<p>A company that provided services to disabled residents in Marion and Johnson counties was the subject of two death investigations and multiple complaints before the owner and four other employees were charged criminally, according to a letter from the state.</p>
<p>Those incidents and violations show a pattern of neglectful behavior by Safe Journey, according to a letter to the company from the state division of disability and rehabilitative services.</p>
<p>“The previous complaint investigations and this incident demonstrate that Safe Journey is a recidivist that appears either incapable of or unwilling to consistently comply with the rules set forth,” the letter said.</p>
<p>The letter also terminated Safe Journey’s authorization to provide any services, revoked the company’s approval from the state and fined the company $10,000, according to the letter.</p>
<p>State officials sent the letter to Safe Journey owner Amelia Hagedorn on Aug. 14, after an incident was recorded on video and then reported involving a disabled woman who was held down and hit.</p>
<p>Hagedorn was charged with two felonies — criminal confinement and battery resulting in injury to a disabled person — in the incident, along with four other staff members who were also charged. Ginny Maxwell, an Indianapolis attorney representing Hagedorn, declined to comment.</p>
<p>According to the letter, the state determined after that incident that an emergency existed after people receiving services from Safe Journey were injured or at least put in danger by the company not following state rules and guidelines.</p>
<p>In addition to the incident caught on video where staff held down, hit and humiliated a disabled woman, the state also found that the report Safe Journey submitted about the incident was incomplete and false, violating the code of ethics, the letter said.</p>
<p>The report by Safe Journey describes staff using an approved hold on the woman, but the video shows staff using a restraint that is prohibited. The report said the woman was not injured, but the video showed injuries. And the report also said there was no verbal or emotional abuse, but the video shows different, the letter said. On the video, Hagedorn and other staff members can be heard making intimidating, threatening and humiliating comments, including Hagedorn saying the woman’s mother didn’t want her and and had begged Hagedorn to take her, the letter said.</p>
<p>The letter also cited multiple past incidents, including two death complaint investigations and three other complaints from 2017 to this year.</p>
<p>Those incidents show a pattern of neglectful behavior, including neglect of individuals, failure to properly train staff, violations of individual rights and physical, emotional and verbal abuse, the letter said.</p>
<p>Each of the past incidents that were investigated were substantiated, and the state gave the company corrective plans. Safe Journey put the plan in place, and the state verified that was done. But the company couldn’t stay in compliance, and continued violating state rules and requirements, the letter said.</p>
<p>“Safe Journey’s ongoing noncompliance has repeatedly seriously endangered the health and safety of individuals,” the letter said.</p>
<p>Calling those violations egregious, the state created an emergency order to terminate Safe Journey’s services and revoke its approval. The company can appeal the order, according to the letter.</p>
