The U.S. Justice Department has launched an investigation of the long-troubled Rosewood Center to determine whether conditions at the state's largest facility for profoundly disabled adults violate the residents' civil rights.
Although the institution is set to close next summer, federal authorities will look into the treatment of residents, including safety issues and medical care, along with plans for their placement in the community, according to a letter sent to Gov. Martin O'Malley.
A Justice Department spokeswoman declined yesterday to discuss details of the investigation, but state officials said federal investigators have requested numerous documents pertaining to policies, procedures and behavior-management techniques, as well as meeting minutes and staffing organizational charts.
Those officials said conditions at Rosewood have improved significantly since reports last year of serious problems at the Owings Mills facility. The reported problems included a resident with a history of violence who stabbed another resident with a knife he stole on a field trip, patients receiving inadequate nutrition from feeding tubes and a woman who did not receive medical care for two weeks after ripping off her toenails.
"I think they're responding to issues that were problematic then that are no longer problematic today," said Michael S. Chapman, director of the state's Developmental Disabilities Administration.
Justice Department officials have not issued subpoenas or visited the facility, but they might visit next month, Chapman said. The letter informing the governor of the investigation was sent last month.
In January, O'Malley announced plans to close the 120-year-old facility, which housed about 3,700 people at its peak. Today, 127 live there, and administrators are working closely with relatives to move each one to a smaller environment where they can receive the care they need, Chapman said.
Virginia Knowlton, director of the Maryland Disability Law Center, which released a report last year detailing dangerous conditions at Rosewood, said she was surprised that the Justice Department was beginning the investigation now.
"It seems a little behind the curve since the decision has already been made to close the facility," she said. "Perhaps the purpose is to monitor the closing process and oversee that transition."
