FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CR FRIDAY, MAY 19, 1995 (202) 616-2765 TDD (202) 514-1888 JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SUES THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA FOR ALLEGED CONSTITUTIONAL VIOLATIONS AT THE D.C. VILLAGE NURSING HOME WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Justice Department today sued the District of Columbia for allegedly failing to provide necessary safety and medical care to the residents of the D.C. Village Nursing Home, neglect that violated the residents' constitutional rights and may have led to medical emergencies and even deaths. D.C. Village, a facility located in Washington, D.C., houses individuals with special needs, including the elderly, persons with mental illness and persons with developmental disabilities. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in D.C., alleged that the District of Columbia, which is legally responsible for the operation of the D.C. Village, violated the rights of the facility's residents under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act (CRIPA) because it failed to: provide adequate medical care and treatment; provide reasonably safe conditions; ensure that there is an adequate number of appropriately trained staff to meet the needs of the residents regarding necessary care, medical and nursing services and psychiatric treatment and training; provide mentally retarded residents necessary treatment and training; meet the residents' basic care needs. The Department asserted that in recent months individuals have died from causes which call into question the adequacy of basic medical care; at least two individuals have died this year from allegedly treatable conditions. Another resident recently had to have his leg amputated allegedly after suffering from severe bedsores. In addition, the Justice Department received complaints claiming that vendors are not being paid, resulting in such severe shortages that in one case, family members were forced to supply necessary colostomy bags. The suit seeks to enjoin the District from continuing these practices, and to require the District to improve the conditions at the facility. "D.C. Village has been in a state of emergency for too long," said Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Deval L. Patrick. "We have tried and tried to resolve these problems amicably with the District. And we are still committed to trying. But now it's time to act." Former Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly was informed of the Department's most recent findings on October 1994. Since then, the Justice Department has sought to negotiate a consent decree to correct the unconstitutional and unlawful conditions to which residents are subjected. "We tried to rectify the immediate problems at D.C. Village through a cooperative federal and local effort," said Eric H. Holder, Jr., United States Attorney in Washington D.C. "We are hopeful that before long the District will choose to enter into a constructive settlement to safeguard the constitutional rights of D.C. Village residents, rather than engaging in expensive litigation. In that regard, the parties have agreed to continue talking in an effort to resolve this matter." The facility has been under investigation by the Justice Department since August 1990, and has been visited by independent experts and attorneys from the Civil Rights Division. "We have the responsibility to protect the safety of the D.C. Village residents and we intend to assume it," Patrick added. # # # 95-280