Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

 AUSTIN – Advocates for and against closing Texas' state schools for the disabled agreed on one thing Tuesday: Emergency legislation filed to protect residents of the facilities from abuse won’t hinder either of their efforts.

They’ve got slightly different takes on the bill, filed by Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, and given emergency priority by Gov. Rick Perry on Tuesday.

State school proponents say the bill, which calls for an independent ombudsman, security cameras and random drug testing of state school employees, is probably unnecessary but will only strengthen the facilities in the long run.

“It’s making this a bigger thing than it needs to be,” said Rep. Susan King, R-Abilene, who has a state school in her district. “A lot of it’s redundant, but it provides additional safety and more accountability to the employees – all of which are good things.”

Meanwhile, those who favor a measure to close some of Texas’ 12 state-run institutions say they’ll run a parallel effort, letting this bill handle safety while theirs tackles “over-institutionalization.”

“Those are good steps to ensure safety, but there must be a long range plan to ensure that we get rid of facilities we no longer need,” said Jeff Garrison-Tate, who runs the nonprofit Community Now.

And both sides say the governor’s emergency designation, which allows lawmakers to take up the measure on conditions inside the state schools immediately, will throw the facilities into the spotlight this session – for better or for worse.

Already, they’ve been in the headlines. Tuesday’s announcement follows two years of Dallas Morning News reports on abuse inside the state schools. A recent U.S. Department of Justice investigation found residents of all Texas’ state schools were in danger of mistreatment, a violation of their constitutional rights.

The findings “reinforce the fact that we need to look into the whole state schools situation,” Nelson said.

Under the bill, a new ombudsman’s office would audit each state school twice a year and would monitor a telephone hotline set up for allegations of problems at state schools. The bill also would require outside reviews of all deaths in state schools and would set aside a facility for offenders committed to state care by the courts.

Those with family members abused or neglected in private institutions say the bill offers them little relief.

Gloria Culpepper says her adult daughter, who is mentally disabled, was sexually abused by a male resident at her private Houston-area care facility, leaving dark bruises and bite marks on her hips and inner thighs. Since then, she has regressed dramatically, said John Ramsey, the family’s Houston-based attorney. The woman has become incontinent and developed tremors, and she panics whenever a man approaches her.

The family’s claims, though investigated by state officials, were deemed “inconclusive” – meaning the agency couldn’t determine whether they were accurate.

“We just feel helpless, like nobody’s really listened to us,” said Culpepper, who has brought her daughter to Austin to live with her. “My daughter doesn’t have a voice. We want to make it so this doesn’t happen to anyone else.”

Rep. Patrick Rose, D-Dripping Springs, said this is where a parallel bill he’s authoring fits in. It would tackle not just state school closures but the size and quality of care at private facilities and community group homes.

The bill “seeks to, in the middle and long term, improve care both in the community and in the state school setting,” Rose said.