WARREN, Arkansas — The Department of Human Services announced that 11 of its employees have been placed on administrative leave and one employee was terminated in light of a death of a resident of the Southeast Arkansas Human Development Center.
The Sept. 7 death reportedly stems from a “behavior incident” that led staff to use physical and chemical restraints on the adult resident. DHS said in a news release that staff failed to follow protocol. The agency said it has taken action to discipline employees and investigated the incident.
DHS has named an interim superintendent at the Warren facility. DHS added that, as its investigation continues, the agency will take additional steps to hold staff who did not follow procedure accountable and to implement recommended changes at this facility.
The recommendations will also be applied to the other four Human Development Centers in the state to ensure best practices are followed throughout the system.
“The loss of one of the residents entrusted to our care at the Southeast Arkansas Human Development Center was wholly unacceptable and is not reflective of the level of care we work to provide Arkansans every day,” said DHS Secretary Janet Mann. “We offer our deepest sympathies to the individual’s family and are working to both hold accountable those responsible for this incident and make changes throughout our system to prevent future tragedies.
“While we are limited in the specific information we can provide because of ongoing investigations and to respect the privacy of the resident who died, the information we have shows that there were significant issues throughout the handling of this case. As a result, we have placed multiple employees on administrative leave, already fired one employee involved, named an interim superintendent, and are working to implement reforms so our residents receive the proper and safe care they deserve.”
A link to the full report from the review is available here.