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Families urge Clay County to review public administrator after allegations of neglect
Summary
Multiple public speakers gave detailed allegations that the Clay County public administrator and its contracted providers have at times failed to protect wards and to allow family advocacy; the county auditor cited gaps in documentation and staff committed to follow up.
Several family members, former caregivers and disability advocates pressed the Clay County Commission on alleged failures by the county's public administrator to protect vulnerable adults and to allow meaningful family involvement. The public comment period, which ran for roughly an hour, focused on one family's account of long-term separation, inadequate care and a March 2025 stabbing.
Rita Richards, a special-education teacher who said she maintained a close relationship with a former student identified as "Zach," told commissioners that county guardianship and contractor oversight had "resulted in isolation, loss of voice, and separation from those who care about them most." Richards said that her former student had been moved far from family, had experienced medication and nutrition problems, and that she later learned he "had been stabbed 7 times with a 10-inch kitchen knife"…
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