The recently-fired administrator of the District’s Mental Retardation and Development Disabilities Administration told a U.S. House committee Friday that simply replacing her is a “woefully inadequate step.”
Marsha Thompson, who was removed two weeks ago as MRDDA administrator, told the Government Reform Committee that she tried her best in her one year on the job. But the problems within the administration are so ingrained that according to Thompson only a “complete overhaul” will do, with City Administrator Robert Bobb taking over the agency. Without major changes, Thompson said, “the agency should be placed into immediate [federal] receivership.”
Thompson was replaced by Kathy Sawyer, a consultant who has worked with the city since October. She starts work Monday.
Rep. Thomas M. Davis III, R-Va., chairman of the committee, said he called the hearing because the “situation has dragged on and on and on.” The administration is being sued and could be turned over to the federal government after years of failing to use of Medicaid reimbursements, contracting with incompetent providers, and mismanaging care — including several group home deaths.
“We didn’t rush into this hearing willy-nilly,” Davis said. “I would not be fulfilling my responsibility as chairman not to shed some light on this.”
Though she led the questioning, D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton said the crisis does not justify a hearing before a U.S. House committee.
“This is frankly a classic Home Rule matter that doesn’t belong in the Congress of the United States,” Norton said.
That said, she added: “Nothing could be more serious than the issues involving people who can’t take care of themselves when nobody else is taking care of them.”
Brenda Donald Walker, deputy mayor for Children, Youth, Families and Elders, said agency improvement will take several years, but the foundation for change can be laid in the next “intense and critical” six months with Sawyer at the helm.
