Iowa agency breaks moratorium, resumes inspections

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa agency has resumed routine inspections at care facilities for the disabled despite a moratorium imposed by the Legislature.

The Des Moines Register reports the resumption follows an increase in complaints about the residential care facilities for people with moderate mental and physical disabilities.

Inspections Department of Inspections and Appeals spokesman Dave Werning says legislative leaders were notified about the resumption and that the department “never heard back from anybody.”

As a cost-cutting move in 2010, lawmakers imposed a year’s moratorium on routine inspection of the nearly 190 residential care facilities for ahout 4,600 disabled people.

During the 2011 legislative session, the moratorium was extended through July 2012.