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People First of Oregon
Fairview: The Closing
Chapter
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A home that
didn’t work A home operated by Agape Enterprises Inc. was forced
to close after county officials found poor living conditions and
verbal abuse. Glenda Stout thought she had found her niche when
she starting working at the Salem group home run by Agape
Enterprises Inc.
“The guys were great,” she said, referring to a dozen
developmentally disabled residents who formerly lived at the home.
“I thought, here’s my calling. I’ll do this for the rest of
my life.”
Instead, a dismayed Stout quit after 14 months, stepping down
in February 1999. “I just got fed up with the drug use and the
dysfunction,” she said.
Around Christmas, the county got fed up with the Agape group
home, too.
Numerous problems, ranging from substandard living conditions
to improper tracking of medication and verbal abuse of residents,
prompted the county to cancel its operating contract on Dec. 22.
That same day, officials removed all of the residents from the
home at 1415 Fourth St. NE and relocated them.
State mental health officials responsible for overseeing
Oregon’s group home system characterized Agape as a rare case of
a bad home. They said state and county oversight worked properly
to force its closure.
“During the last year, it just got beyond the point to where
we thought it could be salvaged,” said James Toews of the state
Office of Developmental Disability Services.
Robert Savoie of Salem, who operated the group home for many
years, declined to discuss its closure.
Stout said she was horrified when she came across a staff
member injecting drugs at the group home. Later, she was appalled
again when her boyfriend said he found a makeup compact containing
heroin while doing maintenance work at the home.
“That’s when I started thinking this is really bad,”
Stout said. “I’m a recovering addict. I used to do heroin. I
just told myself, ‘I’m not going to stay here.’ I hated
leaving the guys because I felt like they needed somebody who was
at least stable.”
Allegations of alcohol and heroin use by group home staff also
appear in a Marion County investigation report. One witness told
county investigators that a supervisor in the home admitted using
heroin and was trying to stop. Another witness said the supervisor
came to the home “totally drunk.”
According to the county’s October 1999 investigation report,
the supervisor denied the allegations, saying she may have
exhibited side effects caused by her use of anti-depressant
medications.
The county investigation did not substantiate the drug use
complaints. It focused on alleged mistreatment of residents.
Worrisome group homes like Agape tend to draw repeat state
inspections. Between January 1998 and January 2000, Agape was one
of 27 group homes to undergo follow-up visits from licensing
staff, state records show.
In most cases, officials said, multiple inspections lead to
improvements instead of closure.
“Statewide, we probably have two or three homes we shut down
a year,” Toews said. “Often, those aren’t even license
revocations. We just negotiate and get them to give up the
contract.”
In all, the state oversees more than 500 residential programs
for people with developmental disabilities. “I think for the
most part it’s pretty good,” Toews said of the community-based
housing system. “At any given time, there are a group of
community programs that we’re real concerned about and have got
a real tight leash on until they either improve or ultimately go
out of business.”
Marion County canceled its contract with Agape after two state
inspections last year. The reviews occurred in August and October.
Among the problems cited in the inspection reports:
•Poor living conditions. One report stated: “House is
generally dirty; pantry cupboard door in poor condition; oven and
stove are dirty; carpet is stained; downstairs ceiling has stains;
downstairs bathroom has mold; bathtub in poor condition.”
•Medication irregularities; missing medications; and mistakes
by staff resulting in residents taking the wrong pills.
•Failure to conduct criminal history background checks on new
employees.
•Lack of documentation showing that staff received required
training.
•Inattention to the psychiatric needs of residents.
•Failure to submit timely incident reports to authorities.
Under administrative rules that set standards for group homes,
incident reports are required for “medication irregularities,
injury, accident, act of physical aggression or unusual incident
involving an individual.” These reports must be sent to county
case managers within five working days of the incident.
Agape’s problems were compounded by reports of a veteran
house manager verbally abusing residents.
Witnesses described instances in which she referred to
residents as pigs, idiots and retards, according to records from a
Marion County protective service investigation.
When some residents acted up, records show, the manager
threatened to kick them out or send them to Fairview Training
Center. The county investigation substantiated that the house
manager had verbally abused residents.
Mental health officials said Agape generally was considered a
competent group home prior to making a gradual descent.
“Historically, I think they provided some pretty good
services,” Toews said. “They had really dedicated staff
through the years, but I think it gradually went downhill over
several years and a lot of them quit in frustration.”
This article was by ALAN
GUSTAFSON was published in the Salem Statesman Journal, March 12, 2000
