Caledonia Argus

Issues with ABLE brought to county board

Posted: 12/10/02

by Jane Palen
Managing editor

Representatives from both sides of a simmering controversy met at the Houston County Board meeting Tuesday, December 3, but there were no sparks as the two factions each presented their side to the board.

Danielle Burg, Richard Johnson, Susan Thicke, and Bonnie Gregerson spoke to commissioners on practices and policies of ABLE, Inc., a private, non-profit organization which provides services to the developmentally disabled. The county has a contract with ABLE to provide those services.

Burg, who was employed at ABLE for 15 years before leaving in August, said that while at ABLE she observed some situations that felt were not in the best interests of the clients, but when she tried to convey her concerns to board members she was told to go through ABLEís attorneys.

Also, Burg referred to ABLEís new confidentiality policy which prohibits employees from working for both ABLE and another agency that provides similar services. ABLE says its main concern is maintaining confidentiality.

Developmentally disabled adults are now allowed to use consumer directed waiver funds to hire any person or agency they choose to provide services for them. Since leaving ABLE, Burg has started her own agency, called ìI CAN,î which provides services similar to what ABLE offers.

ìThe conflict of interest policy forces them (the client) to choose. Personally, it causes me a lot of concern,î said Burg, who explained that some clients now have one caregiver who works for two agencies, and may lose that person if the person is forced to choose.

Susan Thicke, whose sister-in-law, Geri, is a former ABLE client, presented the board with four pages of concerns that she and her husband have with ABLE. Thicke said that while living in an ABLE residence, garbage was allowed to pile up in Geriís bedroom. Thicke said she and her husband did not go into the room at Geriís request, but were assured that it was clean. When they did enter the room to move Geri out, they found garbage two feet deep. She told commissioners that it took two people five hours to clean the room, and that they removed 19 full garbage bags from the room.

ìWe entrusted Geri to an organization that was supposed to protect her rights,î said Thicke.

Richard Johnson of Houston, who is the parent of a daughter in need of assistance, told commissioners that if confidentiality is a problem, those employees who create the problem should be dealt with on an individual basis.

Burg charged that ABLE ìis using our tax dollars to create a monopoly.î She said the agency employs a lot of good people and provides a lot of good care, but there are issues that need to be addressed.

ìThey are using our tax dollars to create a monopoly,î said Burg.

At the request of commissioner Ann Thompson, human services director Beth Wilms defined consumer directed waiver as an option that gives families freedom of choice in who is caring for the person with special needs.

County board chairman Kevin Kelleher inquired whether incidents such as the one described by the Thickes is reported to the state Human Services department. Wilms replied that it would be since ABLE is a mandated reporter, but that the state is overwhelmed and is unlikely to investigate vulnerable adult issues unless a death occurs.

Speaking on behalf of ABLE were Dawn Clark, human resources director; Wade Welper, executive director, and Mary Pieper, program director.

Welper told the board that the conflict of interest policy was first discussed a year ago and tabled, and then reconsidered when some problems regarding an employee arose.

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