According to the letter, the Justice Department will investigate the state's efforts to ensure compliance with federal law and look for "systemic violations of constitutional or other federal rights." If violations are observed, the department will issue written findings, recommend remedies, and provide financial and technical assistance to the state.
Jamie Hais, a spokeswoman for the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, said she was unable to comment on when the investigation is expected to be completed.
Under the federal Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act, the Justice Department may investigate allegations of abuse or neglect if the attorney general has previously notified state officials of a problem in writing, suggested corrections and allowed state officials "reasonable time to take appropriate corrective actions."
In recent months, no significant problems have come to light in the state-mandated incident reports that Rosewood submits to the Maryland Disability Law Center, Knowlton said. The Justice Department has not asked Knowlton's office for information, although the center would be glad to assist in the investigation, she said.
The state's Office of Health Care Quality recently completed its annual review of the facility, although the results have not been made public, according to its director, Wendy Kronmiller. In September, her office released a 160-page report documenting numerous problems including staff members' inability to control violent residents, missed mealtimes and indications that some residents repeatedly choke on food.
The facility was founded in 1888 as the Asylum and Training School for the Feeble Minded and later named Rosewood State Hospital and Rosewood Center. Concerns about treatment there go back many years.
From the 1950s through the 1970s, there were reports of rape, abuse, neglect, overcrowding and unsanitary conditions. One resident reportedly drowned in a bathtub. A 1981 Justice Department report found that residents "failed to receive minimally adequate care."
The population of residents dwindled in recent decades as more families chose to keep disabled residents at home or place them in smaller care centers.
In January 2007, new admissions to Rosewood were halted after a resident was found to be in immediate danger, and in August last year, the facility was found to be noncompliant in seven of eight conditions of licensure.
