Mama bear at the gate: Denton resident fears for daughter in lockdown at state living center

She doesn’t want to alienate the staff members who give her 29-year-old daughter, Amber Reynolds, the care she needs at the Denton State Supported Living Center. Amber and Briggs have a lot of love and respect for the staff.

But Biggs isn’t going to stop trying to connect with her daughter in spite of the state lockdown policies that have kept her from seeing her daughter since March 9, when she helped shepherd Amber through medical tests — a process that can frighten and agitate Amber, who has developmental disabilities and a brain injury from birth.

“Amber can’t speak for herself,” Biggs said. “Her yes doesn’t always mean yes, and her no doesn’t mean no. But my yes means yes, and my no means no. And Amber understands that. She takes it very seriously when I say, ‘I will see you soon.’ I can see where I am losing my integrity with Amber. It just breaks my heart. I have always followed through with her.”

The Denton State Supported Living Center is considered an intermediate care facility, and according to data state officials updated on Aug. 26, the local center reports nine active cases of COVID-19 among residents and 16 among staff. Active cases refers to positive tests, and doesn't reflect how many cases include symptoms. Until the facilities staff and residents test negative for 14 consecutive days, visitors are not allowed in the center. 

The center is governed by Gov. Greg Abbott’s declaration of emergency in response to COVID-19, which was recently extended for Texans in nursing and long-term care living facilities through Sept. 29, according to an email from the health commission. Now, long-term care centers can have limited indoor and outdoor visits, but only if there are no active cases of COVID among residents, if staff members have tested negative for 14 days, and there are enough staff to facilitate visits in compliance with infection control requirements. For indoor visits, residents and visitors must be separated with a Plexiglass safety barrier.

Biggs is among caregivers demanding a better response for the elderly in nursing and memory care facilities and Texans living in long-term care facilities. Biggs has joined Texas Caregivers for Compromise, a group of advocates that is petitioning the Texas Health and Human Services Commission and the state Legislature to let them visit their loved ones in person. Nichols collated the stories of Texans desperate to visit their loved ones in nursing or long-term care centers.

“Because isolation kills too, that’s part of the name,” Biggs said. “People are dying. They’re dying alone and untouched. It doesn’t make any sense. People can come into the center from the outside — plumbers, electricians. I get it that they have to be able to get onto the campus. But they’re going into the residential units; caregivers can’t. Judges can come in if they determine that it’s essential. But guardians can’t. Amber is my child. I’m her guardian, not the state.”

Through a Facebook page, caregivers and advocates share stories of their loved ones’ progress or decline during the pandemic, and the group founder, Mary Nichols, posts resources, webinars and videos from officials from the commission.

The Denton center was hit hard by the novel coronavirus last March, and Biggs said she went to the center hoping to see her daughter, who suffers from acute psychosis occasionally but thrives on her routine. Before the pandemic, Biggs would see her daughter twice a week, taking her off the campus to shop and get some stimulation.

“She loves going to Twice as Nice and picking out things for her friends,” Biggs said, adding that the local thrift store is a bright spot for her daughter. “She loves picking out things for her sister.”

She took a bright, colorful care package for Amber but didn’t get to see her daughter. It’s been almost six months since she has been able to talk to Amber face to face. On the phone, Amber sometimes sounds confused, and Biggs said she saw a note about her daughter leaving her residence unit and wandering on the campus at night when she was reviewing Amber’s more recent records. Biggs said she sees this as a sign that her daughter is suffering in isolation, and vulnerable to psychosis. All Briggs can offer her daughter are the Scriptures the two love, singing silly songs and “pivoting” to lighthearted tones when Amber sounds distressed.

The family moved Amber to the center in 2014, and Biggs said the staff gives her the care she needs. Biggs said she “shadows and models” for the staff how to best interact with Amber, who gets nervous during medical appointments. Amber has a medical test coming up, Biggs said.

“That means they have to put a mask on her, which she’s not going to do,” Biggs said. “I’m worried that she’s not going to sleep. If she doesn’t sleep, she can go into psychosis. She’s already sleeping on the couch instead of her bed. And if she goes into psychosis, I can’t be there to help her. I can’t be there to model for the staff what she needs.”

Biggs said it’s frustrating for caregivers, who understand both their role and the risks of COVID-19.

“What happened to our rights and the rights of the residents?” Biggs said. “We can’t even come up and go into the office. Judges can. Police can. Medical students can. Why is that everyone under the sun can come in and wear PPE — but we can’t?”

Biggs said Gov. Abbott is “playing God” with the state’s most vulnerable residents.

“Abbott and Health and Human Services, they are the ones who have laid this out. Their hands are on the rudder,” Biggs said. “I’m asking the governor what good parent doesn’t take all precautions to prevent injury and illness for their children? Abbott said earlier during the pandemic, ‘We are Texans. We can do this. We can wash our hands and do the social distancing.’ But we [caregivers] can’t be trusted? We have given our trust over to the state. Amber is my child; she is not the state’s.”

Biggs said caregivers feel abandoned by Abbott and the state, and that the staff and administration at the center are powerless to stoke connections that reinforce the rights of residents.

“Abbott has robbed us of the right and the joy of caring for our parents and our children,” she said. “It’s moral injury. For us, the guardians, it’s a moral injury ... It’s almost six months since I’ve seen my daughter. She’s been wandering the campus at night. What if she gets off of the campus and starts wandering there on the highway? I can’t help her. I’m not allowed. What if she gets off of the campus and gets raped or killed? Never finding her is one of my biggest fears aside from psychosis.

“We deserve so much better. Our loved ones deserve better.”