FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 22, 2024
Investigation into Practices at Connecticut Mental Health Center Reveals Multiple System Failings Including Unsafe Conditions, Inadequate Treatment, Violation of Rights, Lack of Sufficient Oversight; Immediate Corrective Actions Sought
Investigation into Practices at Connecticut Mental Health Center Reveals Multiple System Failings Including Unsafe Conditions, Inadequate Treatment, Violation of Rights, Lack of Sufficient Oversight; Immediate Corrective Actions Sought
Following a nearly three-year investigation into conditions and practices at Connecticut Mental Health Center (CMHC), an inpatient psychiatric facility operated by the State Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS), Disability Rights Connecticut (DRCT) has identified and substantiated multiple systemic violations of the rights of individuals with serious mental illness who were admitted for treatment.
In a report issued today, DRCT calls for “urgent and immediate corrective action to prevent further irreparable harm,” delineating findings that indicate “patients reside in an unsafe environment where they are victims of sexual abuse and harassment by other patients, live with rodent infestation in their unit, are restrained excessively, and do not receive adequate active treatment to transition to discharge.”
Findings highlighted in the report point to more than a dozen systemic deficiencies at CMHC, including failing to provide patients with an adequate supportive and therapeutic environment and failure to house inpatient psychiatric patients separately from voluntary medical research participants. The report also describes a lack of adequate discharge planning, failure to follow all of its own policies, and failure to adequately protect patients from sexual assault and provide them with adequate active treatment.
Disability Right Connecticut, which launched the investigation in response to complaints it received, provides legal advocacy and rights protection to people of all ages with disabilities with a focus on systemic issues of abuse, neglect and rights violations. DRCT is Connecticut’s mandated Protection and Advocacy System pursuant to federal law.
Connecticut Mental Health Center, located in New Haven, is described on its website as “an urban community mental health center … serving individuals with serious mental illness and/or addiction. Founded in 1966, CMHC is a partnership between DMHAS and the Yale Department of Psychiatry.” The DRCT investigation focused on CMHC’s 20-bed inpatient facility for patients with mental illness, and some patients with dual diagnosis.
In the detailed 30+page report, DRCT explains that CMHC and DMHAS “continue to fail to implement corrective measures to prevent these violations from reoccurring,” and recommends that CMHC be subject to regulatory oversight by the Department of Public Health, similar to Whiting Forensic Hospital, “so there would be a means to investigate and remediate abuse and neglect allegations more consistently and expeditiously.”
The investigative report findings are based on a comprehensive investigation that included extensive document and record review. DRCT also conducted CMHC facility visits and interviews with CMHC staff and patients.
DRCT urges CMHC and DMHAS to adopt a series of corrective actions including:
▪Development and implementation of a standardized system for reporting and investigating all incidents of abuse and neglect at all DMHAS run facilities.
▪Adequate implementation of restraint and seclusion policies.
▪Establishment and implementation of policies integrating psychologists into all aspects of patient care and treatment for patients with intellectual disabilities, and patients with challenging behaviors.
▪Revision and implementation of policies and procedures for patients in need of behavioral intervention.
▪Improvement in patient attendance in clinical groups in compliance with individualized treatment plans.
▪Revision and implementation of the discharge policy.
▪Eradication and prevention of rodent infestation in patient units.
▪Establish a mechanism to ensure the implementation of both DMHAS and CMHC’s policy regarding client rights.
▪Improvement in CMHC’s risk management system.
▪Development and implementation of quality improvement mechanisms that timely detect and adequately address problems with patient care.
“CMHC is failing to help its patients become more independent, productive members of society. On average, patients remain at CMHC for a year or more,” explained Rachel Mirsky, Supervisory Attorney at DRCT, who led the investigation. “Administrative neglect has led to inadequate treatment of patients including safety from harm, excessive use of restraint and seclusion, and inadequate treatment plans to improve patient wellbeing and provide skills necessary to transition out of an institutionalized setting.”
“CMHC’s patients are the sons, daughters, mothers, and fathers of families that love and care about them. They deserve more from CMHC,” Mirsky added. “What CMHC is currently doing is not enough.”
The report details the experiences of a number of patients at CMHC, describing the impact of multiple system violations of their rights.
DRCT recommends that CMHC and DMHAS immediately “create, implement, and monitor plans of correction to address multiple issues impacting patient care” to ensure compliance with the patients’ constitutional and statutory rights. DRCT also recommends that CMHC and DMHAS provide an annual report to DRCT regarding the monitoring of the issues outlined in the report, and corrections implemented to address them.
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Media Contact:
Bernard Kavaler
860-729-3021, bernard@express-strategies.com
