is the only recent exception to

the rule -- and it followed an embarrassing sexual abuse scandal that

made national headlines.

But advocates for closing more state schools and moving residents into

independent living think the confluence of recent developments might

be better than a lawsuit. In a scathing letter sent to Gov. Rick

last week, the U.S. Justice Department said all of Texas' state school

residents are in imminent danger of neglect and mistreatment, a

violation of their constitutional rights and of federal law.

And a report last month by the Legislative Budget Board, a group of 10

influential lawmakers who keep tabs on the budget, recommended a

marked downsizing of the state schools. Budget officials said that the

current system is not cost-effective and that closing some facilities

in favor of community-based services would save money and better meet

residents' needs.

" This is one of those rare windows when what is best for the taxpayer

is also best for those who are served, " said Rep. Rose,

D-Dripping Springs, who chairs the House committee that oversees the

state schools and is sponsoring a bill to consolidate some of them.

" We can legitimately increase the quality of care, improve the setting

of that care, and save Texans money, all with the same policy. "

Problems overblown?

But opponents of closing any state schools say the problems have been

overblown by the media and advocates for independent living. They say

many state school residents have profound disorders, and that there

aren't adequate services for them to live safely in their communities.

If the advocates really fear conditions inside the state schools, they

say, they should instead push to better fund them -- so the facilities

can hire even more qualified employees.

Despite the Justice Department and budget board reports, said Rep.

King, R-Abilene, " I don't think we have definitive information "

to justify closing any state schools yet.

" There's a lot of innuendo and opinions, more questions than answers, "

said Ms. King, who has a state school in her district and served on a

House committee that studied Texas' care for the disabled heading into

the upcoming legislative session.

Rep. Larry , the Sherman Republican who chaired that

committee, said before lawmakers can even consider closing state

schools, they need to make sure there are ample resources to care for

people in the community.

" There's not the capacity to do that at this point, " he said. " We are

going to have to see investments in the state schools. The question is

what that investment looks like. "

BACKGROUND: TEXAS STATE SCHOOLS

*The population in Texas' state schools for the disabled has declined

by more than 50 percent since 1980, a result of the desire of

residents to live in less restrictive settings. The current population

-- about 4,600 -- is expected to drop by 100 residents in each of the

next five years.

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