Key West Convalescent Center Nursing Home is Forced to Evict Patients 9 Die

Key West,Florida, USA by Ray Fernandez

The Key West Convalescent Center has failed to score high enough in inspections to come off a list of troubled nursing homes in the state, according to state inspectors who visited the facility Nov. 1.

State inspectors pointed to instances in which residents were injured or verbally abused during their stay at the facility, but a continuous pattern of bad inspections is what ultimately lead to the center's closing and the eviction of all the elderly living there.

People who had mothers, fathers, and family in the center gave the center high marks and blamed politics for the closing of the center and the eviction of the residents.

"Let me tell you something," Estevez said. "The people who work there are very loving people. This one [employee] will stop whatever she's doing and come out of her office to help a lady that sits in her chair in the lobby every day. She sits her in that chair with the pillow every day."

That employee, Admissions Director Dona Rosado, has come to know the residents and looks forward to seeing them every day, she said.

"These people have become my family," she said. "As soon as I park my car, they greet me every morning, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and they're glad to see you."

Patients in wheelchairs and on gurneys hugged and cried with friends and relatives in the lobby of the Key West Convalescent Center Friday as three hospital transportation vans waited outside the center's glass doors.

It was moving day for about 20 terminally ill and seriously injured residents of the embattled center, and loved ones had little time to say goodbye before they were loaded onto the vans and ambulances for transport to new quarters.

"It was the death of a family," said Lori Dombroski, her voice breaking. "It's like they tore up one big family and put us each in different foster homes."
Melba Gill started to cry as she sat on the sunbathed bench outside the Key West Convalescent Center.

At least nine former residents of the now-defunct Key West Convalescent Center have died in the month after the long-term care facility closed around Thanksgiving.

Between Nov. 25 and Christmas Day, Terrece Kell, James White, Kathleen C. Petite, Bolivia Maria Benitez, Randall Warren, Gertrude Cohen and Roy Himmelberger have died, according to nurses, funeral homes and the Monroe County Health Department's vital records office.

Though the deceased either were elderly or terminally ill, their family members and nursing home officials predicted the convalescent center's abrupt closing would hasten the deaths of residents unable to emotionally or physically handle their hasty relocation to other nursing homes around South Florida.

Shortly after 2 more elders died, Frances Colvert's daughter and Robert Kelly's friend blame the move for their deaths, sometimes called "transfer trauma" in the industry.

My own experience with elders being separated from familiar surroundings has been no less traumatic as less than three months after my mother Clara G. Fernandez was moved out of her handicapped home and into a hotel room with the complicity of the *Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) who looked the other way in spite of numerous complaints, Clara was left alone and drugged in a hotel room where she fell became permanently incapacitated and was isolated , kept from her husband well known Medical examiner Dr. A.J. Fernandez who died after being forceful separated from his wife of 58 years Clara G. Fernandez

Dr. Fernandez died a year after being separated from his wife, this was done in order to get at their money, during this time their Trust was decimated while authorities and the DCF looked the other way in the mean time attorneys divided up the cash left in the estate leaving the surviving elder paralyzed and indigent.

Source: Key West Citizen Newspaper

*Clarification : We met a lot of good people that worked for the DCF and they called me often because they were genuinely interested in our welfare, and we are well aware as they are that some of the people that we have exposed for things they have done would rather us not talk about them here and they have used the DCF as a weapon by filing numerous and frequent FALSE complaints against us.

As a result of these investigation(s) we were audited for a period of 5 years and exonerated, and these were some very capable investigators that did an excellent job, it is a shame that DCF doesn't have better internal controls so that the people that drop the ball are not made to account for all the hard working people at the Florida Division of Children and Families (DCF).

For the most part most DCF people that we know are very hard working people that and are truly interested in helping out even when politics and over regulation get in the way but I will never forget when we begged Sheryl Smith the supervisor for Bartow DCF to save our mother who was under a deadly cocktail of Lorazepam,Ambiem and Darvocet and being left alone in "Motel Rooms" .


We turned to Sheryl Smith the supervisor for the Bartow ,Florida office of the DCF for help and law enforcement refused to get involved and passed the baton , she told us that there was nothing she could do because they had "no police powers" and week and a half later Clara G. Fernandez who was under a deadly cocktail of Lorazepam,Ambiem and Darvocet lay alone in the floor on the bathroom of some motel room were she was under un familiar surroundings.

She was hemorrhaging from her brain being condemned to a wheel chair for the rest of her life because of this neglect that has been swept under the proverbial "Rug".

My only question is "Who and Why in the DCF is a party to this, and why do they protect somone that should be held accountable when lives are at a stake. The then District 14 Director Mr. James Griblle reported that the matter ought to go to the State Attorney?"

Elderly Facing Eviction

By VANESSA HO Seattle,Washington,USA SeattlePI.Com

Complaints on rise of nursing homes forcing out residents

For two years, Irene Henderer lived at the West Woods boarding home in Olympia, where she was known for her lively stories and sharp wit. But in November 2007, the home gave Henderer an eviction notice, along with 20 other Medicaid residents.

Henderer, 89, grew depressed and refused to leave her room for meals. As her move approached, she quietly asked her guardian: "Why can't I just die here?"

Three days after moving out, Henderer's congestive heart failure worsened. A month later, she died.

"That was her home," said Pam Privette, Henderer's legal guardian. "If she could have stayed there, we would not have gone through any of this -- the depression, the giving up on life. This pre-empted a natural death, in my opinion."

As health care costs rise and Medicaid rates lag behind, nursing and boarding homes are forcing out sick, elderly and frail residents in what advocates say is a growing trend. No official data exist on eviction counts, but discharge complaints have climbed to record highs.

The Washington Long-Term Care Ombudsman program handled more than 700 such complaints last year, nearly a 50 percent increase over the year before. Nationally, discharge-related complaints have more than doubled in a decade -- to 12,000 in 2007, according to the U.S. Administration on Aging.

"The system is getting frayed around the edges," said Louise Ryan, the state's long-term care ombudsman, or chief resident advocate.
"People are getting harder to take care of," she said. "When (homes) can find an opportunity to discharge the person, they will. The problem is especially hard with nursing homes, because where else are they going to go? It's the end of the line."

The results are often tragic.
Another woman evicted from West Woods wandered outside one night before her move, barefoot and in a nightgown, saying she wanted "to fall down and die in the cold," Ryan said.

In Grays Harbor County last year, an evicted mentally ill man left his boarding home a week after moving in, and was found dead near some railroad tracks. In other areas, evicted residents have ended up in homes nearly a hundred miles away from loved ones.

In 2007, Seattle University forced out 115 residents when it decided to convert its nursing home into office and class space. Three months later, 14 of the residents had died.

Social workers have a name for such a swift decline after a move: "transfer trauma."

"When you get older, just transferring from one room to another can be very traumatic," said Paul Tosch, the regional long-term care ombudsman serving Thurston, Mason and Lewis counties. "The windows, the ceilings, the front door, the bathroom are all different. In a worst-case scenario, confusion sets in. It can start dementia or increase dementia. Depression sets in. They shut themselves off and say, 'I'm not going to live.' "

Homes can legally evict a resident who fails to pay, becomes dangerous or has needs a home can't meet. Boarding homes can evict Medicaid residents by slashing public-assistance beds, but federal law bars nursing homes from kicking out residents solely because of Medicaid.

But advocates say many homes find ways to bend the laws. They say homes mislead families to lure in residents, and use the broad "can't meet needs" reason to force out difficult or expensive residents.

One of the most common types of eviction is when homes send a resident to the hospital and refuse to take him back, in a practice that resident advocates call "dumping."

"We have a lot of experiences with nursing homes who load somebody up in an ambulance on a Friday night. ... They do it on a Friday, I think, because advocates go home," said Vicki Elting, the regional ombudsman in King County. By Monday morning, hospitals are struggling with a discharged patient with nowhere to go.

Industry representatives deny that "dumping" occurs and say homes are diligent in taking only residents they can care for. They attribute the rise in discharge complaints to a younger, more vocal generation now living in homes.

"This urban myth that people are getting kicked out all the time -- there's no evidence of that," said Gary Weeks, executive director of the Washington Health Care Association, a group of 400 nursing and boarding homes.

Advocates counter that dumping rarely occurs to private-pay people, but to Medicaid residents such as Florence Wade, who had lived at the Regency at Tacoma Rehabilitation Center for roughly three years.

In January, Wade, 85, went to the hospital for pneumonia and a urinary tract infection. The nursing home refused to take her back, saying she had been uncooperative with caregivers in using a hydraulic lift to move her, according to Wade's daughter, Barbara Arnold.

Arnold argued that her mother, who is obese and wheelchair-bound, simply needed coaxing and had used the lift in the hospital. The home then accused her of not doing a "bed hold" -- which she never had to do in the past -- and said the room was gone anyway. Someone else had moved in.

"They had already packed my mother's room up," said Arnold, who owns a computer-training business. "They had no intention of taking her back."
The eviction left Arnold with one stressful option: a nursing home 45 minutes away -- too far for regular visits from friends and family.

"It is very, very hard," said Arnold, who believes her previous complaints about the home prompted the eviction. "My feeling is that by isolating her like that, she isn't going to last long."

Dell Workman, vice president of operations for Regency Pacific, which owns the Tacoma facility, said the home had assessed Wade's condition and determined it couldn't meet her needs. He said federal law barred him from commenting further on Wade's condition.

Other families have felt deceived by boarding homes that promised Medicaid beds and later reneged. Or by nursing homes that discharged residents with advanced Alzheimer's disease, after touting expert dementia care.

"It's unfair, unethical and greedy," said Nancy Dapper, executive director of the local Alzheimer's Association chapter. "You go to these places as a family and they say, 'Oh yes, we have an Alzheimer's care unit.' Unless the family is extraordinarily knowledgeable, they're not going to say, 'Can my mom die here?' "

Doug Campbell recalled asking the administrator of his mother's Port Townsend boarding home what would happen when his mother's money ran out. "(The administrator) said, 'As long as I'm here, your mother will not have to move,' " said Campbell, a retired teacher.

But the administrator soon left, and the home -- Victoria House -- evicted his deaf, blind, 97-year-old mother soon after she converted to Medicaid.

Victoria House and West Woods are owned by Assisted Living Concepts, a Wisconsin-based company with 200 homes nationwide and a market value of $290 million. The company did not return calls for comment.

Elting, the King County ombudsman, said some homes, desperate to fill beds, take in difficult residents with severe mental illnesses, addictions or complex medical needs. Unequipped to deal with them, the homes often end up forcing them out, creating a cycle of needing to fill beds.
"Unfortunately, there are people who have care needs who are discharged to a shelter, or the street," Elting said. "That's the most disgraceful end result of all this."

Weeks, of the state Health Care Association, disputed that practice.
"Why would (homes) admit somebody they know they're going to let go?" he said. "From a business perspective, our buildings are trying to stay as full as possible."

He said the more pressing problem is the growing gap between care costs and Medicaid payouts. Medicaid caseloads have also grown, because people are living longer and baby boomers are aging into long-term care.

With assisted living costing residents $3,000 to $6,000 a month, and nursing homes costing up to $10,000 a month, homes lose money daily on each Medicaid resident, Weeks said. On average the state pays out about $5,000 a month for a nursing home resident, and $2,000 for a boarding home resident.

To survive, nursing homes are seeking out residents with better coverage, he said.

P-I reporter Vanessa Ho can be reached at 206-448-8003 or vanessaho@seattlepi.com. Read the P-I's health blog at blog.seattlepi.com/healthreport.

Nursing home under Investigation

Lake Mary,Florida US by Fox News

A 90 year old hospice resident at the Spring Hills nursing home at 3655 W. Lake Mary Road will be sleeping in his bed tonight. He fell out of his bed at around 3:30 in the morning Monday and police say it was nearly two hours before a staff member at the facility found him.

?He had some blood around him,? said Officer Tony Seda with the Lake Mary Police Department, ?Lake Mary Fire Rescue responded to the scene and transported him to the hospital.?

Officer Seda said the department?s policy is to call the Florida Elder Abuse hotline to report such incidents.

When we visited the nursing home to find out why the man wasn?t discovered right away. The facility?s executive director, Charlie Goucher, met us at the door but she only said the resident is fine before telling us to leave.

Later a spokesperson for the nursing home said the facility?s policy is to check on residents every two hours but Jill Frederiksen said a staff member found the 90 year old within an hour and a half.
?We actually exceeded the policies that we currently have in place,? said Frederiksen.

This latest incident isn?t the first time the first time the nursing home has been investigated for neglect. Three years ago an 89 year old woman had to call 911 when she fell out of bed and couldn?t get anyone to help.

The nursing home was named The Gables back in 2005 when Lake Mary Police responded to help the woman but couldn?t get anyone to let them in and then found two workers asleep. A lengthy investigation that followed resulted in the arrest of two workers for neglect. The owners were also told to make changes or shut down.

The Elder Abuse hotline forwarded the latest case to the Department of Children and Families to investigate. The Agency for Healthcare Advocacy is also looking into the case. DCF received the case Monday morning and is now investigating the amount of time the man was injured on the floor. They will try to determine if his specific needs may have required even closer observation than checks every hour and a half.

Frederiksen said at this point they have no plans to change any policies.
?If we feel it necessary,? she said. ?We will review the policies but at this time it looks like we were there in time to help him.?

Massachusetts Reports Rise In Elder Abuse

Boston, MA (AHN) - Physical, emotional, financial and sexual abuse incidents involving elders in Massachusetts are on the rise partly due to the difficult times residents face.

Dale Mitchell, executive director of Ethos, a nonprofit agency based in Boston, explained that the bulk of cases they have witnessed are linked to overload. As residents lose their jobs, witness their investments shrinks and suffer from foreclosed homes, they often take out on senior citizens who live with them the stress these situations have created.

Read it all =>>

Florida's Costly Court Crisis

Palm Beach ,Florida USA Palm Beach Post

For years, lawyers have argued that the failure to adequately finance Florida's court system is bad for justice. Now the Florida Bar is getting really serious. The new push is that failing to pay for the courts is bad for business.

"I've seen a shift" in Tallahassee, Palm Beach County Chief Judge Kathleen Kroll said in an interview. "Business now knows that they have a problem." John "Jay" G. White III, a West Palm Beach lawyer and president of the Florida Bar, said, "That's why we got business involved. We wanted some help in making the point."

For all the teeth-clenched complaints about "frivolous" personal-injury cases and criminals getting plea deals, the real strain on Florida's courts has come from routine business litigation that winds up in the civil courts.

According to a study by The Washington Economics Group, the statewide caseload is up 53 percent in the past decade, and the number of cases filed per 1,000 residents has increased from 180 to 245 during the same period.
Here's how those numbers hit the public: In barely two years, the average time to resolve a civil case has increased from one month to about 13 months.

Even non-lawyers can appreciate that the main reason is the bad economy. There are more landlord-tenant disputes, and more evictions. And, of course, there are more foreclosures. The study estimated that of the 335,000 civil cases pending in Florida courts last October, 286,000 were property/foreclosure cases.

Many of those are small-money issues compared with the multimillion-dollar legal fights that are common in South Florida. But small cases matter just as much to the parties involved. And as on Interstate 95 and Florida's Turnpike, traffic is traffic. A Ford Focus clogs the road as much as a Chevy Suburban.

The Washington Economic Group calculated that abnormal court delays cost Florida $17.4 billion in economic output each year. Admittedly, such a figure may be as hard to pin down as illegal narcotics sales. But no one who understands business in Florida misses the point. Florida TaxWatch has stressed the problem for years, more urgently each time. Barney Bishop, president of Associated Industries of Florida, said: "We need to sue each other. Disputes are routine, and they need to be resolved quickly."

Circuit court backlogs also mean that probate cases drag out, frustrating people grieving the death of a loved one. Delays in family court cause divorces and child custody cases to linger. It takes a terrible toll, and most of it is needless.

The courts make up less than 1 percent of the state budget. But Florida pays for the courts through a mishmash system. The Bar and the judges want the Legislature to provide a more reliable, constant source of money and to make sure that fees in place to pay for the courts go there directly, not through another office. Another recommendation is for a review of filing fees. One quick way to get more money for the courts is to charge more to use them, but that can restrict access for people who have legitimate cases but less money.

Finally, the courts are a branch of government, not an agency. Treating them badly isn't just wrong. It's costly.

Guardianship abuse - it’s only a crime if caught

In case you missed the story, Steven Rondos is charged with stealing more than $4 million from clients he represented via court-appointed guardianships. Many of these clients are either disabled/incapacitated children or elderly. Click here for more background. From our perspective, Rondos is the worst of the bunch, but he’s not the only “bad guy” in this story.

EoD hears from many people with guardianship horror tales. Guardianships allow the complete takeover of a person’s liberty and assets.

It gives a whole new meaning to that slang term “I own you.”

Any American prisoner has more rights than a person under a guardianship. This is an under-reported issue not understood by many people.

Steven Rondos-like guardians are operating in communities across this country. Pray they never get ahold of you or your family!

Source=>>

Our Elderly Plead for Help, Compassion but there is None Forthcoming!

DEAR JANET 'Phelan', author of 'The Probate Murders'

I HAD NO IDEA OF WHO YOU WERE WHEN I WROTE YOU YESTERDAY.

I WAS TRYING TO GET AN EMAIL ADDRESS FOR MR. J. DAVID HORSPOOL, AND WHEN I CAME UPON YOU BLOG ON GOOGLE, I SENT YOU AN EMAIL.

LAST NIGHT I GOOGLE YOUR NAME TO SEE IF I COULD BORROW A RADIO OR SOMETHING TO LISTEN.

MY APOLOGIZES, YOU CREDENTIALS ARE EXCELLENT. THANK GOD FOR PEOPLE LIKE YOU WHO CARE FOR ALL THE THINGS THAT AMERICA NEEDS AT TIMES LIKE THESE.

I HAVE HELPED PEOPLE ALL MY LIFE, AND THAT IS WHY AN 88, 92 AND 94 GROUP OF LADIES AT THIS RETIREMENT COMMUNITY GOT TOGETHER AN CALLED AN ATTORNEY FOR ME I HAVE LEARNED A LOT.

ESPECIALLY THE AREAS OF ELDERLY ABUSE IN DEMENTIA, ALZHEIMER'S DISEASES, AND SENILITY.

MINE WAS THE SAME AS THE IRAQ'S BATTLE FATIGUE SYNDROME. 'EXTREME DEBILITATING DEPRESSION'

C.S. LEWIS WROTE ON THE DEATH OF HIS WIFE, JOY, 'THAT DEPRESSION IS SO TIRING' IT IS UNBELIEVABLE THE SUFFERING AND THE PHYSICAL AND MENTAL PAIN THAT YOU SUFFER.

I PRAYED TO GOD EVERY DAY FOR OVER FOURTEEN YEARS TO DIE. MY SON AND MR. HORSPOOL TOOK OVER AND MADE LIFE EVEN MORE HOPELESS AND MORE DEBILITATING.

SINCE I WAS MENTALLY ILL, AND HAVE A LIFETIME DISABILITY, THEY MADE ME EVEN MORE CRAZY. NOT ONLY DID THEY BURDEN ME WITH ABUSE, MENTALLY, VERBAL AND FINANCIALLY.

THEY ALSO ATTACKED MY CREDIBILITY BY GOING DIRECTLY TO MY PSYCHIATRIST.I WAS JUST DOWN GRADED. IF IT WAS NOT FOR THESE GRACIOUS LADIES SEEING THAT I GOT HELP. AND REINFORCING ME, I DO NOT KNOW WHAT COURSE I WOULD TAKE.

MY FATHER TOLD ME THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CRAZY AND ECCENTRIC IS MONEY.

NOW THAT I AM HEALING MYSELF THROUGH VITAMINS AND EXERCISING MY MIND. MY SON SEES THAT I AM GETTING MY MIND BACK. SO HE AND MR. HORSPOOL TOLD MY ATTORNEY I WAS NOT TAKING MY MEDS,I WAS DRINKING, AND BECAUSE I HAD CANCER ON MY FOREHEAD, AND MY SON WOULD NOT TAKE ME TO A SKIN SPECIALIST. SO I REMOVED IT MYSELF.

I ALSO AM TRAPPED INTO A LEGAL SYSTEM THAT EVEN THE ATTORNEY THAT CAME HERE, INFORMED ME, THE SENIOR ABUSE CENTER INFORMED ME, THAT THEY COULD NOT DO ANYTHING BECAUSE I WAS UNDER A CONSERVATORSHIP.

THE LOVE OF MONEY HAS MADE ME UNABLE TO DEFEND MYSELF, MY WORD, AND HIRE OR OBTAIN ANY LEGAL ASSISTANCE.

I AM ALONE
I AM AFRAID
I AM SCARED.

LOVE DARYL
bpursun@yahoo.com

Estate of Denial Site Catches On

by Estate of Denial.Com

What a bittersweet position to have a web site growing in popularity and receiving positive feedback, but sadly, its attraction is tied to increased numbers of people experiencing Involuntary Redistribution of Assets (IRA) actions most often perpetrated in probate venues and/or via probate instruments such as wills, trusts and guardianships.

As if our country’s financial future isn’t enough for which to be concerned, folks should also recognize that looting hard-earned assets of honest people is becoming a path to prosperity seen as increasingly desirable.

And it’s not just in the U.S. Our recent column, 21st Century Grave Robbers: Exploit the Dead, Harm the Living, Part 1 describes an estate dispute worthy of scrutiny from Australia. And here’s another letter from outside the U.S. just posted on our Tell Us Your Story page.

"I just wanted to congratulate you on the extremely professional site that you have developed to address the problem of guardianship abuse.

I am in the midst of dealing with the court system in my attempt to regain control over my incapable husband’s assests. The power of attorney that he made prior to his illness naming me as his poa was revoked in a cunning scheme orchestrated by his sister. The grief, both financial and psychological that this had caused is beyond belief. Never in my life would I have imagined that such things could happen in a supposedly civilized society.

You are doing a great service to people by keeping your website up to date and posting feedback. The more publicity we give to this issue, the greater the chances of effectingpositive changes in the legal system so that fewer people are victimized by it. This is a nightmare beyond comprehension that no one should ever have to deal with.

Thank-you for bringing more attention to this topic by establishing your website.

Sincerely,

GT"

Heaven Help the Elderly - No Help from the Authorities Here

by Claudia thedonnellys@oo.net

On Monday, I sent a packet of materials to the Internal Investigation Dept. of the King County Sheriff's Office -- filing a complaint against the detective who "investigated" my elder abuse complaint.

I just got a phone call from a KC Sergeant. He said what I sent him didn't constitute a viable complaint against the detective -- so there will be no investigation.

He said that he would send the material to the Maple Valley precinct to see if what my siblings did -- spend mom's money on trying to disinherit me or buying clothes for her at the Goodwill or outlet mall stores was financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult.

He thought what my brother(s) and sister did constituted bad judgment -- but not fraud. I guess keeping mail from her, spending it on attorney to disinherit me is ok to do, spending her money on legal fees -- that ok to do.

Mom got screwed -- from the guardian, my siblings, the various attorneys, and there is nothing anyone will do. Heaven help the elderly of King County and Washington State.

Claudia
----------------------
God help the elderly not only from King County but in all counties, the message is " You are on your own" abuse an animal and you could go to jail, in my county you catch a lobster out of season and there is an investigation, but elders that a "civil matter" no need for an investigation there.

Call for obese children to be taken into care

In our brave new world soon parents might have to cope with having overweight children taken away.

LOUISE HALL HEALTH REPORTER

SEVERELY obese children should be notified to child protection authorities, and even taken into care, if their parents are unwilling or unable to help them lose weight, experts have argued.

The continuing failure of parents to ensure treatment for their obese child could be considered medical neglect when the child is suffering, or is at high risk of suffering, associated severe health problems.

Clinicians already have a legal requirement to contact welfare authorities when parents fail to follow medical advice in the treatment of other illnesses, such as parents who reject medication for a HIV-infected child, or who refuse a life-saving blood transfusion for a child on religious grounds.

I think it is a great idea and if the familly has any money it should be inmediately consfiscated and the child asigned a legal guardian if not the state can subsidy and pay for the child's care.

DCF Settles Lawsuit for $2.9 Million

Jacksonville,Florida,USA By Paul Pinkham

The Florida Department of Children and Families has settled all claims with three children who were abused by other children living in their Nassau County foster home, attorneys announced this afternoon.
The settlements total $2.9 million and follow a groundbreaking ruling in December by a federal appeals court in Atlanta that upheld their right to sue on grounds that DCF was "deliberately indifferent" to the danger they were in.

"This decision represents a landmark win in the fight to protect all foster children from child-on-child sexual abuse in foster care," said attorney
Brian Cabrey, who represented the victims. He said it was the first case nationally to recognize the rights of foster children to be protected from child-on-child abuse.

According to the lawsuit, the three pre-school-aged children were left unsupervised with two teenage foster kids known to be sexually aggressive and were repeatedly molested by the teens.

For more on the settlement, see Tuesday's Times-Union and check back later today with Jacksonville.com.

Elder Abuse Alive and Well in Mexico

By Debra SmithHerald Writer ARLINGTON --

Robert Hood left for a fishing trip along the coast of Mexico, and when he finally returned, he was never the same.

Mexican police arrested Hood on arson charges after someone set fire to a fishing shack near where he was staying in San Felipe. Hood, a World War II veteran with a spotless record, languished for days in a filthy, crowded Mexican prison in 1982.

Hood was eventually released after a barrage of bad press from both sides of the border began to hurt tourism.He came home 50 pounds lighter and was broken emotionally, said his son, Gary Hood of Stanwood. His father talked of hearing other prisoners being tortured and beaten.

The prison was so crowded, his father spoke of sleeping standing up."It changed my dad," Hood said. "He became reclusive, not as happy. He was like a prisoner of war."

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We warn our readers of traveling to countries that have little or no respect for civil rights, therefore we warn our readers against travel to Mexico.