Posted inCriminal Justice, Health Care

Beating at developmental center goes unpunished after years of delays

Records show investigations by California state regulators and local police into a beating at the Porterville Developmental Center in 2010 – in which witnesses reported nursing assistant Erik Hansen allegedly stomping a patient unconscious – were beset by lengthy delays and shoddy work.Michael Fagans / The Center for Investigative Reporting Erik Hansen went by the […]

Posted inCriminal Justice, Health Care

Elderly woman’s suspicious death largely ignored by state regulators

Abuse was suspected in Elsie Fossum’s death, but the Department of Public Health dismissed it as an accidental fall. Her case languished for seven years before it was closed.Courtesy of the Fossum family CLAREMONT, Calif. – Sabrina Bengoa was vocal about her dislike of the messier tasks of caring for the elderly. The nursing assistant […]

Posted inCriminal Justice, Health Care

Quick dismissal of caregiver abuse cases puts Calif. patients at risk

“I would tell anybody, do not count on the government taking care of you,” said Brian Woods, former director of the Department of Public Health’s West Covina office.Adithya Sambamurthy/The Center for Investigative Reporting California regulators routinely have conducted cursory and indifferent investigations into suspected violence and misconduct committed by hundreds of nursing assistants and in-home […]

Posted inCriminal Justice, Health Care

Head of California’s troubled developmental services agency to retire

Terri Delgadillo, director of the Department of Developmental ServicesMonica Lam/The Center for Investigative Reporting Terri Delgadillo, director of the California state government’s sprawling network of services for the developmentally disabled, announced today that she would retire at the end of the year. In 2006, then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed Delgadillo, 55, as director of the Department […]

Posted inCriminal Justice, Health Care

California auditor: Developmental center police failed to protect patients

Monica Lam/The Center for Investigative Reporting SACRAMENTO – The in-house police force at California’s developmental centers has frequently neglected to interview victims of abuse, photograph crime scenes or collect statements from suspects and witnesses, according to a state audit released today that confirms the key findings detailed in a series by The Center for Investigative […]

Posted inCriminal Justice

Majority of third-strike inmates are addicts, records show

Inmate counselor Vincent Russo talks about healthy relationships at an Addiction Recovery Counseling meeting at San Quentin State Prison in August.Michael Macor/San Francisco Chronicle Convicts imprisoned under California’s three strikes law are no more inclined to high-risk “criminal thinking” than other inmates, but are far more likely to be addicted to drugs and alcohol, according to data […]