Opinion ID: 2375328
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Staff At Residential Care Center And AWARE Shelter Report Neglect: May 2006 July 2006.

Text: In May 2006 Lucy began treatment at Stepping Stones, a residential care center for women and their dependent children in Anchorage, where patients typically spend a year. Lucy testified that Plotnik only gave her three days to pack and that she had to give up her apartment in Juneau. She also had financial problems because, while Medicaid paid for her to be enrolled in Stepping Stones, she had to pay for other expenses such as child care. Because Lucy left Juneau, her Temporary Assistance for Native Families case was closed there and was not yet reopened in Anchorage, so she could not immediately receive assistance. When Lucy arrived at the Stepping Stones shelter she tested positive for marijuana, although she indicated that she had not smoked for a month or two. Lucy immediately began to have problems in the program. She was late getting started because Jack and Carmen had not had the required tuberculosis tests; she dropped off Jack at daycare inappropriately dressed and with a full diaper; she sent Jack to daycare without proper food that a child of his age could eat or without any food at all; she did not properly bathe Jack, but instead only got his head wet to make it appear that she had bathed him; and she did not attend process groups and healing circles and would often drop Jack off at daycare and go back to sleep. Lucy was discharged from Stepping Stones in mid-July for causing a security breach by providing the security code for the whole facility to a homeless man. As a result of the breach, all of the combination locks of the facility had to be re-keyed. The discharge letter to OCS stated that Lucy is a danger to others and has not maintained the health of her child and that the staff of Stepping Stones was concerned about his health under [Lucy's] care. When Lucy and the children returned to Juneau, Plotnik brought them back to the AWARE shelter, after reminding Lucy of the rules. AWARE staff reported that Lucy would leave the children unattended and would ask other residents to provide for [Carmen's] basic care. Lucy failed to respond when Jack cried or when he attempted to exit the AWARE facility.