DATE: Sunday, April 13, 1997                TAG: 9704130049

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY NANCY LEWIS, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   66 lines

CAI CITED ON 14 OCCASIONS SINCE 1993

State authorities responsible for licensing facilities and providers of care for the mentally handicapped issued no citations in connection with Pamela Snellinger's death.

Community Alternatives Inc. has been cited, however, for noncompliance with state mental health department rules and regulations on 14 occasions since Jan. 1, 1993, by the Office of Licensure for the Virginia Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services.

That information was obtained through a Freedom of Information request made by The Virginian-Pilot.

The office can issue citations after investigating reports of alleged abuses in the company's various homes or in connection with routine monitoring visits.

The most recent investigation in which CAI was cited occurred last May, according to the licensure office. It involved the alleged physical abuse of a resident by a staff member. The Virginian-Pilot has requested that further details of the abuse be provided by state authorities.

During that same investigation, the state also cited CAI for two other noncompliances: failure to have behavioral management policies approved by the state's human rights committee and failure to document staff development and required training in personnel records.

No other investigations of alleged abuses during the past four years has resulted in CAI being cited by the licensure office. Several allegations have been investigated, including Snellinger's death, but resulted in no citations.

All other citations during that period arose from monitoring visits to various sites on three dates. CAI was cited for the following:

Feb. 23, 1994

No annual performance evaluations for two employees.

Fire extinguisher not professionally maintained.

Fire drills not conducted on each shift.

Annual fire inspection not current.

Annual health inspection not current.

Aug. 25, 1994

A bedroom had no screen on a window.

Fire drills had not been conducted on each shift.

July 7, 1995

Employee health information was not maintained separately from personnel files.

There was no documentation to indicate that orientation information was made available to clients.

Admission forms were not in client files.

Annual employee performance evaluations were not in personnel records.

Officials for CAI declined to return repeated phone calls last week.

CAI is one of a number of organizations that contract with community services boards in South Hampton Roads for the care of mentally handicapped adults. Services provided range from 24-hour supervision to periodic monitoring each day, depending on the level of disability.

The executive directors of community services boards report that CAI provides services for 50 clients in Virginia Beach, 23 in Chesapeake and one each in Norfolk and Suffolk. Portsmouth has no CAI clients.

These numbers might not reflect the company's total clientele, because individuals can contract with the company privately without referral and monitoring by the Community Service Boards.

CAI was created by the Virginia Beach Community Services Board in 1980 and later became autonomous.

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