The Vermont Attorney General’s Office has settled false claims and allegations of neglect, including one case involving the drowning of a client, with Upper Valley Services, a service provider for adults with developmental disabilities.
The settlement requires Upper Valley Services to change operations and leadership and pay at least $112,000 in damages and fines, according to a press release from the attorney general’s office Wednesday.
“Vermont relies on designated agencies such as Upper Valley Services to provide care and services to vulnerable members of our communities,” Attorney General Susanne Young said in a press release. “It is the responsibility of these institutions to ensure that the needs of vulnerable adults are adequately and safely met, with dignity and respect, and that tragedies such as those revealed by the investigation do not occur.”
Upper Valley Services is the designated agency for Orange County and Moretown. That means they are responsible for coordinating services for people with developmental disabilities, including home placement and care in Vermont. It has offices in Bradford, Moretown and Randolph, according to its website.
This agency is responsible for placing clients with “shared living providers”, i.e. people who care for clients in their homes in exchange for payment.
Upper Valley Services said in a statement Wednesday that it has already begun making some changes before the settlement, pledging about $300,000 to improve management and quality assurance.
The agency is “dedicated to helping Vermonters with developmental disabilities achieve their goals and live their best lives while ensuring their health and safety,” said Executive Director Gloria Quinn said.
“Our employees and shared living providers are talented, dedicated, and fully committed to UVS’ mission,” she said.
In October 2018, an agency was accused of placing a client in a house with a pond in the backyard without discussing whether the client could swim and whether safety equipment was in place. The person drowned there in April 2019, according to the settlement.
That same year, according to the settlement, the service provider learned that one of the caregivers had repeatedly locked a customer in the basement when he needed a caregiver “break”. We informed service of the room’s existence, but no one in the organization followed up on how it was being used.
Authorities removed caregivers in both incidents from their roles after discovering inadequate care was provided, according to a statement from the Upper Valley Service.
And in 2017, Upper Valley Services hired an employee who is on the Vermont Adult Abuse Registry. This means they should be banned from working for service providers. The employee provided a false letter saying it had been removed from the registry, which the agency did not verify.
The agency fired the employee after discovering the fraud, according to a statement.
The Attorney General’s Office said it called on Upper Valley Services to make a number of reforms, including creating a new director for the Quality and Clinical Review Board. Implementing risk assessments and more thorough service contracts for new deployments. Provide more training opportunities for employees.
According to the press release, if Upper Valley Services meets these criteria, it will only have to pay $112,000 in penalties and damages. Otherwise, you may have to pay up to $194,231.
The Attorney General’s Office recently indicted other caregivers of adults with developmental disabilities for abuse and neglect. In September 2021, the firm indicted two of her couples on charges including client swapping, neglecting clients’ health and personal care, and locking one client in a closet.
Some disability advocates have spoken out against Vermont’s system of placing clients in what they call “adult foster care.” Parents of adults with disabilities need care To find more stable housing solutions for people, we formed a group called the Developmentally Disabled Housing Initiative.
The Vermont Developmental Disabilities Council wrote an open letter in October calling for reforms in the system, including better training for clients to understand their rights, increased home surveillance, and affordable wages for caregivers. I asked.
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