Bob Clark, longtime superintendent of the Conway Human Development Center, has resigned following a barrage of critical reports by state and federal investigators.
Clark has headed the facility, formerly known as the Arkansas Children's Colony, since May 1980.
The Conway center is the largest of six state-run institutions that take care of people with developmental disabilities including mental retardation, autism, epilepsy and cerebral palsy. It houses 590 clients, employs 1,200 staff members and operates with a $43 million budget.
Clark, 53, told a surprised staff Friday afternoon of his plan.
"After much prayer and deliberation with family and friends, I would like to offer my resignation as superintendent of this wonderful facility," he wrote in his resignation letter, which he handed to the staff. "Buneva [his wife] and I are ready to join the ranks of the retired and spend more time with each other and with our extended family."
He will remain at the center until June 30.
The Conway center earned a national reputation after its opening in 1959 as a rehabilitation facility for the mentally retarded. Clark helped develop the current management structure. He also is president and a founding member of the Faulkner County Council on Developmental Disabilities and chairman of the Goodwill Board of Arkansas.
Under Clark's leadership, the Conway Human Development Center has assisted thousands of families who could no longer handle the physical and emotional strain as disabled sons, daughters, brothers and sisters grew older and their problems became more complex.
Although it was originally intended to house children, Conway now has only 49 school-age residents. Many of the adult residents have grown up there; some have spent more than 20 or 30 years on the Conway campus.
Clark's determination to keep all six human development centers open despite national trends to close large institutions has earned him a loyal following among staff and families whose relatives reside there.
Arkansas has the highest population of people per capita in the United States in human development centers. Clark's tenure was largely unchallenged until last year when one family complained about the medical treatment their son received at the center.
That ultimately resulted in a series of nine critical reports by state and federal inspectors who repeatedly cited the center for failing to protect its clients from physical and/or sexual aggression by other clients as well as failing to provide necessary services and supervision.
The state is investigating another incident at Conway in which Clark approved a contract to re-employ a licensed practical nurse who had been fired a month earlier for mishandling medications. The LPN accidentally gave 350 milligrams of the psychotropic drug Thorazine to the wrong patient and then failed to notify medical personnel of the mistake for several hours. The patient reacted to the medicine and was sent to the hospital for observation.
"It seems likely that [the rehiring ] will be cited as a seventh failed facility practice," according to a memo by Carol Shockley, director of the Office of Long Term Care. That office investigates complaints of abuse, neglect or misappropriation of resident property.
In a March 25 memo, Marsha Smith, client advocate for the state Department of Human Services, outlined ongoing problems with Clark to department Director Kurt Knickrehm.
Among her duties, Smith reviews incidents of abuse or neglect sent to the department from the developmental disability centers. "I sense that some salient principles of client protection are not grasped by Conway Human Development Center," she wrote. "I do not regularly see such blatant problems and cavalier disregard for expectation from other facilities."
Dr. David Fray, director of the Human Services division that oversees the Conway center, also criticized Clark in his own March 25 memo to Knickrehm.
"Over the past year Conway Human Development Center has received numerous surveys with consistent findings of failure to protect residents. With more than 600 beds, CHDC provides quality care from dedicated staff for most residents," he wrote.
"However, the failure to adequately protect even 1% of the population is inexcusable."
Fray concluded, "Without a change in leadership at Conway Human Development Center, the culture is unlikely to permanently change. The scrutiny of the past year has revealed substantial weaknesses that have been inadequately addressed."
The Department of Human Services shares management of these facilities with the Developmental Disabilities Services Board, a seven-member citizens group appointed by the governor.
The board has shown unwavering support for Clark.
"I don't know any state employee or any person who had worked harder for people with developmental disabilities and who deserves more credit than Bob Clark," said board President Ron Carmack. "A lot of retarded people owe him a lot. I don't know of any man I respect more."
When asked if Clark's decision to retire was connected to the critical reports, Carmack declined to comment. "I'll let Bob's letter speak for itself," he said.
The extensive scrutiny of the Conway center, and the Department of Human Services' criticism of Clark's failure to report problems, have led to tense relationships at times between the developmental disabilities board and the department.
Overlapping and vague state laws governing the human development centers make it unclear which entity has the ultimate decisions in numerous management areas - including who hires and fires superintendents.
On March 12, Knickrehm asked Attorney General Mark Pryor's office for an opinion "to clarify the relationship" including who has "the unilateral authority to terminate the employment of a superintendent of a human development center."
Clark resigned to Carmack. The Department of Human Services management learned of the resignation from a reporter Friday night.
Department of Human Services spokesman Joe Quinn said Knickrehm was surprised by Clark's resignation and has not yet seen Clark's letter. Quinn released this statement: "Running any Human Development Center is a unique and challenging job. Bob rose from washing pots in the kitchen at Conway to superintendent. We appreciate what he has done and we wish him nothing but the best in the future."