University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

Homemaking from the heart

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Homemaking from the heart

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Content HOMEMAKING FROM THE HEART
Copyright 2003
by
Anita Jing Ting
A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS
JOURNALISM
(BROADCAST JOURNALISM)
May 2003
Anita Jing Ting
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UMI Number: 1416581
UMI
UMI Microform 1416581
Copyright 2003 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company.
All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against
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UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY PARK
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90089-1695
This thesis, written by
AMlTft- TTlMfr TiMfc*_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
under the direction o f h &C thesis committee, and
approved by all its members, has been presented to and
accepted by the Director o f Graduate and Professional
Programs, in partial fulfillment of the requirements fo r the
degree o f
tltfTeR O F A C T S . gftttftyst JougNAUSrt
Director
Thesis Committee
Chair
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ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT iii
BODY 1
Starting Out 2
Fermin's Background 4
A Religious Life 6
History of Care 8
State vs. Community Care 10
Unique Approach 12
Beautiful Homes 13
Client's Schedules 15
Staff Retention 18
Zero Tolerance 21
Future Goals 25
BIBLIOGRAPHY 28
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ABSTRACT
Often unable to fend for themselves, many individuals with autism, cerebral
palsy and mental retardation are physically, sexually and emotionally abused. These
developmentally disabled individuals often lash out and if they become a serious
safety risk to themselves and others, they may end up locked in a state institution
with 24-hour care.
For 20 years, Vivien Fermin has been helping some of the most
developmentally disabled people in community care rise above their limitations by
teaching them to control their behaviors and become more independent. Fermin is
now a successful businesswoman and recognized service provider with nearly 100
clients and 17 facilities in middle to upper middle class Los Angeles and Orange
County neighborhoods.
Though being able to hire skilled and committed workers is a major problem
in this $3 billion, government-funded industry, Fermin does so by recruiting
professionals from the Philippines and rewarding her most talented employees with
equity opportunities.
With near spotless licensing and inspection records and nothing but praise
from her clients and their parents, Fermin is a model service provider.
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When Josh was 13 years old, his mild retardation caused him to scratch and
hit other people. His behavior forced his mother to send the teenager to a residential
care facility for the developmentally disabled.
Josh lived in several homes over the next 24 years, some of them abusive.
His mother, Diane Kovacs, managed to shut down one facility after another client
raped him.
Kovacs moved her 6-foot, 300-pound son to the Le Vien facility in
Bellflower, Calif., more than two years ago. Today, 39-year-old Josh is much
happier living in the safest place he’s been since living at home with his mother. For
the first time Josh is living up to his potential, said Kovacs.
“[Josh] has learned to control a lot of difficult behaviors, how to behave in
the world, interact meaningfully with people, learned a lot about how to take care of
himself and pays more attention to how he looks,” she said. “My hope for Josh is
that he stays where he is and continues to develop fully.”
“[He] used to be very violent. Now, he’s changed totally,” said Sherry
Salaveria, an administrator of the Le Vien facility who Josh refers to as “mom.”
Community care facilities in California are criticized for a death rate that is
50 percent higher than that of patients living in state institutions. Agencies
contracting services for the developmentally disabled also are blamed for
mismanagement of taxpayer money.
However, community care is more cost-efficient that institutional care. The
Harbor Regional Center in Torrance, Calif., reported an average annual cost of
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$12,000 to service each community care client, compared to the average annual cost
of more than $160,000 to service each client in institutional care. Overall,
California’s Department of Developmental Services will spend $2.5 billion this year
to serve 170,000 clients living in community care facilities, compared to $650
million to care for 3,700 patients living in state institutions.
Some community care facilities are top-notch, including the 17 homes run by
60-year-old Vivien Fermin, who has owned and operated Le Vien Homes Inc. for
two decades. She has made it her mission to provide well-managed, clean and
beautiful board and care facilities in middle to upper middle class neighborhoods for
Josh and nearly 100 other developmentally disabled individuals in Los Angeles and
Orange Counties. As a model care provider, new service providers are sent to Le
Vien Homes to observe staff and the quality of services.
STARTING OUT
Twenty years ago, Fermin and her husband, Edgardo, started their
community care business after working as volunteers at a friend’s board and care
facility for the developmentally disabled.
In the Philippines, Fermin never saw a developmentally disabled person.
Most were hidden from society because their families or caretakers were ashamed of
them. There they lacked special education, counseling, medication and
transportation.
The couple started providing care out of their own home on Bransford Drive
in La Palma, Calif., approximately 20 miles south of Los Angeles. They named their
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company after Vivien, calling it Le Vien. It was only after they opened their third
facility that Fermin quit her full-time job at Builder’s Emporium.
The Orange and Harbor Regional Centers, two of 21 non-profit facilities in
California, contract service providers like Fermin to care for the developmentally
disabled and their families.
Mercedes Lowery, then a resource developer at the Harbor Regional Center,
first met Fermin at a luncheon in 1999. Shortly after, the Center was forced to close
down one company that managed 10 facilities because its employees were abusing
their clients, according to a Le Vien administrator and partner, Zylnna Andaya.
The business is profitable. Just one of Fermin's 17 homes generates just over
$3,000 a month in net income, according to a state licensing report filed in 1998, the
most recent year available for that home.
“The staff [at the 10 facilities] was not competent. When we went to pick up
a client, staff members were in their rooms and the clients were outside,” said
Andaya, who earns $10,000 a month as a partner in four of Fermin's 17 homes.
“There were holes all over the walls, the refrigerator was not filled and it smelled
filthy.”
Lowery helped Fermin obtain contracts to run all 10 homes. Though there
were other qualified service providers already in the Harbor Regional Center area,
which includes the South Bay, San Pedro, Long Beach and southeast Los Angeles,
Fermin said it was her good track record that made the difference.
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Fermin had a strong record of policing her facilities to ensure against abuse.
For the first seven to 10 years she secretly parked a van equipped with a bed in front
of her facilities to check up on her staff. “I would wake up at 5 o'clock .. .and go to
my facilities unannounced .. .to see if the clients were clean and in their pajamas and
make sure there were no abuses such as staff sleeping in the client’s bedrooms,” she
said.
One of Fermin’s first clients was James, 40, who arrived at one of her
facilities 18 years ago. He and other clients are assessed by a psychiatrist, staff
members, the service provider, a house administrator, and a parent or conservator.
Then, an Individual Program Plan, or IPP, is put together detailing the client’s
history of adverse behaviors and medical needs. The goal is to help the client become
more independent and socially adept.
James’s treatment plan indicated that he was withdrawn and suffered more
than 20 seizures a day. Fermin said he was unhappy at the Huntington Beach facility
where he lived. “I worked with him and after a year he had one seizure a week and
was answering the phone,” she said. “When clients feel better and can communicate
with me, when a client who’s kind of abusive gets better.. .that motivates me . . .We
have a lot of clients who get better.”
FERMIN’S BACKGROUND
Vivien Fermin was bom in the Philippines during World War II, and like
many others there, was told that American is heaven. Her only source of nutrition
came from a cow. When the cow was stolen, she went hungry. Fermin, an only
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child, never knew her father. He was serving in the military when he abandoned his
family. The experience left Fermin longing for a better life. Recently, her father
contacted Fermin in America and told her he was never able to find her mother and
her, so he remarried.
Fermin married an appointed Philippine government official, and owned
several businesses, including a restaurant and a beauty salon. She had already
traveled to Hong Kong and Japan on business when she decided it was time to
explore America.
In 1958, she traveled to the U.S., obtained a Social Security card and driver’s
license, and began planning her move. After her husband died, Fermin said she was
ready to leave the Philippines.
“There was nothing for me in the Philippines. You have to know somebody
to be successful; you have to be in politics,” she said.
In 1972, nearly a year after her husband’s death, Fermin left her 3-year-old
daughter, Eileen, in her mother’s care and returned to America to begin a new life.
Though she had relatives and friends in Southern California, she preferred to live on
her own and rented a $50-a-month room at the Sixth Street YWCA in Long Beach,
Calif.
Fermin worked two jobs: scrubbing fish on the docks and separating the
white and dark meat for canning, and at a machine factory. “I thought, ‘oh, my gosh.
I’m not even married yet and I’m going to have arthritis,”’ she said.
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Fifteen days after arriving in America, she met her second husband, Edgardo,
who worked for an aero jet company making valves for export to Saudi Arabia.
They married several months later, bought a house and eventually brought Fermin’s
daughter from the Phillipines.
A RELIGIOUS LIFE
Fermin said God called her to America, and ultimately to work as a service
provider for the developmentally disabled.
“God has given me a very good heart. I am a very people-oriented person
and can meet someone and see what [his or her] needs are. This is my mission,” she
said.
Edgar Fermin Jr., her 23-year-old son, said his mother’s principles in life
come straight from the Bible: To give back to the community, and do to others as
you would have them do to you.
He also said that his mom believes every good thing she has—her family, her
business and a good staff—are blessings from God and can be taken away at any
time. As a result, Fermin thanks God by serving at South Bay Christian Alliance
Church in Torrance, Calif.
“Though I have a lot of responsibilities, I have a lot of people who take care
of things. I’m here only to supervise and if I do not serve God through singing,
through other things, I would not be blessed,” said Fermin.
Everlita David, Fermin’s choir director and friend, has seen Fermin interact
with her clients at church and in her facilities.
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“She loves to take care of her clients. She’s like a mom to them. She pays
attention to them .. .is there to answer their questions .. .[and] knows every client by
name,” said David.
Fermin said religion balances and enlightens her life. Her church family
prays constantly for her business, her clients and her safety, which she says comforts
her because she cannot know what goes on with each of her 100 clients all the time.
Because many of her staff work and live in her facilities and are unable to
attend church on Sundays, Fermin hosts a weekly Bible study in one of her board
and care homes. She says that because many of her staff come from the Philippines
and are often lonely and homesick, this Bible study often becomes a support group
for them.
“There was one lady crying and crying when I told her to come to our Bible
study and listen to the word of God. I told her that lots of people there would
support her and to remember that she was in America already—God would provide
her with everything she needed,” said Fermin.
Fermin’s faith, however, has not been free of challenges. In 1978, her 17-
month-old daughter died while the family was on a trip to Las Vegas, Nevada.
Fermin blames the doctors, saying her daughter had a rare pancreatic condition and
the doctors failed to properly hydrate her.
“I was so emotional that I had to go to the emergency room four times. I was
really angry with God at that time and turned away from him,” said Fermin.
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She visited the cemetery every day and had to go through extensive therapy
and counseling with a pastor before renewing her faith in God.
“Speaking from what my mom’s told me over the years, we must always go
back to God,” said Ed Fermin Jr. “No matter how far we’ve fallen, God’s arms are
long enough to reach us.”
Several months later, she learned she was pregnant with her son.
HISTORY OF CARE
California’s system of care for its developmentally disabled community is
based on the 1965 Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act. Frank
Lanterman, a Los Angeles Assemblyman in 1956, recommended creating a
partnership between the government and the private sector as the best way to provide
community services to people with developmental disabilities and their families.
The act was passed amid concerns of abuse in state institutions, which some
news reports described as prisons with toilets lined in a row and patients wearing
uniforms. Clients in state centers live in locked facilities where they receive 24-
hour-a-day care.
There was a growing belief that the disabled have the right to choose where
to live. Legislators believed the disabled would have a more normal life by being
integrated into communities.
Twenty-one regional centers were established in California to provide the
developmentally disabled and their families with resources to education, health and
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therapy, access to day care, recreational activities, residential care and supported,
independent living.
“Regional centers help individuals with developmental disabilities participate
in activities within the community and take part in decisions affecting their own
lives,” said Eileen Vasquez, Fermin’s daughter and partner. “They help individuals
come up with personal plans towards achieving greater independence, give them
enough information to make decisions and support ways in which individuals want
to live.”
Most developmentally disabled people have the same dreams as everyone
else—Josh said he hopes to support a family one-day.
Fermin supports her client’s rights to establish relationships and educates
them on safe sex. Though the company has a no-sex rule between unmarried couples
in the facilities, clients are not monitored 24-hours a day.
“We might see them smooch or hold hands but they had training. They don’t
feel like it’s romantic to [have sex] here—don’t feel it’s private,” said Vasquez.
Keith and Betty are clients in Fermin’s Carfax Street home in Anaheim,
Calif. They are a couple and Keith often buys his girlfriend Valentine and Easter
presents. Because Keith is one of Fermin’s more able clients—taking the bus over
long distances—and his relationship is supported by his family, he and Betty go on
weekend trips occasionally.
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STATE VS. COMMUNITY CARE
Not all clients belong in community care facilities. Take Robert, who was
described by Le Vien Administrator Shirrell Smith as someone who would push your
eye out if he could. Though Smith and other staff are trained to deal with aggressive
clients, the company could not help Robert and let him go after one year.
“Robert didn’t belong in a boarding care facility; he belonged in a locked
setting . . . He knew right from wrong, but just got a kick out of hurting you,” said
Smith, who used to work at Fairview State Hospital and Casa Grande, which was an
unlocked facility with 250 patients.
Most of the people who live in state institutions are seen as unfit to live in the
community. They are either too behaviorally or medically unstable and require
constant supervision by professional doctors and nurses.
Ongoing legislative debates have taken place about whether to close down
developmental centers and instead place clients in residential facilities. Smith says
there was a big client turnover rate in state hospitals, making it difficult to get to
know and monitor patients.
“Vivien’s facilities are like a home setting where we teach clients to be
independent. There is more privacy in this facility .. .and we get more involved with
our clients because we see them everyday. We know their accomplishments and
know if they are getting better or worse,” said Smith.
Fermin said state legislators favor developmental centers one year and prefer
community care centers the next.
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“But I think we need state institutions and community care facilities because
there are some medically fragile clients who need the skills of highly-trained nurses
in state facilities and some severely violent clients need to be placed in a locked
facility,” said Fermin.
Though state institutions and community care facilities shared more than
$2.7 billion budgeted last year for disabled Californians and their families, state
institutions were criticized for using nearly 25 percent of this amount to care for a
little more than 2 percent of the state’s developmentally disabled, the San Jose
Mercury News reported in July 2001.
The California Association of State Hospital Parent Councils for the Retarded
said the $12,000 it takes each year to care for each community care client fails to
reflect the millions of dollars of additional services they use from sources other than
the state’s Department of Developmental Services budget. These services include
fire and police protection, Medi-Cal and services from several state and county
departments.
Regional centers this year received more than $2.2 billion in funding—
$750,000 came from the state’s general funds and nearly $1.5 million came from
federal funds.
The state pays direct-care workers at state institutions between $36,000 to
$52,000 a year, according to the 1999 state audit. That’s twice what community care
facilities pay their workers on average.
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UNIQUE APPROACH
Le Vien Trainer Shirrell Smith remembers when a client, Linda, first came to
their facility. “She was really aggressive. She would run into the street, take off her
clothes and lay in the middle of traffic. It took four police to tie her up. Now she’s
in control, she listens to you and wants to do better .. .She works. It was the
patience of the staff that changed her, the program and the reward system,” she said.
Clients are given special incentives to behave well and meet their goals.
Most receive more than $100 in personal and incidental money from their Social
Security income each month. They use this money to purchase new T-shirts, CDs or
games. Apart from this allowance, Le Vien uses company funds to reward clients
with money or special, one-on-one outings with staff.
“We call this the point system,” said Administrator Andaya. “The client, care
provider, administrator and psychologist discuss objectives for a client to achieve. If
some clients don’t like to go to work but they go for five straight days, then they earn
$5.”
Andaya said that $1 is like $1,000 to clients because just buying a soda
makes them happy. She added that they love money because it’s tangible—
something they can see and feel.
If clients have less than two adverse behaviors in two weeks and in some way
improved exceptionally, they can go one-on-one with a staff to McDonald’s or
Disneyland. Le Vien uses this method of positive reinforcement because many
clients have responded to it.
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“I get coffee out and go with a staff to Starbucks,” said Keith.
Other rewards Keith mentioned were holiday and birthday parties with food,
dancing and other entertainment, such as magic and puppet shows.
“We have nice staff, they’re terrific people to work with .. .1 would like
anybody to live here,” he said.
BEAUTIFUL HOMES
Fermin emphasizes quality and appearance in her homes to make clients
comfortable and give them a sense of worth.
“If I cannot sleep on the bed where my client’s sleep, then they don’t deserve
it. If I cannot eat what they are eating, then they don’t deserve to either. I have to
put myself in their place,” says Fermin, who has often tasted the food her facilities
prepared.
Fermin’s facilities are sterile because she said cleanliness is next to
godliness— she often runs her finger over the paintings adorned on the walls to check
for dust.
Walking into her facilities at 6 a.m., scented candles fill the warm air and soft
music is played on the stereo system. Chinese vases filled with artificial flowers
decorate fireplace mantles and end tables, and matching leather sofa and oak
bedroom sets are found in most of her facilities. Some of the homes have swimming
pools, volleyball courts and outdoor patios.
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“By brightening up our clients’ rooms and letting them have a choice of
decor, they take pride in their homes. It lends to taking pride in themselves,” said
Vasquez. “It’s all these factors working together that make clients feel better.”
Fermin said clients will act out less if they are happier, which is well worth
the few vases that have broken in the past.
“A lot of care providers have ugly things in their homes, and they are rich
because of that,” says Salaveria. “Vivien does not skimp on things.”
Fermin buys most of her furniture and decorations at weekend flea markets
and auctions, where she finds bargains from bankrupt luxury good stores. She’s able
to furnish her homes without overspending by recognizing good quality and value
and through the creative arts and crafts of her staff.
“We’re probably spending less money and getting better quality material, but
we end up doing things ourselves, and our staff makes time to do it together with the
clients,” said Fermin.
One day Fermin bought seven rolls of fabric for $250, and it’s lasted more
than four years. Fermin pays Salaveria to use the material to sew curtains and covers
for their patio furniture, as well as arrange flowers for all the homes.
“She likes her clients to look nice, her homes to look nice, everybody has to have
good nutritious food. She doesn’t skimp and it’s very important to her that
everybody is happy,” said Lowery, a Harbor Regional Center manager.
Clients sometimes lash out at staff members. One-way Fermin helped create
peace in her homes was by providing particularly unstable individuals with their own
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bedrooms. Though she lost money for it, she did it because she was more concerned
about giving her clients a sense of individuality and having her facilities run more
smoothly.
CLIENT’S SCHEDULES
Fermin provides detailed program plans listing her client’s daily activities to
the Orange County Community Care Licensing Division. Her clients at the 7150
Crescent Ave. facility in Buena Park, Calif., wake up at dawn and have self-care
training where they learn to use the bathroom and groom themselves. Then they
begin their morning chores—such as mopping the floor, helping to cook and set the
table for breakfast, and making their beds.
“This is a nice, clean facility. I have to clean the bathrooms,” said Keith. “I
like doing the dishes the least because I don’t do a very good job, but I like taking
out the trash because it’s the easiest thing to do.”
Fermin said clients should be kept busy because they tend to act out when
they are bored and restless.
After breakfast clients may exercise by walking around the block for 30
minutes before a company driver takes them to their day program where they work
on crafts, go on community outings, or leam practical job skills with a trainer. Many
clients who are employed do mostly janitorial or restaurant-related work. Josh, for
example, used to sweep and pick up trash at his day program for $69 a month. Now
he helps serve lunch to children at a local school.
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“He’s always had some kind of employment after [he was 20 years old],”
said Josh’s mother, Kovacs. “ .. .He likes it a lot and feels productive.”
After their day programs, clients return home and may have other programs
such as housekeeping and laundry duties, socialization training, a recreational outing,
a bi-monthly check-up by doctors, or one-on-one counseling with a staff member.
Fermin and her staff said that communication and knowing their clients well
are the keys to helping their clients deal with frustrations and preventing emotional
outbreaks.
“I know when I see their face if they are bothered or not. I may ask how was
your day and they may say ‘good,’ but even their tone of voice gives away their
mood. When they start talking about their frustrations they are deescalated,” said
Salaveria, an administrator who Fermin tends to give some of the most difficult
clients to.
She said Fermin’s emphasis on giving the clients choices and priorities
teaches her and her staff to value their client’s achievements.
“Even though they have these disabilities, they deserve the same respect as a
normal person. If they say no, it means no. Even if we have programming we don’t
force them,” said Salaveria.
Clients also have community recreation Wednesday afternoons, dinner at a
local restaurant on Thursdays, and shopping trips to the local market on Fridays. On
Saturdays clients may visit Disneyland or other amusement parks, museums,
beaches, zoos, libraries, local parks, sports arenas or movie theaters.
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These recreational activities are meant to help clients adapt to and feel
comfortable in society, training them to participate in their communities if they
become independent. However, the disabled are often discriminated against and
reminded of their differences.
“One time I took the clients on a community outing to Huntington Beach,”
said Vasquez. “These skinhead type guys were riding by on their beach cruisers
taunting us and making fun of the staff who were working and myself, saying what
low lifes we were to be taking care of these people.”
After their outdoor activities, clients prepare dinner. All meals in Fermin’s
facilities are scheduled in advance and approved by a dietician because the clients
often struggle with their weight and other health and medical problems, such as
diabetes.
Many developmentally disabled people suffer from Prader-Willi Syndrome
(PWS), a birth defect and brain dysfunction resulting in an insatiable appetite,
chronic preoccupation with food and potentially life-threatening weight gain on what
is considered normal caloric intake.
The Prader-Willi Syndrome Association reports that one in 12,000 to 15,000
people have PWS.
PWS is also associated with stunted physical and sexual growth and impaired
motor and speech skills. Though not all PWS individuals are developmentally
disabled, they do share similar disorders, such as obsessive-compulsive symptoms,
mood swings and depression.
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“[Vivien Fermin’s] Prader-Willi clients are her greatest achievements. They
lose substantial amounts of weight,” said Lowery.
After two years at Le Vien, Keith’s weight dropped from 230 to 170 pounds;
at other facilities, his weight either fluctuated slightly or stayed the same. Posted on
the locked kitchen cabinets in Le Vien homes are certificates boasting how much
weight other clients have lost each month. Even clients without PWS benefit from
their diet and reward system. Josh lost 90 pounds in one year.
Andaya said that though the menu is not complicated, buying groceries for 17
facilities takes her husband a long time. He has to choose fat-free products and check
ingredients—it’s not just going to pick up anything. He has to be careful of what he
buys,” she said.
Leisure time starts after clients clear the dinner table. Usually they are
prohibited from watching television before 5 p.m. and by 10 p.m. clients have had
their evening snack, have washed up, and gone to bed.
STAFF RETENTION
Fermin’s homes are considered unique because of the high retention rate of
her staff. Lowery said the turnover rate in the community care industry is between
50 and 70 percent. Le Vien’s retention rate is 80 percent, according to Le Vien
Administrator Salaveria.
Community programs are only required to pay their staff minimum wage,
which is $6.75, and workers qualify for jobs with only a high school diploma. As a
result, many community care facilities are criticized for their high staff turnover rate
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and their workers’ lack of skills. But at Fermin’s company, new workers without
any previous experience with the developmentally disabled and train them to take
care of their clients. She also promotes often and from within, and she offers
vacation pay, dental and medical benefits.
By comparison, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat reported that a 1999 state
audit found fewer than 40 percent of community workers had health insurance and
that most stayed on the job less than two years.
“[Clients] know that it’s a secure environment.. .Although we are a
business, the fact that we [operate in] a family-oriented environment I think makes a
big difference .. .Some of these folks don’t have families, and we are their families,”
said Vasquez.
The majority of service providers in California are Filipino. They own at
least 70 of the 93 homes that Orange County Licensing Evaluator Desi Gonzalez
evaluates in his county.
Most of Fermin’s staff emigrated from the Philippines. Though many were
friends and family, Fermin was particular about who she hired. New employees
were on probation for 30 days and Fermin usually kept those with professional heath
care backgrounds. One of Fermin’s administrators was a nutritionist in the
Philippines, and now manages one of Fermin’s Prader-Willi facilities. Another
administrator was a psychology major, and later became the vice-president of a bank
in the Philippines. She now helps manage one of Fermin’s homes and handles the
company’s finances.
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2 0
Salaveria was a nurse for the terminally ill before she joined Le Vien.
Because Salaveria’s husband, Xeres, was one of Fermin’s live-in staff, she often
came to Fermin’s facilities to visit with her husband and the clients. Fermin saw
how well she worked with the developmentally disabled and recruited her by
offering to pay her a $100 a month more than she was making at the time. The offer
came at a time when Salaveria was looking for work. She was burned out from the
emotional stress of working with dying patients and she enjoyed the time she spent
with Fermin’s clients.
“She said to me, ‘Oh, give up your apartment, come stay in my facility and
live with your husband. You don’t have to give up your job— I’ll pay you extra to
work the night shift,”’ said Salaveria. After two months on the job, Fermin asked
her to take some classes to become an administrator.
“The money we can make here is so much more than in the Philippines,
where there are no jobs and very low wages,” said Salaveria. “For my husband and
me the most we would receive in the Philippines is 30,000 pesos, about $600 a
month.”
Working for Fermin, Salaveria and her husband together have been earning
$5,000 a month for the last two years and as live-in staff they’re given free rent,
utilities and food.
Though Fermin retains her employees longer than most community care
providers, she knows many of her Filipino staff will leave after they receive their
green cards, or become permanent residents and citizens. Fermin said because her
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21
staff are all professionals they’re able to move on to better opportunities. There is
also attrition due to burnout from the pressures and risks of client care.
As long as her key management team is in place, however, she is prepared for
other staff to come and go. She deals with staff turnover by periodically moving her
employees from one facility to another to challenge them and to prevent clients from
getting too attached to any one staff person.
Lowery also said Fermin treats her staff with respect and dignity, welcomes
differing opinions and gives them opportunities for equity in the business.
Fermin made Andaya a partner in four facilities. She is also helping the
Salaverias to invest in an annuity and raise enough money to become one of her
partners.
Gonzalez is familiar with angry employees calling him to complain about the
companies they work for and their bosses. “In the six years I’ve been monitoring
[Le Vien], I haven’t had one disgruntled employee call. That says a lot,” he said.
ZERO TOLERANCE
Fermin holds her staff members to the highest of standards. Two Le Vien
staff members went shopping one day and knew they had to be back at their facility
by 2 p.m. when the clients returned from their day programs. If no one is home to
meet the clients, the home can be reported to licensing and regional center
departments. The staff members were aware of this, but failed to get other
employees to fill in for them. Fermin fired them.
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2 2
“Vivien is really strict when it comes to her staff. Once she catches you and
proves that you’ve abused a client, she’ll fire you right then and there,” said Andaya,
who’s worked for Fermin since 1992.
“Vivien has a term she likes to use—zero tolerance. She expects her staff to
have zero tolerance when it comes to mistakes, to ask if they don’t know something
and to go through training for it,” said Lowery, manager of the Harbor Regional
Center.
Another reason Fermin gives her staff paid sick leave is because she wants
them to be at their best when taking care of clients and not to just show up to avoid a
smaller pay check.
“You might abuse the clients verbally, and you will not do as good a job as
you usually do, so we’ll pay you to go relax. Stay at home. It affects clients,” said
Fermin, “ .. .1 tell them all the time, your mistakes are my mistakes, and I cannot
tolerate that. We want to run a good home, so everybody has to do a good job.”
Facilities get one unannounced visit per quarter from a regional center service
coordinator and one annual quality assurance visit from a licensing evaluator.
Homes must keep seven days worth of non-perishable food and three days worth of
perishable food on hand. The house should be livable, have suitable rooms for
clients, operational bathrooms, and be insect-free.
After the fourth year, licensing completes a full comprehensive visit to see
how staff members act with the clients and if they’re consistent with the treatment
plans. They watch how staff members handle medical emergencies, what medicines
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2 3
they use, whether they know how to contact the appropriate people and if they
document information properly.
Because clients are usually unexpressive about their symptoms, doctors rely
on staff observations to recognize any abnormalities.
“Le Vien staff is very experienced. They will report minor things to me at
once. Rashes, coughs that don’t resolve, and if patients are diabetic and their sugar
level rises, they will bring the clients [to my clinic],” said Dr. Joey Santos, who’s
worked with Le Vien for five years.
Licensing also makes unannounced visits to facilities to investigate all
allegations and complaints. In 1992, Orange County licensing evaluators and police
detectives investigated a complaint at Fermin’s Buena Park, Calif., facility. They
found that a member of Fermin’s staff violated a client’s personal rights, which
includes being treated with dignity, given a safe, comfortable and healthy living
environment, freedom of religion, freedom to leave a facility, freedom from being
physically restrained and access to health care.
The licensing report stated, “The client was not accorded a safe environment
and not treated with dignity by staff.”
Though Fermin fired the staff member, she was cited for failing to obtain a
criminal record clearance and a fingerprint check with the proper licensing agency
prior to the staffs employment.
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2 4
Though licensing evaluators instructed Fermin on requirements for finger
printing, in 1993 the company was cited again for failing to fingerprint three
individuals who had been working for more than four days.
Administrator Andaya said she does not remember any licensing citations for
fingerprinting procedure, but added it was a long time ago. Andaya said all staff
members are fingerprinted before being hired.
Fermin was out of the country and could not be reached for comment.
Fermin did say her facilities have had only minor deficiencies, if any.
According to nearly 10 years of licensing reports, Le Vien has had citations for poor
lighting, cockroaches, and watered down orange juice from frozen concentrate.
Gonzalez, who’s inspected Fermin’s homes, said, “I’ve never had any
problems with them .. .For those facilities that haven’t had any deficiencies in a year
we do a short, cumulative visit and check fewer things as opposed to everything.”
Le Vien’s detailed records and interviews of staff and doctors have also
proven that many allegations against the company were unfounded.
Sometimes Le Vien staffers get frustrated because rules and regulations for
the state, regulations for the regional center, and parent’s expectations are
incompatible.
“We had a little girl who was very high functioning. She had a job, and a
mild retardation. She could buy her own over-the-counter medication. She buys
Vick’s vapor rub, which is something all of us normally would use. Then you have
licensing come by, and they said that because of the state regulation, that’s a citation
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2 5
because it’s not locked [It was in the client’s drawer.],” said Fermin, who was fined
$50 for the violation.
The staff is allowed to search their client’s belongings, especially those
suspected of sneaking in medications, said Gonzalez. He said that if staff members
document their client’s noncompliance to regulations and show that they are making
an effort to correct their client’s behaviors, licensing often overlooks a violation.
Licensing officials and Le Vien staff members agreed that the best way to
teach clients was to remind them of house rules, and warn them that they would
either be expelled from the home, or the home would be closed down, if they kept
breaking the rules.
FUTURE GOALS
“Some parents say, ‘Vivien, when you retire what’s going to happen?’ I tell
them, ‘Don’t worry, I’m still going to be here,”’ said Fermin. “This is the most
important thing I want to leave on this earth, that [Andaya], Eileen, Edgar and some
of the administrators will continue my work and do an even better job.”
Fermin said that clients and parents would feel secure as long as the key
people in her company remained.
At times it was difficult to convince her children to join the family business.
When Vasquez began working at the University of California at Los Angeles shortly
after graduating, Fermin said she had to force her daughter to work for her.
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2 6
Fermin’s son, an undergraduate student at California State University at
Fullerton, said that while he would be proud to serve his community by continuing
his parents business, he is currently at a crossroads and unsure of his future goals.
“I think this is a great business. It benefits society as a whole .. .My mom
gets to give back to the community all that she’s been blessed with and that’s what
she stresses the most. I guess if anything would draw me here it would be that,” he
said.
Fermin said her children would complement each other well. Her son is more
business-oriented and a stricter manager, while her daughter is more compassionate
and generous.
Fermin used to test her children to see how they really felt about caring for
the developmentally disabled and running the business.
“Once, when I was just starting I said I wanted to sell some of my facilities
and not be in the business anymore. I told Eileen that I was going to retire. She
cried. I didn’t really mean it. I just wanted to see how she felt about it,” said
Fermin.
Fermin’s plans to expand the business depend on an increase in clients
needing homes. But Lowery said that currently, there are no clients waiting to be
placed in her area.
Now that Fermin trusts her staff to run her business well, she has been going
back to the Philippines more often.
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2 7
“When Edgar finishes college and I retire, I really want to go back to the
Philippines or to Mexico and become a missionary. God has given me so much in
this world, not money wise, but this fulfillment in life, so blessed is life,” said
Fermin.
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2 8
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Andaya, Zylnna. Personal Interview. 19 Nov. 2002 and 31 Mar. 2003.
California Association of State Hospital Parent Councils for the Retarded (Aug
2001): 9pp. Online. Google. Internet. 3 Feb. 2003.
California Department of Developmental Services. Online. Google. Mar. 2003.
Available http://www.dds.ca.gov/
David, Everlita. Personal Interview. 2 Mar. 2003.
Department of Finance. “Health and Human Services Budget (2001-4).” Online.
Google. Mar. 2003.
Available http://www.dof.ca.gov/
Fermin, Edgar. Personal Interview. 4 Oct. 2002.
Fermin, Vivien. Personal Interview. Aug. and Oct. 2002.
Gonzalez, Desi. Personal Interview. 25 Feb. and Mar. 2003.
Harbor Regional Center. Online. Google. 4 Mar. 2003.
Available http://www.hddf.com
Hattery, Debbie and Randy. Letter to Vivien Fermin. 28 Sept. 2000.
Hill, Timothy. “Letter to Senators in Opposition to AB896.” CASH/PCR (Aug.
2001): 5pp. Online. Google. Internet. 3 Feb. 2003.
Holding, Reynolds and Edward W. Lempinen. “Agencies for disabled in disarray.”
San Francisco Chronicle (Aug. 1997): 10pp. Online. Google. Internet.
24 Sept. 2002.
Kester, Jim. “Budget Crisis: Important Information for you.” Tri-Counties Regional
Center Newsletter (Dec. 2001): 4pp. Online. Google. Internet.
3 Feb. 2003.
Kraff, John. “Cuts in long-term care will devastate providers.” Redding.com (Dec.
2002): 2pp. Online. Google. Internet. 3 Feb 2003.
King, Luis. Personal Interview. Dec. 2002.
R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.
2 9
Kovacs, Diane. Personal Interview. 15 Mar. 2003.
Kovacs, Josh. Personal Interview. Nov. 2002.
Los Angeles Times Editorial. “An uncivilized neglect of the mentally disabled.”
(Dec. 1997): 2pp. Online. Google. Internet. 24 Sept. 2002.
Lowery, Mercedes. Personal Interview. 31 Aug. and 1 Sept. 2002.
Michell, D. Marsha. “SCLARC to Collaborate with L.A. Neighborhood Housing
Services to Provide Affordable Housing for the Developmentally Disabled.”
South Central Los Angeles Regional Center (Mar. 2002): 3pp. Online.
Google. Internet. 24 Sept. 2002.
Moore, J. Derek. “Disabled dilemma: How and where to provide the best care is at
the center of a $2.6 billion budget battle.” Santa Rosa Press Democrat
(Apr. 2001): 6pp. Online. Google. Internet. 3 Feb. 2003.
Pope, Ed. “AB 896 would phase out centers for retarded; 3,000 patients would move
into communities.” San Jose Mercury News (23 July 2001): 3pp. Online.
Google. Internet. 24 Sept. 2002.
Prader-Willi California Foundation officers. California Services and Supports for
Persons With Developmental Disabilities. Online. Prader-Willi California
Foundation. Google. 4 Mar. 2003.
Available http://www.pwcf.Org/pages/l ca_services.htm
Prader-Willi Syndrome Association (USA). Online. Google. 4 Mar. 2003.
Available http://www.pwsausa.org
Salaveria, Sherry. Personal Interview. 1 Nov. 2002.
San Diego Regional Center For the Developmentally Disabled. Online. Google.
24 Sept. 2002.
Available http://www.sdrc.org
Santos, Joey. Personal Interview. 25 Mar. 2003.
Smith, Shirrell. Personal Interview. Nov. 2002.
Vasquez, Eileen. Personal Interview. Aug., 4 Oct. and 2 Dec. 2002.
Yuhl, Jeff. Personal Interview. 25 Mar. 2003.
R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.
Yuhl, Keith. Personal Interview. Nov. 2002.
R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Ting, Anita Jing (author)

Core Title Homemaking from the heart

School Graduate School

Degree Master of Arts

Degree Program Broadcast Journalism

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag Biography,health sciences, mental health,OAI-PMH Harvest,sociology, public and social welfare

Language English

Contributor Digitized by ProQuest (provenance)

Advisor [illegible] (committee chair), [illegible] (committee member), Saltzman, Joe (committee member)

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c16-306248

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Legacy Identifier 1416581.pdf

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Rights Ting, Anita Jing

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the au...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA