Abuse and neglect fostered by poor hiring at SC disabilities agency, critical report finds

Chronic issues involving neglect and abuse continue to surface at the state agency responsible for serving South Carolinians with disabilities and special needs, a new audit shows. Advocates are urgently calling for the agency to be overhauled.

The Legislative Audit Council, in Part 2 of a scathing report examining operations at the South Carolina Department of Disabilities and Special Needs, said the agency, among other things, has failed to ensure that its hiring practices limit the opportunity for abuse and neglect of disabled persons under the agency’s care. The report also pointed to instances where protocol for reporting abuse, neglect or extortion was ignored, including for some 82 days in one case.

“DDSN does not have an adequate system to ensure that employee caregivers dismissed for abuse, neglect, or exploitation (ANE) are not rehired elsewhere in the system,” the report said. “We found several cases where employees were terminated for ANE violations, but the employee was either rehired or allowed to have the official reason for separation noted as ‘personal’ instead of ‘terminated.’”

The Legislative Audit Council released Part 1 of the report in March, slamming the commission that oversees DDSN for ongoing management issues, including inappropriate behavior, abuse of power and frivolous spending.

The South Carolina Legislative Audit Council is responsible for conducting independent, objective performance audits of state agencies and programs at the request of the General Assembly for the purpose of optimizing the agency.

DDSN, which oversees the care of tens of thousands of South Carolinians with intellectual disabilities, autism and brain or spinal injuries, has long been a political issue as governors have attempted to grapple with problems at the agency.

The latest audit also showed that DDSN failed to use video surveillance within its facilities when investigating reports of abuse, neglect or exploitation.

“We reviewed a ... sample of 63 abuse, neglect or exploitation investigations and found 11 allegations of abuse, neglect or exploitation that took two or more days from the date of the incident to be reported,” the report said. “One incident at the Pee Dee Center was reported 82 days after it occurred; this was only because central office staff noticed suspected abuse, neglect or exploitation during review of video for another incident.”

Much like in its response to the March report, DDSN acknowledged the report’s latest findings and said its leaders are working to improve problem areas across the agency.

“We are still reviewing the full report,” said DDSN spokesperson Derrek Asberry. “From what we’ve reviewed thus far, we agree that there are several opportunities for improvement across our agency. We will work with the state legislature and our staff to make those improvements, to ensure we serve those with disabilities and special needs in the best and most efficient way possible.”

But disability advocates say that’s not enough.

“Our state is going to break if we don’t invest in this (disability) community,” said Kimberly Tissot, president and CEO of Able South Carolina, a nonprofit disability-led organization that seeks equity and inclusion for people with disabilities. “And if we don’t, I mean if we’re not following the law, there’s going to be significant lawsuits. We’ve been raising the same concerns for years.”

Tissot said the agency’s administration desperately needs restructuring in order to begin alleviating problem areas.

Currently, the agency is governed by a seven-member commission, which is appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the state Senate. The commission hires the executive director.

In March, the Legislative Audit Council found that some commissioners were using their positions within the agency to access information and acquire assistance for their family members who are receiving services from DDSN.

“This commission is preventing the agency from thriving, and we are in crisis in South Carolina because the DDSN is not functioning adequately and even resulting in abuse, neglect and sometimes death,” Tissot told lawmakers earlier this year.

South Carolina is the only state that has an independent disability agency governed by a commission, and there are fewer than 10 disability standalone agencies nationwide, according to the audit.

In an effort to address what critics call a years-long mismanagement problem, lawmakers began considering a bill — S. 602 — that would restructure DDSN.

Sponsored by state Sen. Katrina Shealy, R-Lexington, who chairs the Senate Family and Veterans’ Services committee, the bill would place the agency in the governor’s cabinet and eliminate the current governing seven-member commission. The governor would appoint a director to run DDSN upon the advice and consent of the Senate.

The measure passed the Senate last spring but stalled in the House Judiciary committee. It could, however, be revived during next year’s legislative session.

This isn’t the first time senators have tried to place the disability agency under the governor’s control. In 2017 legislators attempted to do the same but got hung up on details surrounding the relationship between the state and local disability boards, which contract with DDSN to provide services but are made up of local employees overseen by local boards.