A Lawrence home for developmentally disabled adults has been accused of abuse and neglect by the state’s federally funded advocacy group for the disabled and now faces a lawsuit.

“Our clients were treated like pieces of meat,” said Rocky Nichols, executive director at the Disability Rights Center of Kansas.

The center filed a lawsuit Wednesday afternoon in Douglas County District Court, accusing Community Living Opportunities Inc. of mistreating four residents – Daniel Holuska, Dow Peterson, Ada Clark and John Parker – at its Elmwood House, 1424 Elmwood St.

Three of the four residents cannot speak, feed themselves or walk. Their disabilities are considered severe.

List of allegations

The allegations, Nichols said, stem from an August 2004 investigation of conditions at the home.

“We received a report and went there to see for ourselves,” Nichols said.

Among the center’s allegations:

¢ Parker, 40, had contracted pinworms, presumably from fecal material entering his feeding tube.

¢ Clark, 51, had been left unattended in a shower for almost an hour. She had been left in a position in which the water splashed on her face for much of the time.

¢ Peterson, 42, had been allowed to walk outside unattended. He was found unattended in the shower. His clothes were “covered in mud and urine.”

Also, several of Peterson’s teeth had been pulled due to a lack of dental care.

¢ Holuska, 48, was found lying in bed beneath – rather than atop – the fitted sheet. The sheet prevented him from moving.

¢ Previous reports of abuse and neglect at Elmwood House had gone unheeded by CLO officials.

Nichols said the findings were backed by a subsequent state inspection.

The lawsuit seeks more than $75,000 in punitive damages.

“This is about dignity,” Nichols said. “This is about justice for people with significant disabilities who’ve been treated like they’re less than human.”

Dan Biles, a Topeka lawyer representing CLO, denied the allegations.

“We’ll vigorously defend ourselves,” Biles said, “and we’re very disappointed in their lawyers. They’ve chosen not to talk to us in advance about this.”

Biles said the lawsuit was filed late Wednesday because the statute of limitations was due to run out Thursday.

He denied Holuska had been restrained under a fitted sheet, and said pinworms were “common in congregate care settings” and were not considered harmful.

He declined comment on Peterson’s dental condition, noting that federal laws prohibit him from discussing residents’ medical conditions.

“CLO has been around a long time. It’s a good program,” he said. “I’d love to come out swinging on this, but I can’t. I’m restricted. It looks like we’ll do our swinging in court.”

Closing the gap

State records show that CLO is paid $268.58 a day for residents in its care at Elmwood House.

CLO operates several homes in Lawrence. Its clients and employees also operate the Wal-Mart Recycling Center. It’s one of the largest providers of residential services for people with disabilities in Kansas.

In years past, the state’s advocacy and service-provider communities have rarely feuded publicly.

The lawsuit marks the start of what could become a major schism.

People with disabilities, Nichols said, are tired of being relegated to second-class citizenship.

“For the longest time, we’ve relied on state agencies to hold these programs accountable,” Nichols said. “Their focus turned out to be bureaucratic in nature. It dealt with things like licensure rather than justice. That’s created a huge gap.

“This lawsuit is about closing that gap,” he said. “It’s about justice.”

Nichols’ group, formerly known as Kansas Advocacy and Protective Services, is a federally funded agency charged with protecting the rights of the disabled.