Police: Group Home Assistant Manager Collected Videos Of Abuse [The Hartford Courant]

June 12--EAST HARTFORD -- Town police Tuesday made the third abuse-related arrest in less than a year at a group home for adults with developmental disabilities, charging the assistant manager with inciting injury to residents of the home and hoarding videos of staff members carrying out abuse.

Stephanie Jones, 43, allegedly stored the videos in electronic devices at her home on Tolland Street. Police said they searched the home and seized the videos as evidence of Jones encouraging or inciting the abuse.

Jones was charged with inciting injury to persons in connection with two incidents. She was released on $50,000 bond.

The King Street group home is operated for the state by a private contractor, Options Unlimited, based in Bloomfield.

Police began investigating allegations at the home, located at 371 King St., after a video of a staff member abusing a mentally disabled resident surfaced last year.

Angelica Rivera, the staff member caught on video, was arrested July 11, 2012. She was charged with cruelty to persons, first-degree unlawful restraint, second-degree intimidation based on bigotry or bias, third-degree assault, disorderly contact and third-degree abuse.

Rivera rejected a plea bargain offer, placing her case on the trial list.

According to an arrest warrant, Rivera told police that eight other employees of the Options Unlimited group home had been fired for abuse.

Witnesses told police that Jones, who was an assistant manager at the time, was aware of the abuse and had collected videos of staff members abusing the residents, police said.

On June 4, police arrested another employee at the group home on charges stemming from the investigation into Rivera and Jones.

Ex-staff member Jevaun Phillips, 34, was booked for second-degree abuse of persons and second-degree intimidation based on bigotry or bias.

Options Unlimited is a vendor for the state Department of Developmental Services.

In fiscal year 2012, the company received $3.4 million from the state to care for developmentally disabled adults. It received $3.3 million in fiscal year 2011; and $3.6 million in 2010. The company has been a state contractor since 1996, records show.

DDS Commissioner Terrence W. Macy reiterated in a statement Wednesday that the vast majority of state and private workers who care for developmentally disabled adults are competent and "provide the best of care."

"But to the ones that don't, I hope these arrests send a clear message -- abuse of any kind will not be tolerated," Macy said.

He praised the East Hartford police investigators and said police are crucial partners along with state regulators in assuring quality care of vulnerable people.

Options Unlimited was placed under heightened oversight by DDS after the videotaped incident in July 2012, the agency said at the time.

Options Unlimited had been cited by DDS for a string of violations during recent inspections at its six homes in East Hartford, East Windsor, Windsor and Farmington in 2012, records show.

In an inspection by DDS of the King Street group home in East Harford on June 25, 2012, about three weeks before the July 11 arrest of Angelica Rivera, inspectors reported finding five violations at the home. These included furnishings in disrepair, and gaps in staff training, behavior-management techniques, and health services to clients.

DDS froze admissions to all six Options Unlimited group homes in the wake of the taped incident last year and examined all of the developmentally disabled adults living in the homes for signs of abuse, officials said at the time.

On Wednesday, Barnish said Options Unlimited has had a change in leadership and a reorganization since July 2012. She said the company has developed a "quality assurance division," hired new behaviorists and improved training for all employees.

Barnish said Options Unlimited was taken off enhanced monitoring in February. She said that DDS continues to watch the company closely.

Another state office -- the lead agency for cases of abuse of disabled people -- has an open investigation of the King Street group home.

James McGaughey, executive director of the Office of Protection and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities, said OPA began probing the King Street home after the July 2012 arrest.

"It remained open because we knew police were investigating further. It's good police work. It's important law enforcement takes these matters seriously, and in East Hartford, they do."

McGaughey said no new allegations of abuse at the King Street home, beyond the Rivera-Phillips-Jones case, have come into OPA.

"That's good news," he said.

Macy said anyone with knowledge of abuse or neglect against an individual with an intellectual disability can report it to either the Office of Protection and Advocacy, if the individual is between the ages of 18-59; the Department of Children and Families for children under 17; or the Department of Social Services for adults aged of 60 years or over.

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