Jefferson City News Tribune
www.newstribune.com

Posted: Wednesday, Sep 14, 2005 - 12:29:23 pm CDT


Audit: State allowed disqualified employees to work with mental patients
By KELLY WIESE
Associated Press Writer

Missouri state government allowed 38 people who were on disqualification lists of abusive or neglectful employees to work with mental health patients between April 2003 and April 2005, according to a state audit released Wednesday.

The audit of the Missouri Department of Mental Health also found that criminal background checks on employees were not always completed properly. In one case, a person with many felony convictions was not immediately fired from a state-run facility and sexually abused a client in the 12 days before being fired, the audit said.


The audit said the delay in firing was because a human resources official was on vacation.

State Auditor Claire McCaskill planned news conferences in Jefferson City and around the state Wednesday and Thursday to showcase the audit's findings.

Auditors said they discovered the 38 workers who were on the disqualification lists by matching those lists with state employment records, which the mental health department was not doing.

The department responded that it started matching mental health records this year and is also working to check disqualification lists compiled the state Department of Health and Senior Services.

The agency said patient safety is top priority.

"We have taken steps to strengthen the process for reporting and investigating allegations of abuse and neglect and ensuring disqualified persons do not have contact with consumers," agency spokesman Bob Bax said.

Auditors also said it took too long to put abusive workers on the disqualification list. They noted one incident where the process took two years, and the person was hired by another center and committed further abuse.

"(The department) has not ensured clients have been adequately protected from abuse or neglect by individual caregivers," the audit said.

In addition, the audit said, the department continued to contract with a mental health care business owned by people who had been on the disqualification list since 1999. Eleven cases of neglect occurred at the home in that time, including one death, the audit said. Department workers apparently questioned if they had the authority to act, but after working with auditors, patients were removed and the provider's contract was not renewed.

Auditors also raised concerns that people employed at mental health centers conducted abuse and neglect investigations 89 percent of the time, rather than bringing in independent investigators from outside the centers. They also said each center had its own investigation process.

The agency said the investigation unit was reorganized and centralized so investigators report to the agency and the transition should be complete by Friday.

The audit also found problems in filing and tracking abuse and neglect incident reports.