OXNARD : State Shuts Down 2 Adult-Care Facilities

Two Oxnard residential homes for adults have been shut down by the state Department of Social Services after residents claimed that they were slapped and verbally abused by workers.

State licenses for the Thompson Adult Residential Facility and Thompson’s Board-N-Care were revoked in September. State documents listed the operator of both facilities as Elizabeth Thompson.

The homes, both of which were located on Douglas Avenue in Oxnard, each housed up to six adults. One facility was licensed to care for mentally retarded adults ages 18 to 62, and the other provided ambulatory care for adults ages 18 to 59.

State officials received complaints from eight residents in the two homes, who said they were slapped, cursed and had personal items, including cigarettes and eyeglasses, withheld as punishment, according to statements filed in the department’s legal division.

Thompson’s attorney, Edwin Laing, denied the allegations and said some residents had testified in a hearing that the accusations were untrue.

Margie Davis, manager of the Department of Social Service’s community care facilities division in Santa Barbara, which monitors Ventura County, said Thompson had indicated an intent to appeal the revocation in writing. But state officials said the license was revoked after Thompson failed to appear at a hearing before an administrative judge.