DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Officials say the Iowa Department of Human Services twice looked into the treatment of mentally disabled Texas men who were housed in Atalissa and both times decided they couldn't act.
Officials say a 38-page file was discovered about two weeks ago at the department's Muscatine County office. It shows social workers contemplated intervening in the treatment of the men in the 1970s and again in 1997. The men, who worked at a nearby meatpacking plant, lived at a 106-year-old boarded-up house that the state fire marshal ordered closed earlier this month. They were employed by a Texas employment contractor, Henry's Turkey Service. Last week, Human Services Director Gene Gessow referred to the file in testimony to lawmakers. It was made public Tuesday.
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