Disability services organization to make changes following DeBrodie case

The former Second Chance Homes of Fulton facility on Claymine Drive, where Carl DeBrodie lived before his disappearance, now has a "for sale" sign on its lawn.
The former Second Chance Homes of Fulton facility on Claymine Drive, where Carl DeBrodie lived before his disappearance, now has a "for sale" sign on its lawn.

The story of Carl DeBrodie is prompting a statewide organization to revamp safeguards and procedures.

DeBrodie, 31, was a developmentally disabled Fulton man reported missing, and then found dead under horrific circumstances in April.

"It's tragic - it's one of those things where you almost immediately start saying, 'How could this happen?'" said Les Wagner, director of the Missouri Association of County Developmental Disabilities Services (MACDDS). "Knowing the safeguards that are supposed to be in place for somebody in protective oversight, it's still hard to imagine how it could happen."

DeBrodie resided at a Second Chance Homes of Fulton facility. Callaway County Special Services handled his case management.

He was reported missing April 17 and his body was found in a storage unit April 24. Police Chief Steve Myers believes he may have been dead for weeks or months before he was reported missing, though final autopsy results are not yet available. No arrests have been made.

MACDDS - which consists of about 65 county agencies, including Callaway County Special Services - had its monthly meeting in Columbia last week. The organization (promotes) county initiatives in developmental disability services, according to macdds.org.

"We've formed a committee," Wagner said. "We're collecting information about what other organizations that are doing service monitoring do to provide extra safeguards against a situation like this which you wouldn't ordinarily imagine could happen."

He explained while MACDDS isn't a regulatory body, it can encourage its member agencies to make changes in how they provide service monitoring. They also vocally support or oppose legislative changes.

"We have a voice and we're going to use it," Wagner said.

While their information-gathering is still in its preliminary stages, Wagner said MACDDS already has a couple of issues on which to focus.

"Our association supported proposed legislature last session that would've updated Missouri's guardianship laws and brought them up to the standard of other states," Wagner said.

DeBrodie's guardian was Callaway County Public Administrator Karen Digh Allen. According to Wagner, current laws about guardianship focus on managing money, while they should look more at quality of life.

"Quality of life is going to involve seeing a person, talking to a person," Wagner said.

While he understands public administrators have high case loads and limited resources, Wagner said making sure they see their clients regularly could add a layer of accountability.

Another area being eyed for improvement is paperwork.

"One of the things we're going to focus on is reconciling reports with reality," Wagner said.

Callaway County Special Services Director Julia Kaufmann said DeBrodie's case manager should have been seeing him once a month, but was often told he was unavailable. Sometimes, the case manager claimed to have seen him when she actually hadn't. Kaufmann said that case manager, whose name is not available, is no longer employed with CCSS.

"Completing a paper record isn't adequate," Wagner said. "We're in active discussions with the Department of Mental Health about what happened and what kinds of approaches we can adopt."

Wagner, who spent 25 years working with Boone County Resources, is passionate about preventing a situation like DeBrodie's from happening again.

"When I read statistics about how vulnerable people are abused, exploited it brings to mind people I knew personally," he said.