Consejo Demands Criminal and Regulatory Probes of New Day and Regional Centers

EL MONTE, Calif., March 22, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- On the heels of a news conference outlining years of alleged abuse and neglect of the mentally disabled and the filing of a lawsuit by families, Consejo de Latinos Unidos, a national not-for-profit organization and public charity which educates and assists Latinos and others, demanded that owners and officers of state-funded organizations and vendors face regulatory and criminal review.

"The system that was designed to protect the most vulnerable in our society, the mentally disabled, appears to be rife with cronyism, negligence, lack of concern, and at times, utter disregard for the well-being of the individuals who they are supposedly here to serve," declared K.B. Forbes, Executive Director of the Consejo de Latinos Unidos. "We demand that federal and state authorities launch criminal and regulatory probes of New Day and the Pomona and East L.A. Regional Centers. We demand that authorities investigate the officers and owners of these facilities who at times appear to have arrogantly scoffed at parents about the alleged abuse."

Parents and families of the mentally disabled want the New Day facility (formerly named Healthy Start) shut down and corporate owners and officers Artak Hadjinian, Armen Guloyan, and Anait Krgatbashyan be subjected to regulatory and possible criminal review for alleged negligence, failure to report abuse, and wage labor violations of staff.

Yesterday, attorneys for eight victims of the abuse filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court against New Day and two Regional Centers that supervise New Day for alleged negligence, violations of the Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act, and deceptive business practices.

Last month, Juan Fernando Flores, who worked at the New Day facility when it was named Healthy Start, was sentenced to eight years in prison for the rape and molestation of three mentally disabled women. Families had complained about Flores to the facility and the supervising Regional Centers, and they allegedly did nothing. Flores was arrested 11 months after the first incident was reported for raping a woman in the bathroom.

The Consejo, which has published ten investigative reports on hospital price gouging, religious fraud, police abuse, and pharmaceutical deception, has helped spur three U.S. Congressional hearings and over a dozen local and state probes, including two Civil Rights inquiries.

SOURCE Consejo de Latinos Unidos