Speaker of Legislature wants committee to investigate Beatrice center

By Martha Stoddard

LINCOLN, Mar. 20, 2008 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) --
Speaker of the Legislature Mike Flood is proposing lawmakers form a special investigative committee to look into the quality of care and related staffing issues at the Beatrice State Developmental Center.

Flood introduced a resolution today that would create a seven-member committee with power to hold hearings and issue subpoenas as necessary.

The committee would be authorized to study conditions at the troubled Beatrice center, as well as to investigate the placement and quality of care statewide for people with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities.

It also would be charged with looking at the Department of Health and Human Services, which operates the Beatrice center and other 24-hour care institutions.

If the resolution is approved by the Legislature, the committee would be required to report back by Dec. 31.

Flood's proposal is one of three approaches to dealing with the Beatrice center that are under discussion in the Legislature today.

Another approach would direct $1.2 million toward hiring and retaining staff at the center, which has been operating for months with one of every four direct care positions vacant.

The third approach would allow money to follow center residents as they move into community-based programs. State officials have said they intend to reduce the number of people living at the Beatrice institution as part of their five-point action plan.

The center is facing the potential loss of $28.6 million of federal funding from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for failing to meet care standards and a possible lawsuit by the U.S. Department of Justice for violating the civil rights of residents.

Newstex ID: KRTB-0149-23929928