A court case has compelled Texas to reform facilities for people with disabilities. Recently, however, the Department of Justice announced the case’s dismissal, citing the state’s fulfillment of the requirements.
The DOJ joined Texas on December 9, asking a federal court to drop a case requiring the state to reform its State Supported Living Centers (SSLC), according to a press release. Texas and the DOJ first entered a consent decree in 2009.
“We commend Texas for its tremendous progress in implementing this decree and its commitment to upholding the federal rights of people with intellectual disabilities living in state care,” said the DOJ Civil Rights Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon in the release.
The case began with an investigation of the Lubbock State Supported Living Center (then the Lubbock State School) in 2009, then further investigations of Texas’ 12 other state centers in 2008 and 2009.
Texas entered a consent decree with the DOJ in June 2009, requiring the state to work with the Civil Rights Division on compliance, according to the release. Overall, Texas implemented reforms at all 13 facilities.
They modified the decree in September 2021. State documents show the most recent agreement restructured the monitoring process, increased focus on outcomes, and strengthened services for persons moving from a center to a community.
“The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division brought to completion years of work that now requires Texas to protect the rights of Americans who are in its care at these centers,” the release reads. “Texas implemented reforms to protect residents from harm, provide clinical care and education, and provide services for people with I[ntellectual] and D[evelopmental] D[isabilities] in integrated settings.”
The recent joint filing to dismiss the case reviews Texas’ “extensive improvements,” verified by an independent reviewer.
Long-Standing Concerns
State Supported Living Centers take voluntary admission, court commitment, respite, and emergency treatment, according to the state website. They serve those with “intellectual and developmental disabilities who are medically fragile, have behavioral challenges, or have mental health issues.”
They also offer 24-hour residential services, comprehensive behavioral treatment and healthcare, vocational programs, connections to natural support systems, and skills training, occupational, physical, and speech therapies.
After reports of abuse and neglect at the since-renamed Lubbock State School, the DOJ launched an inquiry in 2006. Then-Asst. Attorney General Wan Kim wrote then-Gov. Rick Perry and then-Attorney General Greg Abbott at the time, warning “residents are being subjected to a wide-spread pattern of harm due to inadequate supervision, neglect, and possible abuse.”
Then-state Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, a Democrat, raised the alarm about the school in 2007, calling authorities to investigate 17 deaths at the facility within 18 months.
When a staff member at the Lubbock State School restrained a man in 2009, he was accused of killing him by suffocation, according to KFDA. The jury ultimately found the staff member not guilty. But as KCBD reported, the coroner ruled the death a homicide.
This ignited a media firestorm, drawing federal scrutiny to Texas’ state schools – now rebranded State Supported Living Centers – and leading to the 2009 consent decree.
A State Issue With Local Reach
Outside Dallas, the Denton State Supported Living Center serves 18 counties across North Texas and houses roughly 375 patients. Like other facilities statewide, the facility has seen its share of concerns.
A reporter with The Dallas Express was driving north on State School Road just after 10:25 p.m. on June 24, 2025. From the darkness, a pale body emerged in the headlights – apparently wearing little clothing, if any. The reporter swerved, narrowly avoiding catastrophe.
After calling 911, officers with the Denton Police and Fire departments responded quickly. They circled the area, but the body was nowhere to be found.
“A representative from the State School reported that a female had left their facility but later returned,” Denton Police Spokeswoman Lacy Fenn said to The Dallas Express at the time.
In the past, the Dallas Observer described the Denton State School as the state’s “largest institution in Texas for the mentally retarded.” According to the outlet, a disabled man was allegedly “severely beaten by a caregiver” in 2002.
The beating reportedly placed the man in a wheelchair, and his mother sued in 2004, according to WFAA. The suit was blocked but was finally allowed to proceed in 2011.
A middle-aged disabled man went missing at the complex in 2019, as WFAA also reported. He was first reported missing on a Saturday, and his body was found the next Thursday near a mound of dirt next to the kitchen.
More recently, in 2021, police discovered graffiti with names and “demonic symbols” at the Denton State Supported Living Center, according to the Denton Record-Chronicle.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation has criticized State Supported Living Centers for using an “increasingly inefficient and ineffective system of care.” However, researchers also acknowledged “tremendous progress” in moving patients to community care.
In recent years, the Texas legislature has increased funding for employee salaries at State Supported Living Centers, while also vastly reducing employee turnover, according to a 2024 report.
Resident conditions have also improved – with instances of abuse and serious injury slightly decreasing since 2023, and off-campus employment increasing by nearly 40%.
“We recognize and appreciate the dedication of the staff and leaders of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission who have transformed the state centers to protect the rights of all Americans,” Dhillon said in the release, “even some of the most vulnerable.”
