Case Information
*0 FILED IN 3rd COURT OF APPEALS AUSTIN, TEXAS 8/13/2015 12:45:09 PM JEFFREY D. KYLE Clerk No. 03-15-00201-CV THIRD COURT OF APPEALS 8/13/2015 12:45:09 PM JEFFREY D. KYLE AUSTIN, TEXAS 03-15-00201-CV *1 ACCEPTED [6482860] CLERK _______________________________________ I N THE T HIRD C OURT OF A PPEALS AT A USTIN , T EXAS
_______________________________________ W AYNE N OVY , by and through his legal guardian Forrest Novy, Appellant , vs.
T EXAS H EALTH AND H UMAN S ERVICES C OMMISSION and K YLE J ANEK , in his
official capacity as Executive Commissioner of the Texas Health and Human
Services Commission, Appellees . _______________________________________ O N A PPEAL FROM C OUNTY C OURT AT L AW N O . 1, T RAVIS C OUNTY ______________________________________ JOINT MOTION BY ALL PARTIES TO ABATE APPELLATE PROCEEDINGS
The parties to this appeal—Appellant Wayne Novy (“Mr. Novy”), by and through his legal guardian Forrest Novy, and Appellees Texas Health
and Human Services Commission (“THHSC”) and Chris Traylor, THHSC
Executive Commissioner of [*] —jointly move the Court to abate proceedings
in this case, as set forth below.
*2 1. The substantive issue in the legal dispute before the court below is whether a 2014 decision to transfer Mr. Novy—termed here the “2014
transfer decision”—from his current residence at the Austin State Support-
ed Living Center (“Austin center”) to the San Antonio State Supported Liv-
ing Center (“San Antonio center”) was legally valid.
2. Home 282 at the Austin center is where Mr. Novy currently resides. 3. The 2014 transfer decision is under reevaluation at this time. At- tached and incorporated herein is correspondence dated August 5, 2015,
from Commissioner Traylor (sometimes, “Traylor August 5 th letter”) to the
head of the Family/Guardian Association for residents of the Austin center.
The effect of this letter is that closure of the Austin center’s home 282,
where Mr. Novy resides, is “temporarily halt[ed]” and that, for the time be-
ing, there is no “need for any [Austin center] residents to transition off cam-
pus.”
4. The letter goes on to state that, in ninety days, the agency will evalu- ate the impact of the actions it outlines and then “weigh whether or not the
closure of home 782 is still necessary.”
5. All the parties to this appeal agree that, in light of the Traylor August 5 th letter, it would serve the interests of justice and promote judicial economy
for this Court to abate all further proceedings in this appeal for 120 days in
order to allow time for the agency evaluation outlined in the letter to be
completed and for those affected by the reevaluation to be notified of the re-
sult of that reevaluation. Thus, they jointly urge the Court to enter an order
granting relief to that effect, as outlined in ¶ 6, below.
6. It is urged by all parties that the Court enter an abatement order as follows:
a. Abate this appeal for all purposes until 120 days from entry of the abatement order or until the parties jointly move the lift the abatement order, whichever is earlier; and b. As part of the abatement order, extend the deadline for filing of Appellant’s opening brief from the current deadline of Au- gust 21, 2015, until a date no earlier than 10 days after lifting of the abatement order under ¶ 6.a, above, unless the parties jointly submit that the controversy between them is moot.
7. In light of the pending deadline for Appellant’s opening brief, the parties jointly urge the Court to act on this motion as promptly as reasonably
possible.
Wherefore, based on the foregoing matters, the parties to this appeal
jointly urge the Court to grant this Joint Motion by All Parties to Abate Ap-
pellate Proceedings.
Respectfully submitted, __ /s/ Renea Hicks ______ Renea Hicks
State Bar No. 09580400 L AW O FFICE OF M AX R ENEA H ICKS 101 West 6 th Street, Suite 504 Austin, Texas 78701-2934 (512) 480-8231
(512) 480-9105 fax
rhicks@renea-hicks.com ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT __ /s/ Eugene A. Clayborn ______ EUGENE A. CLAYBORN State Bar No.: 00785767 Assistant Attorney General Deputy Chief, Administrative Law Divi- sion
O FFICE OF THE A TTORNEY G ENERAL OF T EXAS
P.O. Box 12548, Capitol Station Austin, Texas 78711-2548 Telephone: (512) 475-3204 Facsimile: (512) 320-0167 eugene.clayborn@texasattorneygeneral.gov ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEES *5 C ERTIFICATE OF S ERVICE I hereby certify that a true and correct copy of this Joint Motion by All Parties to Abate Appellate Proceedings has been served through the elec-
tronic filing system on the following counsel of record for the appellees on
August 13, 2015:
Eugene A. Clayborn, Assistant Attorney General
Deputy Chief, Administrative Law Division
O FFICE OF THE A TTORNEY G ENERAL OF T EXAS
P.O. Box 12548, Capitol Station
Austin, Texas 78711-2548
eugene.clayborn@texasattorneygeneral.gov.
_ /s/ Renea Hicks ___________ Renea Hicks
TEXAS HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION Cl-IRIS TRAYLOR ExECUTIVE COMMISSIONER August 5,2015
Ms. Nona Rogers
5308 Gladstone Dr.
Austin, Texas 78723
RE: Austin State Supported Living Center
Dear Ms. Rogers:
Thank you for arranging for members of the Austin State Supported Living Center
Family/Guardian Association to meet with me and share their perspectives regarding the home
closures at the Austin State Supported Living Center (SSLC). Although I am aware of the
challenges families face when making these difficult decisions for their loved ones, it is always
helpful to hear directly from those affected by our decisions.
As we discussed in our meeting, reducing the number of residents served in Austin has decreased
how often staff have had to work double shifts and long shifts. The census reduction also has
allowed us to reduce overtime, despite having fewer staff members employed at the center.
Active treatment and regulatory compliance have improved, and the Department of Justice
independent monitors have noted that residents are now receiving higher quality services. Our
staffing levels have not stabilized, and we are still examining whether the center’s improvements
can be sustained.
Three homes identified for closure remain open homes 782, 784, and 789. Given that, we plan
to offer the two men residing in home 784 the opportunity to move to home 782. We also will
offer the two women residing in home 789 the opportunity to move to other homes at the center,
and we will temporarily halt the closure of home 782, allowing residents there to remain at the
Austin SSLC for now.
These steps will allow us to close homes 784 and 789 without the need for any residents to
transition off campus. In 90 days, we will examine the impact of our staff recruiting efforts, our
continued training and work with staff, and the impact of the two home closures above. At that
time, we will weigh whether or not the closure of home 782 is still necessary.
P.O. Box [13247] • Austin, Texas 78711 • 4900 North Lamar, Austin, Texas [78751] • (512)424-6500
Ms. Nona Rogers
August 5, 2015
Page 2
I encourage you to continue to work with Laura Cazabon-Braly. Director of the Austin SSLC. if
you or any of your members have specific concerns related to the care and treatment your loved
ones receive at the center. Additionally, you can contact Scott Schalchlin, Assistant
Commissioner for the SSLCs, by phone at (512) 438-3076 or by email at
Scott.Schalchlin@dads.state.tx.us. Thank you for your ongoing advocacy for the residents at the
Austin SSLC, and I look forward to continuing our dialogue about how we can best serve them.
Chris Traylor
[*] Under Tex. R. App. Proc. 7.2(a), Chris Traylor, the current THHSC Executive Com- missioner should be substituted as a party for Kyle Janek, the former THHSC Executive Commissioner.