Burning hundreds of thousands of dollars in overtime, in
recruitment and training costs, plus hundreds of thousands in
unemployment, litigation, and settlement costs every year.
DSP’s work directly with residents for 8, 16, and 20 hour shifts.
DSP’s are constantly blamed for problems and fired.
HHS hangs them to cover HHS’s failures at the SSLC’s
In 2024 the SSLC's had 810 investigations,
627 were for physical abuse and 138 for neglect.
Brenham is receiving residents with
violent behaviors who escape campus.
It is not built to be a prison,
there is no security at Brenham.
4 different Directors in 6 years is not the solution.
It is the same bureaucracy at Brenham for 6 years
and the same bureaucracy in Austin the problem.
They have no accountability, why?
They just fire staff and announce
“ problem solved “.
The Residents and Staff at Brenham need our help.
The same tall fence topped with razor wire at the Gidding jail
is needed at Brenham to stop residents from escaping
into the stores in Brenham and assaulting individuals.
It puts the responsibility on law enforcement.
Do we fix it or ignore it until
something horrible happens?
How much is this failure at our
Texas SSLC's costing us?
click below on the link
Because of the increased
violence at Brenham
staff cannot contact
the police to report it
while they are on campus,
they must be off campus.
If a resident or a
staff member is injured
they cannot call for
an ambulance?
They must drive off
campus to call 911?
Intimidation is a powerful tool
used at Brenham to silence staff.
They cannot protect themselves without
the risk of being fired or arrested.
The Director at Brenham
has been fired for not
enforcing the
" chain of command ".
In a bureaucracy it stops
information from moving up the
chain to protect the upper chain.
Residents can escape Brenham
but not information of the escape.
HHS leaders in Austin are angry
about the leaking information
I was told on 3/04 the Director had
" her ass chewed out "
by Austin because information is getting out.
Three days later, on 3/07, the Director
was replaced by a new director
The 4th new Director in 6 Years.
And a 5th new Director
will be named soon?
Problem solved??.....NO
On Monday 3/10 at 607pm I received a call,
two HHS Regulatory Investigators on the phone.
For 1 hour and 6 minutes they asked
questions about Brenham and
for the names of staff who are
contacting me with information.
I do not provide staff names.
Intimidation keeps staff silent.
In less then two years, November 3, 2026
there will be important elections in Texas.
Candidates for different elected offices
will be soliciting for your vote.
If they are seeking reelection ask:
What have they done to protect the vulnerable residents
and staff at our Texas State Supported Living Centers?
This is not political, it is about caring.
We have enough legislation to stop
the neglect, abuse, and fraud.
We need to stop it.
Now is the time for any candidate
to step up and prove that they
are worthy of your vote.
Do our elected officials in Texas want
to stop the neglect, abuse, and fraud
at Brenham or continue to ignore it?
Mental health is real, it is complicated,
and one solution does not fit it all.
Our elected officials
continue to give
HHS the money to
drug the residents at
Brenham instead of
providing them
help for their
mental health
Kind of crazy,
drug and warehouse
the residents.
That is politics.
Comments from Brenham staff.
If you also private message or
or email me AL@ALZOLLI.COM
I will not post your name.
Image:
This is for the residents
at Brenham and their
parents who need
our help with their child.
For the staff who are forced
to work 16 - 20 hours shifts not
knowing when they can go home.
We need our
State Supported Living Centers.
On 10/01/2018 at the age of 60
I started working at Brenham
It was the most rewarding
experience I ever had in my life.
It was a privilege being there,
I learned about mental health.
On April 19, 2023 they fired me.
I did not blend in very well.
They did not like me speaking
up for residents and staff.
The behavior staff does not
spend the time with residents
who they are suppose to help.
To study their body language,
study their facial expressions,
spend time to understand them.
They write behavior plans for
residents they do not know.
Every month we pay the
head psychiatrist at Brenham
$20,000 plus we pay
tens of thousands for
the behavior staff.
The result is residents
attacking each other
attacking staff,
destroying property.
Residents escape campus into
Brenham committing crimes.
There are three residents
in the Brenham jail.
The residents are fed drugs
multiple times per day
instead of therapy sessions
with a behavioral staff member.
There are great dedicated
behavioral members but they
are not given time with residents.
The system is broken.
On February 27, 2023 I met with
Texas State Senator Lois Kolkhorst
and two staff members from
the Texas Senate Health
and Human Services Committee.
Lois is the Chairperson.
After reviewing my information
they requested I contact the
Texas Office of Inspector General.
Senator Kolkhorst was very helpful,
but one Texas State Senator is not
enough against an entrenched bureaucracy.
Staff at Brenham tell me
conditions continue to deteriorate.
Nothing has improved.
The residents need our help.
Mental Health should be a priority.
Mental illness is a growing problem.
For over four years I worked with
the same residents on Cottage F.
Cottage F was created to prepare
selected residents to move into
a community home, but none did.
Four years with the same residents
gives you a unique perspetive on
their progress or decline.
When Cottage F opened residents
had weekly visits with behavior staff.
After one year the sessions ended.
Their mental health declined,
behaviors started, and nobody
moved to a community home.
We are failing at Brenham.
If your family member
was a resident would you
want them drugged or helped?
On 11/14/2023 I sent the below email to Commissioner Cecile Young, Scott Schalchlin, and other top level employees at the Texas Health and Humans Services about the conditions at the Brenham.
I offered to go to Austin to provide evidence, but they did not want any.
When an investigation is being conducted there is a legal obligation to view any evidence that is offered so they can determine if it is or is not pertinent to the investigation. How do you refuse information and make an impartial decision? Because your conclusion is already written?
Is refusing information of abuse and neglect “ hampering “ the investigation?
Is that suppression of evidence? Is that acceptable?
Is refusing to view evidence of abuse and neglect at the Brenham a denial of the residents Constitutional Rights of Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?
The residents at Brenham cannot speak for themselves. They are institutionalized, a violation of the settlement between Texas and The DOJ.
When an incident occurs they fire a staff member, and declare problem solved.
The facility cannot be found at fault, it results in investigations, a review of procedures, meetings, and writing new procedures that have to be reviewed and approved by legal. Then the training classes for staff on the new procedures, but nothing really changes.
It is much easier to fire a staff member, most just go away.
The hearing for a fired staff member is before a Judge and the State Prosecutor, both work for HHS. Do you really believe the Judge is unbiased? You think the Judge and Prosecutor are rated on wins and losses for continued employment at HHS?
Here is a real kick…
When the Judge at the hearing where I represented a staff member realized the state video recorded the supervisor looking into the room twice watching the staff member working alone when policy requires two staff members she ended the hearing. The supervisor lied multipule during the investigation claiming she did not know the staff member was working alone. The Judge refused to let me question the supervisor, found the staff member guilty, fired him, and put him on the EMR list. I appealed the Judges decision based on the fact that she denied us the right to question the supervisor who was the direct accuser of the staff member, the Judge refused to allow it.
To appeal the Judges decision you must file a Judicial Review in Travis County.
It is a legal maneuver to protect the Judge, it reduces the volume of reviews because it would be bad for a Judge if they had a high amount of their decisions reversed.
It is our right to face and question your accuser, except at Brenham.
The 13 State Supported Living Centers are located in Abilene, Austin, Brenham, Corpus Christi, Denton, El Paso, Lubbock, Lufkin, Mexia, Richmond, Rio Grande, San Angelo, and San Antonio. How many fired employees can afford to file a Judicial review in Austin?
When you spend over four years with the same residents you become their family, you are their only connection to the outside world. Residents live in a confined environment you would never live in.
If we continue to provide inadequate mental health service in Texas it forces the problem out into our communites and then we expect law enforcement to deal with it.
Residents constantly escape the campus into the local stores, below the emails are the three recent escapees who were arrested and are sitting in the Brenham jail.
Any new plan to operate the SSLC's must include respect for the staff. They need real honest representation when accused of a violation. Investigations of all allegations need to include a peer-to-peer review by a board of their fellow staff members.
Our Texas HHS needs to stop intimidating and slandering good people.
Three residents were arrested
on 11/27/2024 and 11/28/2024.
The first two escaped the campus,
stole items from Walmart, and
then broke into a business.
The first one is also charged with assaulting a police officer.
What could have happened if he
assaulted someone at Walmart?
The third resident assaulted a female staff member
and reported his crime to the police.
I worked with him for four years.
He attacks residents, staff, and destroys of property.
Residents live at Brenham because
they have a mental condition and
cannot understand their actions.
Why are they in jail waiting
for a court hearing?
How can they still be held in jail?
What about their weekly behavior session
with their Brenham behavior professional?
Their mental health therapy just ends?
Do you understand the implications
of that on a person with mental illness?
They process things much differently.
Four years of observing the same residents on
Cottage F was a great learning experience.
If they understand their actions
then they belong in a TDCJ facility.
They are a prime example of how the
behavior therapy at Brenham is not working.
These guys are from the Fannin unit.
Fannin has very good behavior staff members,
who are great dedicated individuals.
Obviously staff is not the problem.
On 2/27/2024 I meet with
Texas State Senator
Lois Kolkhorst
and two staff members from the
Texas Senate Committee on
Health and Human Services.
Lois is the Chairperson of the Committee.
When I told them the state was
transfering convicted minors from
the Giddings prison to Brenham
they told me I was wrong.
I gave them a copy of the material
from a training class I attended about
dealing with the minors from Giddings
Lois stated “ they lied to me “.
They thanked me for meeting with them,
stating they knew there were problems
at Brenham but staff will not talk.
They asked me to contact the
Texas Office of Inspector General to
open an investigation of Brenham.
There are dedicated staff members
at Brenham who will be fired if
they talk about the neglect and abuse.
The Ombudsman at Brenham is responsible
to protect the residents, she told me
if I speak up they will find
a reason to fire me.
Giddings is part of the
Texas Criminal Justice System
for minors convicted of a crime.
It has high fences topped with razor wire.
Brenham has a ranch style wooden fence
residents walk through to escape the campus.
We are creating a dangerous situation
by transferring prisoners from
Giddings to Brenham.
And then the police will be
expected to deal with it.
A member of the Brenham administration
told me they are transferring prisoners
from Giddings to Brenham.
The pictures below are from Giddings,
does it look like a Texas state school?
Look at the razor wire on top of those high fences
at the Giddings prison to stop prisoners from escaping .
Below is the type of fence that surrounds
the Brenham State Supported Living Center.
Which fence makes you feel secure?
When I helped a fired staff member at his appeal hearing
I learned their process is nothing more then a game.
When they fired me I was not going to play their game,
I filed for unemployment to appeal it through
the Texas Workforce Commission.
The TWC decided that I did not committ any work
related misconduct and approved my unemployment.
Brenham appealed the decision
but at their appeal hearing they refused
to provide any evidence to support their claim.
Even though they refused to provide any evidence
the TWC hearing officer reversed the original decision
and declared I was not eligible for unemployment.
My unit director at Brenham told me
that legal in Austin approved firing me.
I doubt legal was notified because
it is hard to believe legal would approve
not providing evidence at a TWC hearing.
The attorneys in Austin are that inept.
I appealed the decision, after waiting 5 months
for a response to my appeal I sent the three
TWC Commissioners an email.
They responded in two days and reversed
the decision granting me unemployment.
Brenham uses fraud to fire staff
and I proved it through the TWC.
If the Texas HHS was a private business
it would drown in civil litigation.
It is not easy to file against the State.
Most fired employees just go away.
But some do hire an attorney and
file a civil lawsuit against Brenham.
They win thousands of dollars
in damages and their job back.
We need an investigation into the fraud,
how much of our money does Brenham
waste to settle these lawsuits.
I have the audio recording of my TWC hearing.
Brenham refused to provide the video they
used to fire me claiming it proved nothing.
And they refused to provide the " witnesses "
for questioning under oath who they
used to support firing me.
They use fraud to fire employees,
that damages good people.
And I caught them
lying to the TWC.
Why is staff silent about the abuse
and neglect at the Brenham SSLC?
Intimidation, they will be fired
and put on the Texas EMR registry.
Staff is told if they are on that list
they cannot get a job anywhere.
They used that threat on me.
We need an honest and open review
of the fired staff on the EMR registry.
Brenham is slandering individuals
by adding them to the EMR list.
Not only do they use the
Texas State EMR registry to
threaten staff at Brenham
they also threaten that
they can face criminal
charges working at
The Brenham State
Supported Living Center
The staff members who have
years of experience dedicated
to care for residents at Brenham
are threatened the most of not
just being fraudulently fired but
worst is being placed on the EMR list.
Being fired you can lose thousands
of dollars worth of certain benefits
you have earned such as sick time.
But being on the EMR list
they cannot earn a living
doing what they love to do,
providing the care we need.
For many that is what they know to do,
and they are some of the best people
I have ever had the honor to know.
They deserve our respect.
All employees on the EMR list
deserve an honest review
of thier case, they deserve justice.
Lets stop the threatening enviroment
for the residents and for the staff
that is alive today at Brenham SSLC
Please help be their voice.
I met SP in 2019, he was one of the original
residents on Cottage F when it opened.
In 6 years they have screwed up SP,
he was much happier then he is now.
He had a job that kept him busy.
With a battery powered leaf blower
he cleaned around some buildings
on the campus, he liked his " job ".
Then they took it away from him,
his behaviors tripled or more,
his behaviors became more violent,
now he is in the Brenham jail.
If you doubt about my claim of
abuse and neglect at Brenham
just look at SP's history file.
I bet they forged documents claiming
the nasal rinse was done after his surgery.
SP is a victim of the neglect at Brenham,
he is smart, he knows what he is doing.
He loved playing dominos, he was smart,
we had good times, he was happy.
SP plays the system to his benefit.
Because of the drugs he is fed
and THE neglect he receives
SP will be institutionalized
under our care for the rest of his life.
SP had a really good behavior staff member
who really struggled to help SP, but at
Brenham somethings fall on deaf ears.
You call that progress?
They are considering moving SP to the
Mexia SSLC, it is more of a prison.
Moving him there just buries
him deeper into a system that
consumes it's residents.
Administration demands staff uses the
“ chain of command “, it gives them
the ability to deny knowledge
and buries the problems at Brenham.
Administration never meets the night shift staff.
Any improvements at Brenham must include
them to visit with night shift workers
at least every two months not ignore them.
click below for the video of the Senate Finance Committee
