WASHPO: D.C. Officials File for Takeover of Two Homes for Mentally Disabled

By Henri E. Cauvin and Nikita Stewart

Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, October 6, 2009

The District filed court papers Monday seeking a takeover of two group homes, saying the operators of the privately run facilities are endangering the health and safety of the mentally disabled residents.

The homes are two of the 11 facilities operated by Individual Development, a nonprofit group whose board includes three politically connected lawyers, David W. Wilmot, Frederick D. Cooke Jr. and A. Scott Bolden.

A federal court monitor and legal advocates for the mentally disabled have been raising concerns for years about the quality of care at IDI's homes, Sandy Bernstein of the advocacy group University Legal Services said Monday night.

After an investigator from ULS found that one resident had inexplicably lost 26 pounds in a month, the court monitor asked the District to act on a long list of concerns about IDI's homes on 53rd Street SE and Edson Place NE, Bernstein said.

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