Improper Care Alleged in Four Homes for Disabled

An agency for the developmentally disabled has moved to relocate 36 patients from four homes, alleging that one patient was severely burned and that two others became pregnant as a result of being raped.

The homes, in Stanton and Cypress, are part of a chain of homes that do business as the Machado Family Homes.

The allegations of improper supervision were made by the Development Disabilities Center, a group that selects homes to provide care for the disabled under contract with the state. The charges surfaced Thursday in a lawsuit that seeks to stop the center from moving the patients. It was filed by Maria Machado, who runs the homes.

In correspondence attached to the lawsuit filed in Orange County Superior Court, center director Elaine E. Bamberg threatened to relocate residents today “due to health and safety reasons.”

Bamberg could not be reached for comment. The letters did not identify which of the four Machado homes were involved or name the individual patients.

The burn victim was hospitalized for three weeks, and one of the women discovered to be pregnant was described as “profoundly retarded.”

Lawyer Denies Allegations

“It is the opinion of this agency that these unexplained pregnancies were the result of rape due to the lack of proper supervision,” according to a May 5 letter Bamberg wrote to a relative of one of the patients.

Ernest J. Franceschi Jr., lawyer for Machado, denied the allegations of improper care and supervision. He sought a court order prohibiting transfer of patients until a full hearing is held. A center attorney agreed Thursday that no transfers would take place before June 10, Franceschi said.

Franceschi termed the allegations “ridiculous.” He said the four Machado homes are licensed by the state Department of Social Services, which can immediately shut any facilities lacking proper care.

“If there was any reason to believe the Machados are doing anything improper, the state would be down there in an instant with a suspension order,” Franceschi said. “The center is doing this without any justification.”

Three of the homes are in Cypress, at 9123 Evergreen Drive, 5271 Lincoln Ave. and 5752 Orange Ave., and the other is at 8230 Briarwood St. in Stanton, according to court papers. Machado runs the homes, along with two others in Los Angeles County, with her three sons, Franceschi said.

Letters from relatives of a dozen patients praising the Machado homes were included in the court file.

The Machado homes are described in the letters as “wonderful,” “consistently clean” and “very pleasant.”

‘Anguish and Trauma’

One letter said: “There are no words to describe the anguish and trauma my son would experience by being moved into a new and strange environment as he is loved and cared for by the people who truly care. . . . This is quite evident by his happy and healthy attitude and behavior.”

The suit alleges that Bamberg’s letter and actions were “calculated to cause fear and panic.” The allegations of poor care are “false, misleading, and intended to destroy the (Machado) business.”

Removing the patients from the homes “would put them out of business. Their business is the care of these people,” Franceschi said.

The burn incident happened during a shower and involved the malfunction of a regulator on a water heater. Franceschi called it a simple accident.

There is “no evidence whatsoever” that the pregnancies resulted from rape, Franceschi said. He said patients “aren’t prisoners, they have the right to come and go and many do for substantial periods each day.” He said some are away for up to eight hours a day in training programs.

Machado asked for more than $10 million in damages.