JUSTICE DEPARTMENT FINDS UNCONSTITUTIONAL CONDITIONS
AT BAXTER MANOR NURSING HOME

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Justice Department today announced the results of its investigation into conditions at the Baxter Manor Nursing Home ("Baxter Manor") in Mountain Home, Arkansas. Baxter Manor, an 81-bed nursing home, is operated by Baxter County.

The Department began its investigation of conditions at Baxter Manor in March 2004. The investigation uncovered evidence of significant civil rights and statutory violations. Investigators found credible evidence of constitutionally deficient use of restraints and psychotropic medications and constitutionally inadequate rehabilitative and medical care. The Department’s findings and recommendations are set forth in a letter from R. Alexander Acosta, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division, to Baxter County Judge Sue Newton.

"Nursing home residents deserve sympathetic and dignified care," said Assistant Attorney General Acosta. “When a state takes responsibility for the most vulnerable among us, it has an obligation to care for them in a manner that upholds their constitutional and statutory rights. We are committed to defending the rights of our elderly.”

The Department’s findings letter also alleges that Baxter Manor has failed to adequately assess residents to determine whether their continued stay at the facility is appropriate. In 1999, in Olmstead v. L.C, the Supreme Court held that, pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act, states must provide disability services in the most integrated setting appropriate to an individual residents' needs. The Department's enforcement efforts target unnecessary institutionalization of individuals with disabilities.

The Civil Rights Division has successfully resolved similar investigations of other nursing homes in Georgia, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania. Investigations concerning nursing homes are pending in California, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, New Jersey, and Tennessee.

Protecting the rights of institutionalized persons is a priority of the Department of Justice. Since 2001, the Civil Rights Division has opened 44 investigations impacting 51 facilities into the terms and conditions of confinement at nursing homes, mental health facilities, residences for persons with developmental disabilities, juvenile justice facilities, and jails. These figures represent a 100% increase over the 20 such investigations initiated over the preceding three years.

The text of the findings letter and additional information about the Special Litigation Section of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division can be found at www.usdoj.gov/crt/split/index.html.

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04-528