The complaint cites a March report from the Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration, which made unannounced visits to some of the nursing homes after federal prosecutors started making noise about the conditions. AHCA found that several pediatric residents of one facility were essentially neglected for long periods. The report cited a case of a teenager in a wheelchair who, after asking for help getting out of his room, was moved to another room with three babies and toddlers who were listening to nursery rhymes and given no other form of stimulation.
Other disturbing findings emerged from unannounced health official visits that are cited in the DOJ complaint, including one facility that had 17 kids in an activity area supervised by a single adult. Another report in December found, in the same facility, that a number of children had gone for many months without a face-to-face visit with a doctor, “placing the children in ongoing and immediate jeopardy." In response to the findings, the state of Florida simply moved the children to another nursing facility, rather than trying to place them in the community.
The DOJ lawsuit is harshly critical of Florida’s budget moves to cut services to disabled children. The complaint points out that Medicaid home health care reimbursement rates in Florida haven’t changed since 1987, a factor that has resulted in nursing shortages. Making matters worse, in 2010, the complaint says, the state cut funding for private duty nursing services by $6 million. Meanwhile, the state has raised the rates paid to nursing homes taking in medically fragile kids by more than 28 percent since 2004.
Justice Department Sues Florida Over Disabled Kids in Nursing Homes | Mother Jones: