Riverside County Facility Receives Fine, Citation Related to Patient Death
The Department of Health Services on Wednesday announced a $35,000 fine and "A" and "AA" citations against Baker House, a Riverside County live-in facility for children with developmental disabilities, following the investigation of a 2004 patient death, the Los Angeles Times reports.
A Baker House employee in May 2004 allegedly beat a 10-year-old girl to death and assaulted a nine-year-old boy. An autopsy report showed that the girl died of "laceration of the liver due to blunt impact to torso" and suffered from hemorrhaging in the pancreas and blunt impacts to the head.
Norma Arceo, a spokesperson for DHS, said, "The facility failed to train their staff properly." She said Baker House has reconfigured its abuse-reporting system to meet state standards. The facility continues to operate under a valid state license, according to Arceo.
Baker House is owned by Mira Loma-based Special Care Children's Homes, which operates nine facilities in Riverside County. Baker House houses six children ages 10 to 18 (Rosenblatt, Los Angeles Times, 5/19).