Sexual abuse and violations are rampant at CT-run mental health center

NEW HAVEN — After a three-year investigation, advocates say sexual abuse and other violations are rampant at the state-run Connecticut Mental Health Center in New Haven, according to a Connecticut Disability Rights Report released Wednesday. concluded.

In a 38-page report, the federally mandated disability rights advocacy group found that the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, which operates psychiatric facilities for adults with severe mental illness, had sex acts between patients. They claim that they have been unable to deal with sexual assault and harassment and are suffering from serious problems. – Infected units using excessive restraints and failing to provide adequate care to units transitioning to discharge.

According to a news release announcing the findings of the report, titled “Patient Care Failures: An Investigation into a Connecticut Mental Health Center’s Psychiatric Inpatient Unit,” “DRCT is determined to prevent further irreversible harm. We call for urgent and immediate corrective action.”

DRCT, which is federally mandated and funded to protect the rights of Connecticut residents with disabilities, is asking Congress to draft legislation that would require regulatory oversight of all mental health facilities operated by DHMAS. said Rachel Mirsky, the group’s supervising attorney who led the investigation. And a report.

“CMHCs are failing to help patients become more independent and productive members of society,” Mirsky said in a news release, adding, “On average, patients remain at CMHCs for more than a year. Negligence can result in inadequate patient safety, including excessive use of restraints and seclusion, and inadequate treatment plans to improve patient welfare and provide the skills needed to transition out of the institutional setting. Treatment is being carried out.”

“CMHC’s patients are sons, daughters, mothers and fathers with families who love and care for them,” Mirsky added. “They deserve more support from CMHC. What CMHC is currently doing is not enough.”

At this time, Whiting Forensic Hospital is the only regulated hospital run by DHMAS after a lengthy process of investigation and oversight, including lawsuits by patients’ families contesting conditions such as supervisors and staff humiliating patients. It is a supervised mental health facility.

“It is DMHAS’ best interest to care for our clients in the best facilities we can provide,” DHMAS spokesperson Christopher McClure said in an emailed statement. “All of our facilities, including last year’s Connecticut Mental Health Center, are accredited by the Joint Commission, which requires them to meet rigorous, accurate and objective standards of care.”

While McClure praised the DRCT’s efforts, he said his agency disagreed with the report’s findings.

“While we continue to review the report, the agency has a number of concerns with the DRCT’s findings and recommendations, which include subjective criteria and require robust risk management, quality assurance and , system changes were required where critical incident reporting was already in place, including citations for isolated incidents,’ and the incident was subsequently resolved,” McClure said. “Our concerns about these findings and recommendations have already been made clear to the DRCT throughout this process and through robust discussions. DMHAS has brought senior leaders across the DRCT to discuss the content. and we continue to provide care that exceeds the standards of primary accreditation.”The bodies are located in the country. ”

According to the report, CMHC is a 20-bed facility staffed by DMHAS personnel and experts from the Yale Department of Psychiatry. Staff members include Dr. Michael Sernyak, CEO of CMHC and professor of psychiatry/vice chair for clinical affairs and program development at Yale.

In one incident at CMCH, the DRCT found that staff did not investigate a complaint made by a 25-year-old female patient that she was sexually assaulted by a male patient in June 2021. The same man came out of a room with his genitals and buttocks exposed and grabbed the woman in July 2021, according to the report.

The man began to follow her, and she reported these actions to “hospital police officers,” but was told that nothing could be done because “the male patient did not cause any harm.” A report the woman made about a second man making kissing noises was also not investigated, the report said.

According to the report, the investigation revealed multiple “systematic violations of the constitutional and legal rights of severely mentally ill patients admitted to receive treatment at CMCH.”

Violations included failing to ensure the personal safety of patients, failing to protect patients from sexual abuse or harassment, failing to ensure proper use of restraints and seclusion, and providing a rat-free environment. This includes failing to provide appropriate transitional care and discharge planning.

According to the report, multiple patients interviewed told the DRCT that they were the targets of sexual abuse and that the health center failed to accurately record complaints of sexual abuse, in violation of its own policies. Told.

As part of the investigation, the DRCT also looked into restraint and seclusion practices and found that patients were not properly assessed to determine the least restrictive means of addressing behaviour, the report said.

Mirsky gave the example of a 31-year-old man with an intellectual disability who was physically aggressive. The man first entered CMHC in 2019 and remained there for about a year, the report said. During that time, he was not seen by a psychologist or had a forensic risk assessment, so he was released to another facility in October 2020, the report said.

When he first joined CMHC, the multidisciplinary treatment team did not adequately monitor or address his sexually abusive behavior, his use of restraints and seclusion or the rehabilitative interventions in his treatment plan, according to the report.

The man “allegedly committed more than 50 sexually abusive acts against patients and staff,” according to the report. “Though documented in patient records, CMHC failed to report or investigate any of these alleged incidents of sexual abuse.”

Mirsky said he was released and returned in November 2020 after allegedly attacking a staff member and another patron.