The Echo

http://perryville.patch.com/groups/police-and-fire/p/officials-call-for-investigation-into-group-home-where-boy-died9105714

Maryland lawmakers are asking why the state has given $18 million in contracts to LifeLine Inc., the company operating the group home in Anne Arundel County where a 10-year-old “medically fragile” boy recently died.

The boy, identified only as Damaud, breathed with the help of a ventilator and died on July 2, Patch reports. He was under a “do not resuscitate” order, authorized by social services officials, according to Connie West, his education supervisor. Something as little as his tube clogging and not being changed fast enough could have killed him.

The LifeLine Inc. home, operating from a Laurel apartment complex, was already under scrutiny by the Maryland Health Department for allegations of neglect and staffing patterns, according to CBS Baltimore. The company has contracts with the state to provide care for developmentally disabled children, but the health and safety of children were allegedly not maintained.

The facility lacked the number of employees needed to actually provide 24-hour care for the children, according to Patch.

The other 10 children living in the facility have been moved, though the change is not linked to Damaud’s death.

Officials are waiting for an autopsy report to determine the cause of Damaud’s death.