Iowa governor, ombudsman to probe Toledo home concerns

DES MOINES – Gov. Terry Branstad and State Ombudsman Ruth Cooperrider announced separate plans Monday to look into concerns about alleged inappropriate use of physical restraints and isolation rooms at the state-run Iowa Juvenile Home in Toledo.

During his weekly news conference, Branstad said he planned to meet with Disability Rights of Iowa representatives to discuss ways to change a “culture of abuse” that came to light recently with reports that juveniles at the facility have been placed in isolation on occasions for as long as a year.

Meanwhile, Cooperrider confirmed that her office has opened an independent investigation of conditions at the Toledo facility at the bidding of state Sens. Amanda Ragan, D-Mason City, and Jack Hatch, D-Des Moines, leaders of committees that oversee policies, procedures and funding for state human services.

“I am going to step up my inquiry,” said Cooperrider, who noted she already had initiated an informal request for information from the state Department of Human Services about the use of restraints and staff training at the facility in the wake of Des Moines Register articles focusing on the isolation rooms and other concerns at the Toledo facility. She said she took steps to formalize the probe after receiving the senators' request on Monday.

Ragan, chairwoman of the Senate Human Resources Committee, and Hatch, chairman of the House-Senate Health and Human Services appropriations subcommittee, said they asked the ombudsman to embark on an independent probe out of concern over the safety and welfare of vulnerable youth residing at the Toledo Juvenile Home/Girls State Training School.

“Youth are placed in this facility so that they may live in a safe environment while working through behavioral issues often connected to neglect, physical abuse, or sexual abuse. Reports of inappropriate policies and procedures for handling challenging youth illustrate a major failure of management at this facility,” the senators said in their letter to the ombudsman.

"The problem is not one or two low-level employees," Ragan said in a statement. “Management is responsible for the policies that created and used these isolation rooms. That's why we need an independent investigation to keep children safe and to prevent this from happening again."

Jane Hudson, executive director of Disability Rights Iowa, a federally funded organization that advocates for the disabled, said she welcomed the governor's comments and already have scheduled a meeting with Cooperrider next week to discuss information they have uncovered during visits to the Toledo home.

Hudson said her agency has reason to believe there has been some reduction in the use of restraints and isolation rooms at the facility, but the practices have not ended and they still have not received any “proactive, positive responses” from DHS officials about what changes they're making.

“Therefore, we're hoping that the governor can step in with his leadership and say certain things must be done,” Hudson said. She also hoped the independent investigations would build “a groundswell” among state legislators because legislative action will be needed to alter the policies and procedures at the Toledo facility.

“We take the problems with Toledo very seriously,” Branstad told his weekly news conference.

The governor did not give a timeline for when he planned to name a new superintendent at the Toledo home to replace the previous top administrator who left last February, saying, “We're going to be reviewing the entire system and looking at what is the appropriate thing to do to change the culture. I'm convinced that we need to do more. We need to do things differently and we need to maybe make major changes.”

Cooperrider said she planned to meet with Disability Rights Iowa officials next week in hopes that sharing information would help avoid a duplication of effort in investigating conditions at the home. The ombudsman noted that her office's resources are “really stretched thin” with several other significant investigations already under way in various stages which mean “I cannot promise a completion date” regarding the Toledo home probe.

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