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Report released on abuse of Iowa residents with disabilities

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March 7th, 2017 by Ric Hanson

GLENWOOD, Iowa (AP) – An investigation of verbal and physical abuse at the Glenwood State Resource Center finds employees were poorly trained and lacked supervision, leading some staffers to mistreat residents with severe intellectual disabilities and for other workers to not report the abuse.

The Joint Commission Resources consulting company wrote a 34-page report after the state hired the company to investigate the causes of abuse at the center, which houses more than 200 residents. Thirteen staff members quit or were fired over the allegations, and six face criminal charges.

The Iowa Department of Human Services released the report, labeled “confidential,” Monday in response to an open-records request by The Des Moines Register. A department spokeswoman says her agency spent up to $65,000 to commission the report because it wants to understand and fix problems at the facility.