HUD - Joint Commission

The National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) is the non-profit membership organization for the federally mandated Protection and Advocacy (P&A) Systems and Client Assistance Programs (CAP) for individuals with disabilities.

The National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery (NCMHR) works to ensure that consumer/survivors have a major voice in the development and implementation of health care, mental health, and social policies at the state and national levels, empowering people to recover and lead a full life in the community.

The Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law

WATCHMEN ON THE WALL

ABUSE AND IMPUNITY AT RESIDENTIAL GROUP HOMES – St. Lukes/Threshold/Cornerstone

Elder Abuse in Residential Long-Term Care Settings: What Is ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK98786/

In addition, many are either unable to report abuse or neglect or fearful that such .....

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I have made several complaints over the past 7 years about the unbelievable mismanagement at Cornerstone which was St. Luke's House focusing on bullying by housemates and by some staff, the clinicians are wonderful but are not listened to. Then-Congressman Van Hollen was great in helping to eventually stop some of the abuse but I made the mistake of not going further to send my written complaints to the Maryland Board of Licensure and HUD, who could do investigatory work that a Congressman cannot do if they were so inclined since Core Services does not do any oversight of mental health agencies in Montgomery County.

In Illinois group homes, adults with disabilities suffer in...

www.chicagotribune.com/news/watchdog/grouphomes/ct-group-hom...

Nov 21, 2016 ... Group homes are supposed to provide freedom and independence for adults with ... Illinois hides abuse and neglect of adults with disabilities. Barbara ... Illinois officials blacked out those details from their investigative report.

There was a scathing report by the Blue Ribbon Investigatory Committee put together by Montgomery County Council about 10 years ago but nothing was done to improve either the oversight or other negligent actions by CSA. If you look up group homes and abuse and severe neglect there are a number of recent articles by the New York Times, The Boston Globe and an Illinois report. I hope that the Washington Post will do an article about the endangerment of Mental Health Patients at the Cornerstone Residences and the lack of any oversight or rational response to consumer complaints about Keith Ellis or other types of neglect of patients who are helpless to complain by patients who can complain to their therapists or psychiatrists, I write about Jeannie and Debbie's shock at the mocking of severely handicapped clients by Keith Ellis and SOME of his staff, he has a very high turnover of Rehab workers who are either sickened by what they see and Mr. Ellis' treatment of them and clients or who are also worried about their legal liability from Mr. Ellis' hard to believe cruelty and telling those concerned for the welfare of others that it is not his job or even clinician complaints.

Scathing report details failings at group homes - The Boston...

www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/07/13/scathing-report...

Jul 14, 2016 ... As a result, the inspector general's office reviewed the safeguards designed to prevent abuse and neglect in group homes in Massachusetts, ...

Abuse and Exploitation of People with Developmental Disabilities...

disabilityjustice.org/justice-denied/abuse-and-exploitation/...

Many live in segregated environments, such as group homes, where abuse can ... and/or cognitive disabilities may find it difficult to report abuse effectively.

At State-Run Homes, Abuse and Impunity - The New York Times

www.nytimes.com/2011/03/13/nyregion/13homes.html

When Threshold went under or merged with St. Luke's House now Cornerstone one of the most disastrous results was Keith Ellis brought from Threshold to be supervisor. He has endangered so many clients esp elderly ones. I went into detail in my complaint to then Congressperson Van Hollen, he was great and helped an elderly woman Linda with Alzheimer whose plight I found out from her former roommate Jeannie -- Linda could not shop or prepare meals, wandered in socks in the winter the police often brought her back Keith unconcerned when Jeannie told him her fears about Linda's welfare, Rep. Van Hollen managed to get Linda into the house by Southport with on-duty care and to stop Keith's harrassment of me. Other clients endangered are mentioned in the report I have attached.

I pray that there will be a thorough investigation of Keith Ellis and Bel Pre to find out the damage he has done, is doing and I pray to prevent Keith from hurting any more vulnerable clients through inaction or very inappropriate actions.

Ms. Loftjelm, the caseworker assigned by Rep. Van Hollen was concerned about several large oil paintings I was working on which Keith Ellis after more than a month, still refused to move or gave me the run-around during the forced move of 60 consumers and due to her intercession I did not lose my very large oil paintings of sequences of gymnasts. My website is Movement Works Weebly. I could have been successful in my artwork with the help of my job coaches Vanessa Martinez and now Shane Senior who have both expressed disgust at the way they were treated by Mr. Ellis in the weekly meetings supposedly concentrating on me, the client, at Mr. Ellis talking and talking exclusively about himself and saying that tasks that belong to my Rehab Workers were the responsibility of the job coach, so I would be batted back and forth like a ping pong ball. I finally obtained a camera to be able to show my newer work of the past few years through the good grace of Jeffrey Bracken who I believe was let go in the shakeups and many firings currently taking place including all of the maintenance staff. Purpose seems to be to obtain accreditation from Joint Commission. But the bad ones somehow remain.

Most recently, Mr. Ellis has allowed my housemate at 12902 Valleywood Drive, Silver Spring, MD 20906 to have a girlfriends live here illegally, unofficially, this is a small 3 bedroom house and the only legal residents approved by Cornerstone, Montgomery are myself, Janet Listou, and Pam Gueron. Ms. Gueron pays rent only for herself and not for her friend, Chris/Kris. I made a formal written complaint to the Compliance Officer by email a month ago, Marisa Gillum has not contacted me though I made a second email complaint last weekend and also sent a copy to my therapist, Paula Weiss, my psychiatrist Dr. Marium Parveen, who have always been wonderful to me and have defended me in the past from bogus complaints by Mr. Ellis and Senator Van Hollen who as Congressman assigned me a caseworker, Suzanne Loftjelm who helped me immensely especially with retaining my large paintings. In the past I have almost made complaints to HUD and the Board of Licensure and I wish that I had because Mr. Ellis is endangering clients and for the welfare of all mental health patients esp the elderly at Bel Pre, Mr. Ellis has gone fare enough over the line so many times that other clinicians have made complaints to his boss Nicole Burke to no avail as in the case of Linda with Alzheimer.

Ms. Nicole Burke came on board as the Residential Director, after Keith Ellis and seems to support him whatever rules, regulations and laws he breaks, and cares as little for mental health consumers as she does for the opinion of clinicians who are concerned for the welfare of not just their clients but the ones that their clients are living with who are very ill and cannot take care of themselves and were/are being utterly ignored.

My other current housemate, Janet Listou, has been in the hospital for physical problems more times than I can count in the past few months, she is again in Suburban after refusing to go to Montgomery General where they do not help her. I asked Janet about 2 weeks ago if she was receiving help and she said from the doctors yes, from Cornerstone no. A more serious case was my housemate Betty Levy whose terribly swollen legs and eye were ignored while most of the RCs verbally abused her until I called Dept of Aging. In one of the recent newspaper reports on the horrors of the group homes, 2 articles claimed that group homes had impunity no matter what the neglect or abuse, one man suffered with gangrene of the should and one of the investigators said it was beyond comprehension how the workers, I guess when they came for meds, could see a man in bed suffering from gangrene and doing NOTHING.'

Bel Pre Cluster supervisor Mr. Ellis' violations of rules/laws:

So little attuned to what is going on in the residential houses that Pam Gueron was able to have Kris living here for 5 or 6 months.

1. He refuses to post required-by-law HUD material including contact information for complaints. 12902 Valleywood IS a HUD house.

2. I have not had a Rehab Counselor that actually MEETS with me and LISTENS and does things required of an RC though that is part of my contract with Cornerstone for turning over my Social Security check to them for almost a year. I have been trying for 5 months to get CEILING burnt out light bulbs changed in my work area for my DORs job artwork or the bathroom, will be in the dark soon.

3. These terrible things go on and on for years, especially the junior high school-type bullying by housemates and Mr. Ellis, because like most clients I am afraid of the usual knee-jerk immediate response of “Maybe you don't belong here.” heard from Barrie Friedman, Ken Westin of CSA, Nicole Burke, current head of housing and I made the mistake of not going on to complain to the Board of Licensure and HUD and the Joint Commission in previous complaints when the bullying and harrassment was lessened.

4. The Chief Compliance Officer, CCO, Marisa Gillum has not contacted me though I sent my first email complaint approximately one month ago, about Pam Gueron having a live-in friend Chris/Kris illegally stay here 12 to 14 hours a day, day after day, week after week, month after month and I know Kris has stayed overnight, this needs a true investigation esp. as it continued after my complaint which I know Ms. Gillum received because she sent it to Mr. Ellis who botched it as described in the attached report Pam and Chris.

“Clients can expect to be free from retaliation and will not be barred from services should they choose to file a grievance.”

In previous complaints as well as this one, even when using the form the Procedure “requires a response within 5 business days and document the response on the Grievance Form for the client to review.” this has only once been done.

“Within five working days the CCO will appoint an ad hoc committee and NOTIFY THE CLIENT that a Grievance Committee will convene to review the grievance... Within 10 working days after the CCO receives the Grievance, the committee will investigate the grievance and make a decision. ….The CCO will NOTIFY THE CLIENT IN WRITING of the decision within 5 business days from the time a decision has been made...” Clients should not be left worried and dangling as is the usual ACTUAL procedure at Cornerstone/St. Lukes. “If extenuating circumstances warrant extension of the above deadlines, the CCO will notify the client IN WRITING within 5 working days after receiving the grievance.

“Clients may file a grievance at any step of the procedure … if she feels threatened or intimidated by the process or person(s) involved...”

5. The house phone at Valleywood only works sporadically, this has been for more than a year which is a violation, especially with emergencies with clients in mental health group homes we are supposed to have a WORKING phone...if Ms. Gillum had followed the above stated PROCEDURE, she could have faxed my ostensible Rehab Counselor, Nicole Briscoe, who could have sent it with the RCs who come for med monitoring twice a day.

6. The Cornerstone Grievance Procedure is NOT posted as required by the Handbook.

At State-Run Homes, Abuse and Impunity - The New York Times

www.nytimes.com/2011/03/13/nyregion/13homes.html

Mar 11, 2011 · Decades after New York emptied its warehouses for the disabled, the current network of small group homes operates with scant oversight and few consequences ...

June 8 when I finished evening meds with RC Nila, I tried to get something out of my food box but someone had placed a half full coffee cup on it, a strange choice when the dining room table is less than 2 feet away. My food box is about 1 ½ feet off the floor and Janet has a hard time bending down.

The most important thing to mention will be how the allowing of massive bullying in the residences with the Rehab Counselors being given no training in handling bullying situations or a ZERO TOLERANCE for bullies leads to a string of problems and failures by peaceful clients who are so anguished and messed up by bullies acting out their issues on them and then some.

The Vocational Rehabilitation, Job Coach Program is affected, as are clients abilities to function and cook healthy meals and bathe much less clean with 24/7 harrassment from UNCONTRAINED BULLIES. In a meeting a year ago with one of the top officials at Cornerstone who had been there less than a year and Dr. Parveen and Nicole Burke, the official said she was trying to change the agency culture but mentioned not specifics. The bullying problem continues and the bully continues to get worse and worse which creates situations of intimidation and potential for violence.

The root problem must be addressed not just picking at the branches.

The Bully Problem in the Residences must be addressed, it is equally or more important than the physical maintenance of the houses. Nothing will change until the Residential Head and other Administration Officials institute a ZERO TOLERANCE FOR BULLIES and training for managers and rehabilitation workers on how to handle these situations especially at Medication Monitoring and weekly House Meetings where bullies use staff as an audience for their bullying one or more of their scapegoats and the RCs and managers CLEARLY are not trained in how to handle it.

It should not be a pass the buck situation any longer of blaming house meeting persons or RCs or even managers, UPPER MANAGEMENT is responsible for setting this policy and giving adequate training and support and the sure and immediate suspension of bullies to try to dial back THIS TERRIBLE ONGOING PROBLEM which has not to my knowledge ever been addressed and wastes the time, effort and money of Rehab programs including Vocational Rehabilitation. There is a TREMENDOUS WASTE of the human potential of peaceful clients and the money of the ones who fund the programs at Cornerstone, Montgomery.

Bullies are very easy to identify, the problem is in policy and training.

As long as Cornerstone, Montgomery does not have any protocols in place for dealing with bullies, many quiet, diligent but low personality clients who could succeed and be a good advertisement will continue to fail and some die, from depression, not eating. And clinicians have a much harder road than they would have. My life and the artwork I could have produced and prepared for sale would have been much, much different if I had not had to contend with outrageous bullying and no help whatever from staff or administration.

I pray that this complaint will be honestly and thoroughly investigated for those mental health patients who cannot speak for themselves and for God's greater glory, Christ Jesus loves the poor and needy and requires that those who are blessed care for them.

Children Are Frequently Targets Of Abuse In A Group Home Setting...

www.nursinghomelawcenter.org/nursing-home-abuse/chil...

Mar 29, 2010 ... Group homes for children are supposed to offer safe homes for ... Identification and reporting of child abuse is the first step in reducing the ...

Profit and Abuse at Homes for the Profoundly Disabled -...

www.propublica.org/article/advoserv-profit-and-abuse...

Dec 10, 2015 ... Group homes are now overwhelmingly run by private organizations, and ..... it was supposed to immediately report any incident where abuse or ...

How to File a Complaint Community Residential Facilities 7-2011

dlcv.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/How-to-File-a-Complaint-...

reporting abuse or neglect, it is helpful to know the type of setting where it took place ... Residential Group Homes are for children and adults with severe mental, ...

DHS: Reporting of Abuse & Neglect Allegations by Child Group ...

www.dhs.state.il.us/page.aspx?item=56264

Reporting of Abuse & Neglect Allegations by Child Group Home Providers - Revised ... to enhance its monitoring of the services provided in Child Group Homes.

Group Home employees abused autistic child - Baltimore Sun

www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/sun-investigates/bs-md-se...

Oct 18, 2014 ... Questions about state oversight of group homes for disabled foster ... cited for failing to report an "abuse/neglect" incident that resulted in an ...

Mar 12, 2011 ... ... for the disabled, the current network of small group homes operates with scant ...