Probe Targets O.C. Agency for Disabled

A nonprofit agency that oversees the care of thousands of developmentally disabled residents is under investigation for placing scores of clients in two board and care homes that later were shut down by the state, authorities confirmed Thursday.

One of the homes--the Pearlmarck Home Annex in Anaheim--was closed after two clients died within a three-month period. The other closing involved Jackson Place in Santa Ana, one of the county’s largest board and care homes, and caused the abrupt displacement of 94 residents. Both were charged with providing inadequate care.

The Developmental Disabilities Center of Orange County is one of 21 regional nonprofit agencies that contracts with the state to provide services to about 7,000 developmentally disabled clients. The center manages more than $45 million in state funds and oversees the placement of thousands of clients in 300 area board and care homes and other facilities.

But the center has come under increasing criticism from parent groups and a state watchdog agency that allege that it has improperly placed clients with acute illnesses in homes without properly monitoring conditions after their placement.

Moreover, a spokeswoman for the watchdog agency, the Developmental Disabilities Area Board XI, said concerns about Jackson Place and Pearlmarck were voiced to center officials as far back as February--a month before a Pearlmarck resident died of heart failure. Authorities have not disclosed how the second client died.

Greg Sandin, assistant director of the state Department of Developmental Services, confirmed that his agency is conducting the investigation but declined to discuss details. Sandin said a report has already been completed and forwarded to the center for response.

“They will have from 30 to 60 days to respond, and then the report would be made public,” he said.

If deficiencies are found, Sandin said the state has the authority to sever a service provider’s contract, impose a new management team or merely make recommendations on how it could operate better.

Elaine Bamberg, chief executive officer of the Developmental Disabilities Center, said she has received a draft copy of the department’s “fact-finding audit” but declined to comment on its contents.

Bamberg confirmed, however, that the investigation was undertaken after the closure of Pearlmarck and Jackson Place in Santa Ana. Both were closed in July.

The 104-bed Jackson Place was one of the largest board and care homes in the county, caring for developmentally disabled residents who suffered from autism, cerebral palsy and mental retardation. But on July 2, agents of the Department of Social Service’s licensing division descended on the facility and removed 94 residents.

The state accused the home of violating the personal rights of clients, failing to provide medical care and accepting clients in need of skilled nursing care that the home was not licensed to provide.

“We found cracked walls, filthy floors, feces on the floor, vomit in a sink that appeared not to have been cleaned in weeks; these were about the worst conditions that I have seen at this kind of facility,” licensing supervisor Barbara Gossett said at the time.

Authorities closed the Pearlmarck facility July 29, alleging that the home failed to provide proper care and supervision and improperly accepted clients in need of acute medical care. About 30 residents were displaced.

Administrators of Jackson Place have denied the state’s charges. The owner of Pearlmarck could not be reached for comment.

Even on the days state officials closed Pearlmarck and Jackson Place, the Developmental Disabilities Center did a poor job of handling clients as they were removed, critics charged.

“The clients were just herded out--many of them had no medication to take with them--with no notification given to parents,” said Francine Isom, president of Parents and Advocates for the Developmentally Disabled, a local support group.

Isom, who was present at the Pearlmarck closing, said families were not given an opportunity to review relocation sites. “Perhaps the proposed placement was worse than where they were,” she said.

“We feel that the closing of Jackson Place did not have to take place had (the center) properly monitored the facility to assist it in correcting any deficiencies, which is their job,” she said. “Instead, the center idly waits until conditions get so bad that licensing has to come in. . . .”

Rhys Burchill, executive director of Area Board XI, which provides advocacy services for the developmentally disabled, charged that the center’s actions have jeopardized the safety of clients.

She provided a letter written by her agency to center officials on July 16, two weeks after the Jackson Place closing.

“Area XI board members were shocked at the inexcusable medical conditions of residents and the intolerable living conditions,” according to the letter. “Such conditions, jeopardizing the health and safety of human beings, do not occur overnight. . . . The circumstances were known over at least the last several months’ time. Why was nothing done to protect clients?”

The letter also makes reference to Pearlmarck, which would be ordered closed by the state nearly two weeks later: “Area Board XI has learned that clients residing at Pearlmarck are in jeopardy. We hope the DDC will act to either stabilize this facility or place clients appropriately in a non-crisis manner. Allowing clients to remain in a precarious environment until such time as licensing moves to take emergency action is not acceptable.”

DDC executive officer Bamberg declined to comment on criticism directed at her agency. She said, however, that an internal review after the closure of Jackson Place and Pearlmarck found that proper procedures were followed.

But several recommendations--released in the minutes of the Oct. 3 board meeting--were also made. Among them, that:

- Visits to all clients include a visit to the client’s room in an effort to become more aware of the client’s physical surroundings.

- Physical exams be conducted on clients who have chronic medical problems or need specialized care.

- A training program be developed to identify medical conditions that require a higher level of care.