CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – The U.S. Department of Justice says the Iowa Department of Human Services and Glenwood Resource Center staff violated residents’ 14th Amendment Rights by providing inadequate care and experimenting with them without their knowledge or consent.
“Iowa operates Glenwood in a manner that has exposed residents, in violation of their rights of the Fourteenth Amendment, to undue harm and risk of injury by:
• uncontrolled and unsupervised experimentation with body and behavior;
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• Inadequate physical and behavioral health care; and
• Inadequate protection against damage, including inadequate security and monitoring mechanisms, ”said the 63-page report by DHS published at the end of December.
The 14th amendment says the government cannot deprive any American of life, liberty, or property without due process.
The DOJ is continuing to investigate whether Glenwood has violated the Disability Act at the facility in western Iowa.
The federal investigation, which began in 2019, resulted in the discharge of Jerry Rea as superintendent. Former residents have alleged in a federal lawsuit that Rea used residents in sexual arousal experiments without their permission.
The report contains four pages of legal remedies that the Justice Department says it will implement with the DHS.
The DHS has published the following statement:
“We have spoken to our federal partners and continue to work with them on the best way forward to ensure that we provide the best possible care to those we serve. The department is currently reviewing these results. We will continue discussions with our legal advisor and the DOJ. We have played a collaborative role in this process from day one.
“As we are still in legal discussions on this issue, we have no further comments at the moment. Just like last year, we will continue to update all of our stakeholders, including our residents’ families, lawmakers, and the public. Our highest priority is the care and well-being of those we serve. “
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